Analog/digital audio converter and a method thereof

Abstract

An analog/digital audio converting apparatus enables listening to both digital and analog audio signals received from a digital receiving apparatus and analog audio signals input from an external source using the same receiver by providing a formatter capable of converting the analog audio signal into a digital audio signal with the digital broadcasting receiving apparatus.

Claims

1. A digital broadcasting receiving apparatus, comprising: a first input configured to receive a digital broadcasting signal; a second input configured to receive an analog input signal; a processor configured to: in response to the digital broadcasting signal being received via the first input, generate a first digital audio signal and a first analog audio signal based on the digital broadcasting signal, in response to the analog input signal being received via the second input, generate a second analog audio signal based on the analog input signal and a second digital audio signal based on the second analog audio signal; an analog audio output configured to output analog audio signal corresponding to one of the first analog audio signal and the second analog audio signal generated by the processor; and a digital audio output configured to output digital audio signal corresponding to one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal generated by the processor.

2. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an internal speaker configured to output sound corresponding to the analog audio signal.

3. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to mute an output of the internal speaker while the one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal is output via the digital audio output.

4. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to mute the output of the internal speaker by setting a volume of the internal speaker to zero.

5. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the digital audio output is a SONY/PHILIPS digital interface (SPDIF).

6. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor determines which of the first digital audio signal and the first analog audio signal to generate according to the digital broadcasting signal, and the processor determines which of the second analog audio signal and the second digital audio signal to generate according to the analog input signal.

7. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 1, wherein the analog audio output is configured to output the analog audio signal according to a first selection information, and the digital audio output is configured to output the digital audio signal according to a second selection information.

8. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in response to the analog input signal being received via the second input while the first digital audio signal is output via an external speaker connected with the digital audio output, the digital audio output is configured to output the second digital audio signal to output the second digital audio signal via the external speaker.

9. An audio outputting method of a broadcasting receiving apparatus including a processor, a first input, a second input, an analog audio output and a digital audio output, the method comprising: in response to a digital broadcasting signal being received via the first input, generating, by the processor, a first digital audio signal and a first analog audio signal based on the digital broadcasting signal; in response to an analog input signal being received via the second input, generating, by the processor, a second analog audio signal based on the analog input signal and a second digital audio signal based on the second analog audio signal; outputting, via the analog audio output, analog audio signal corresponding to one of the first analog audio signal and the second analog audio signal generated by the processor; and muting the outputting of the analog audio signal while digital audio signal corresponding to one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal generated by the processor is being output via the digital audio output.

10. The audio outputting method of claim 9, wherein the broadcasting receiving apparatus further comprises an internal speaker, and the method further comprises: outputting, via the internal speaker, sound corresponding to the analog audio signal.

11. The audio outputting method of claim 10, wherein the muting comprises setting a volume of the internal speaker to zero.

12. The audio outputting method of claim 9, further comprising: in response to the analog input signal being received via the second input while the first digital audio signal is output via an external speaker connected with the digital audio output, outputting the second digital audio signal to output the second digital audio signal via the external speaker.

13. The audio outputting method of claim 9, wherein the digital audio output is a SONY/PHILIPS digital interface (SPDIF).

14. The audio outputting method of claim 9, wherein analog audio output outputs the analog audio signal according to a first selection information, and the digital audio output outputs the digital audio signal according to a second selection information.

15. A broadcasting receiving apparatus, comprising: an internal speaker; a tuner configured to receive a digital broadcasting signal and an analog broadcasting signal; a processor configured to: in response to the digital broadcasting signal being received via the tuner, generate a first digital audio signal and a first analog audio signal based on the digital broadcasting signal, in response to the analog broadcasting signal being received via the tuner, generate a second analog audio signal based on the analog broadcasting signal and a second digital audio signal based on the second analog audio signal, an analog audio output configured to output analog audio signal corresponding to one of the first analog audio signal and the second analog audio signal generated by the processor, via the internal speaker; and a digital audio output configured to output digital audio signal corresponding to one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal generated by the processor.

16. The broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 15, wherein the internal speaker is configured to output the one of the first analog audio signal and the second analog audio signal according to a first selection information, and the digital audio output is configured to output the one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal according to a second selection information.

17. The broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to mute an output of the internal speaker while the one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal is output via the digital audio output.

18. The broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to mute the output of the internal speaker by setting a volume of the internal speaker to zero.

19. The broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 15, wherein the digital audio output is a SONY/PHILIPS digital interface (SPDIF).

20. The broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 15, wherein the broadcasting receiving apparatus further comprises an analog input, the processor is configured to, in response to an analog input signal being received via the analog input, generate a third analog audio signal based on the analog input signal and a third digital audio signal based on the third analog audio signal, the analog audio output configured to output analog audio signal corresponding to one of the first analog audio signal, the second analog audio signal and the third analog audio signal to output audio corresponding to one of the first analog audio signal, the second analog audio signal and the third analog audio signal via the internal speaker, and the digital audio output configured to output digital audio signal corresponding to one of the first digital audio signal, the second digital audio signal and the third digital audio signal.

21. The digital broadcasting receiving apparatus of claim 20, wherein in response to the analog input signal being received via the analog input while the generated one of the first digital audio signal and the second digital audio signal is output via an external speaker connected with the digital audio output, the digital audio output is configured to output the third digital audio signal to output the third digital audio signal via the external speaker.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional digital broadcasting receiving apparatus for processing a SONY/PHILIPS digital interface; and

(3) FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept while referring to the figures.

(5) FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus 400 according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(6) Referring to FIG. 2, the digital broadcasting receiving apparatus 400 comprises a digital processing part 100, an analog processing part 200, and a formatter 300 to convert an audio signal output from the analog processing part 200 into a digital signal and to input the converted signal into the digital processing part 100.

(7) The digital processing part 100 comprises a tuner 110 to receive a predetermined channel from an external sky wave, a cable, and a satellite, a channel demodulator (demod) 120 to process an intermediate frequency (IF) corresponding to the channel and to output a transport stream (TS) 122, a multimedia processor 150 including therein a TS demultiplexer (demux), a moving picture experts group (MPEG) decoder, and a graphic mixer, a controller (CPU) 140 to control the overall system, and a digital audio processor 160 (hereinafter, referred to as digital audio DSP) to receive a first digital audio signal 152 output from the multimedia processor 150 and to process the received first digital audio signal 152. Here, the multimedia processor 150 processes and outputs the TS 122 as an image through a video output or a super-video (S-video) output or as a digital video interactive (DVI) output which is a type of compressed data used to record a moving image as digital data, and separates a digital audio signal from received signals of the TS stream 122 to output the separated digital audio signal as the first digital audio signal 152.

(8) The digital audio DSP 160 processes and outputs the first digital audio signal 152 through a SONY/PHILIPS digital interface (SPDIF) externally as a digital output signal 166, thereby enabling a user who utilizes an external receiver (not shown) to receive and listen to the digital output signal 166. More specifically, the SPDIF of the digital audio DSP 160 can be connected to an input terminal of the external receiver and the digital output signal 166 can be decoded at a digital audio DSP of the external receiver. Accordingly, the user can listen to sound corresponding to the digital output signal 166 through an external speaker, such as earphones. Further, the digital audio DSP 160 is constructed to decode the first digital audio signal 152 output from the multimedia processor 150, separately output the decoded signal as different types of audio data, convert the output audio data into an analog audio signal, synthesize the analog audio signal as a multi-channel audio signal 164 and output the multi-channel audio signal 164 to a national television system committee (NTSC) audio decoder 270, which will be explained in greater detail below, so that the sound can be listened to through the external speaker.

(9) Also, an analog/digital audio selecting signal 162 is input an external source to select one of the first digital audio signal 152 and a second digital audio signal 310 input from the formatter 300. The digital audio DSP 160 outputs the selected signal as the digital output signal 166.

(10) The analog processing part 200 comprises an NTSC IF decoder 230 and the NTSC audio decoder 270. The NTSC IF decoder 230 amplifies the IF signal corresponding to the channel received by the tuner 110 and separates the amplified IF signal into an NTSC audio signal 232 and an NTSC video signal 234. The NTSC IF decoder 230 outputs the separated NTSC video signal 234 to the multimedia processor 150 and the separated NTSC audio signal 232 to the NTSC audio decoder 270. The NTSC audio decoder 270 receives an input audio selecting signal 272, which is to select any one of the separated NTSC audio signal 232, an externally-input audio signal 220, and the multi-channel audio signal 164 output from digital audio DSP 160, amplifies the audio signal selected by the input audio selecting signal 272, and outputs the amplified signal as a left/right (L/R) output signal 276, to transmit the left/right (L/R) output signal 276 to an external speaker. In addition, the NTSC audio decoder 270 outputs the amplified signal as an NTSC audio signal 274 to the formatter 300 in order to digitally convert the selected audio signal.

(11) The formatter 300 receives the NTSC audio signal 274 output from the NTSC audio decoder 270, processes the NTSC audio signal 274 to convert the NTSC audio signal 274 into the second digital audio signal 310 to be input into the digital audio DSP 160. Here, the NTSC audio signal 274 may be the same as the L/R output signal 276 output from the NTSC audio decoder 270.

(12) The formatter 300 converts the input NTSC audio signal 274 into the second digital audio signal 310 using an analog/digital (A/D) converter, compresses and outputs the second digital audio signal 310 to the digital audio DSP 160, which can output the second digital audio signal 310 as the digital output signal 166 according to the analog/digital selecting signal 162. The formatter 300 may have various types of structure to receive and digitally output various analog audio signals. The formatter 300 may alternatively be disposed inside the digital audio DSP 160 instead of separately provided, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In other words, the digital audio DSP 160 can be capable of converting and outputting an input analog audio signal as a digital audio signal, and the NTSC audio signal 274 output from the NTSC audio decoder 270 can be directly input to the digital audio DSP 160 to be processed therein.

(13) In the digital broadcasting receiving apparatus 400, as described above, even while the digital output signal 166 output from the digital audio DSP 160 externally is received through the external receiver (not shown), if the user selects the analog audio by operating the A/D audio selecting signal 162, the digital audio DSP 160 can select the second digital audio signal 310 output from the formatter 300, thereby enabling the user to digitally listen to the analog audio through the external receiver.

(14) Herein, the second digital audio signal 310 output from the formatter 300 corresponds to the selected one of the NTSC audio signal 232 separated from the NTSC IF decoder 230, the externally-input audio signal 220, and the multi-channel audio signal 164 output from the digital audio DSP 160, according to the input audio selecting signal 272. Thus, the user can select the analog audio signal (NTSC audio signal 274) as desired, by operating the input audio selecting signal 272.

(15) Accordingly, the formatter 300 to convert the selected analog audio signal 274 into the second digital audio signal 310 enables listening to the selected analog audio signal 274 or the second digital audio signal through the external receiver as desired by the user, without inconveniences of a conventional digital broadcasting receiving apparatus, such as having to listen to the sound only through the external receiver and change the channel to an analog channel when receiving a digital broadcasting, and having to convert to an internal speaker to connect to an external device, such as video cassette recorder (VCR).

(16) As described above, in a digital outputting apparatus usable with an analog audio signal according to the present general inventive concept, when receiving an analog broadcasting signal through a digital broadcasting receiving apparatus or through an external device, such as VCR, a user utilizing a dedicated receiver including a digital audio DSP therein can receive and listen to sound through an external speaker.

(17) Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.