Method and apparatus for intelligent speaker

A method for operating a sound system, the method comprising:

• generating a carrier signal from an amplifier and sending the carrier signal to a speaker system through a connection between the amplifier and the speaker system, wherein the speaker system is located in a speaker housing separate and remote from an amplifier housing containing the amplifier;
• rectifying power from the carrier signal in the speaker system, wherein the power is used by a communication module directly coupled to the speaker system and located said speaker housing, the communication module coupled to external connectors or wireless modules on the speaker housing that are used to couple the speaker system to the amplifier through a wired or wireless connection, wherein the communications module contains information identifying electrical operating parameters for the speaker system and also generates a high impedance at frequencies within an audio range of the speaker system;
• and
• transmitting information identifying the electrical operating parameters out from the communication module and the speaker system through the external connectors or wireless modules to the amplifier for as long as the carrier signal is present at the speaker system;
• and
• including activating the communication module and communicating the electrical operating parameters back to the amplifier solely in response to receiving the rectified power without any other communication signaling form the amplifier;
• and
• wherein transmitting information from the speaker system to the amplifier is accomplished using phase-shift keying.

A speaker system, comprising:

• a speaker connector operable to connect the speaker system to an amplifier located separate from the speaker system;
• speaker hardware operable to generate sound from an audio signal received from the speaker connector;
• a high-pass filter operable to pass a high frequency carrier signal received from the speaker connector;
• a rectifier operable to receive the high frequency carrier signal and convert it into a power signal;
• and
• a communications module operable to receive the power signal from the rectifier and transmit static characteristics of the speaker hardware to the amplifier using the speaker connector, the communications module communicating the static characteristics to the amplifier using phase-shift keying;
• and
• wherein the communications module is a device operating inside a speaker housing that contains the speaker hardware, the communications module controlling generation of the static characteristics while providing high impedance at frequencies within an audio range of the speaker system;
• and
• wherein the communications module starts transmitting the static characteristics of the speaker system back to the amplifier over the speaker connector when the module is powered on without any further communication messaging or prompting from the amplifier.