Audio apparatus, audio signal transmission method, and audio system

1. An audio signal transmission method, comprising:

wirelessly receiving an audio signal from a first external device;

converting a number of channels associated with the received audio signal to obtain audio signals of multi-channels; and

wirelessly transmitting a first audio signal, of the audio signals of the multi-channels, to a second external device,

wherein the number of channels associated with the received audio signal is different from a number of channels associated with the audio signals of multi-channels.

2. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

outputting, by a speaker, a second audio signal of the audio signals of the multi-channels, without externally transmitting the second audio signal.

3. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:

the audio signal wirelessly received from the first external device is a stereo channel audio signal; and

the converting converts the received stereo channel audio signal into a 5.1-channel audio signal.

4. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the second audio signal is of at least one of a center channel and a front channel.

5. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second external device comprises a speaker which outputs at least one of rear channel audio signals and a subwoofer channel audio signal comprised in the first audio signal.

6. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:

the wirelessly receiving the audio signal comprises wirelessly receiving the audio signal in a radio communication between an audio apparatus and the first external device using time division multiplexing; and

the wirelessly transmitting the first audio signal comprises wirelessly transmitting the first audio signal in a radio communication between the audio apparatus and the second external device using the time division multiplexing.

7. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first external device is at least one of a television (TV), a computer, and an MPEG layer 3 (MP3) player.

8. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

wirelessly transmitting a third audio signal, of the audio signals of the multi-channels, to a third external device.

9. The audio signal transmission method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first audio signal is of at least one rear channel, and the third audio signal is of a subwoofer channel.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program executable by a computer for performing an audio signal transmission method, the audio signal transmission method comprising:

wirelessly receiving an audio signal from a first external device;

converting a number of channels associated with the received audio signal to obtain audio signals of multi-channels; and

wirelessly transmitting a first audio signal, of the audio signals of the multi-channels, to a second external device,

wherein the number of channels associated with the received audio signal is different from a number of channels associated with the audio signals of multi-channels.

11. An audio apparatus comprising:

a transmission and reception unit which wirelessly receives an audio signal from a first external device;

an audio signal processor which is operable to process the received audio signal by performing signal processing to convert a number of channels associated with the received audio signal in order to obtain audio signals of multi-channels; and

a controller which controls the transmission and reception unit to wirelessly transmit a first audio data, of the audio signal of the multi-channels, to a second external device,

wherein the number of the channels associated with the received audio signal is different from a number of channels associated with the audio signals of multi-channels.

12. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:

an audio output unit which outputs, through a speaker, a second audio data of the processed audio data of multi-channels.

13. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein:

the audio signal wirelessly received from the first external device is a stereo channel audio signal; and

the audio signal processor converts the received stereo channel audio signal into a 5.1-channel audio signal.

14. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the second audio data is of at least one of a center channel and a front channel.

15. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the second external device comprises a speaker which outputs at least one of rear channel audio signals and a subwoofer channel audio signal comprised in the first audio data.

16. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the external device is at least one of a television (TV), a computer, and an MPEG layer 3 (MP3) player.

17. An audio system, comprising:

a display apparatus; and

a master speaker device which wirelessly receives an audio signal from the display apparatus, processes the received audio signal to convert a number of channels associated with the received audio signal, and wirelessly transmits the audio signal to a plurality of slave speaker devices,

wherein the number of channels associated with the received audio signal is different from a number of channels associated with the processed audio signal.

18. The audio system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the display apparatus is a wall-mounted display device.

19. The audio system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the display apparatus transmits the audio signal to the master speaker device using a dongle for a radio communication.

20. The audio system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the master speaker device converts the received audio signal into a plurality of audio signals of multi-channels, transmits a first audio signal of the plurality of audio signals of multi-channels to a first slave device of the plurality of slave speaker devices, and transmits a second audio signal of the plurality of audio signals of multi-channels to a second slave device of the plurality of slave speaker devices.

21. The audio system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the master speaker device is a sound bar.

22. The audio system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the master speaker device converts the received audio signal into a plurality of audio signals of multi-channels, transmits a first audio signal of the plurality of audio signals of multi-channels to a first slave device of the plurality of slave speaker devices, and directly outputs a second audio signal of the plurality of audio signals of multi-channels through a speaker.

23. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the first external device comprises a display screen to display images.

24. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the audio data wirelessly received from the first external device comprises stereo channel audio data.

25. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the audio apparatus is a sound bar.

26. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the audio apparatus is a wall-mountable type audio apparatus.

27. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the transmission and reception unit wirelessly streams the audio data from the first external device.

28. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the first external device receives a user input by at least one of a remote controller, a pointing device, and a touch pad having a touch screen, and transmits the audio data in response to the received user input.

29. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the audio signal processor converts the received audio data into the processed audio data of multi-channels.

30. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 29 , wherein a number of channels associated with the processed audio data is greater than a number of channels associated with the received audio data.

31. The audio apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the first external device comprises a speaker.