PROGRAMMABLE MIXING ON A MULTI-INTERFACE TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE

1 . A multi-interface telecommunication device comprising:

a plurality of communication interfaces comprising:

a telephone network interface, configured to interface with a telephone network,

a personal computer interface, configured to interface with a personal computing device, and

a user communication interface, configured to interface with a two-way audio device of a user operating the multi-interface telecommunication device; and

a programmable mixer configured to process a plurality of audio signals associated with the plurality of communication interfaces according to a mixing instruction received from the personal computing device.

2 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the programmable mixer processing the plurality of audio signals, when accepting an incoming phone call on the telephone network interface, is programmed to output, via the telephone network interface, a transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the personal computer interface.

3 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 2 ,

wherein the receive signal comprises a prerecorded message, stored on the personal computing device.

4 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 3 ,

wherein the programmable mixer, after a completed playback of the prerecorded message, is programmed to output, via the telephone network interface, the transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the user communication interface.

5 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the programmable mixer processing the plurality of audio signals, during a phone call using the telephone network interface, is programmed to:

output, via the user communication interface, a first transmit signal comprising a first receive signal received via the telephone network interface and a second receive signal received via the personal computer interface, and

output, via the telephone network interface, a second transmit signal comprising a third receive signal from the user communication interface and excluding the second receive signal.

6 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the programmable mixer processing the plurality of audio signals, during a phone call using the telephone network interface, is programmed to:

block output on the telephone network interface, and

output, via the personal computer interface, a transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the user communication interface.

7 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 , wherein the mixing instruction is obtained from the personal computing device using a human interface devices (HID) protocol.

8 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the programmable mixer comprises software instructions executed by a digital signal processor (DSP).

9 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the telephone network interface comprises a public switched telephone network interface.

10 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the personal computer interface comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of:

a universal serial bus (USB) interface,

a local area network (LAN) interface, and

a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface.

11 . The multi-interface telecommunication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the user communication interface comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of:

a headset interface,

a Bluetooth interface,

a desk phone interface, and

a digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) interface.

12 . A system comprising:

a multi-interface telecommunication device comprising:

a plurality of communication interfaces; and

a programmable mixer configured to process, according to a mixing instruction received from a personal computing device, a plurality of audio signals associated with the plurality of communication interfaces; and

a user interface executing on the personal computing device and configured to provide the mixing instruction.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the user interface enables a selection between a plurality of mixer configurations for programming the programmable mixer with the mixing instruction, by a single operation by a user of the system.

14 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

an interface to at least one selected from a group consisting of an audio source and an audio sink on the personal computing device, controlled based on a programming of the programmable mixer.

15 . A method for operating a multi-interface telecommunication device, the method comprising:

obtaining mixing instructions from a personal computing device;

programming a programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions; and

processing a plurality of audio signals by the programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions,

wherein the plurality of audio signals is associated with a plurality of communication interfaces, the plurality of communication interfaces comprising:

a telephone network interface, configured to interface with a telephone network,

a personal computer interface, configured to interface with the personal computing device, and

a user communication interface, configured to interface with a two-way audio device of a user operating the multi-interface telecommunication device.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing of the plurality of audio signals by the programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions comprises:

when accepting an incoming phone call on the telephone network interface, outputting, via the telephone network interface, a transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the personal computer interface.

17 . The method of claim 16 ,

wherein the receive signal comprises a prerecorded message, stored on the personal computing device.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the processing of the plurality of audio signals by the programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions further comprises:

after a completed playback of the prerecorded message, outputting, via the telephone network interface, the transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the user communication interface.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing of the plurality of audio signals by the programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions comprises, during a phone call using the telephone network interface:

outputting, via the user communication interface, a first transmit signal comprising a first receive signal received via the telephone network interface and a second receive signal received via the personal computer interface; and

outputting, via the telephone network interface, a second transmit signal comprising a third receive signal from the user communication interface and excluding the second receive signal.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing of the plurality of audio signals by the programmable mixer according to the mixing instructions comprises, during a phone call using the telephone network interface:

blocking output on the telephone network interface, and

outputting, via the personal computer interface, a transmit signal comprising a receive signal received via the user communication interface.