Patent ID: 8028101

Claim:
A High Definition Audio (HDA) amplification system comprising: a first component that includes an HDA codec, wherein a processor within the HDA codec is configured to receive digital audio data and to process the received digital audio data to produce output signals, and wherein the processor is capable of providing a set of audio processing features; and a connector configured to accept a second component; wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the second component is connected to the connector; wherein when the processor determines that the second component is not connected to the connector, the processor is configured to establish a baseline configuration of the audio amplification system, wherein in the baseline configuration the processor is configured to enable a baseline subset of the set of audio processing features, and disable one or more audio processing features outside the baseline subset; wherein when the processor determines that the second component is connected to the connector, the processor is configured to establish an alternative configuration of the audio amplification system that is different from the baseline configuration, wherein in the alternative configuration the processor is configured to enable an alternative subset of the set of audio processing features that is different from the baseline subset and that includes at least one of the audio processing features disabled in the baseline configuration; and wherein the at least one of the audio processing features disabled in the baseline configuration, and enabled in the alternative configuration, cannot be enabled unless the second component is connected to the connector.