Group coordinator selection

1. A first playback device comprising:

a IEEE 802.11-compatible wireless network interface carried by the first playback device;

one or more processors; and

tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first playback device to perform a method comprising:

determining that a wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds a wireless interface performance metric of a IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by a second playback device, wherein the first playback device and the second playback device are joined into a zone group of playback devices that are configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony, wherein the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device are independent of respective power sources of the first playback device and the second playback device;

based on determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device, configuring the first playback device as a group coordinator of the zone group, wherein the group coordinator (a) receives the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forwards at least a portion of the received audio content to one or more group members of the zone group during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices, and wherein the second playback device is a group member of the zone group; and

while rendering the audio content, receiving the audio content from the audio source and forwarding at least the portion of the received audio content to the second playback device.

2. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the group coordinator forwards playback timing information to one or more group members to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the group coordinator and the one or more group members, and wherein the method further comprises:

while rendering the audio content, forwarding the playback timing information to the second playback device to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the first playback device and the second playback device.

3. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device comprises determining a root path cost indicating a number of devices in an ad-hoc network between the first playback device and the audio source.

4. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the audio source comprises a streaming media service, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from one or more computing systems of the streaming media service.

5. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the audio source comprises a mobile device connected to the first playback device via a local area network, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from the mobile device.

6. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the audio source comprises a third playback device, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from the third playback device.

7. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises

after forwarding at least the portion of the received audio content to the second playback device, determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device; and

based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device, (i) configuring the second playback device as the group coordinator of the zone group, and (ii) configuring the first playback device as the group member of the zone group.

8. The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

based on determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device, configuring the second playback device as the group member of the zone group.

9. A first playback device comprising:

a IEEE 802.11-compatible wireless network interface carried by the first playback device;

one or more processors; and

tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first playback device to perform a method comprising:

determining that a wireless interface performance metric of a IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by a second playback device exceeds a wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device, wherein the first playback device and the second playback device are joined into a zone group of playback devices that are configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony, wherein the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device are independent of respective power sources of the first playback device and the second playback device;

based on determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device, configuring the first playback device as a group member of the zone group, wherein the group member receives at least a portion of the audio content from a group coordinator during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices, and wherein the second playback device is the group coordinator; and

while rendering the audio content, receiving at least the portion of the received audio content from the second playback device.

10. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises configuring the second playback device as the group coordinator of the zone group, wherein the group coordinator (a) receives the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forwards at least the portion of the received audio content to one or more group members during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices.

11. The first playback device of claim 10 , wherein configuring the second playback device as the group coordinator of the zone group comprises sending an instruction to the second playback device to operate as the group coordinator of the zone group.

12. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein the group coordinator forwards playback timing information to the one or more group members to synchronize rendering of the audio content with the first playback device, and the one or more group members receive playback timing information from the group coordinator to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the group coordinator and the one or more group members, and wherein the method further comprises:

while rendering the audio content, receiving the playback timing information from the second playback device to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the first playback device and the second playback device.

13. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device comprises determining respective root path costs indicating respective numbers of devices in an ad-hoc network between the first playback device and the audio source and between the second playback device and the audio source.

14. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein the audio source comprises a streaming media service, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from one or more computing systems of the streaming media service.

15. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein the audio source comprises a mobile device connected to the first playback device via a local area network, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from the mobile device.

16. The first playback device of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises

after receiving at least the portion of the received audio content from the second playback device, determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device; and

based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device, (i) configuring the first playback device as the group coordinator of the zone group, and (ii) configuring the second playback device as the group member of the zone group.

17. A first playback device comprising:

a IEEE 802.11-compatible wireless network interface carried by the first playback device;

one or more processors; and

tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first playback device to perform a method comprising:

determining that a wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds a wireless interface performance metric of a IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by a second playback device, wherein the first playback device and the second playback device are joined into a zone group of playback devices that are configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony, wherein the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device and the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device are independent of respective power sources of the first playback device and the second playback device;

based on determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device, configuring the first playback device as a group coordinator of the zone group, wherein the group coordinator forwards playback timing information to one or more group members of the zone group to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the group coordinator and the one or more group members, and wherein the second playback device is a group member of the zone group; and

while rendering the audio content, forwarding the playback timing information to the second playback device to synchronize rendering of the audio content by the first playback device and the second playback device.

18. The first playback device of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:

based on determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device, configuring the second playback device as the group member of the zone group.

19. The first playback device of claim 17 , wherein the group coordinator (a) receives the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forwards at least a portion of the received audio content to one or more group members during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices and the one or more group members receive at least the portion of the received audio content from the first playback device during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices, and wherein the method further comprises:

while rendering the audio content, receiving the audio content from the audio source and forwarding at least a portion of the received audio content to the second playback device.

20. The first playback device of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises configuring the first playback device and the second playback device to receive at least a portion of the audio content from the audio source while rendering the audio content.

21. The first playback device of claim 20 , wherein the audio source comprises a third playback device, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from the third playback device.

22. The first playback device of claim 20 , wherein the audio source comprises a mobile device connected to the first playback device via a local area network, and wherein receiving the audio content from the audio source comprises receiving the audio content from the mobile device.

23. The first playback device of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises

after forwarding at least a portion of the playback timing information to the second playback device to synchronize rendering of the audio content with the second playback device, determining that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device; and

based on the determination that the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the second playback device exceeds the wireless interface performance metric of the IEEE 802.11-compatible network interface carried by the first playback device, (i) configuring the second playback device as the group coordinator of the zone group, and (ii) configuring the first playback device as the group member of the zone group.