Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of audio apparatus, associated methods, computer programs and systems. Certain disclosed aspects/examples relate to portable electronic devices, in particular, so-called hand-portable electronic devices which may be hand-held in use (although they may be placed in a cradle in use). Such hand-portable electronic devices include mobile telephone, smartphone, so-called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and tablet personal computers.

The portable electronic devices/apparatus according to one or more disclosed aspects/examples may provide one or more audio/text/video communication functions (e.g. tele-communication, video-communication, and/or text transmission (Short Message Service (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS)/emailing) functions), interactive/non-interactive viewing functions (e.g. web-browsing, navigation, TV/program viewing functions), music recording/playing functions (e.g. MP3 or other format and/or (FM/AM) radio broadcast recording/playing), downloading/sending of data functions, image capture function (e.g. using a (e.g. in-built) digital camera), and gaming functions.

Background

Speakers are used to output music and audio content for a user to listen to. Standalone speakers may be used, but speakers can also be integrated within other devices with additional functionality. For example, mobile telephones, laptop computers, tablet computers and portable media devices may all contain speakers for audio output, as well as providing other functionality. More than one speaker may be used as a speaker system to listen to audio content.

Audio output may be mono; that is, the same audio content is output (one channel output) by each speaker in the speaker system. Audio output may also be stereo (short for stereophonic sound, usually relating to two-channel audio, but may be used to refer to any audio output higher than mono/one channel output). Thus stereo may be used to refer to two-channel output (such as left and right for two speakers situated to the left and right of a listener, for example), quadraphonic/four-channel output, or surround sound (which relates to several multi-channel formats). The term "multi-channel composite signal" may also be used to refer to an audio signal comprising two or more separate audio components/channels, such as found in a surround sound audio system or a more basic stereo system.

Many electronic devices are capable of playing/outputting audio content in stereo format. In some cases, one device may act as a transmission device and transmit audio content to one or more receiving devices, which then play the received audio content. The transmission from an audio player to a speaker system, for example, may be achieved via wired connection to each speaker in the system..

The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge.

Summary

In a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

enable a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components to be split into respective audio signal components, each relating to a respective audio channel; and

enable the wireless transmission of at least one of the respective audio signal components from a transmission device to at least one wireless receiving device for use by the at least one wireless receiving device for audio output.

The multi-channel composite audio signal may be a stereo audio signal.

The apparatus may be configured to enable wireless pairing between the transmission device and each of the respective wireless receiving devices.

The wireless pairing may comprise at least one of transmission of the designation of the respective wireless receiving device:

from the transmission device to the respective wireless receiving device; and from the respective wireless receiving device to the transmission device. The transmission of the designation of the wireless receiving device may be at least one of:

a predetermined designation; and

a designation selected by a user via a user interface of the transmission device or the respective wireless receiving device.

The apparatus may be configured to split the multi-channel composite audio signal into respective left and right directional audio signal components, and enable the wireless transmission of both the left and the right directional audio signal components to respective left and right directional wireless receiving devices for use by the respective left and right directional wireless receiving devices for audio output. The transmission device and the respective left and right directional wireless receiving devices may each be mobile devices such as mobile telephones.

The apparatus may be configured to provide a non-wirelessly-transmitted left or right directional audio signal component to the transmission device for audio output, the transmission device thereby acting as a respective left or right receiving device according to the particular non-wirelessly-transmitted left or right directional audio signal component, and wherein the wireless transmission provides for the wireless receiving device to act as the respective right or left audio output device according to the particular complementary wirelessly-transmitted right or left directional audio signal component. The transmission device and the (directional) wireless receiving devices may both be mobile devices such as mobile telephones.

The apparatus may be configured such that the transmission device does not provide audio output.

The apparatus may be configured to enable the wireless transmission of respective audio signal components over a multicast Bluetooth network.

The apparatus may be configured to enable the wireless transmission of respective audio signal components over a wireless local area network (WLAN) link. The apparatus may be configured to enable the wireless pairing between the transmission device and each of the respective wireless receiving devices via one or more of RFID signalling and NFC signalling. The apparatus may be configured to enable the wireless transmission of respective audio signal components as frequency modulated radio signals. The respective audio signal components to be transmitted as frequency modulated radio signals may be of different frequencies.

The apparatus may be configured to split a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising more than two audio signal components into respective audio signal components, and enable the wireless transmission of the more than two audio signal components to respective wireless receiving devices for use by the respective wireless receiving devices for audio output.

The apparatus may be configured to split the multi-channel composite audio signal into respective audio signal components for use by respective wireless receiving devices in one or more of the following speaker configurations: 2.0, 2.1 , 3.1 , 4.0, 4.1 , 6.1 ,, 7.1 , 9.1 , 10.2, 12.2.

The apparatus may be the transmission device, a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, an audio player, a media player, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a server, an audio amplifier, a speaker unit, a hearing aid, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

Each of the respective wireless receiving devices, or the apparatus, may be or may comprise a speaker unit, a portable electronic device, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, a hearing aid, a radio, an audio amplifier, or a module/component for one or more of the same.

In a further aspect there is provided a method comprising:

enabling a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components to be split into respective audio signal components, each relating to a respective audio channel; and

enabling the wireless transmission of at least one of the respective audio signal components from a transmission device to at least one wireless receiving device for use by the at least one wireless receiving device for audio output. In a further aspect there is provided a computer readable medium comprising computer program code stored thereon, the computer readable medium and computer program code being configured to, when run on at least one processor, perform at least the following:

enable a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components to be split into respective audio signal components, each relating to a respective audio channel; and

enable the wireless transmission of at least one of the respective audio signal components from a transmission device to at least one wireless receiving device for use by the at least one wireless receiving device for audio output.

The computer program may be stored on a storage media (e.g. on a CD, a DVD, a memory stick or other non-transitory medium). The computer program may be configured to run on a device or apparatus as an application. An application may be run by a device or apparatus via an operating system .

In a further aspect there is provided a system comprising:

a transmission device and at least one respective wireless receiving device; the transmission device configured to split a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components into respective audio signal components, each relating to a respective audio channel; and

the transmission device configured to wirelessly transmit at least one of the respective audio signal components to be received by the at least one respective wireless receiving device, for use by the at least one respective wireless receiving device for audio output.

In a further aspect, there is provided an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

means for enabling a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components to be split into respective audio signal components, each relating to a respective audio channel; and

means for enabling the wireless transmission of at least one of the respective audio signal components from a transmission device to at least one wireless receiving device for use by the at least one wireless receiving devices for audio output. The present disclosure includes one or more corresponding aspects, examples or features in isolation or in various combinations whether or not specifically stated (including claimed) in that combination or in isolation. Corresponding means and functional units (e.g. multi-channel composite audio signal splitter, wireless transmitter) for performing one or more of the discussed functions are also within the present disclosure. Corresponding computer programs for implementing one or more of the methods disclosed are also within the present disclosure and encompassed by one or more of the described examples.

Brief Description of the Figures

A description is now given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 illustrates an example apparatus according to the present disclosure;

figure 2 illustrates another example apparatus according to the present disclosure;

figure 3 illustrates a further example apparatus according to the present disclosure; figures 4a-4c illustrates mono, stereo, and "split stereo" audio signal transmission and receipt operations;

figures 5a-5d illustrate an example of communication between a transmission device/apparatus and a receiving device/apparatus;

figure 6 illustrates an example of transmission of a Bluetooth multicast signal to a pair of speakers;

figure 7 illustrates an example of transmission of wireless LAN signals to a 5.1 speaker system

figure 8 illustrates an example of transmission of FM radio signals to a pair of speakers; figure 9 illustrates an example of pairing between a transmission and two receiving devices using near-field communication (NFC);

figure 10 illustrates an example of transmission of one audio signal component from one portable electronic device to another portable electronic device;

figure 1 1 illustrates an example of a smart speaker;

figure 12 illustrates mono and stereo audio signal transmission and receipt operations; figure 13 illustrates an example method according to the present disclosure; and figure 14 illustrates schematically a computer readable medium providing a program.

Description of Example Aspects

Other examples depicted in the figures have been provided with reference numerals that correspond to similar features of earlier described examples. For example, feature number 100 can also correspond to numbers 500, 600, 700 etc. These numbered features may appear in the figures but may not have been directly referred to within the description of these particular examples. These have still been provided in the figures to aid understanding of the further examples, particularly in relation to the features of similar earlier described examples.

Speakers are used to output music and audio content for a user to listen to. Standalone speakers may be used, but speakers can also be integrated within other devices with additional functionality. For example, mobile telephones, laptop computers, tablet computers and portable media devices may all contain speakers for audio output, as well as those devices providing other functionality. A mobile telephone operating in hands- free mode may be used as a speaker unit.

Audio output may be mono; that is, the same audio content is output (one channel output) by each speaker in the speaker system. Audio output may also be stereo (short for stereophonic sound, usually relating to two-channel audio, but may be used to refer to any audio output higher than mono/one channel output). The term "multi-channel composite audio signal" may also be used to refer to stereo audio signals comprising left and right audio signal components, or to audio signals comprising more than two audio signal components (such as audio signals used in surround sound audio systems). Thus the terms "stereo" and "multi-channel composite" may be used to refer to two-channel output (such as left and right for two speakers situated to the left and right of a listener, for example), quadraphonic/four-channel output, or surround sound (which relates to several multi-channel formats). A stereo/multi-channel composite audio stream is a composite signal which contains the individual stereo audio channels each for playback/output by a corresponding receiving speaker device. The composite stereo/multi-channel composite signal is typically split into the individual stereo/multichannel composite audio channels (such as left and right), for example if sent via cable/wire to individual speaker units, or if sent via Bluetooth to a stereo headset. The signal is then decoded and amplified as, for example, left and right audio levels. The decoder separates the left and right channels before those channels are connected, via a receiving amplifier, to each speaker unit. The left and right components may then be connected, for example, to each earpiece within the ear covers of a Bluetooth stereo headset. The way in which the composite stereo/multi-channel composite signal in standard stereo/multi-channel composite signal processing is split depends on the signal format of each signal stream. If the signals are transmitted via FM radio signals, the composite signal is down-converted and passed to a decoder, where the signal is processed into separate left and right audio signals which are each then passed to respective speakers via respective amplifiers. If the stereo/multi-channel composite signals are transmitted via a Bluetooth network, the network is a multi-point or subnet network, in which the same data/signal is transmitted to all receiving devices in the network. Bluetooth signals may be transmitted in a variety of encoded forms such as MPEG3, Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR), or Advanced Audio Coding (AAC).The receiving Bluetooth devices will convert the received digital audio stream to provide the correct left or right audio output by applying the correct corresponding decoder. Audio signals may be transmitted over a WLAN, and similarly to Bluetooth transmission, the receiving device needs to select and apply the correct corresponding decoder for the format being streamed in order to provide the left or right audio output. WLAN transmission/streaming may be Lan 802.1 1 , MPEG3, MPEG4 (only the audio component), H.264/AVC, Windows Media (.wmv), QuickTime (.mov), Real Video (.ram), Flash video (.flv), .wma, and AAC FLAC.

Many electronic devices are capable of playing/outputting audio content in stereo format. In some cases, one device may be configured to act as a transmission device and transmit audio content to one or more receiving devices, which then play the received audio content. The transmission may be achieved via wired connection, or wireless connection, from the transmission to the receiving devices, dependent on the capabilities of the individual devices. Wireless connection may, for example, take place via Bluetooth, a wireless local area network link (WLAN), frequency modulated (FM) radio waves or via radio-frequency identification (RFID) connection. Bluetooth usually operates at frequencies around 2.40 - 2.48 GHz. WLAN usually operates at frequencies around 2.4 GHz but may operate at around 3.6 GHz or around 6.0 GHz depending on the territory. FM radio usually operates in the Very High Frequency (VHF) part of the spectrum, between 30 to 300 MHz. In systems which transmit/receive audio content via wireless connection, conventionally a transmission device may send a single mono or single stereo/multi-channel composite audio stream (that is, a single composite signal containing the individual audio channels) to each receiving device. An example may be a transmission device sending a Bluetooth stereo audio stream to a Bluetooth headset or to a car hi-fi. Another example is of a Bluetooth transmission device such as a mobile telephone communicating with two Bluetooth enabled speaker units. In this example, the transmission device is first paired (to form a communicative link) with one of the speaker units and transmits a single stereo audio stream signal containing the individual (e.g. left and right) stereo audio channels to that speaker unit. The second speaker unit is then paired with the first speaker unit and receives one of the stereo audio channels (left or right) from that first speaker unit. Therefore, the transmission device may send a composite signal containing both left and right stereo audio channels to the first speaker, and then the first speaker communicates with the second speaker and transmits, for example, only the right stereo audio channel to the second speaker unit.

In this example, the user who is performing the pairing of devices may be required to remember to pair the left speaker as the first speaker if it is the right stereo audio channel which will be sent from the first to the second speaker in the second pairing operation. Further, if there are other Bluetooth enabled speaker devices in the area (with the normal operating range of Bluetooth, i.e. a few meters), then these other devices may pair with the first speaker instead of the intended second speaker pairing with the first speaker.

Another example is the transmission of a single stereo audio stream via FM radio signals from a transmission device to an FM enabled audio receiving device such as a car radio or a mobile phone. Generally with FM transmission, a single mono or stereo signal is transmitted, and the receiving devices reproduce the mono or stereo signal, without the receivers separating the stereo signal into the individual wireless stereo audio channels (for example, the left and right wireless channels).

Figure 1 shows an apparatus 100 comprising a processor 1 10, memory 120, input I and output O. In this example only one processor and one memory are shown but it will be appreciated that other examples may utilise more than one processor and/or more than one memory (e.g. same or different processor/memory types). The apparatus 100 may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for a portable electronic device. The apparatus 100 may also be a module for a device, or may be the device itself, wherein the processor 1 10 is a general purpose CPU and the memory 120 is general purpose memory.

The input I allows for receipt of signalling to the apparatus 100 from further components. The output O allows for onward provision of signalling from the apparatus 100 to further components. Such signalling may be the transmission of Bluetooth, FM radio, WLAN or RFID signals. In this example the input I and output O are part of a connection bus that allows for connection of the apparatus 100 to further components. The processor 1 10 is a general purpose processor dedicated to executing/processing information received via the input I in accordance with instructions stored in the form of computer program code on the memory 120. The output signalling generated by such operations from the processor 1 10 is provided onwards to further components via the output O.

The memory 120 (not necessarily a single memory unit) is a computer readable medium (such as solid state memory, a hard drive, ROM, RAM, Flash or other memory) that stores computer program code. This computer program code stores instructions that are executable by the processor 1 10, when the program code is run on the processor 1 10. The internal connections between the memory 120 and the processor 1 10 can be understood to provide active coupling between the processor 1 10 and the memory 120 to allow the processor 1 10 to access the computer program code stored on the memory 120. In this example the input I, output O, processor 1 10 and memory 120 are electrically connected internally to allow for communication between the respective components I, O, 1 10, 120, which in this example are located proximate to one another as an ASIC. In this way the components I, O, 1 10, 120 may be integrated in a single chip/circuit for installation in an electronic device. In other examples, one or more or all of the components may be located separately (for example, throughout a portable electronic device such as devices 200, 300, or within a network such as a "cloud" and/or may provide/support other functionality.

One or more examples of the apparatus 100 can be used as a component for another apparatus as in Figure 2, which shows a variation of apparatus 100 incorporating the functionality of apparatus 100 over separate components. In other examples the device 200 may comprise apparatus 100 as a module (shown by the optional dashed line box) for a mobile phone or PDA or audio/video player or the like. Such a module, apparatus or device may just comprise a suitably configured memory and processor.

The example apparatus/device 200 comprises a display 240 such as, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), e-lnk, or touch-screen user interface (like a tablet PC). The device 200 is configured such that it may receive, include, and/or otherwise access data. For example, device 200 comprises a communications unit 260 (such as a receiver, transmitter, and/or transceiver), in communication with an antenna 260 for connection to a wireless network and/or a port (not shown). Device 200 comprises a memory 220 for storing data, which may be received via antenna 260 or user interface 230. The processor 210 may receive data from the user interface 230, from the memory 220, or from the communication unit 260. Data may be output to a user of device 200 via the display device 240, and/or any other output devices provided with apparatus. The processor 210 may also store the data for later user in the memory 220. The device contains components connected via communications bus 280.

The communications unit 250 can be, for example, a receiver, transmitter, and/or transceiver, that is in communication with an antenna 260 for connecting to a wireless network and/or a port (not shown) for accepting a physical connection to a network, such that data may be received via one or more types of network. The communications (or data) bus 280 may provide active coupling between the processor 210 and the memory (or storage medium) 220 to allow the processor 210 to access the computer program code stored on the memory 220. The memory 220 comprises computer program code in the same way as the memory 120 of apparatus 100, but may also comprise other data. The processor 210 may receive data from the user interface 230, from the memory 220, or from the communication unit 250. Regardless of the origin of the data, these data may be outputted to a user of device 200 via the display device 240, and/or any other output devices provided with apparatus. The processor 210 may also store the data for later user in the memory 220.

Device/apparatus 300 shown in figure 3 may be an electronic device (including a tablet personal computer), a portable electronic device, a portable telecommunications device, or a module for such a device. The apparatus 100 can be provided as a module for device 300, or even as a processor/memory for the device 300 or a processor/memory for a module for such a device 300. The device 300 comprises a processor 385 and a storage medium 390, which are electrically connected by a data bus 380. This data bus 380 can provide an active coupling between the processor 385 and the storage medium 390 to allow the processor 385 to access the computer program code.

The apparatus 100 in figure 3 is electrically connected to an input/output interface 370 that receives the output from the apparatus 100 and transmits this to the device 300 via data bus 380. Interface 370 can be connected via the data bus 380 to a display 376 (touch-sensitive or otherwise) that provides information from the apparatus 100 to a user. Display 376 can be part of the device 300 or can be separate. The device 300 also comprises a processor 385 that is configured for general control of the apparatus 100 as well as the device 300 by providing signalling to, and receiving signalling from, other device components to manage their operation.

The storage medium 390 is configured to store computer code configured to perform, control or enable the operation of the apparatus 100. The storage medium 390 may be configured to store settings for the other device components. The processor 385 may access the storage medium 390 to retrieve the component settings in order to manage the operation of the other device components. The storage medium 390 may be a temporary storage medium such as a volatile random access memory. The storage medium 390 may also be a permanent storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, or a non-volatile random access memory. The storage medium 390 could be composed of different combinations of the same or different memory types.

Figures 4a-4c illustrate audio signal transmission and receipt operations for mono (figure 4a), stereo (figure 4b), and "split stereo" (figure 4c). Certain examples of the present disclosure comprise the wireless transmission and receipt of audio signals via the "split stereo" scheme.

Figure 4a shows the transmission of a mono signal. A mono signal may be considered to be one single mono signal transmitted and received (except in the case where both left and right channels are transmitted from a stereo FM radio transmitter to a mono receiver.) The discussion here focusses on the case where a single mono channel is transmitted and received. The mono signal is transmitted and output as a single signal (therefore there are no left and right components in the output audio signal). On the transmission side, TXMONO, the mono signal 400 is modulated 402 to give modulated mono signal 404 for transmission. The modulated mono signal 404 is wirelessly transmitted 406 to, and received 408by, a receiving device on the receiving side RXMONO- Then the modulated mono signal 404 is demodulated 410 to give demodulated mono signal 412. This demodulated mono signal 412 may then pass through an amplifier 414 before being transmitted to one or more wired speakers 416, 418 for audio playback/output 420, 422. Each audio output/playback contains both left and right directional audio signal components. This scheme is shown in alternative figure 12a.

Figure 4b shows the transmission of a stereo signal. A stereo signal may be considered to be a composite signal which is transmitted as a composite signal, including for example, left and right directional audio signal components. The left and right directional audio signal components are typically separated by the decoding step before each channel is passed onto respective receiving amplifiers 450, 451 as a left audio channel and a right audio channel for audio playback giving a stereo effect. On the transmission side, TXSTEREO, the composite mono signal 430 is encoded 432 to give encoded stereo signal 434. This encoded stereo signal 434 is modulated 436 to give modulated stereo signal 438 for transmission. The modulated stereo signal 438 is wirelessly transmitted 440 to, and received 441 by, a receiving device on the transmission side, RXSTEREO- Then the modulated stereo mono signal 438 is demodulated 442 to give demodulated stereo signal 444. This demodulated stereo signal 444 is decoded 446 to give a decoded stereo signal with two components 448, 449 which may each pass through respective amplifiers 450, 451. The decoding step splits the received composite stereo signal into the constituent left and right directional audio signal components 448, 449, before each constituent signal component 448, 449 is transmitted via respective wires and amplifiers 450, 451 to a left speaker 452 or a right speaker 454, for example. In this example the left speaker 452 receives the left directional audio signal component for audio playback/output 456, and the right speaker 454 receives the right directional audio signal component for audio playback/output 458. This scheme is shown in alternative figure 12b.

Figure 4c shows the transmission of "split stereo" left and right directional audio signal components. Each signal 460, 490 is not a composite signal. The left 460 and right 490 directional audio signal components are separated prior to any encoding/decoding, (de)modulation or wireless transmission. The separate left and right directional audio signal components may be operated on and wirelessly transmitted separately before being played/output via corresponding receiving devices/speakers 484, 41 14. Therefore, in this example, the left audio channel 460 is encoded 462 to give encoded left channel 464. This encoded left channel 464 is modulated 466 to give modulated left channel 468 for transmission. The modulated left channel 468 is wirelessly transmitted 470 to, and received 471 by, a receiving device. Then the modulated left channel 468 is demodulated 472 to give demodulated left channel 474. This demodulated left channel 474 is decoded 476 to give decoded left channel 478 which may pass through an amplifier 480. The left channel is then transmitted to the left speaker 482 for audio playback 484.

Similarly, for example, the right audio channel 490 is encoded 492 to give encoded right channel 494. This encoded right channel 494 is modulated 496 to give modulated right channel 498 for transmission. The modulated right channel 498 is wirelessly transmitted 4100 to a receiving device. Then the modulated right channel 498 is demodulated 4102 to give demodulated right channel 4104. This demodulated right channel 4104 is decoded 4106 to give decoded right channel 4108 which may pass through an amplifier 41 10. The right channel is then transmitted to the right speaker 41 12 for audio playback 41 14. Encoding/decoding of the left and right directional audio signal components may be, for example, via MP3, AMR, AAC, Bluetooth, WLAN or FM encoding/decoding modulating/demodulating schemes.

The skilled person will appreciate that the illustrated schemes for transmission of audio signals in figures 4a-4c are non limiting, in that other operations may be performed on the audio signals, or the operations illustrated may in some examples be performed in a different order. The illustration is intended to show that certain examples disclosed herein use a "split stereo" scheme as in figure 4c for wireless transmission of respective left and right directional audio signal components to respective left and right wireless receiving devices for audio output/playback, and that use of such "split stereo" audio component transmission takes place in a different way to, for example, transmission of standard mono and stereo audio signals.

Figures 5a- 5d illustrate examples of a transmission device 500 and one wireless receiving device 550. In these examples the wireless receiving device is a right receiving device 550, but it will be appreciated that the examples could be adapted to apply to a left receiving device. Also, both left and right wireless receiving devices may be envisaged (of two or more receiving devices; for example in the case of a 7.1 surround sound audio system , more than one left and more than one right receiving device are present). Here only one (right) receiving device 550 is illustrated for clarity. The devices 500, 550 could be standalone speakers (as shown) or other electronic devices such as mobile telephones, for example.

Figures 5a-5d illustrate that a stereo/multi-channel composite audio signal, comprising audio signal components, has been split into respective audio signal components. In these examples a right directional audio signal component is the component to be transmitted.

Figures 5a- 5d illustrate that the wireless transmission of the right directional audio signal component is enabled, from a transmission device 500 to a respective right wireless receiving device 550, for use by the respective right wireless receiving device 550 for audio output. In these examples, the wireless receiving device 550 is illustrated as a speaker, but it will be appreciated that the wireless device 550 may be any device with speaker functionality, such as a mobile telephone, laptop computer, monitor or television with built-in speakers, or other wireless device. The transmission device 500 is illustrated as a portable media player, but it will be appreciated that the device 500 may be any device capable of wirelessly transmitting an audio signal, such as a mobile telephone.

Wireless pairing between the transmission device 500 and the right receiving device 550 is possible. Although only one right receiving device 550 is illustrated, wireless pairing between the transmission device 500 and each of the respective wireless receiving devices present in the system is possible. Pairing may be via Bluetooth, RFID or NFC, for example.

In figure 5a, the wireless pairing comprises transmission of the designation 514 of the respective receiving device 550 from the transmission device 500 to the respective receiving device 550. The transmission of the device address of the transmission device 512 is also transmitted to the receiving device 550, so that the receiving device 550 can pair with the transmission device 500. The transmission of the designation 514 of the receiving device 550 is a designation selected by a user 516 via a user interface 502 of the transmission device 500. In this example, the user interface 502 displays to the user 516 a question 504 asking which speaker the transmission device 500 is attempting to pair with. The pairing signal includes the address 512 of the transmission device 500. The user 516 can select to designate the receiving device 550 as a left device via selection of the L option 506, a right device by selection of an R option 508, or the user may be able to select other options denoted by the user interface option 510. Other options may be, for example, to refresh, cancel, or retry connections, or enter another menu system of the device 500. After selecting that the receiving device 550 is to be designated as a right receiving device 550, the command 514 is sent.

In the different example of figure 5b, the wireless pairing comprises transmission of the designation 562 of the respective receiving device 550 from the respective receiving device 550 to the transmission device 500. The transmission of the device address 560 of the receiving device 550 is also transmitted to the transmission device 500, so that the receiving device 550 can pair with the transmission device 500. The transmission of the designation 562 of the receiving device 550 is a designation selected by a user 564 via a user interface 552 of the respective receiving device 550. In this example, the user interface 552 of the receiving device 550 displays to the user 564 an instruction 554 to send the location of the receiving device 550 to the transmission device 500 with which it is attempting to pair. The pairing signal 550 includes the address of the transmission device 550. The user 564 can select to send a message to the transmission device 500 that the receiving device 550 is a left device 556 or a right device 558. In other examples other/further options may be possible. After selecting that the receiving device 550 is to be designated as a right receiving device via the R option 558, the command 562 is sent to instruct the transmission device 500 that the device being paired with is a right receiving device 550.

In the further example of figure 5c, the wireless pairing comprises transmission of the designation 520 of the respective receiving device 550 from the transmission device 500 to the respective receiving device 550. The transmission of the designation 520 of the receiving device 550 is a predetermined designation. The transmission device 500 may, for example, be preparing to transmit the right directional audio signal component, and therefore the receiving device 550 with which it is about to pair will become the right receiving device. The transmission of the device address of the transmission device 518 is transmitted to the receiving device 550, so that the receiving device 550 can pair with the transmission device 500. The transmission of the designation 520 of the receiving device 550 is also transmitted to the receiving device 550.

In the further example of figure 5d, the wireless pairing comprises transmission of the designation 568 of the respective receiving device from the respective receiving device 550 to the transmission device 500. The transmission of the designation 568 of the receiving device 550 is a predetermined designation. The transmission of the device address of the receiving device 566 is also transmitted to the transmission device 500, so that the receiving device 550 can pair with the transmission device 500. The transmission of the designation 568 of the receiving device 550 is also transmitted to the transmission device 500.

In the above examples, the transmission of the device address and the transmission of the instruction of whether the receiving device is left or right, for example, are both sent from the same device (i.e. both are sent from the transmission device 500 or both are sent from the receiving device 550). In some examples, these transmissions may occur simultaneously (i.e. in the same transmission event). In other examples, one transmission (e.g. of the device address) may be initially sent to enable pairing, and a further transmission may then be sent (e.g. of the designation of the receiving device). Also, in other examples, one transmission (e.g. of the device address) may be sent from the transmission device 500 to the receiving device 550, and the other transmission (e.g. of the left or right designation of the receiving device) may be sent from the receiving 550 device to the transmission device 500. Of course, one transmission (e.g. of the device address) may be sent from the receiving device 550 to the transmission device 500, and the other transmission (e.g. of the left or right designation of the receiving device) may be sent from the transmission device 500 to the receiving device 550.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a transmission device 600 and a pair of left and right wireless receiving devices 604, 606. In this example the transmission device 600 is a mobile telephone, smartphone, or PDA with a display 602. The transmission device is Bluetooth enabled and can form ad-hoc Bluetooth networks with other Bluetooth devices within a Bluetooth connectivity radius. The wireless receiving devices are the left 604 and right 606 Bluetooth speakers.

The apparatus 600 in figure 6 has split a stereo audio signal comprising left and right directional audio signal components into respective left and right directional audio signal components BT1 and BT2. At least one (in this example, both) of the left and right directional audio signal components BT1 and BT2 are being wirelessly transmitted via an ad-hoc Bluetooth network between the transmission device and the receiving devices 604, 606. The apparatus 600 is configured to enable wireless pairing between the transmission device 600 and each of the respective left and right receiving devices 604, 606.

The left and right directional audio signal components BT1 and BT2 are being transmitted to the respective left and right receiving devices 604, 606 for use by the respective left and right receiving devices 604, 606 for audio output 610, 612.

In this example, the provision of the respective left and right directional audio signal components BT1 and BT2 are being provided to the respective left and right receiving devices 604, 606 via wireless transmission over a multicast Bluetooth network. The transmission device 600 is registered (paired) with two receiving devices, which are left and right speakers 604, 606. The pairing operation in this example is via transmission of the designation of the respective receiving device 604, 606 from the respective receiving devices 604, 606 to the transmission device 600. Thus, the left speaker 604 sends a Bluetooth pairing signal to the transmission device 600 including information to tell the transmission device 600 that it is the left receiving device 604. Similarly, the right speaker 606 sends a Bluetooth pairing signal to the transmission device 600 including information to tell the transmission device 600 that it is the right receiving device 606. In this example the transmission of the designation of the receiving devices 604, 606 is a predetermined designation. The speakers 604, 606 are intended to be positioned in particular locations (left and right) so in this case it is the receiving devices 604, 606 which inform the transmission device 600 which of the respective left and right directional audio signal components BT1 and BT2 they require.

The pairing, and transmission of respective audio signal components, via Bluetooth may be performed using a Bluetooth multicast/multi-channel transmission. A multicast is the delivery of a signal, message or information to a group of receiving devices simultaneously in a single transmission. In this example, the Bluetooth multicast from the transmission device transmits the left directional audio signal component to the left receiving device, and transmits the right directional audio signal component to the right receiving device at the same time. In order to achieve this, the multicast Bluetooth signal sends different audio signal components to different receiving devices simultaneously. In this way, any problems which may arise due to the user requiring to pair and designate the directionality of the receiving devices in a particular order is mitigated, since only one multicast (i.e. one communication operation) is performed.

Pairing may be performed prior to Bluetooth transmission of audio signals in several different ways. For example, the transmission device may be instructed to pair with the left device by the left device providing the transmission device with its address (see figure 4). In another example, the transmission device may be powered on but the receiving devices may be powered off. First, the left receiving device is powered on, and the transmission device performs a scan of all devices in the Bluetooth area which may be paired with. The user may select the left device from a list of detected devices presented by the transmission device to be the left speaker. Next, the right receiving device may be powered on and the scan performed again. The user can then select the detected right receiving device to be the right speaker.

As another example of Bluetooth pairing, all devices (transmission and all receiving devices) may be powered on. The transmission device may perform a scan to determine other devices in the Bluetooth neighbourhood (within Bluetooth connection range). This scan should detect all the powered-on receiving devices provided that they are within Bluetooth range of the scanning transmission device, and show them to the user in a list. The user may choose to pair the transmission device with a first receiving device/speaker on the list, and on the connection being formed, a "beep" or other alert could be sounded so that the user knows which device has been paired with. The user may then be able to select a second receiving device/speaker on the list, and on the second connection being formed, another "beep" (or other alert) could be sounded again to alert the user that another device has been paired with. In some example (depending on the Bluetooth software stack), the transmission device may need to perform a second scan (a re-scan) after selection/pairing of the transmission device with the first receiving device/speaker. As another example, the transmission and receiving devices may be paired using RFID/NFC (see figure 9).

The Bluetooth communications between the transmission device 600 and each receiving device 604, 606 may also include information such as volume balance (for example, play the left speaker at one volume and play the right speaker at a different volume), or speaker control (for example, change the bass and/or treble level of each speaker individually).

In other examples, the transmission of the respective audio signal components may be via an ad-hoc Bluetooth network, but the initial pairing of the transmission device and the respective receiving devices may be performed using RFID/near-field communication (NFC). The typical range for RFID/NFC communication is a few millimeters, and so the two devices must be positioned close to each other to obtain an RFID/NFC connection. Therefore, pairing may be achieved by the Bluetooth address of the master (e.g. transmission device) being transmitted to the slave (e.g. receiving device) via RFID/NFC so that the master can connect to the slave via Bluetooth. As another example, pairing may be achieved by the MAC address of the WLAN and the connection parameters being transmitted from the master to the slave via RFID/NFC so that the master can connect to the slave over a WLAN connection. As a further example, pairing may be achieved by the FM frequency of the receiving device (e.g. speaker) being passed via RFID/NFC to the master device (e.g. transmission device) so that the master device knows which FM radio frequency it should tune to send the appropriate signals via FM radio to that speaker. Figure 7 illustrates an example of a transmission device 700 and a set of six receiving devices for use in a 5.1 surround sound system. In this example the transmission device 700 may be any suitable electronic device such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, server, mobile telephone, smartphone, or PDA 700. In this example the apparatus 700 has a display 702 and may have other features. The transmission device and receiving devices are able to form ad-hoc networks over a wireless LAN. The receiving devices are the front right 704, front left 710, back right 714, back left 712, front centre 708 and front centre low-frequency effects (LFE) 706 speakers. The apparatus 700 in figure 7 has split a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising left, right, central and LFE audio signal components into respective left, right, central and LFE audio signal components. The left directional audio signal components WLAN4 and WLAN5, and the right directional audio signal component WLAN 1 and WLAN6, along with the front centre components WLAN 2 (LFE speaker) and WLAN 3 provide the 5.1 surround sound audio signal components. At least one (in this example, four) left and right directional audio signal components WLAN4, WLAN5, WLAN1 , WLAN6 are being wirelessly transmitted via an ad-hoc WLAN network between the transmission device 700 and the receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714. The front centre audio signal components WLAN2 (LFE), WLAN3 are also being wirelessly transmitted via the ad-hoc WLAN network between the transmission device 700 and the receiving devices 706, 708. The apparatus 700 is configured to enable wireless pairing between the transmission device 700 and each of the respective left, right, and central receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708.

The left and right directional audio signal components WLAN4, WLAN5, WLAN 1 , WLAN6 are being transmitted to the respective left and right receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714 for use by the respective left and right receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714 for audio output. Similarly the central audio signal component WLAN3 is being transmitted to the central receiving device 708, and the LFE audio signal component WLAN2 is being transmitted to the LFE receiving device 706.

In this example, the wireless pairing over the WLAN comprises transmission of the designation of the respective receiving device 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 from the transmission device 700 to the respective receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708. That is, the transmission device 700 instructs each receiving device 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 of its designation and therefore which (directional) audio signal components it will receive over the WLAN. The designation of each wireless receiving device 710, 712, 704 , 714 , 706 , 708 in this example is a designation selected by a user via a user interface (for example, displayed on the transmission device display 702) of the transmission device 700. In other examples the designation of each receiving device 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 may be predetermined, and may be automatically transmitted from the transmission device 700 to the receiving devices 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 upon pairing (or alternatively from each receiving device 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 to the transmission device 700 upon pairing), as per the examples of figure 5. In pairing each receiving device 710, 712, 704, 714, 706, 708 with the transmission device 700, the pairing communication includes a designation of the initiating device's address, plus an assignment of the directionality of the device. For example, front left speaker 710 may initiate communication with the transmission device 700, and in pairing, the front left speaker 710 may transmit its address (so that communication can take place) and transmit its designation as being the front left speaker. The transmission device 700 can transmit the corresponding directional audio signal component WLAN4 for the front left speaker 710. As another example, the transmission device 700 may initiate communication with the back right speaker 714. In pairing, the back right speaker 714 may receive the address of the transmission device 700 (so that communication can take place) and receive a designation to be the back right speaker. The transmission device 700 can transmit the corresponding directional audio signal component WLAN6 for the back right speaker 714. It may be imagined in the example shown in figure 7 that the speakers 710, 704, 712, 714 may be physically indistinct (in that they may be constructed in the same way, leading to similar properties; for example they may all operate equally well within a given volume range). Upon being positioned with respect to a television, for example, they may notionally be labelled according to their physical position. However, for the 5.1 surround system to operate as expected, each of these speakers must be instructed (for example by the transmission device) of which directionality each speaker is (for example, front right, front left), so that they can receive the corresponding directional audio signal components for playback/audio output. Thus the front right speaker 704 may be informed that it will be the front right speaker 704 by the transmission device 700, and then will receive the corresponding right directional audio signal component for playback.

In other examples, other speaker system configuration may be used, including 2.0 (left and right), 2.1 (left, right, and LFE), 3.1 (front/back, left, right and LFE), 4.0 (two left, two right), 4.1 (front, back, left, right, LFE), 5.1 (as illustrated in figure 7, two left, two right, one front, one LFE), 6.1 (front, back, two left, two right, LFE), 7.1 (three left, three right, LFE), 9.1 (front, four left, four right, LFE), 10.2 (front, back, four left, four right, two LFE), 12.2(front, back, five left, five right, two LFE).

Figure 8 illustrates an example of a transmission device 800 and a pair of left and right receiving devices 804, 806. In this example the transmission device 800 is a laptop computer, desktop computer or other electronic device, and has a display 802 (in other examples it may not have a display). The transmission device is able to transmit FM radio to be received by FM receiving devices, such as the speakers 804, 806. The speakers 804, 806 may be standalone speakers or may be devices having speakers and other functionality, for example mobile telephones, which would essentially act as portable speakers in this example.

The apparatus 800 in figure 8 has split a stereo audio signal comprising left and right directional audio signal components into respective left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2, transmitted at respective different frequencies v1 and v2. At least one (in this example, both) of the left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2 are being wirelessly transmitted via FM radio waves between the transmission device and the receiving devices 804, 806. The left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2 are being transmitted to the respective left and right receiving devices 804, 806 for use by the respective left and right receiving devices 804, 806 for audio output. That is, the user can, for example, select audio content to be played using the transmission device 800, and this device can send left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2 each to the respective speakers 804, 806 for the user to listen to the selected audio content.

So that the left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2 may be transmitted simultaneously and so that each respective left or right receiving device only receives the requires directional audio signal component for playback/audio output, the two left and right directional audio signal components FM v1 and FM v2 are each transmitted at different radio frequencies: v1 for the left receiving device and v2 for the right receiving device. Advantageously no modifications need be made to the speakers 804, 806 if they can be tuned to receive FM radio signals in a particular frequency range, for example a frequency range spanning v1 for the left speaker. The receiving devices 804, 808 then only play/output the desired directional audio signal component, left or right. The speakers 804, 806 may be mono speakers; that is, each speaker 804, 806 is configured to play one mono audio signal. In this example, each mono speaker 804, 806 receives a different mono audio signal, with one mono audio signal FM v1 corresponding to, for example, the left directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal, and the other different mono audio signal FM v2 corresponding to the right directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal. In this example, mono speakers may be used to provide stereo audio output. The speakers 804, 806 may be stereo speakers; that is, each speaker 804, 806 is configured to play more than one audio signal (for example, each speaker can output different audio signal components). In this example, each stereo speaker 804, 806 receives a different audio signal component, with one stereo audio signal component FM v1 corresponding to, for example, the left directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal, and the other different stereo audio signal component FM v2 corresponding to the right directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal. Therefore the speaker 804 may output the wirelessly received left directional audio signal component only, and the speaker 806 may output the wirelessly received right directional audio signal component only. In this example, separate stereo audio speakers may be used as wireless receiving devices each outputting one particular audio signal component to provide audio output. In some examples, the speakers 804, 806 may be stereo speaker units within the same single stereo speaker device. In this example, each speaker unit 804, 806 receives a different audio signal component, with one stereo audio signal component FM v1 corresponding to, for example, the left directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal, and the other different stereo audio signal component FM v2 corresponding to the right directional audio signal component of a stereo audio signal. In this example, the stereo speaker units 804, 806 speakers may be used to provide stereo audio output.

The above description of speakers 804, 806 being mono or stereo may also be applied in other examples to the speakers 604, 606; to the speaker system 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, 716; or to the speakers 804, 806; and to the mobile telephones comprising speakers 1000, 1050.

Figure 9 illustrates an example of a transmission device 900 and a pair of left and right receiving devices 904, 906 which are to be paired with the transmission device 900 via RFID/NFC pairing. In this example the transmission device 900 is a mobile telephone, smartphone, PDA, personal media player, or other electronic device, and has a display 902. The transmission device 900 comprises an RFID element, such as an RFID or NFC coil, and the other receiving devices 904, 906 are configured to pair with the transmission device 900 via RFID/NFC. The receiving devices 904, 906 may be speakers, or may be electronic devices with speaker functionality and other functionality. The receiving devices 904, 906 may be mobile telephones or smartphones (not shown) operating in hands-free mode, thereby acting as portable speakers.

Figure 9 shows that the transmission device 900 is brought into close proximity (within the range of RFID/NFC communication, a few millimetres) with the first receiving device 904 (or physically touches the first receiving device) and an "NFC1 pair" pairing signal is send. Similarly, the transmission device 900 is then brought into close proximity with the second receiving device 906 and an "NFC2 pair" pairing signal is send. The pairing signal from the receiving device/speaker to the transmission device is an exchange of data, and the exchanged data may comprise "connection properties" such as a Bluetooth or WLAN address. In this way the transmission device 900 is paired with each of the receiving devices 904, 906, so that they may communicate via, for example, Bluetooth, over an WLAN, or via FM radio, to provide stereo audio output as described elsewhere in this disclosure.

Figure 10 illustrates an example of a transmission device 1000 and one separate wireless receiving device 1050. In this example the transmission/receiving device 1000 is a mobile telephone operating in hands-free mode and has an integral speaker 1002 (shown schematically). The wireless receiving device 1050 in this example is also a mobile telephone operating in hands-free mode and has an integral speaker 1052 (shown schematically). The transmission device and receiving device 1050 may be Bluetooth enabled, able to form ad-hoc WLANs, able to communicate using RFID communication and/or able to transmit/receive FM radio signals. The apparatus in figure 10 has split a stereo audio signal comprising left and right directional audio signal components into respective left and right directional audio signal components. One of the left and right directional audio signal components x is being wirelessly transmitted to the wireless receiving device 1050 for use by the other receiving device 1050 for the other audio output.

The other of the left and right directional audio signal components (not shown) is not being transmitted to the receiving device 1050 but is being used by the transmission/receiving device 1000 for audio output. In this way, the apparatus provides a non-wireless ly-transmitted left or right directional audio signal component to the transmission device 1000 for audio output. The transmission device 1000 is thereby acting as a respective corresponding left or right receiving device according to the particular non-wirelessly-transmitted left or right directional audio signal component which it is playing.

In this example, the transmission device 1000 transmits one of the left and right directional audio signal components, in this example labelled x, via a wireless connection to the receiving device 1050. Thus the directional wireless receiving device 1050 is acting as the respective complementary right or left audio output device according to the particular wirelessly-transmitted right or left directional audio signal component x. It may be considered that the transmission device 1000 is acting as master system, transmitting a directional audio signal component to the directional wireless receiving device 1050 for audio playback and the transmission device itself outputting a complementary directional audio signal component (that is, outputting the second audio channel). For example, device 1000 may transmit the right directional audio signal component to the receiving device 1050 for playback while the device 1000 itself plays the left directional audio signal component.

In this example the transmission device 1000 and the wireless receiving device 1050 are both mobile telephones. The devices 1000, 1050 may be paired via Bluetooth or via NFC, for example. The device 1000 may send a signal to the receiving device 1050 that the device 1000 will act as the left receiving device and will play the left directional audio signal component. In other examples the device 1000 may receive a signal from the receiving device 1050 that the device 1050 will act as the right receiving device and will play, upon receipt from the device 1000, the right directional audio signal component. In this example, the user may benefit from wireless stereo audio playback using only two devices, such as mobile telephones.

In the abovementioned and in other examples, the transmission apparatus may be a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, an audio player, a media player, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a server, an audio amplifier or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same. Further, each of the respective left and right receiving devices may comprise a speaker unit, a portable electronic device, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, a hearing aid, a radio, or a module/component for one or more of the same. The transmission apparatus 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000 may store audio files on a memory located with the apparatus, for example on the internal memory, or on a removable memory device such as an SD card or USB stick. In other examples, the audio files accessible by the apparatus may be located remotely and accessible, for example, via the internet or an intranet connection.

Figure 1 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a smart speaker 1 102 connected to a coil 1 136, amplifier 1 132 and speaker 1 134. The smart speaker 1 102 has elements which allow for RFID/NFC communication 1 104 (including an RFID coil 1 136); Bluetooth connectivity 1 106; receipt of FM radio signals 1 108 (the apparatus 1 100 comprising such a smart speaker 1 102 may also have the ability to transmit FM radio signals); and WLAN connectivity 1 1 10. Two-way Bluetooth communication 1 1 12, two way WLAN communication 1 1 16, two way RFID/NFC communication and FM radio signal receipt 1 1 14 are possible using the illustrated smart speaker.

The smart speaker also comprises a processor 1 1 18, a memory interface 1 120, volatile memory (RAM) 1 122, and non-volatile memory (ROM) 1 124. Signals from the communication elements 1 104, 1 106, 1 108, 1 1 10 and signals from the components 1 1 18, 1 120, 1 122, 1 124 may be sent to a digital to analog converter 1 126 and from there to a low pass filter 1 128. The signal from the low pass filter 1 128 may be transmitted to an amplifier which is not part of the smart speaker, as may a control signal 1 130 from the processor 1 1 18. The amplifier 1 132 can process and transmit the signal to the speaker 1 134 for audio output/playback. Relatively simple software may be used to interface with the smart speaker 1 102, permitting the functionality of the examples described herein, thereby permitting Bluetooth, FM radio and/or WLAN communication for the transmission of separate audio channels to separate left and right receiving devices and permitting the use of RFID/NFC for device pairing. The smart speaker may be installed in, for example, a mobile telephone as standard. By using relatively simple software, the mobile telephone may be used as a receiving device and therefore as a relatively low-cost speaker.

Figures 12a and 12b show alternative illustrations of figures 4a and 4b, and show the transmission and reception of mono and stereo signals.

Figure 12a relating to mono signal transmission/reception shows, on the transmission side, TXMONO, that a mono signal stored in a memory ROM is decoded DEC and is then modulated MOD for wireless transmission Tx. On the receiving side RXMONO, the modulated mono signal is received Rx, then demodulated DEMOD before the mono signal MONO passes through an amplifier before being transmitted to one or more speakers for mono audio playback/output.

Figure 12b relating to stereo signal transmission/reception shows, on the transmission side, TXSTEREO, that a stereo signal stored in a memory ROM is decoded DEC. This decoding splits the stereo signal into left L and right R components which are then encoded ENC to give a multiplex signal MPX. This multiplex signal MPX is modulated MOD for wireless transmission Tx. On the receiving side RXSTEREO, the modulated multiplex stereo signal is received Rx, then demodulated DEMOD before the multiplex mono signal is decoded DEC. This decoding step again splits the stereo signal into left L and right R components before each component passes through a respective amplifier and onto respective speakers for stereo audio playback/output.

The stereo transmission on the Tx _STEREO side may be received by the stereo receiving side RXSTEREO for stereo audio playback, or by the mono receiving side RXMONO for mono audio playback of both left L and right R components. Figure 13 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method of enabling a multi-channel composite audio signal comprising audio signal components to be split into respective audio signal components 1302 and enabling the wireless transmission of at least one of the respective audio signal components from a transmission device to at least one wireless receiving device for use by the at least one receiving device for audio output 1304, and is self-explanatory.

Figure 14 illustrates schematically an example comprising a computer/processor readable medium 1400 providing a computer program . In this example, the computer/processor readable media is a disc such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD). In other examples, the computer readable media may be any media that has been programmed in such a way as to carry out an inventive function.

The terms Bluetooth, Windows Media, QuickTime, Real Video and Flash used in this disclosure are registered trademarks (RTM).

The term "directional" (as applied to, for example, a receiving device), shows that the receiving device may receive and output a directional audio signal component. That is, a speaker receiving a right audio signal component may be called a right directional receiving device. Most receiving devices (and audio signal components) will be directional. An exception may be considered to be the LFE speaker in a surround sound system, which may be considered to not be a directional receiving device as the LFE audio output is non-directional (that is, it is relatively unimportant where the LFE speaker is located in relation to the other speakers in the system and in relation to the listener). It may be considered customary/convenient to locate the LFE speaker under/over a front central speaker in such surround sound systems. It will be appreciated that in the examples described herein, a receiving device illustrated as a speaker may, in other examples, be a device having both a speaker and other functionality. Such a device may be a mobile telephone, which comprises a speaker for audio output as well as other functionality (such as telephonic communication, internet access, and camera functionality).

It will be appreciated to the skilled reader that any mentioned apparatus/device and/or other features of particular mentioned apparatus/device may be provided by apparatus arranged such that they become configured to carry out the desired operations only when enabled, e.g. switched on, or the like. In such cases, they may not necessarily have the appropriate software loaded into the active memory in the non-enabled (e.g. switched off state) and only load the appropriate software in the enabled (e.g. on state). The apparatus may comprise hardware circuitry and/or firmware. The apparatus may comprise software loaded onto memory. Such software/computer programs may be recorded on the same memory/processor/functional units and/or on one or more memories/processors/functional units.

In some examples, a particular mentioned apparatus/device may be pre-programmed with the appropriate software to carry out desired operations, and wherein the appropriate software can be enabled for use by a user downloading a "key", for example, to unlock/enable the software and its associated functionality. Advantages associated with such examples can include a reduced requirement to download data when further functionality is required for a device, and this can be useful in examples where a device is perceived to have sufficient capacity to store such pre-programmed software for functionality that may not be enabled by a user.

It will be appreciated that the any mentioned apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor may have other functions in addition to the mentioned functions, and that these functions may be performed by the same apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor. One or more disclosed aspects may encompass the electronic distribution of associated computer programs and computer programs (which may be source/transport encoded) recorded on an appropriate carrier (e.g. memory, signal).

It will be appreciated that any "computer" described herein can comprise a collection of one or more individual processors/processing elements that may or may not be located on the same circuit board, or the same region/position of a circuit board or even the same device. In some examples one or more of any mentioned processors may be distributed over a plurality of devices. The same or different processor/processing elements may perform one or more functions described herein.

With reference to any discussion of any mentioned computer and/or processor and memory (e.g. including ROM, CD-ROM etc), these may comprise a computer processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware components that have been programmed in such a way to carry out the inventive function.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole, in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that the disclosed aspects/examples may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure. While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the disclosure as applied to examples thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or example of the disclosure may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or example as a general matter of design choice. Furthermore, in the claims means- plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.