US Patent 10296283 Directing synchronous playback between zone players

In a network comprising a plurality of zone players, including at least a first zone player and a second zone player, a method comprising: receiving, by the first zone player, first control information from a user interface module; based on the received first control information, transmitting, by the first zone player, second control information to the second zone player, wherein the second control information comprises (i) a network address of an audio information channelization device that provides audio information and playback timing information, and (ii) a multicast address that the audio information channelization device uses to broadcast audio information and playback timing information to the network; and playing, by the first zone player, the audio information in synchrony with the second zone player.