Patent ID: 7606526

Claim:
A satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) receiver and digital media player system comprising: a portable digital media player having a first communication interface, a memory device, a controller, a user interface and a first connector; and a portable SDARS receiver module having a second connector configured to detachably and electrically connect to the player via the first connector, an antenna, an SDARS tuner and a baseband processing device for receiving an SDARS signal and recovering program channels therefrom, and a second communication interface; wherein, when the player and the SDARS receiver module are connected together, the player and the SDARS receiver module transmit and receive signals between each other via the first communication interface and the second communication interface, the signals comprising at least one of control signals and at least part of the SDARS signal; wherein the control signals comprise signals from the portable digital media player to select from among the program channels that are transmitted to the SDARS receiver module in response to user input signals from the user interface, and the at least part of the SDARS signal comprises the selected program channels recovered by the SDARS receiver module and transmitted to that player; and wherein the controller is operable to store at least the selected program channels in the memory device for playback via the player when the player is not connected to the SDARS receiver module and when the antenna is not able to receive the SDARS signal, and the controller is operable to playback the SDARS signal as it is being received via the SDARS receiver module when the player is connected to the SDARS receiver module.