Apple Inc.

Felipe Ferreri Tonello

Daniel C Klingler

Adam E Kriegel

Girault W Jones

Brett D George

Michael F Jean

A system and method to process audio data received over the ARC or eARC interface of HDMI from audio sources are provided. A media device may receive compressed audio data in a number of data formats. The media device may convert between the audio formats provided by the audio sources and the audio formats supported by audio playback devices. The media device may inspect frames of audio data to determine if the frames are to be decoded. The frame may be decoded and subsequently encoded into the data formats supported by the audio playback devices. To reduce latency, the media device may enable a pass-through mode to bypass the decoding of the frames to allow the frames to be decoded at the audio playback devices. A bi-directional loopback application may route audio data received over the ARC or eARC interface from the audio sources to the audio playback devices.

Audio return channel data loopback

A system and method to mitigate the temporary loss of the input sampling clocks when receiving audio data over the ARC or eARC interface of HDMI are provided. A media device may substitute an externally generated clock derived from a local crystal oscillator of the media device for the missing input sampling clock. The external clock may be synchronized to the frequency of the input sampling clock. The media device may synchronize the external clock to the audio data when there is a loss of the input sampling clock. When the input sampling clock of the audio data reappears, the media device may switch back from the external clock to the input sampling clock. When transitioning between the input sampling clock and the external clock, the media device may insert zero padding into the audio data samples to mute any potential glitch in the sound from an audio playback device.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Felipe Ferreri Tonello