Patent ID: 7913020

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an adapter interface to couple the apparatus to a docking adapter to enable the apparatus to cooperate with a personal portable device docked to the apparatus through the docking adapter to perform an audio/visual task, where the adapter interface is structured to enable the identity of the docking adapter to be determined by the apparatus; a programmable logic electrically coupled to the adapter interface to enable electrical signaling characteristics of the adapter interface to be reconfigurable, comprising a plurality of alterably interconnected circuits, and structured to be configured with a configuration data specifying interconnections among circuits of the plurality of circuits within the programmable logic to define electrical signaling characteristics of the adapter interface provided by the programmable logic that are required by the personal portable device to enable an exchange of electrical signals between the programmable logic and the personal portable device through the docking adapter; wherein the configuration data is selected by the apparatus in response to the docking adapter being coupled to the apparatus through the adapter interface and in response to the identity of the docking adapter, and is employed by the apparatus to configure interconnections among circuits of the plurality of circuits within the programmable logic; and wherein the apparatus is structured to enable an acoustic driver to audibly output audio provided by the personal portable device to the apparatus through the docking adapter as part of the audio/visual task.