Patent ID: 7702363

Claim:
A method of integrating a digital encoded-audio bit stream player in a cordless telephone, comprising: connecting a base unit of said cordless telephone to a public switched telephone network (PSTN); establishing a wireless connection between a remote handset of said cordless telephone and said base unit, wherein all communications between said remote handset and said PSIN pass through said base unit; switching said remote handset of said cordless telephone from performing as a telephony device to performing as a digital encoded-audio bit stream player; playing digital encoded-audio bit stream music from said remote handset of a cordless telephone; muting the digital encoded-audio bit stream music playing from said digital encoded-audio bit stream player in response to a remote handset button activation received from a user of said cordless telephone when said cordless telephone receives a telephone call; and switching said remote handset of said cordless telephone from performing as a digital encoded-audio bit stream player to performing as a telephony device while the telephone call is active, wherein: said remote handset comprises: a digital signal processor, and a digital-to-analog converter connected to said digital signal processor; the step of playing digital encoded-audio bit stream music from said remote handset of the cordless telephone comprises the steps of: the digital signal processor decoding a digital encoded-audio bit stream to produce a digital reconstructed audio signal, the digital-to-analog converter converting the digital reconstructed audio signal to an analog audio signal, and outputting the analog audio signal to the user; the step of muting digital encoded-audio bit stream music playing from said digital encoded-audio bit stream player comprises the digital signal processor pausing decoding the digital encoded-audio bit stream; and the method further comprises: the digital signal processor receiving a telephone audio signal from the base unit, the digital signal processor passing the telephone audio signal to the digital-to-analog converter, the digital-to-analog converter converting the telephone audio signal to an analog audio signal, and outputting the analog audio signal to the user.