System and method for determining operational status of power-over-ethernet powered loudspeakers in an audio distribution sytem

Abstract

A system and method are described herein, for determining operational status of one or more power-over-Ethernet powered loudspeakers, the system and method comprising: receiving audio data at an audio receiver; transmitting the received audio data from the audio receiver to one or more audio data interface devices using an audio-over-Internet Protocol (AoIP) encoding scheme using an Ethernet cable; receiving the transmitted AoIP encoded audio data at audio data interface device, converting the encoded audio data to an analog audio data signal, transmitting the analog audio data signal to at least one loudspeaker, and broadcasting the same as an acoustic audio signal; substantially continuously receiving and storing status information by a status monitor located in the audio data interface device; and transmitting the received and stored status information to the audio receiver.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for determining operational status of one or more power-over-Ethernet powered loudspeakers, the method comprising:
 receiving audio data at an audio receiver;   transmitting the received audio data from the audio receiver to one or more audio data interface devices using an audio-over-Internet Protocol (AoIP) encoding scheme using an Ethernet cable;   receiving the transmitted AoIP encoded audio data at audio data interface device, converting the encoded audio data to an analog audio data signal, transmitting the analog audio data signal to at least one loudspeaker, and broadcasting the same as an acoustic audio signal;   substantially continuously receiving and storing status information by a status monitor located in the audio data interface device; and   transmitting the received and stored status information to the audio receiver.   
     
     
         2 . A system for determining operational status of one or more power-over-Ethernet powered loudspeakers, comprising:
 an audio receiver;   at least one processor that is part of the audio receiver;   a memory operatively connected with the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to execute a method that comprises:
 receiving audio data at an audio receiver; 
 transmitting the received audio data from the audio receiver to one or more audio data interface devices using an audio-over-Internet Protocol (AoIP) encoding scheme using an Ethernet cable; 
 receiving the transmitted AoIP encoded audio data at audio data interface device, converting the encoded audio data to an analog audio data signal, transmitting the analog audio data signal to at least one loudspeaker, and broadcasting the same as an acoustic audio signal; 
 substantially continuously receiving and storing status information by a status monitor located in the audio data interface device; and 
 transmitting the received and stored status information to the audio receiver.