Patent ID: 7945285

Claim:
A method of integrating a digital encoded-audio bit stream player in a radio-frequency (RF) telephone handset, comprising: establishing an RF connection between the RF telephone handset and an RF unit connected to a network, wherein communications between the RF telephone handset and the network pass through the RF unit; switching the RF telephone handset from performing as a telephony device to performing as a digital encoded-audio bit stream player; playing digital encoded-audio bit stream music from the RF telephone handset; muting the digital encoded-audio bit stream music playing from the digital encoded-audio bit stream player when the RF telephone handset receives a telephone call; and switching the RF telephone handset from performing as a digital encoded-audio bit stream player to performing as a telephony device while the telephone call is active, wherein: (i) the RF telephone handset comprises: a digital signal processor, and a digital-to-analog converter connected to the digital signal processor; (ii) the step of playing digital encoded-audio bit stream music from the RF telephone handset 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; (iii) the step of muting digital encoded-audio bit stream music playing from the digital encoded-audio bit stream player comprises the digital signal processor pausing decoding the digital encoded-audio bit stream; and (iv) the method further comprises: the digital signal processor receiving a telephone audio signal from the RF unit connected to the network, 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.