SoundWIRE is a novel and improved system for measuring, evaluating, and presenting Internet connection information in real time. SoundWIRE also provides a technique for evaluating quality of service (QoS) of a network connection.

Users can easily evaluate Internet connections by using a virtual network connection to implement a tone synthesis loop, then driving the synthesis loop to produce musical tones. The virtual network connection is analogous to the string of a musical instrument. The pitch of the sound produced by the network connection synthesis loop depends on the delay in the network connection. The pitch of the synthesized tone provides a continuous measure of the network latency. Moreover, the stability of the pitch provides a measure of the stability of the connection. Changes in the pitch indicate changes in the connection latency.

SoundWIRE is applicable to any interactive Internet technologies that rely on tight, uninterrupted connections, such as real time media application (high-quality video teleconferencing or teleoperations). This technology can be implemented as a network software layer, on individual computers as part of the operating system, within a web browser, as a self extracting email attachment, or as an computer executable code stored on a data storage medium.

File Number: 98-101