PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20150160707A1
• Filed: 12/06/2013
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: CHOU, Hsiu-Hung, CHANG, Chia-Lin
• Application Number:
  US14/099,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20150160707A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A portable electronic device comprising a storage unit, an application processor and a wireless communication chip is provided. The storage unit stores multimedia data. The application processor coupled to the storage unit accesses the multimedia data stored in the storage unit and executes at least one application program. The wireless communication chip includes a WiFi/WiMax module and a digital signal processor integrated thereinto. The WiFi/WiMax module is configured to receive an audio stream data from a remote station, and the digital signal processor is configured to process the audio stream data from the WiFi/WiMax module or the multimedia data from the application processor and generate an audio output signal according to the processed audio stream data or the processed multimedia data. The wireless communication chip is configured to output the audio output signal.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a storage unit configured to store multimedia data;

an application processor coupled to the storage unit and configured to access the multimedia data stored in the storage unit and execute at least one application program;

a first antenna; and

a wireless communication chip comprising a WiFi/WiMax module and a digital signal processor (DSP) integrated thereinto, wherein the WiFi/WiMax module is coupled to the first antenna for wirelessly receiving an audio stream data from a remote station, and the digital signal processor is coupled to the WiFi/WiMax module and the application processor and configured to process the audio stream data from the WiFi/WiMax module or the multimedia data from the application processor and generate an audio output signal according to the processed audio stream data or the processed multimedia data;

wherein the wireless communication chip is configured to output the audio output signal.

2. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, the application processor is further configured to operate at a sleep mode without executing the at least one application program.

3. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:

an audio codec coupled to the wireless communication chip for receiving the audio output signal.

4. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

an audio output unit coupled to the audio codec, wherein the audio codec is further configured to convert the received audio output signal into an analog audio signal, and the audio output unit is configured to receive the analog audio signal and generate an audible sound according to the analog audio signal; and

wherein when the audio output unit generates the audible sound, the application processor enters the sleep mode.

5. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

an audio output unit and an amplifier, wherein the amplifier is coupled between the audio codec and the audio output unit for receiving the audio output signal from the audio codec and has a digital-analog converter for converting the audio output signal into an analog audio signal, and the audio output unit is configured to receive the analog audio signal and generate an audible sound according to the analog audio signal; and

wherein when the audio output unit generates the audible sound, the application processor enters the sleep mode.

6. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a second antenna; and

a bluetooth module coupled to the second antenna and the digital signal processor for providing the audio output signal to a Bluetooth device via the second antenna.

7. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the bluetooth module is integrated inside the wireless communication chip.

8. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the WiFi/WiMax module comprises a first buffer for storing the audio stream data from the first antenna, and the digital signal processor comprises a second buffer for storing the audio stream data from the WiFi/WiMax module or the multimedia data from the storage unit.

9. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the application processor writes the audio stream data stored in the first buffer into the storage unit.

10. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the multimedia data is divided into at least one first data block and one second data block;

and wherein when the first data block is stored in the second buffer and then outputted by the wireless communication chip with the audio output signal, the DSP wakes the application processor up from the sleep mode and the second buffer obtains the second data block of the multimedia data from the storage unit via the application processor.

11. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the DSP wakes the application processor up from the sleep mode when the first data block in the second buffer is smaller than a predetermined threshold.

12. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the audio output unit is a speaker.

13. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:

a display coupled to the application processor, wherein the display is turned off when the application processor enters the sleep mode.

14. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:

a first oscillator configured to provide a first clock signal to the application processor;

a second oscillator configured to provide a second clock to the DSP;

wherein when the application processor enters the sleep mode, the first oscillator reduces the frequency of the first clock signal or stops providing the first clock signal to the application processor while the second oscillator provides the second clock signal to the DSP for processing the audio stream data or the multimedia data and generating the audio output signal.

15. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:

a power management unit coupled to the application processor and the first and the second oscillators, wherein when the application processor enters the sleep mode, the power management unit controls the first oscillator to stop providing the first clock signal to the application processor and controls the second oscillator to provide the second clock signal to the DSP.

16. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second clock is slower than the first clock.

17. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a third antenna; and

a baseband processor coupled to the third antenna for camping on a base station via the third antenna.

18. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the baseband processor and the application processor are integrated into a single chip, which is physically separated from the wireless communication chip.

19. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is a smartphone, a PDA phone, a PDA a tablet PC, or a wearable electronic device.

20. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the audio codec is integrated with the DSP inside the wireless communication chip.