Self-configuring media devices and methods

Abstract

Systems and methods for self-configuring portable electronic devices are provided. In one embodiment, the portable device includes carrier circuitry that receives compressed data streams of information and application circuitry that decompresses the received data stream in accordance with a specific CODEC. The device includes the capability for the carrier circuitry to provide the specific CODEC required to decompress the data stream to the application circuitry. The transfer of the specific CODEC can be done as a default action or it can be done based on a queue received from the application circuitry.

1 . A method for self-configuring a portable electronic device, the method comprising:
 operating the device to receive a plurality of compressed data streams, at least one of which is compressed in accordance with a selected CODEC that is not resident in the device;   receiving the selected CODEC wirelessly;   loading the received CODEC into memory; and   decompressing the received data stream based on the CODEC loaded into memory.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
 analyzing one of the plurality of data streams and determining that the selected CODEC is not resident in the device;   requesting transmission of the selected CODEC; and   accepting the selected CODEC.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
 reviewing one of the plurality of data streams; and   extracting the CODEC needed to decompress the one data stream from the one data stream.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
 operating carrier circuitry to wirelessly receive a portion of one of the plurality of compressed data streams;   extracting the selected CODEC from the received portion; and   passing the selected CODEC to application circuitry.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein decompressing comprises:
 controlling the application circuitry to decompress the received data stream in accordance with the selected CODEC received from the carrier circuitry.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
 operating carrier circuitry to wirelessly receive a portion of one of the plurality of compresses data streams, the selected CODEC being contained within the portion;   passing the portion to application circuitry; and   controlling the application circuitry to extract the selected CODEC from the portion.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 using the selected CODEC to compress data to be transmitted.   
     
     
         8 . A method for self-configuring a cellular telephone to communicate wirelessly with another device comprising:
 causing carrier circuitry to receive a portion of at least one compressed data stream which was compressed using a CODEC absent from the telephone;   extracting the CODEC from the portion of at least one compressed data stream;   loading the extracted CODEC into memory in the telephone; and   decompressing the at least one compressed data stream using the extracted CODEC.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 compressing outgoing data using the extracted CODEC; and   providing the compressed outgoing data to the carrier circuitry for transmission.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein extracting comprises:
 operating the carrier circuitry to obtain the CODEC from the portion; and   passing the CODEC to application circuitry.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein extracting comprises:
 passing the portion from the carrier circuitry to application circuitry; and   operating the application circuitry to obtain the CODEC from the portion.   
     
     
         12 . A method for self-configuring a stereo system having at least a receiver and speakers, comprising:
 causing the receiver to send a CODEC to the speakers wirelessly;   loading the CODEC into memory in the speakers;   causing the receiver to send a data stream that has been compressed using the CODEC to the speakers wirelessly; and   decompressing the data stream in accordance with the CODEC.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 having the speakers send a request to the receiver for a specific CODEC prior to receiving a compressed data stream.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the speakers include one or more CODECs stored in memory, wherein causing further comprises:
 commanding the receiver to notify the speakers that a data stream compressed in accordance with a specific CODEC is about to be transmitted;   determining whether the speakers have the specific CODEC resident in memory; and   sending the CODEC from the receiver to the speakers only if the CODEC is not resident in the memory in the speakers.   
     
     
         15 . A self-configuring portable electronic device comprising:
 a carrier portion operable to receive data streams that have been compressed using one or more CODECs;   an application portion that decompresses a data stream received from the carrier portion in accordance with a specific CODEC, the carrier portion and the application portion being in communication with each other such that the carrier portion is capable of sending the specific CODEC to the application portion if the CODEC is not resident in the application portion.   
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the carrier portion comprises circuitry which sends the specific CODEC to the application portion only if the specific CODEC is requested by the application portion. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the carrier portion comprises circuitry that identifies to the application portion the specific CODEC to be used for the next data stream, and the application portion comprises circuitry that determines whether the specific CODEC is resident in the device. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the application portion further comprises circuitry that requests the specific CODEC if that CODEC is not resident in the device. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the device comprises a first processor. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 19 , wherein the application portion is resident in the first processor. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 19 , wherein the device further comprises a second processor and the carrier portion is resident in the second processor. 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the device is cellular telephone. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the device is portable multimedia player. 
     
     
         24 . A multimedia system comprising:
 a receiver that is capable of transmitting one or more compressed data streams of information wirelessly, each data stream being compressed in accordance with a specific CODEC; and   speakers comprising: (1) circuitry operable to receive information from the receiver wirelessly, (2) memory to store at least one CODEC; and (3) circuitry that decompresses information received from the receiver in accordance with the specific CODEC if that CODEC is resident, and circuitry that receives the specific CODEC from the receiver it the specific CODEC was not resident.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the speakers further comprise:
 circuitry that determines whether the specific CODEC is resident; and   circuitry that requests the specific CODEC from the receiver if the determining circuitry finds that the specific CODEC is not resident.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the receiver comprises circuitry that transmits the specific CODEC used to compress the data stream to the speakers prior to transmitting the compressed data stream.