Joint connected isochronous stream communication with cross acknowledgement

1 . A pair of true wireless earbuds, comprising:

a first earbud, comprising a first speaker, a first processing system, and a first wireless communication interface, that communicates with an audio source device using short-range wireless communications; and

a second earbud, comprising a second speaker, a second processing system, and a second wireless communication interface, that communicates with the audio source device using short-range wireless communications, wherein:

the second earbud is not physically connected with the first earbud;

the second earbud is configured to:

receive an audio packet addressed to only the first earbud, wherein a single connected isochronous stream (CIS) within a connected isochronous group (CIG) is present between the pair of true wireless earbuds and the audio source device;

transmit a cross-acknowledgement indicating receipt of the audio packet to the first earbud; and

transmit extracted audio data from the audio packet to the first earbud;

the first earbud is configured to:

determine that the audio packet expected from the audio source device was not successfully received by the first earbud;

receive the cross-acknowledgement from the second earbud; and

transmit an acknowledgement to the audio source device based on the cross-acknowledgement despite the first earbud determining that the audio packet expected from the audio source device was not successfully received by the first earbud.

2 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 1 , wherein the first processing system of the first earbud is configured to:

transmit a request directly to the second earbud for the audio data from the audio packet, wherein the second earbud transmits the audio data in response to the request.

3 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 2 , wherein the request is transmitted after a CIS event in which the audio source device transmitted the audio packet and during a CIG interval in which the CIS event occurred.

4 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 1 , wherein the audio packet includes audio data to be output by the first earbud and the second earbud.

5 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 1 , wherein the audio data transmitted by the second earbud to the first earbud includes audio data corresponding to only an audio channel to be output by the first earbud.

6 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 1 , wherein:

the audio packet includes audio data for a first audio channel associated with the first earbud and audio data for a second audio channel associated with the second earbud; and

the second processing system of the second earbud is configured to:

store encryption credentials for the first earbud;

decrypt the audio packet addressed to only the first earbud using the stored encryption credentials; and

causes the second speaker to output audio based on decrypted audio data from the audio packet, wherein the audio output by the second speaker is based on the audio data for the second audio channel associated with the second earbud.

7 . The pair of true wireless earbuds of claim 1 , wherein the first earbud and the audio source device communicate using Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).

8 . A method for short-range wireless communication, the method comprising:

receiving, by a second earbud of a pair of true wireless earbuds, an audio packet addressed to only a first earbud of the pair of true wireless earbuds, wherein a single connected isochronous stream (CIS) within a connected isochronous group (CIG) is present between the pair of true wireless earbuds and an audio source which transmitted the audio packet;

transmitting, by the second earbud to the first earbud, a cross-acknowledgement indicating receipt of the audio packet; and

transmitting, by the second earbud to the first earbud, extracted audio data from the audio packet;

determining, by the first earbud, that the audio packet expected from the audio source device was not successfully received by the first earbud;

receiving, by the first earbud, the cross-acknowledgement from the second earbud; and

transmitting, by the first earbud, an acknowledgement to the audio source device based on the cross-acknowledgement despite the first earbud determining that the audio packet expected from the audio source device was not successfully received by the first earbud.

9 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 8 , wherein:

the audio packet includes audio data for a first audio channel associated with the first earbud and audio data for a second audio channel associated with the second earbud; and

the audio data transmitted to the first earbud by the second earbud includes only audio data for the first audio channel.

10 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 8 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the first earbud, a request directly to the second earbud for audio data from the audio packet, wherein the second earbud transmits the audio data for the first audio channel directly to the first earbud in response to the request.

11 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 10 , wherein the request is transmitted after a CIS event in which the audio source transmitted the audio packet and during a CIG interval in which the CIS event occurred.

12 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 10 , further comprising:

outputting, by the first earbud via a first speaker, audio based on the audio data for the first audio channel; and

outputting, by the second earbud via a second speaker, audio based on the audio data for the second audio channel.

13 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 8 , further comprising:

storing, by the second earbud, encryption credentials for the first earbud; and

decrypting, by the second earbud, the audio packet addressed to only the first earbud using the stored encryption credentials.

14 . The method for short-range wireless communication of claim 8 , wherein the first earbud and the audio source communicate using Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).

15 . One or more non-transitory processor-readable media, comprising processor-readable instructions:

wherein when the processor-readable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor readable instructions are configured to cause a second earbud of the pair of true wireless earbuds to:

receive an audio packet addressed to only a first earbud of the pair of true wireless earbuds, wherein a single connected isochronous stream (CIS) within a connected isochronous group (CIG) is present between the pair of true wireless earbuds and an audio source which transmitted the audio packet;

cause a cross-acknowledgement indicating receipt of the audio packet to be transmitted to the first earbud; and

cause extracted audio data from the audio packet to be transmitted to the first earbud; and

wherein the processor readable instructions are configured to cause the first earbud of the pair of true wireless earbuds to:

determine that the audio packet expected from the audio source device was not successfully received by the first earbud;

receive the cross-acknowledgement from the second earbud; and

transmit an acknowledgement to the audio source device based on the cross-acknowledgement despite the first earbud determining that the audio packet was not successfully received by the first earbud.