Patent ID: 8155144

Claim:
An audio medium player comprising: a demultiplexing part configured to receive an audio signal having at least first and second channel data, the first and second channel data including a plurality of blocks, and the audio signal being transmitted on a digital audio signal; a predictor configured to obtain block information indicating the subdivision of the first and second channel data into the plurality of blocks, wherein the block information correspond to the first and second channel data commonly when the first and second channel data are paired; the predictor configured to obtain block switching information indicating a number of levels in a subdivision hierarchy, and the predictor configured to decode the first and second channel data based on the block information and the block switching information, wherein the first and second channel data have been subdivided into blocks according to a subdivision hierarchy, the subdivision hierarchy has more than one level, wherein a length of the block information is based on a number of levels in the subdivision hierarchy, wherein the block switching information indicates whether the subdivision hierarchy includes one of up to three levels, four levels, and five levels, if the block switching information is 01, the block switching information indicates the subdivision hierarchy includes up to three levels; if the block switching information is 10, the block switching information indicates the subdivision hierarchy includes four levels; if the block switching information is 11, the block switching information indicates the subdivision hierarchy includes five levels; a buffer configured to store the first and second channel data; an error checking part configured to verify whether an error is present in the decoded first and second channel data; an assembling part configured to assemble the decoded data into frame data; a digital-to-analog converter configured to convert the decoded first and second channel data into an analog audio output signal; and a speaker configured to output the converted analog audio output signal.