We view OpenAL as a state machine that controls a multichannel
processing system to synthesize a digital stream, passing sample
data through a chain of parametrized digital audio signal
processing operations. This model should engender a specification
that satisfies the needs of both programmers and implementors.
It does not, however, necessarily
provide a model for implementation. Any conformant implementation
must produce results conforming to those produced by the specified
methods, but there may be ways to carry out a particular computation
that are more efficient than the one specified.