Multiple channel audio system supporting data channel replacement

An audio processing system that receives audio from a primary source and data from a secondary source, the audio having a plurality of channels, the audio processing system comprising:

• a communication pathway;
• a processor;
• and
• a transmitter that couples the processor and the communication pathway,
• wherein the processor delivers the plurality of channels of the audio received from the primary source to the communication pathway via the transmitter, wherein the processor selectively replaces at least one of the plurality of channels with the data from the secondary source for delivery onto the communication pathway via the transmitter, and wherein the processor assigns at least one of the plurality of channels to the secondary source for the duration of the delivery of the data and reassigns the at least one of the plurality of channels to the audio from the primary source after the delivery of the data.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source, wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, and wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal;
• a mixer unit that generates a combined audio signal from a plurality of audio channels provided by the primary source;
• a digital encoder that encodes the combined audio signal in to a digital stream;
• and
• a digital supplementary data encoder that encodes a supplementary data from the secondary source into the digital stream, wherein the transmitter component transmits the digital stream as the single digital multiplexed transmission signal.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• and
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source,
• wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the channel allocating unit allocates the digital channels adaptively such that the digital channels are distributed between the primary source and the secondary source as the need arises, and wherein the channel allocating unit frees up some of the digital channels allocated to the primary source for a supplementary data transmission from the secondary source.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• and
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source,
• wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal, and wherein the channel-allocating unit inserts a header for the supplementary data transmission from the secondary source for identification purposes.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• and
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source,
• wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component changes the control signal to indicate the change in the types of the supplementary data, and wherein the transmitter component sends a control signal to indicate use of the one or more of the surround channels.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source, wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal, and wherein the receiver component is configured to receive a multiplexed digital signal similar to the single digital multiplexed transmission signal;
• a demodulation and amplification unit that demodulates and amplifies a received radio frequency signals to produce the multiplexed digital signals, wherein the multiplexed digital signals comprises data from a remote primary source and a remote secondary source;
• a channel decision unit that decodes the header information in the multiplexed digital signals and demultiplexes the data of the remote primary source and the data from the remote secondary source;
• an multimedia component with a digital decoder that decodes demultiplexed data of the remote primary source;
• and
• a supplementary data decoding unit that decodes the demultiplexed data of the remote secondary source.

A method of operating a surround sound audio processing system that comprises a primary source capable of providing a multi-channel audio and a secondary source capable of providing a supplementary data, the method comprising:

• allocating a reserved number of channels for transmitting the multichannel audio from the primary source;
• determining the number of unused channels;
• communicating a header initially before transmission and at regular intervals indicating the unused channels, wherein the communicating of the header comprises incorporating the number of channels used for the surround sound signals from the primary source, inserting the number of supplementary channels used for the supplementary data from the secondary source, adding channel allocation details, and appending information regarding the consumption of secondary data by a recipient device;
• transmitting the multi-channel audio from the primary source in the reserved number of channels;
• and
• sending the supplementary data from the secondary source at least one of the unused channels.

A method of operating a surround sound audio processing system that comprises a primary source capable of providing a multi-channel audio and a secondary source capable of providing a supplementary data, the method comprising:

• allocating a reserved number of channels for transmitting the multichannel audio from the primary source;
• determining the number of unused channels;
• communicating a header initially before transmission and at regular intervals indicating the unused channels;
• transmitting the multi-channel audio from the primary source in the reserved number of channels;
• and
• sending the supplementary data from the secondary source at least one of the unused channels, wherein the supplementary data is configured to control a receiver, provide synchronization information to synchronize a transmitter and the receiver, or communicate information between the transmitter, receiver, or communication network.

A surround sound audio processing system with a transmitter component and a receiver component, the surround sound audio processing system comprising:

• digital channels;
• a primary source;
• a secondary source;
• and
• a channel-allocating unit that allocates the digital channels between the primary source and the secondary source,
• wherein the surround sound audio processing system is configured to adaptively multiplex signals from the primary source and the secondary source to produce a single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the transmitter component transmits the single digital multiplexed transmission signal, wherein the receiver component is configured to receive transmitted multi-channel audio for down mixing to other channels, and wherein the multiplexed transmission signal is configured to be selectively stored and reproduced by a user.