阅读说明：本技术 管理至少一个音频回放装备群的方法 (Method of managing at least one group of audio playback equipment ) 是由 J·伯格 G·波维涅 于 2021-03-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种管理至少一个音频回放装备群的方法,所述音频回放装备群包括配备有发光标识接口的至少一个音频回放装备件,所述方法包括以下步骤：使用该音频回放装备件的发光标识接口(1)显示至少该装备件所属的群的光图案(2)特征和/或该装备件在所述群内的角色的特征；在诸音频回放装备件中的至少一者被选择的情况下,执行与相关联的该音频回放装备件相关的动作。(A method of managing at least one group of audio playback equipment comprising at least one piece of audio playback equipment equipped with a lighted identification interface, the method comprising the steps of: displaying, using the light-emitting identification interface (1) of the audio playback equipment, at least the characteristics of the light pattern (2) of the group to which the equipment belongs and/or the characteristics of the role of the equipment within said group; in the event that at least one of the audio playback equipment is selected, an action is performed with respect to the associated audio playback equipment.)

1. A method of managing at least one group of audio playback equipment comprising at least one piece of audio playback equipment equipped with a lighted identification interface, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying, using a light-emitting identification interface (1) of the audio playback equipment, at least a light pattern feature (2) of a group to which the equipment belongs and/or a feature of a character of the equipment within the group, the pattern being subsequently defined by a shape and/or a flash and/or an animation;

in the event that at least one of the audio playback equipment is selected, an action is performed with respect to the associated audio playback equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying different variations of a common pattern associated with the group using lighted identification interfaces of audio playback equipment pieces belonging to the same group.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the audio playback device is selected by direct manipulation of the audio playback device.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the audio playback device is selected by operation of a graphical control interface.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the graphical control interface is different from the audio playback equipment.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, including the step of displaying symbols representing the light patterns and hence associated with corresponding audio playback equipment pieces.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the audio playback device is selected by selecting the symbol via a graphical interface.

8. A method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the symbol is equivalent to the light pattern with which it is associated.

9. A method, according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein said symbol is similar to the light pattern with which it is associated.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the operation comprises operating a light pattern of the audio playback equipment piece to modify it.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the operation comprises causing the selected piece of audio playback equipment to play an audio stream.

12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, comprising the additional step of storing a user's selection.

13. The method according to any of the claims 1 to 12, comprising the additional step of the audio playback device displaying a temporary light pattern (2) when selected by a user and before the user verifies the selection.

14. A device comprising a graphical control interface for performing at least the step of displaying a pattern in the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the device is a mobile phone or a tablet or a computer.

16. An audio playback device comprising a light emitting identification interface for performing at least the step of displaying a light pattern of the method of any of claims 1 to 13.

17. The piece of equipment of claim 16 wherein the lighted identification interface includes at least two LEDs.

18. The piece of equipment of claim 16 or claim 17 wherein the lighted identification interface is disposed on a top surface of the audio playback piece of equipment.

19. A computer program comprising instructions for performing the method of any of claims 1 to 13.

20. A computer-readable storage medium on which the computer program of claim 19 is stored.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of audio playback via one or more audio playback devices.

Background

In modern home multimedia installations it is very common today to connect set-top box (STB) type decoder equipment to one or more pieces of audio playback equipment.

In particular, the audio playback devices may thus be used to play the same audio stream simultaneously, thereby improving the listening experience for the user. For example, audio playback equipment may be arranged in two different rooms in a home, where audio streams are played simultaneously by two different pieces of equipment, and then the user is enabled to move between the two rooms without interrupting listening.

However, such facilities require grouping of audio playback equipment together in order to manage such simultaneous playing of audio streams by different audio playback equipment. It is therefore appropriate that the user be able to easily identify the different pieces of audio playback equipment so that they can be grouped together in the desired manner.

For this purpose, it is proposed to rely on the serial number of each audio playback device. Specifically, the serial number is typically printed on a label under the audio playback equipment or on its back where the serial number can be read by the user.

However, the tags are difficult to access when using the audio playback equipment pieces, making identification more complicated for the user.

It has also been proposed to have each audio playback device play a different sound to make it easier to identify. Unfortunately, again, such solutions cannot be used when the audio playback equipment is in use, at least without temporarily interrupting the playback of the audio stream.

Object of the Invention

It is an object of the invention to propose a method of managing at least one group of audio playback equipment that makes it easy to identify the piece(s) of audio playback equipment during the initial phase of creating the group and subsequently during the phase of using said group.

Disclosure of Invention

To achieve this object, the invention provides a method of managing at least one audio playback equipment group comprising at least one audio playback equipment piece equipped with a luminous identification interface, said method comprising the steps of:

displaying, using a light emitting identification interface of the audio playback equipment, at least a light pattern characteristic of a group to which the equipment belongs and/or a characteristic of a character of the equipment within the group;

in the event that at least one of the audio playback equipment is selected, an action is performed with respect to the associated audio playback equipment.

As a result, the use of the illuminated identification interface of the audio playback device(s) to facilitate identification is equally good when not in the listening phase (e.g., during an initialization phase of creating a cluster) or in the listening phase (e.g., to incorporate a new audio playback device into an existing cluster). In particular, sound playback of an audio stream played by an audio playback equipment is not degraded with a light-emitting identification interface.

With the present invention, a group of audio playback equipment may contain only one piece of audio playback equipment, depending on the configuration request of the user.

Optionally, the audio playback device is selected by direct manipulation of the audio playback device.

Optionally, the audio playback equipment piece is selected by operating a graphical control interface.

Optionally, the graphical control interface is different from the audio playback equipment.

Optionally, the method comprises the step of displaying a symbol representing the light pattern and thus associated with the corresponding audio playback device.

Optionally, the audio playback device is selected by selecting the symbol via a graphical interface.

Optionally, the symbol is identical to the light pattern associated therewith.

Optionally, the symbol is similar to the light pattern associated therewith.

Optionally, the action comprises manipulating a light pattern of the audio playback equipment piece to modify it.

Optionally, the action includes causing the selected audio playback device to play an audio stream.

Optionally, the method includes the additional step of storing the user's selection.

Optionally, the method includes the additional step of the audio playback device displaying a temporary light pattern when the user selects it and before the user verifies the selection.

Optionally, the light pattern is defined by shape and/or color and/or flashing and/or animation.

The invention provides a device comprising a graphical control interface for performing at least the step of displaying a pattern in the above method.

Optionally, the device is a mobile phone or tablet or computer.

The invention also provides an audio playback device comprising a light emitting identification interface for performing at least the step of displaying a light pattern of the above method.

Optionally, the light emitting identification interface comprises at least two Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

Optionally, the illuminated identification interface is disposed on a top surface of the audio playback equipment piece.

The invention also provides a computer program comprising instructions enabling the above method to be performed.

The present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium having the above-described computer program stored thereon.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following description of specific, non-limiting implementations of the invention.

Drawings

The invention may be better understood in light of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a room in which a facility enabling the implementation of the present invention is disposed;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the audio playback equipment in the facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates, by way of non-limiting indication, various different light patterns that may be displayed by the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the steps of a first implementation of the present invention performed by the facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a command for implementing one of the steps illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating steps of a second implementation of the present invention performed by the facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows the top of two audio playback devices belonging to the same group and participating in the second implementation shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating steps of a third implementation of the present invention performed by the facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating steps of a fourth implementation of the present invention performed by the facility shown in FIG. 1.

Detailed Description

With reference to fig. 1, the following is a description of an example of a facility in which the invention can be implemented.

The solution is installed in the home of the user and in this example comprises an audio source such as the decoder device 12 and at least two audio playback devices. Furthermore, the installation comprises a movable device 11 that can be moved in the home, which device 11 is equipped with a graphical interface for controlling at least the audio playback equipment pieces and preferably the entire installation.

In this example, the facility has five audio playback equipment pieces 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105. Furthermore, in this example, the decoder apparatus 12 does not comprise any audio playback apparatus: each audio playback equipment piece forms a different entity in communication with decoder equipment 12. In the described example, only a portion of the facility can be found in any one room. Typically, the decoder arrangement 12 is arranged in a living room with a first audio playback device 101 for the left channel on one side and a second audio playback device 102 for the right channel on the other side (where "left" and "right" are considered from the perspective of the user rather than the decoder arrangement 12). As for the third, fourth and fifth equipment pieces 103, 104 and 105, they are arranged in the second room, the third room and the fourth room, respectively.

In this example, the decoder equipment 12 is a decoder box and the audio playback equipment pieces are speakers external to and connected to the decoder box. In this example, the device 11 is a smartphone and the graphical control interface is a touch screen of said smartphone.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, each audio playback equipment piece is equipped with a light-emitting identification interface 1, by way of example, the light-emitting identification interface 1 being disposed on a top face of the corresponding audio playback equipment piece (i.e., a face on a floor or rack (such as a piece of furniture) away from where the audio playback equipment is placed).

The illuminated sign interface 1 has one or more light-emitting elements 2 of the LED type (only some of which are cited). Thus, the illuminated sign interface 1 has a plurality of LEDs. For example, the illuminated sign interface 1 has 8 to 18 LEDs, for example 10 to 15 LEDs. In this example, the illuminated sign interface 1 has 12 LEDs.

In this example, the LEDs together form a ring-shaped pattern, which is thus arranged on the top surface of the corresponding audio playback equipment piece.

Each LED may be configured to display only one color, or may be configured to be capable of displaying multiple colors (e.g., colors as possible using red, green, blue (RGB) LEDs), independent of other LEDs of the same illuminated sign interface 1.

In service, decoder equipment 12 collects one or more incoming audio streams, possibly from one or more broadcast networks. The broadcast network may be a variety of sources: satellite, cable, Internet Protocol (IP), Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) network, internet connection, and the like. Alternatively or additionally, the decoder arrangement 12 comprises a memory area with one or more audio streams stored locally therein.

Each audio playback device is connected to an audio output of the decoder device 12. The term "audio output" is used to mean the following output: the decoder arrangement 12 applies at least one audio stream to the output to enable playback of audio via the (at least) one audio playback device, e.g. upon receipt of a corresponding command from the device 11. Thus, each audio playback equipment piece comprises its own processor device for processing the audio stream delivered by the decoder equipment 12.

In this example, the communication channel that communicates audio signals between decoder equipment 12 and each piece of audio playback equipment is a wireless channel. In other variations, the communication channel may be of a wired type (e.g., ethernet). Any type of technique may be used to provide this channel: optical, radio, etc. The channel may thus use a variety of different "computer" protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, UPnP, airlay, Chromecast, Wi-Fi, etc.). Thus and according to a non-limiting option, each audio playback device is connected to the decoder device 12 via a local network. As an example, the local network is a Wi-Fi type wireless network (i.e., the communication channel between the decoder equipment and the audio playback equipment is a Wi-Fi link). In another variant, the local network comprises a Wi-Fi router to which decoder equipment 12 is connected via an ethernet-type wired connection and/or via a Wi-Fi-type wireless connection, and to each audio playback equipment piece via a Wi-Fi-type wireless connection.

In the same way, the device 11 can communicate with the decoder arrangement 12 and the respective audio playback devices 11a and 11b, preferably by wireless communication. Any type of technology may be used to provide such communication: optical, radio, etc. This communication may thus use a variety of different "computer" protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, UPnP, Airplay, Chromecast, Wi-Fi, etc.). Thus, and according to a non-limiting option, the device 11 is also connected to the decoder arrangement 12 and the respective audio playback devices via the local network.

The following describes how the various audio playback equipment pieces in the facility are managed. In particular, a user may wish to group certain audio playback equipment pieces together so that they play the same audio stream.

For example, a user may wish to group the first and second audio equipment pieces 101 and 102 together such that the first equipment piece 101 plays the left channel and the second equipment piece 102 plays the right channel of the same stereo first audio stream delivered by the decoder equipment 12, the two equipment pieces 101 and 102 then playing in a synchronized manner. For example, a user may wish to group the other two pieces of equipment 103 and 104 with the stereo pair 101 and 102 such that each of the pieces of equipment 103 and 104 plays the entire first audio stream in a synchronized manner with the stereo pair 101 and 102. Thus, the user can move between the first room, the second room, and the third room without interrupting listening. For example, the user may also choose to have the fifth piece of equipment 105 independent of the other four pieces of equipment 101, 102, 103, and 104, so as to play a second audio stream in the fifth room, which is different from the first audio stream.

In a variant, the user may choose to:

the first and second audio equipment pieces 101 and 102 are grouped together such that the first equipment piece 101 plays the left channel and the second equipment piece 102 plays the right channel of the same stereo first audio stream delivered by the decoder equipment 12, the two equipment pieces 101 and 102 then playing in a synchronized manner.

The third, fourth and fifth equipment pieces 103, 104 and 105 are grouped together such that the three equipment pieces 103, 104 and 105 play the same second audio stream delivered by the decoder equipment 12, which second audio stream is different from the first audio stream, the three equipment pieces 103, 104 and 105 then playing in a mutually synchronized manner (but independently of the first and second equipment pieces 101 and 102).

In this case, it is preferable to be able to assist the user in identifying the audio playback equipment pieces and the way they are grouped together so that the user can better manage them.

Thus, when a user requests identification of a group of audio playback equipment, the device 11 commands each audio playback equipment piece to use its light emitting identification interface to display a light pattern that is characteristic of at least the group to which the audio playback equipment piece belongs. In this example, the light pattern is created by the LEDs of the piece of equipment in question.

The user can thus easily visualize the audio playback equipment groups and their organization in the home.

In addition, in this example, the device 11 displays as many symbols as patterns on its graphical control interface. Each symbol is the same as, or similar to, the associated pattern.

The user may thus easily select one or more groups of audio playback equipment by tapping on displayed symbols on the graphical control interface, the displayed symbols corresponding to the associated pattern and thus the associated group.

Depending on the user's selection, the device 11 may generate one or more action commands to draw attention to the decoder arrangement 12 and/or one or more audio playback devices, the actions being associated with the selected group of audio playback devices.

It is thus simple and fast for the user to manage the audio playback equipment.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a light pattern that can be displayed by the illuminated sign interface 1. For example, the pattern may consist of one segment of the ring, two segments of the ring (which may be opposite, adjacent or separate), every other segment over a portion or all of the perimeter of the ring, … ….

These patterns may be generated by turning some LEDs on while others are off, or by having some LEDs of a first color and others of a second color.

The pattern may also be steady, blinking (e.g., by blinking one or more LEDs) or actually animated (e.g., the pattern may be formed by having a single LED turned on at a time, with each LED turned on in sequence to create the illusion that the pattern is rotating around the circumference of a ring).

Thus, a pattern is defined by its shape and/or its color and/or its blinking and/or its animation.

The symbols rendered on the graphical control interface may then accurately render patterns such as those shown by way of example in fig. 3 (optionally with corresponding flashing and/or animation), or they may be similar to but different from the patterns (e.g., rendering shapes and/or colors without any flashing and/or animation). In another example of similar but not identical symbols, if the audio playback equipment pieces in a given cluster are characterized by a pattern of the same color (e.g., the pattern is blue), the symbol may optionally be a simple blue dot, without equivalently reproducing the pattern generated by the illuminated identification interface of the cluster.

Thus, various configurations may be envisaged:

defining a respective cluster for each audio playback device, so that each cluster comprises only one audio playback device and commands a different pattern to be displayed for each cluster, thereby enabling each audio playback device to be identified individually;

a different pattern to be displayed is commanded for each group of audio playback equipment, wherein any audio playback equipment pieces belonging to the same group subsequently display the same pattern, thereby enabling identification of the different groups;

different patterns to be displayed for each audio playback equipment group command, wherein any audio playback equipment pieces belonging to the same group then all display different variations of the same pattern associated with the group, thereby enabling identification of not only the different groups, but individual audio playback equipment pieces as well.

As described above, the device 11 delivers a display command to each audio playback device. Such commands may be passed using a control protocol such as the JavaScript object notation remote procedure call (JSON-RPC) protocol or indeed the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) protocol.

Thus, FIG. 5 gives an example of a display command in the JSON-RPC protocol sent by the device 11 to the audio playback equipment. In this example, the display command informs each LED of the audio playback equipment which state it will have (a state selected from three states: on, off, and blinking) so that the audio playback equipment can reproduce a particular pattern to enable the equipment to be identified, and in particular to enable the group to which it belongs to be determined.

For example, each audio playback equipment in a given group may display a pattern characteristic of the group with at least one LED thereof flashing (the flashing LED subsequently varies from audio playback equipment to audio playback equipment in the given group), and/or each audio playback equipment in the given group may display a pattern characteristic of the group with at least one LED thereof having a color different from the color of the other LEDs (the color of the isolated LED subsequently varies from audio playback equipment to audio playback equipment, and/or the position of the isolated LED relative to the rest of the ring varies from audio playback equipment to audio playback equipment), and/or each audio playback equipment in the given group may display a pattern of a different shape but having a color that is characteristic of the group (the color varies from group to group, and the pattern shape varies from audio playback equipment to equipment), and/or each audio playback equipment in the given group may display a flashing pattern characteristic but having a different shape and/or animation characteristic of the group (flashing LED from audio playback equipment to audio playback equipment, and/or from audio playback equipment to audio playback equipment in the given group may display a different shape but having the group And/or animation from group to group, while pattern shape changes from equipment to equipment).

Non-limiting examples of action commands that may be generated by a device for transmission to decoder equipment and/or one or more pieces of audio playback equipment are described below, the actions relating to a user-selected group of audio playback equipment.

Optionally, the action(s) to be performed is selected by the user from a generic menu displayed on the graphical control interface. For example, the generic menu presents a list of different possible actions (creating a new group of at least two audio playback equipment pieces, modifying an existing group, assigning a particular role to an audio playback equipment piece in an existing group or modifying such a role, having a group of equipment play an audio stream, etc.). Thus, if the user clicks on one of these actions, the device will perform various steps so that the action is performed.

Referring to fig. 4, a first possible action is to create a new cluster of at least two audio playback devices.

To this end, during a first step 41, the device 11 determines which pieces of audio playback equipment are present on the local network and constructs a corresponding list, which may have optionally specified already existing groups of audio playback equipment.

To this end, the device 11 may implement various protocols. For example, the device 11 may utilize a multicast domain name system (mDNS) type protocol that waits for each piece of audio playback equipment to announce its availability by issuing conventional "multicast" messages (i.e., messages that can be received by all peripheral devices connected to the local network, i.e., the device 11, the piece of audio playback equipment, and the decoder equipment 12 in this example). : thus, the device 11 can listen to these messages and can easily build a list of audio playback devices present on the local network. Typically, the device 11 has a processor means installed with "Bonjour" or "Avahi" software enabling such mDNS protocol.

As a variant or in addition, the device 11 may implement other protocols to determine which audio playback pieces of equipment are available, such as for example the UPnP protocol, in which pieces of equipment also indicate their presence by means of ssdp: alive type messages, possibly in response to an equipment SEARCH initiated by the device 11 itself, such as by using M-SEARCH messages.

During a second step 42, the device 11 assigns a cluster to each piece of audio playback equipment that is not yet part of the cluster, so that each new cluster comprises only one piece of audio playback equipment. Furthermore, the device 11 assigns a different light pattern to each group (whether new or already existing) and sends a command to display the corresponding light pattern to each group via its graphical identification interface 1.

During a third step 43, device 11 has its own graphics controller interface displaying symbols corresponding to the various light patterns of the audio playback device.

This enables the user to correctly identify each audio playback equipment piece (the only equipment piece in its cluster) that is isolated, making it easier for the user to select the symbols corresponding to the audio playback equipment pieces that are to be grouped together.

During a fourth step 44, when the user verifies the selection, the device 11 creates a new cluster with the audio playback device with the selected symbol.

Optionally, during a fifth step 45, device 11 sends a command to all audio playback devices in the newly created group to display the same pattern representing the new group. This pattern may be the pattern assigned to one of the audio playback devices in the new group and copied by the other audio playback devices in the new group during the second step 42, or it may be any other pattern.

Thus, the user can easily create a group of audio playback devices and can then also easily visualize the group, since all audio playback devices will display the same pattern.

In a variant of the first action, an additional step 41' is inserted between the first step 41 and the second step 42. This additional step 41' includes the device 11 removing from the list all audio playback equipment parts already present in the existing group. The other steps are adapted accordingly.

As a result, the user can create new clusters more easily since the number of symbols displayed on the graphical control interface is thus smaller.

Referring to fig. 6, a second possible action is to assign different roles to at least two audio playback devices belonging to the same cluster. This makes it possible, for example, to define a stereo pair of audio playback devices by assigning the left channel of a stereo audio stream to a first audio playback device in a given cluster and by assigning the right channel of the same stream to a second audio playback device in the same cluster. In a more general way, it is therefore possible to allocate different channels of a type 3.1 or 5.1 multi-channel system to different audio playback devices in the same cluster.

To this end, during a first step 51, the device 11 determines which audio playback devices belong to which groups. This first step 51 is equivalent in description to the first step 41, wherein an alternative variant is to hide at least those groups comprising only one isolated audio playback device, or to hide all groups except a single group with at least two audio playback devices (e.g. a group stored as a "master" group, such as a group of audio playback devices present in the living room of the home).

In a second step 52, the device 11 determines whether any roles have been previously assigned to each audio playback device in the reserved group. If not, the device 11 may optionally assign any role to the piece of equipment.

In a third step 53, the device 11 sends a command to each audio playback device in the reserved group to display a pattern representative of its associated group. If a character has been assigned to one of the audio playback devices (previously or arbitrarily assigned in the second step 52), the device 11 sends a command to display a variation of the pattern representing the associated group, which itself represents the character of that audio playback device in the group.

Fig. 7 shows an example of a possible variation of a given pattern that may be used to identify stereo pairs of audio playback equipment. The two audio playback equipment pieces in the stereo pair then turn on three LEDs in a T-shaped arrangement (i.e., two facing LEDs are on with the LED disposed between the two LEDs, the other LEDs are off): the T-shaped arrangement is a pattern associated with its population. Further, the left audio playback equipment piece 101 to be associated with the left channel has its left LED blinking while the other two LEDs remain stable, while the right audio playback equipment piece 102 associated with the right channel has its right LED blinking while the other two LEDs remain stable. This flicker is therefore a variation of the pattern associated with the group (where the pattern of all three LEDs is stable).

It can thus be appreciated that identifying corresponding groups can be combined with identifying roles within the groups.

This is found to be particularly practical when the right and left audio playback equipment are stereo pairs in a group that also has a third audio playback equipment acting as mono equipment. In particular, it is sufficient to associate a T-shaped pattern with the third audio playback device of the group (and therefore not having any particular role), and to associate a flashing T-shaped pattern with the right and left audio playback devices.

In another example, the right audio playback equipment piece may open a blue right segment, the left audio playback equipment piece may open a blue left segment, and the third audio playback equipment piece may open the entire blue ring. Thus, the pattern associated with the group is a complete blue ring, and variations of the pattern include only a small portion of the open ring.

In a fourth step 54, the device 11 uses its graphical control interface to display symbols associated with at least the audio playback devices belonging to the reserved group.

In a fifth step 55, if the user selects one of these symbols, for example to request a change of the role of the associated audio playback equipment, the device 11 sends a command to the respective equipment to display the pattern or variant corresponding to its new role. For example, when exchanging the roles of the right and left audio playback equipment pieces, the device 11 sends to each of the equipment pieces a respective command to change the blinking LED.

Thus, it is easy to assign the same role to a plurality of different audio playback devices: in particular, during the fifth step, it is sufficient for the user to select a plurality of symbols.

In a sixth step 56, when the user verifies the new configuration, the device 11 records the role of each audio playback device in the group in question.

In a first variant, as set forth above for the first action, the device 11 may wait for the user to verify the configuration before commanding a change in the pattern or a variant of the pattern corresponding to the new character assigned to the audio playback device. In a variant, it is also possible, in the same way as for the first action, to modify the pattern (or pattern variant) as soon as the user makes a selection, even before the new configuration has been verified, as proposed above for the second action.

Fig. 8 shows a second variant of implementing the second action.

The first four steps 71, 72, 73 and 74 are the same as described above for the first four steps 51, 52, 53 and 54.

In contrast, in a fifth step 75, the user does not directly select one of the symbols by pressing the touch screen (i.e. by acting on the device 11), but indirectly selects the symbol by acting directly on the audio playback device. For example, a user may press one or more buttons of an intended audio playback equipment piece. In a variant, the fourth step of displaying the symbol is not implemented.

Thereafter, the audio playback device in question sends a notification to the device 11.

Thus, it is easy to assign the same role to a plurality of different audio playback devices: in particular, during the fifth step 75, it is sufficient for the user to select the same pattern by pressing a plurality of audio playback devices.

During a sixth step 76, device 11 then sends a command to the piece of equipment in question to display the pattern or variant corresponding to the new role of the piece of equipment. For example, when exchanging the roles of the right and left audio playback equipment pieces, the device 11 sends to each of the equipment pieces a respective command to change the blinking LED.

In a seventh step 77, when the user verifies the new configuration, the device 11 records the role of each audio playback device in the group in question.

Referring to fig. 9, a third possible action is to have multiple different audio playback devices play the audio stream.

To this end, during a first step 81, the device 11 determines the available group of audio playback equipment. For example, the first step 81 is the same as the first action step 41.

In a second step 82, the device 11 sends to each audio playback device a command to display a pattern (or pattern variation) representative of the group with which it is associated.

In a third step 83, the device 11 causes its graphical control interface to display symbols associated with each group.

This enables the user to correctly identify the groups, making it easier to select the symbols corresponding to the groups before playing the same audio stream.

During a fourth step 84, when the user verifies the selection, the device 11 records the user's selection.

In a fifth step 85, the device 11 thus sends an activation command to the decoder equipment 12 containing a list of activated groups, so that the decoder equipment 12 sends the corresponding audio streams to the audio playback equipment pieces of said activated groups.

The above description shows that the facility makes it possible to control actions, and the described example is not limiting. Naturally, the invention is not limited to the implementations and embodiments described above, and variations may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention.

Thus, although as described above the decoder arrangement is a decoder box, the decoder arrangement may be any other arrangement capable of performing audio/video decoding, such as an audio/video decoder, a digital video decoder, and it may for example be a game console, a computer, a smart tv, a digital tablet, a mobile phone, a digital tv decoder, a set-top box, etc. In general, although the audio source described above is a decoder equipment, the audio source may be any other equipment capable of providing an audio stream to an audio playback equipment piece, such as a digital hi-fi system.

Although the audio source and the device are described above as being distinct, the source and the device may form part of the same unit. Thus, it may be a device that delivers the audio stream directly to at least one of the audio playback devices. For example, the audio source may be an application running in a smartphone type device. Also, the audio source and the graphical control interface may be incorporated into a single STB decoder, with the graphical control interface being displayed on the television set and controlled by the remote control of the STB decoder.

Although the audio source is different from all of the audio playback devices, at least one of the audio source and the audio playback devices need not be different and may form portions of the same unit. This applies, for example, if the audio playback device(s) directly process audio streams from an external network of the internet type. It is thus possible that one or more audio playback devices constitute intelligent audio playback devices (such as "smart speakers"), which can thus operate without decoder equipment, since they directly include the ability to access the audio source, where these devices directly play the audio stream, whether from an external network of the internet type or directly from a local network.

Although the device described above is different from all of the audio playback equipment pieces, at least one of the device and the audio playback equipment pieces need not be different and may form parts of the same unit.

Thus, it is possible to have at least the device, the audio playback equipment and the audio source in a single unit, which equipment will not be different.

The facility may likewise have multiple audio sources and/or multiple devices, it being understood that the audio sources, devices and audio playback equipment pieces may be coupled together in one or more units.

Although the device described above is a mobile phone, the device may be any other element provided with or connected to a graphical control interface. Thus, the device may be of various types: a dedicated device, a mobile phone or tablet executing a dedicated application, a computer executing a dedicated application, or some other device (game console, digital television decoder, smart television, … …) operating in a dedicated manner or executing a dedicated application.

It is possible to interact with the graphical control interface directly by touching it or indirectly using a control element such as a remote control, joystick, stylus, keyboard, mouse, … …. Thus, the symbol may be selected directly or indirectly.

The present invention does not require the use of a display on the graphical control interface. For example, in an initial phase, each audio playback device may display a different pattern by default. The user may then press a button of the audio playback device to select it and modify the displayed pattern. If the user modifies the pattern until it reaches the pattern that some other audio playback device has displayed, then the two devices are grouped together. The audio playback devices displaying the same pattern are grouped together and play the same thing.

Furthermore, although the audio playback equipment described above is an external smart speaker, it may be some other equipment having a speaker, such as a speaker other than a smart speaker, a soundbar, an audio system connected to a Wi-Fi/audio bridge, …, thereby providing audio playback equipment that includes a lighted identification interface. It is assumed that audio playback devices with the same pattern (including variations) together form a cluster. The light emitting elements may be shapes and arrangements other than those described, such as, for example, a matrix arrangement, a column arrangement, … …. The light emitting elements may be placed at a location other than the top of the audio playback equipment, such as on the front of the equipment, or indeed behind the fabric covering a portion of the audio playback equipment. Thus, it would be possible to have an arrangement of light emitting elements in two columns on both sides of the front face of the item of equipment, or indeed a matrix arrangement, potentially behind the acoustic fabric.

Although the above-described light pattern must be characteristic of the group to which the audio playback device belongs (and optionally also of the character of the device in the group), it may be provided that the pattern is not characteristic of the group to which the audio playback device belongs, but is only characteristic of the character of the audio playback device in the group (for example, it is possible to display a pattern representing the geographical position (such as right or left) of the audio playback device). The number of audio playback equipment and/or audio sources and/or devices and/or graphical control interfaces may be greater than the above-mentioned number.

The communications described above may be via a wired connection rather than via a wireless connection.

Commands may be sent from the device to the audio playback equipment pieces directly or indirectly via an audio source. Commands may also be transmitted from the audio source to the audio playback equipment pieces either directly or indirectly via the device communication.

The light pattern may remain permanently displayed on the audio playback equipment. Thus, for example, a user may intuitively remember that an audio playback device that displays a blue pattern constitutes parts of the same cluster, while some other audio playback device that displays an orange pattern is the only device in its cluster, and indeed another audio playback device that displays a green pattern is also the only device in its cluster.

In a variant, the light pattern no longer needs to be displayed once the user has verified the configuration (immediately or after a given time interval), or the light pattern can be displayed with reduced brightness once the user has verified the given configuration (immediately or after a given time interval).

Independently of the user authentication, in the case of the audio playback device in question being put on standby, the pattern may likewise no longer be displayed or may be displayed with reduced or non-reduced brightness.

Preferably, it is also possible, independently of user authentication and standby or the equipment, to no longer display the pattern or to display the pattern with reduced or no reduced brightness in the case of the audio playback equipment in question playing an audio stream.

Also, although it has been explained above that the device commands the audio playback device to display a pattern at the beginning of each action, this step need not be implemented by the device. For example, the display pattern may be permanent at the beginning of each action, or it may be automatic in nature. The automatic display may be triggered in a number of ways, such as while playback is in progress, and/or:

when the user presses one of the audio playback devices; and/or

When the user presses the graphical control interface; and/or

When the playing of the audio content is started by any means other than the device, such as for example a command sent through a local or wide area network (LAN or WAN); and/or

In general, when the audio playback equipment receives a command via any means other than the device, such as, for example, a command sent over a network.

Furthermore, upon starting to set up a given action, all available audio playback equipment may be identified again, or the identification may begin with a list of available equipment and/or groups that have been made and stored in memory in the facility (e.g., in the source and/or in the device and/or at least one audio playback equipment), which may optionally be updated when new audio playback equipment is incorporated into the facility.

Further, random patterns may be assigned to available audio playback equipment at the beginning of each action setup, or patterns may be assigned from a list of pattern/equipment assignments that have been made and stored in memory in the facility (e.g., in the source and/or in at least one of the device and/or audio playback equipment), which may optionally be updated when new audio playback equipment is incorporated into the facility. In such a case, when a user requests a new action, the audio playback device that already has the assigned pattern directly displays the pattern.

As described above, the symbols displayed on the graphical control interface may be selected by interacting directly with the interface (by pressing it or via a control element) or indirectly with the audio playback equipment (selecting a button typically carried on the equipment) and sending messages between the equipment and the graphical control interface.

Optionally, for any desired action, it is possible to insert additional steps for the user to view a selection of one or more clusters and/or audio playback equipment pieces. For example, each time the user adds or removes a symbol from the selection, the device then sends a command to the corresponding audio playback equipment piece and/or group to temporarily modify the pattern displayed by the equipment piece in question. For example, when the user selects a symbol, the device sends a command to the corresponding audio playback equipment piece and/or group to flash the pattern that the audio playback equipment piece has displayed, and/or when the user removes a symbol from the selection, the device sends a command to the corresponding audio playback equipment piece and/or group to stop flashing the pattern; this operation continues until the user verifies the selection. Alternatively, each time the user selects or deselects a symbol, the device sends a command to the corresponding audio playback device and/or group to flash the pattern being displayed some limited number of times (e.g., two or three times).

For example, such optional steps may be interposed between the third step and the fourth step when performing the first action, interposed between the fifth step when performing the second action, interposed between the third step and the fourth step when performing the third action, … ….

The display may have the same number of symbols as the audio playback equipment, or fewer symbols or more symbols. For example, the number of symbols displayed may be the same as the number of clusters, with a single symbol then being associated with multiple audio playback equipment pieces in the same cluster.

Actions other than those described may be implemented, such as, for example, merging new audio playback equipment pieces in an existing group, or actually reconfiguring the facility completely.

For each action, as the user modifies the role of a given audio playback equipment piece, the organization of the groups, creates a new group … …, it is possible to modify the symbols associated with a given group or the equipment in order to match the symbols with a new pattern (or a variant thereof) associated with the group or the audio playback equipment piece. For example, the notation may be modified in this manner during the fourth step when the first action is performed, during the fourth step when the second action is performed, during the third step when the third action is performed … ….

Naturally, the various embodiments, implementations, options, … … described above may be combined with each other. For example, a first action may be implemented while allowing the pattern to be displayed in a variant, as in a second action.