A newly published HD Rumble patent details how vibration data is communicated between the console and controller (image 1 below). The key innovation is that the console does not simply pass a game’s raw vibration data to controller, but maps vibration frequencies to the closest musical notes (image 2 below).
By doing so, both the inaudible haptic and audible sound events can be encoded and transmitted together to the controller. The MCU in the controller decodes the data, and instructs the motor to either make haptic vibrations or audible sound.
Although not clearly disclosed in the application, judging from the filing date this patent is referring to HD Rumble 2, not the original HD Rumble. Voltage control and other additional info can be found in the patent publication here.
For other HD Rumble 2 patents and technical info, search for keyword “rumble” on the site’s search page.
[Originally posted on 2026-01-01 Pacific Time]
