Granted Patent B2

US 7,949,131 · App. 11/312,672 · Granted May 24, 2011

Abstract

Claims (55)

1. A system, comprising:

a signal processor comprising:

an input to receive a digital audio signal, the digital audio signal having a first fidelity characteristic; and

a first output to provide a first digital output signal having a second fidelity characteristic, wherein the second fidelity characteristic is determined in response to security information extracted from the digital audio signal;

wherein the security information extracted from the digital audio signal is compared to a security profile to determine a level of security associated with the digital audio signal; and

wherein the first digital output signal is provided to a digital to analog converter.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digital audio signal includes a third fidelity characteristic, wherein the first digital output signal includes a fourth fidelity characteristic, and wherein the fourth fidelity characteristic is determined in response to the security information extracted from the digital audio signal.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a security module to extract the security information from the digital audio signal.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first signal processing module to set the second fidelity characteristic.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first fidelity characteristic is a first sample rate and the second fidelity characteristic is a second reduced sample rate.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second fidelity characteristic is a sample rate that is less than or equal to about 48 kilohertz.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first fidelity characteristic is a first bit depth and the second fidelity characteristic is a second reduced bit depth.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first fidelity characteristic is a first signal to noise ratio and the second fidelity characteristic is a second reduced signal to noise ratio.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first fidelity characteristic is a first distortion level and the second fidelity characteristic is a second increased distortion level.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second output to provide a second digital output signal having a third fidelity characteristic.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the security information extracted from the digital audio signal includes digital rights management information.

12. A system comprising:

a digital to analog converter to receive a first digital signal, wherein a fidelity characteristic of the first digital signal is based on security information associated with a digital audio source of the first digital signal; and

a comparator to compare the security information to a security profile to determine a level of security associated with the first digital signal;

wherein the digital to analog converter converts the first digital signal to an analog output.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

processing logic to receive a second digital signal, wherein a fidelity characteristic of the second digital signal is based on the level of security associated with the digital audio source.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the fidelity characteristic of the first digital signal is one of a sample rate, a bit depth, a signal to noise ratio, and a distortion level.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving a digital audio input signal at a digital signal processor;

extracting, at the digital signal processor, first security information at a first time from the digital audio input signal;

comparing the extracted first security information to a security profile to determine a level of security associated with the digital audio input signal;

setting a fidelity characteristic of a digital output signal to a first level based on the level of security associated with the digital audio input signal; and

providing the digital output signal to a digital to analog converter.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

extracting second security information at a second time from the digital audio input signal; and

setting a second fidelity characteristic of the digital output signal to a second level based on the extracted second security information.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the fidelity characteristic is a sample rate.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the sample rate is about 48 kilohertz.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first security information is associated with a digital rights management protocol.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein an analog output based on the digital output signal has a signal to noise ratio of less than about 96 decibels (dB).

21. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a digital signal processor, a digital audio signal, wherein a fidelity characteristic of the digital audio signal is modified based on security information extracted from the digital audio signal;

comparing the security information extracted from the digital audio signal to a security profile to determine a level of security associated with the digital audio signal; and

converting the digital audio signal to an analog output signal.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the fidelity characteristic of the digital audio signal is one of a sample rate, a bit depth, a signal to noise ratio, and a distortion level.

23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

providing the analog output signal to a speaker.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the security information is associated with a digital rights management protocol.

25. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program embedded within the non-transitory computer readable medium storage, the computer program comprising:

instructions to extract first security information at a first time from a digital audio input signal;

instructions to compare the extracted first security information to a security profile to determine a level of security associated with the digital audio input signal:

instructions to set a fidelity characteristic of a digital output signal to a first level based on the level of security associated with the digital audio input signal; and

instructions to provide the digital output signal at an output.

26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 25 , further comprising:

instructions to extract second security information at a second time from the digital audio input signal; and

instructions to set a second fidelity characteristic of the digital output signal to a second level based on the extracted second security information.

Assignments (16)