Synchronization of Wirelessly Distributed Audio and Video for In-Flight Entertainment

1 . An in-flight entertainment system for the delivery of synchronized content, comprising:

a content source comprising a processor, a memory, a wireless communication interface, and a display, the content source programmed to:

transmit a common clock reference to a personal entertainment device (PED) and to a display unit DU, the common clock reference comprising an indication of a current time of a master clock;

receive a command to initiate playback of a digital content item, the digital content item comprising a video component and an audio component;

generate a command message, the command message comprising a content identifier associated with the digital content item, a playback state of the digital content item and a presentation start time of the digital content item;

transmit, via the wireless communication interface, the command message to the PED to cause the PED to initiate playback of a buffered portion of the audio component at the presentation start time;

transmit, via the wireless communication interface, the command message to the DU to cause the DU to initiate playback of locally stored video content; and

stream, via the wireless communication interface, the audio component to the PED.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising the PED comprising a processor, a memory, a wireless communication interface, and an audio output interface, the PED programmed to:

obtain the buffered portion of the audio component;

receive the command message from the content source; and

initiate playback of the audio component via the audio output interface at the presentation start time.

3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising the DU comprising a processor, a memory, a wireless communication interface, and an video output interface, the DU programmed to:

pre-store the video content;

receive the command message from the content source; and

initiate playback of the video component via the video display interface at the presentation start time.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the content source is further programmed to:

periodically generate an updated command message, the updated command message comprising an updated content identifier, an updated playback state of the digital content item and a presentation time corresponding to the start time of the media item relative to the shared clock reference; and

transmit, via the wireless communication interface, the updated command message.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the PED is further programmed to:

track a playback time of the audio component, corresponding to the time elapsed since the playback was initiated;

receive the updated command message from the content source;

compare the presentation run time to the playback time; and

if the presentation run time is different from the playback time, adjust the playback of the audio component based on the difference.

6 . The system of claim 5 , where the adjustment comprises at least one of speeding up playback and slowing down playback of the audio component.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication interface comprises a short-range wireless communication interface.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the DU is further programmed to pre-cache the digital content item from a content source according to a pre-defined schedule.