Abstract: A method and system thereof for dynamically configuring a device, adapted to be communicatively coupled in a wireless personal area network, with an attribute corresponding to a characteristic of the device. In one embodiment, the method involves receiving an attribute setting corresponding to characteristics of the device and implementing a corresponding configuration state. In this embodiment, the configuration state activates a corresponding device configuration. In one embodiment, the attribute setting constitutes a discretely variable value conforming to the degree of mobility of the device. In one embodiment, an attribute setting constitutes a discretely variable value conforming to the location of the device. In one embodiment, two attribute settings constitute discretely variable values conforming, one to the degree of mobility of the device, and the other to its location. In one embodiment, the device and network incorporate communicative capability compliant with the Bluetooth specification.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for implementing a speakerphone within a personal computer having a voice-capable modem and an audio board is provided. The personal computer executes host software providing the user interface for speakerphone operation and the indirect interconnection for audio data routing between the voice-capable modem and the audio board without requiring physical jumpering between the modem and audio board. For half duplex speakerphone operation, the host software performs switching between transmit and receive modes by monitoring received audio signal energy levels and switching accordingly. For full duplex operation of the voice-capable modem, the modem's DSP provides echo cancellation of locally generated echoes. Also, for full duplex operation of the audio board, the host software provides echo cancellation for acoustic echoes generated by the speaker audio feeding into the user's microphone.

Abstract: The compression method utilizes a combination of both lossy and lossless compression to achieve significant compression while retaining very high subjective quality of the reconstructed or decompressed signal. Methods and apparatus for compression and decompression of digital audio data are provided. In one preferred embodiment, the compression method or apparatus has a bit rate control feedback loop particularly well suited to matching the output bit rate of the data compressor to the bandwidth capacity of a communication channel. Embodiments trade-off various error sources in order to keep perceptible distortion levels to a minimum for a fixed bit rate. Preferred embodiments also utilize a unique combination of run length and Huffman encoding methods in order to take advantage of both local and global statistics.