Patent ID: 6946982

Claim:
A portable media player, comprising: an analog/digital (A/D) converter; a first digital signal processor (DSP) coupled to the A/D converter, the first DSP executing a first firmware comprising an MPEG audio layer 3 (MP3) codec; a second DSP coupled to the A/D converter and a nonvolatile memory, the second DSP executing a second firmware comprising an audio codec and an MPEG codec; a controller coupled to the first DSP and the nonvolatile memory; a digital/analog (D/A) converter coupled to the first DSP and the second DSP; wherein: in a first mode for encoding audio, the A/D converter converts input analog signals into input digital signals, the first DSP encodes the input digital signals into input MP3 data, the controller reads the input MP3 data into the nonvolatile memory, and the second DSP idles; in a second mode for decoding audio, the controller reads output MP3 data from the nonvolatile memory into the first DSP, the DSP decodes the output MP3 data into a first plurality of output digital signals, the D/A converter converts the first plurality of output digital signals into a first plurality of output analog signals, and the second DSP idles; in a third mode for encoding audio, the A/D converter converts the input analog signals into the input digital signals, the second DSP encodes the input digital signals into input audio data and writes the input audio data into the nonvolatile memory, and the first DSP idles and ignores the input digital signals; in a fourth mode for decoding audio, the second DSP reads output audio data from the nonvolatile memory, decodes the output audio data into a second plurality of output digital signals, the D/A converter converts the second plurality of output digital signals into a second plurality of output analog signals, and the first DSP idles and ignores the second plurality of output digital signals.