Switchable audio circuits for mobile terminals and methods and computer program products for operating the same

1. An audio circuit for a mobile terminal, comprising:

a microphone;

an audio signal processing circuit having an input coupled to the microphone, the audio processing circuit having a bandpass filter configured to pass through only a voice frequency band component of an audio signal from the microphone, and a switch that selects between a voice mode utilizing the bandpass filter and comfort noise insertion and a full fidelity mode bypassing the bandpass filter and comfort noise insertion responsive to a mode signal coupled thereto; and

a controller that sets a first state of the mode signal to select the voice mode in response to the mobile terminal operating to handle a voice call and that sets a second state of the mode signal to select the full fidelity mode;

wherein the controller is configured to automatically select the first state responsive to initiation of the voice call,

wherein the controller is configured to switch to the second state of the mode signal during the voice call and while continuing the call responsive to a user input through a user interface in the mobile terminal, and

wherein the controller is configured to select the full fidelity mode bypassing the bandpass filter and initiate recording of an audio signal from the microphone in the full fidelity mode responsive to a user request to record music, the music including frequencies that extend beyond a voice frequency band.

2. The audio circuit of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to attach the recorded audio signal to a message for transmission from the mobile terminal.

3. The audio circuit of claim 2 wherein the controller is configured to compress the recorded audio signal and store the compressed audio signal and wherein the controller is further configured to further compress the stored audio signal before attaching the recorded audio signal to the message for transmission in response to a user request to attach the recorded audio signal for transmission from the mobile terminal.

4. The audio circuit of claim 1 , wherein, in the full fidelity mode, a spectrum filter is selected to pass a full fidelity audio signal.

5. The audio circuit of claim 4 , wherein the audio processing circuit comprises a digital signal processor and wherein, in the full fidelity mode, at least one of a plurality of audio signal processing operations performed by the digital signal processor on audio signals from the microphone are deactivated.

6. The audio circuit of claim 5 wherein the at least one of a plurality of audio signal processing operations includes audio coding, comfort noise insertion and/or filtering.

7. The audio circuit of claim 6 wherein the at least one of a plurality of audio signal processing operations includes comfort noise insertion and wherein, in the voice mode, the controller is configured to replace portions of an audio signal from the microphone with comfort noise insertion for the voice call.

8. A mobile terminal including the audio circuit of claim 1 , the mobile terminal further comprising:

a portable housing with the audio circuit therein;

a transceiver configured to transmit a message and transmit and receive signals associated with the voice call.

9. A mobile terminal comprising:

a portable housing;

a transceiver configured to transmit data and to transmit and receive signals associated with a voice call;

an audio signal processing circuit including a selectable voice frequency band bandpass filter and a selectable digital processing circuit configured for audio signal processing operations including comfort noise insertion, the bandpass filter and audio processing operations operative on an audio signal from a microphone operatively coupled to the audio processing circuit to generate a processed audio signal, wherein the bandpass filter is configured to pass through only a voice frequency band component of an audio signal from the microphone; and

a controller configured to select a voice mode or a full fidelity mode of the audio signal processing circuit, wherein the voice mode is automatically selected responsive to initiation of the voice call and includes comfort noise insertion and use of the bandpass filter for generating the processed audio signal, wherein the full fidelity mode is selected responsive to a user request and bypasses the bandpass filter and comfort noise insertion in generating the processed audio signal, wherein the controller is configured to select the full fidelity mode during the voice call and while continuing the call responsive to a user input through a user interface in the mobile terminal, and wherein the controller is configured to initiate recording of an audio signal from the microphone in the full fidelity mode responsive to a user request to record music, the music including frequencies that extend beyond a voice frequency band.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to attach the recorded audio signal to a message for transmission from the mobile terminal.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 10 wherein the controller is configured to compress the recorded audio signal before attaching the recorded audio signal to the message for transmission.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 9 wherein the audio signal processing operations include audio coding, wherein the voice mode includes audio coding and the full fidelity mode does not include audio coding, and wherein the audio coding is configured to increase sound energy and is distinct from data compression.

13. A method for operating an audio processing circuit for processing an audio signal from a microphone of a mobile terminal, comprising:

selecting a voice mode or a full fidelity mode for processing the audio signal from the microphone;

processing the audio signal through a voice frequency band bandpass filter, which is configured to pass through only a voice frequency band component of the audio signal from the microphone, of the audio processing circuit, and including comfort noise insertion, when operating in the voice mode;

bypassing the voice frequency band bandpass filter and comfort noise insertion and thereby sending the audio signal directly to an output node of an output signal pathway of the voice frequency band bandpass filter in the audio processing circuit when operating in the full fidelity mode,

wherein selecting the voice mode or the full fidelity mode comprises automatically selecting the voice mode by the mobile terminal during the voice call, and selecting the full fidelity mode during the voice call and while continuing the call responsive to a user input through a user interface in the mobile terminal; and

initiating recording of an audio signal from the microphone in the full fidelity mode responsive to a user request to record music, the music including frequencies that extend beyond a voice frequency band.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising performing audio coding and/or comfort noise insertion on the audio signal only in the voice mode.

15. A computer program product for operating an audio processing circuit for processing an audio signal from a microphone, the computer program product comprising computer program code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program code comprising program code configured to carry out the method of claim 13 .

16. A computer program product for operating an audio processing circuit for processing an audio signal from a microphone, the computer program product comprising computer program code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program code comprising program code configured to carry out the method of claim 14 .

17. The audio circuit of claim 5 , wherein the audio signal processing operations include audio coding, wherein the voice mode includes audio coding and the full fidelity mode does not include the audio coding, and wherein the audio coding is configured to increase sound energy and is distinct from data compression.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising performing audio coding in the voice mode and excluding the audio coding in the full fidelity mode, wherein the audio coding is configured to increase sound energy and is distinct from data compression.