Audio converter device and method for using the same

• US 20030045955A1
• Filed: 09/01/2001
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Craig M. Janik
• Original Assignee: Universal Electronics, Inc.
• Inventors: Janik, Craig M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,142,934 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0058 Transmission between separate instruments or between individual components of a musical system G10H1/0083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/015 PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used touch-screen interfaces G10H2220/096
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/061 MP3, i.e. MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, lossy audio compression
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/211 Wireless transmission, e.g. of music parameters or control data by radio, infrared or ultrasound beam G10H2220/405
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/305 Internet or TCP/IP protocol use for any electrophonic musical instrument data or musical parameter transmission purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00007 Time or data compression or expansion audio compression based on psychoacoustics G10L19/00; data processing for reproducing audio data at different playback speeds G10L21/04; video compression H04N19/00; data compression per se H03M7/30
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10527 Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/61 for local area broadcast, e.g. instore broadcast

Abstract

An audio converter device and a method for using the same are provided. In one embodiment, the audio converter device receives the digital audio data from a first device via a local area network. The audio converter device decompresses the digital audio data and converts the digital audio data into analog electrical data. The audio converter device transfers the analog electrical data to an audio playback device.

Claims

1. A method of using an audio converter device to obtain and convert digital audio data to be played on an audio playback device comprising:

receiving the digital audio data from a first device via a local area network;

decompressing the digital audio data;

converting the digital audio data into analog electrical data; and

transferring the analog electrical data to an audio playback device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data using a user interface on the audio converter device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device is a computer system.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data using a user interface on the computer system.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data using a portable electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

7. The method of claim 3 further comprising storing the digital audio data on a database on the computer system.

8. The method of claim 3 further comprising the computer system obtaining the digital audio data from a wide area network.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the wide area network is Internet.

10. The method of claim 3 further comprising the computer system obtaining the digital audio data from a compact disc (CD).

11. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the digital audio data from a first device via a local area network includes receiving the digital audio data using a wireless transceiver via wireless transfer protocol.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the wireless transfer protocol is IEEE 802.11b.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the audio converter device is a portable electronic device including a wireless local area network adapter to receive the digital audio data.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

15. A machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a sequence of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving the digital audio data from a first device via a local area network;

decompressing the digital audio data;

converting the digital audio data into analog electrical data; and

transferring the analog electrical data to an audio playback device.

16. A method comprising:

an audio converter device receiving digital audio data from a computer system;

the audio converter device decompressing the digital audio data;

the audio converter device converting the digital audio data into analog electrical data; and

the audio converter device transferring the analog electrical data to an audio playback device so that the audio playback device can play the analog electrical data.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data using a system control application on the computer system.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data using the system control application on the computer system includes inputting instructions on a user interface on the computer system.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data by inputting instructions on a user interface on the audio converter device.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising manipulating the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data by using a portable electronic device.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

22. The method of claim 16 further comprising storing the digital audio data on a database on the computer system.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein an audio converter device receiving digital audio data from a computer system includes first transferring the digital audio data from a wide area network to the computer system.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein the wide area network is the Internet.

25. The method of claim 16 wherein an audio converter device receiving digital audio data from a computer system includes first transferring the digital audio data from a compact disc (CD) to the computer system.

26. The method of claim 16 wherein the digital audio data is received by the audio converter device via a wireless transceiver using a wireless transfer protocol.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the wireless transfer protocol is IEEE 802.11b.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the audio converter device is a portable electronic device including a local area network adapter.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

30. The method of claim 16 wherein the digital audio data is received by the audio converter device via AC power lines coupled to both the audio converter device and the computer system.

31. The method of claim 16 wherein the digital audio data is received by the audio converter device via an Ethernet connection between the audio converter device and the computer system.

32. The method of claim 16 the digital audio data is received by the audio converter device via phone lines coupled to both the audio converter device and the computer system.

42. The system of claim 28 further comprising a remote controller to send instructions to manipulate both the transfer of the digital audio data to the audio converter device and the transfer of the analog electrical data to the audio playback device.

33. An audio converter device comprising:

a transceiver to receive digital audio data from a computer system;

a digital to analog converter to convert the digital audio data to analog electrical data;

an output to an audio playback device to transfer the analog electrical data to the audio playback device; and

a processor to receive and execute instructions for the transfer of the analog electrical data to the audio playback device.

34. The audio converter device of claim 33 further comprising a user interface on the computer system to manipulate the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data.

35. The audio converter device of claim 33 further comprising a user interface on the audio converter device to manipulate the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data.

36. The audio converter device of claim 33 further comprising a portable electronic device to manipulate the transfer of both the digital audio data and the analog electrical data.

37. The audio converter device of claim 36 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

38. The audio converter device of claim 33 further comprising a display.

39. The audio converter device of claim 33 further comprising an infrared receiver to receive instructions from a remote controller for the transfer of the analog electrical data to the audio playback device.

40. The audio converter device of claim 33 wherein the audio converter device is a portable electronic device including a local area network adapter.

41. A system comprising:

a computer system to obtain digital audio data;

an audio converter device to receive the digital audio data from the computer system, the audio converter device converting the digital audio data to analog electrical data; and

an audio playback device to receive and play the analog electrical data from the audio converter device.

43. The system of claim 41 wherein the computer system includes a system control application to manipulate both the transfer of the digital audio data to the audio converter device and the transfer of analog electrical data to the audio playback device.

44. The system of claim 41 further comprising a portable electronic device to send instructions to manipulate both the transfer of the digital audio data to the audio converter device and the transfer of the analog electrical data to the audio playback device.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

46. The system of claim 41 wherein the audio converter device includes a transceiver to receive the digital audio data from the computer via a wireless transfer protocol.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein the wireless transfer protocol is IEEE 802.11b.

48. The system of claim 41 wherein the audio converter device is a portable electronic device including a local area network adapter.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein the portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant.