System and method for playing compressed audio data
US6377530B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 12, 1999 |
| Grant date | Apr 23, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 12, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B31/003
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A portable audio player stores a large amount of compressed audio data on an internal disk drive, and loads a portion of this into an internal random access memory (RAM) which requires less power and less time to access. The audio player plays the data stored in RAM and monitors the amount of unplayed data. When the amount of unplayed data falls below a threshold, additional data is copied from the disk drive into RAM. When the portable audio player is turned off, a predetermined amount of audio data is stored in a fast-access non-volatile flash memory unit. When the audio player is turned back on, and play is resumed, a suitable portion of this data can be played while data is being loaded from the disk drive into RAM, thus reducing the amount of time a user must wait before receiving data in response to a play request.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.