NL2004219C2

NL2004219C2 - Device for reproducing audiovisual data and circuit therefor.

Info

Publication number: NL2004219C2
Application number: NL2004219A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Carlos Daal; Jeffrey Alphen
Original assignee: C B E Daal Holding B V
Priority date: 2010-02-10
Filing date: 2010-02-10
Publication date: 2011-08-11
Also published as: WO2011099853A1; EP2534599A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a circuit for reproducing audiovisual data, comprising: a storage element for storing audiovisual data, the storage element being enabled to comprise a first partition and a second partition; a processor for processing audiovisual data coupled to the storage element; a first communication controller coupled to the storage element and the processor, the first communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from the first partition and the second partition to the processor; a second communication controller coupled to the storage element and to a further processor, the second communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from and to the first partition and the second partition from and to a further processor and being arranged to be restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition from and to the further processor.

Description

Device for reproducing audiovisual data and circuit therefor FIELD OF THE INVENTION

5 The invention relates to the field of devices for reproducing audiovisual data. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Protection of audiovisual data, in particular digitised and compressed audio and video 10 files is a matter that is very important to most content providers. On the other hand, consumers are not always very keen to buy a portable audio and video player that has significant restrictions with respect to the data to be stored and played back. It is possible to administrate all user rights on a per-file basis, though this provides a significant overhead and such systems may not be compatible with all file systems of 15 personal computers.

The company Custom USB markets the Ion, Atmos and Nemo portable media players for video and audio. Users can create a separate partition for confidential files and have this partition encrypted and protected by a username and password. The files stored on 2 0 this partition are not accessible for reproduction in audio and/or video on the screen and/or headphones.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

2 5 It is preferred to provide a media player or arrangement for reproducing audiovisual data that can provide efficient protection for certain files that can nonetheless be properly reproduced by the arrangement.

The invention provides in a first aspect a circuit for reproducing audiovisual data, 3 0 comprising: a storage element for storing audiovisual data, the storage element being enabled to comprise a first partition and a second partition; a processor for processing audiovisual data coupled to the storage element; a first communication controller coupled to the storage element and the processor, the first communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from the first partition and the second 35 partition to the processor; a second communication controller coupled to the storage element and arranged to be coupled to a further processor, the second communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from and to the first partition 2 and the second partition from and to a further processor and being arranged to be restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition from and to the further processor.

5 By separating the communication channel from the storage element in a channel to the processor comprised by the circuit - like decoder, D/A converter and amplifier - and a channel to a further processor - like a personal computer - both channels can be protected independently and adequately. Protected content can be stored in the first partition. Via the first communication controller and the processor, the audiovisual data 10 can be reproduced with no restrictions within the circuit. On the other hand, with the second communication controller controlling a dataflow from the first partition to the further processor, access by the further processor to the data stored in the first partition can be restricted. Whereas there are no limitations to access data stored in the second partition. In this way, an effective rights management tool is provided, with substantially 15 very limited fixed size overhead.

In an embodiment of the circuit according to the invention, the first communication controller is arranged to be coupled to an input element and further arranged to switch between receiving and passing through data from either the first partition or the second 2 0 partition upon actuation of the input element.

An advantage of this embodiment is that a user is enabled to switch between listening to content stored in the first partition and content stored in the second partition.

25 Another embodiment of the circuit according to the invention further comprises a memory element coupled to the processor for storing a first address location of audiovisual data stored in the first partition and for storing a second address location of audiovisual data stored in the second partition.

3 0 An advantage of this embodiment is that per partition a memory location is available for memorising a specific location from which for example preferred reproduction may be started.

In a further embodiment of the circuit according to the invention, the first address 35 location is the address location of an element of audiovisual data that has been processed by the processor the last time the processor has processed audiovisual data stored in the first partition and the second address location is the address location of an 3 element of audiovisual data that has been processed by the processor the last time the processor has processed audiovisual data stored in the second partition.

Conventional portable media players are nowadays provided with significant amounts of 5 storage space. In addition, the types of content per partition may be very different and/or can be listened to or viewed in parallel (intermittently, preferably). Therefore, it is advantageous to provide the option of starting or actually resuming reproduction of audiovisual data from a location where reproduction was last halted, on a per-partition basis.

10

In an embodiment of the circuit according to the invention, the second communication controller when restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition arranges that the first partition cannot be recognised by the further processor coupled to the second communication controller.

15

The first partition is aimed at holding protected data or data to be protected. While arranging the first partition not to be recognised, it may be rendered invisible. In that way, a user may have no notion that it could be accessible by means of the further processor like for example a personal computer coupled to the second communication 2 0 controller.

The invention provides in a second aspect a device for reproducing audiovisual data, comprising: a circuit for reproducing audiovisual data, comprising: a storage element for storing audiovisual data, the storage element being enabled to comprise a first partition 2 5 and a second partition; a processor for processing audiovisual data coupled to the storage element; a first communication controller coupled to the storage element and the processor, the first communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from the first partition and the second partition to the processor; a second communication controller coupled to the storage element and to a further processor, the 3 0 second communication controller being enabled to receive and pass through data from and to the first partition and the second partition from and to a further processor and being arranged to be restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition from and to the further processor; the device further comprising an input element for controlling the circuit and/or elements thereof; a power source for powering at least the 35 circuit; a connector for connecting the device to at least one of the following: a speaker; a computer; a power source; and the device further comprising a housing for housing the other elements of the device.

4

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, its aspects and embodiments will now be further elucidated by means of 5 drawings. In the figures,

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the device according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the circuit according to the invention; and

Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of the device according to the invention.

10

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 shows a portable audio player 100 as an embodiment of the device according to the invention. The portable audio player 100 comprises a circuit 110 for reproducing 15 audiovisual data, a battery 120 as a power source, in input element 130 for controlling the circuit, the input element 130 comprising a first button 131, a second button 132, a third button 133, a fourth button 134 and a fifth button 135. A person skilled in the art will appreciated that, depending on functionality to be controller, the input element 130 may comprise more or less buttons. The portable audio player 110 further comprises an 2 0 on/off switch 138 for switching the portable audio player 100 on or off, a visualisation element 140 for visualising a status of the circuit 110 and a housing 150 for housing the various elements of the portable audio player 110. Figure 1 further shows a headphone 160 comprising a left speaker 162 and a right speaker 164.

2 5 In standard operation, the circuit reproduces audiovisual data stored on a mass storage memory. Operation of the circuit is controlled by the various buttons of the input element 130. Standard functionalities of such buttons are play, pause or stop, rewind or one track back, fast forward or one track forward and volume up or down. In certain scenarios, in particular in a case where simplicity or compactness of the portable audio 30 player 100 is at stake, multiple functions may be controlled by a single button. To operate these multiple functions with one single button, one function can be operated by pressing the button once for a short period and another function can be operated by pressing the button once for a longer period. Additionally or alternatively, a function can be operated by pressing two buttons simultaneously.

Preferably, one button is used for play and pause, two buttons are used for controlling the volume, one button is used for switching playback from a first partition to playback 35 5 from a second partition as will be discussed below and one button is used for alternative functionality of the other buttons. For example, while keeping this button pressed while subsequently pressing the buttons for controlling the volume, the functionality of browsing tracks - forward and backward - may be controlled.

5

The visualisation element 140 can be further implemented in numerous ways. One of the simplest implementations is a single light emitting diode, further referred to as LED. Also a combination of LEDs of various colours can be used, with all LEDs being individually visible from the outside of the housing 150 or with only one single visual 10 indicator being visible on the outside of the housing 150 where all LEDs are optically coupled to. Depending on which LED is operational, the single visual indicator has a specific colour.

Alternatively or additionally to one or more discrete LEDs, the visualisation element 140 15 can also be further implemented as a screen, like an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an OLED (Organic LED) display or any other type of display on which for example bitmaps can be shown to a user of the portable audio player 100.

The battery 120 can be further implemented as a replaceable alkaline battery or a 2 0 rechargeable fixed battery, like a lithium ion, lithium polymer or other type of rechargeable battery. Additionally or alternatively, an outside connection is provided to couple the portable audio player 100 to an external power source via a connector, such connector acting as a power source for operating the portable audio player 100 and in particular the circuit 110.

25

Figure 2 shows the circuit 110 in further detail. The circuit 110 comprises a flash storage circuit 202 as a storage element for storing audiovisual data, a first communication interface controller 204 as a first communication controller for receiving and passing through data, a decoder 206 as a processor for processing audiovisual data, in 3 0 particular for decompressing compressed audio data, a digital to analogue converter 208 for converting digital data to analogue data, an amplifier 210 for amplifying a signal, in particular an analogue signal, and a connector 212 for connecting the circuit to the outside world. Examples of "the outside world" will be discussed later.

35 The circuit 110 further comprises a second communication interface controller 220 as a second communication controller for receiving and passing through data, in particular to the outside world, without further or with only limited processing. Furthermore, the circuit 6 110 comprises a microcontroller 230 for controlling the operation of the circuit 110. Within this context, the wording microcontroller should be interpreted broadly and mainly refers to the functionality of the element, which can also be performed by for example a microprocessor. The various elements of the circuit 110 may be 5 implemented in one or more integrated circuits and on one or more printed circuit boards, as will be discussed later in further detail.

The flash storage circuit 202 is divided in a first partition 214 and a second partition 216. Both the first partition 214 and the second partition 216 are arranged to store 10 audiovisual data. Such audiovisual data can be audio data files, either uncompressed so-called wave-files, midi files, or audio compressed in accordance with a certain standard like MP3 (MPEG 1 Layer 3), Ogg Vorbis, WMA (Windows Media Audio) or any other similar standard. Additionally or alternatively, such audiovisual data can be video files, preferably compressed or contained in accordance with a certain standard like 15 MPEG2 (Media Pictures Experts Group), DivX, MKV (Matroska Video), AVI (Audio Video Interleave), ISO (for DVD data), WMV (Windows Media Video) or any other similar standard. The operation of the circuit 110 will be discussed in processing audio data; processing of video data is done in an equivalent way.

2 0 An audio data file is retrieved from the flash storage circuit 202 either in total or in parts via the first communication interface controller 204 that is coupled to the flash storage circuit 202 and that is arranged to access both the first partition 214 and the second partition 216. Optionally, the first communication interface controller 204 comprises a buffer. The audio data file is subsequently passed through to the decoder 206 that is 2 5 coupled to the first communication interface controller 204. When this transfer takes place in parts, the audio data file may in particular be streamed to the decoder 206.

The decoder 206 is arranged to process the audio data file for reproduction of the audio data contained by the audio data file in a way perceivable by man, either directly or after 3 0 digital-to-analogue conversion and/or amplification. In particular, the decoder 206 is arranged for decoding audio data contained by the audio data file. Such decoding process may comprise a decompression process. Alternatively or additionally, the decoding process comprises a decryption process.

35 The processed and in particular decoded audio data passes subsequently through the digital to analogue converter 208 that is coupled to the decoder 206 for converting digital data to analogue data. After conversion, the analogue signal is amplified by the 7 amplifier 210 coupled to the digital to analogue converter 208. The amplified signal is provided to the connector 212 coupled to the amplifier 210 for providing the analogue and amplified signal to the left speaker 162 and the right speaker 164 of the headphone 160 (Figure 1), where the audio can be listened to by a user.

5

As already discussed, the flash storage circuit 202 is divided in the first partition 214 and the second partition 216. It is noted that the flash storage circuit 202 may hold more than two partitions. Audio data files may be stored on both partitions. The first communication interface controller 204 is enabled to receive and pass trough data from 10 both the first partition 214 and the second partition 216. By actuation of a button comprised by the input element 130, the first communication interface controller 204 switches between receiving and passing through data from the first partition 214 and receiving and passing through data from the second partition 216.

15 Both the first partition 214 and the second partition 216 may hold a significant amount of audio data files. The total memory size of currently commonly available portable audio players is between 4 Gigabyte and 32 Gigabyte for Flash memory (one Gigabyte being usually one million bytes instead of the official 1024 to the power of three bytes) and up to 120 Gigabyte for devices with harddisk storage. Considering that a four minute audio 2 0 track in compressed form typically takes up 6 Megabytes, a conventional audio player may hold hundreds, if not thousands, of tracks. A user of the portable audio player 100 may not necessarily want to start reproduction of audio at the first item of a list each time reproduction is started or resumed. Instead, the user may prefer resuming reproduction of audio at the point where reproduction was halted for the last time audio 25 was reproduced.

The different partitions of the flash storage circuit 202 may comprise very different content, both preferred by the user. With each partition capable of holding a significant amount of content, as discussed above, the user may want to restart reproduction at a 30 location where reproduction was halted on a per-partition basis. Therefore, the decoder 206 comprises a memory element 218 for storing addresses where reproduction of audiovisual data was halted, on a per-partition basis. The address may be a physical address of the location of audiovisual data on the flash storage circuit 202 and additionally or alternatively, it may also be a time from the start of an audio track 35 comprised by an audiovisual data file (a timestamp) or a byte location in an audiovisual data file, though other ways of addressing are also envisageable. The memory element 8 218 preferably comprises an address memory location per partition of the flash storage circuit 202.

In this embodiment, the memory element 218 is comprised by the decoder 206. 5 Alternatively, the memory element 218 is not comprised by the decoder but coupled to either the decoder 206 or the first communication interface controller 204 or to both.

The second communication interface controller 220 is coupled to the flash storage circuit 202 for receiving and passing through data from and to the flash storage circuit 10 202 to a further processor. To that end, the second communication interface controller 220 is also coupled to the connector 212. The second communication interface controller 220 is coupled to the flash storage circuit 202 such that it can be operatively coupled to the first partition 214 and the second partition 216.

15 In common operation of the portable audio player 100, the second communication interface controller 220 is restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition from and to the further processor. In particular, the second communication controller 220 is disabled to receive and pass through data from the first partition 214 to the further processor. Alternatively, the second communication controller 220 is only 2 0 able to receive and pass through data from or to the first partition 214 from or to the further processor after receiving a password and possibly an additional username from the further processor. Without such password, the first partition 214 cannot be accessed by the further processor. In yet another alternative embodiment, the first partition 214 cannot be accessed by the further processor at all.

25

Various functional blocks shown by Figure 2 may be implemented as separate building blocks in the circuit 110 or as one building block like an integrated circuit, yielding functional building block 250. Such functional building blocks implemented in one single integrated circuit are usually referred to as a system on chip. An example of such 3 0 system on chip is ATJ2037.

Alternatively, the functional building block may also comprise the flash storage circuit 202. Also, the amplifier may be placed outside the functional building block and further variations on placing functionality on a single integrated circuit, in a single package, on 35 a separate integrated circuit and/or by building functionality in discrete elements on a printed circuit board are possible as well.

9

Figure 3 shows the portable audio player 100 connected to a personal computer 310. In particular, the audio player 100 is connected to a USB controller 312 comprised by the personal computer 310 via a USB cable 350. At the other end of the USB cable 350, the USB cable 350 is connected to the audio player 100 via the connector 212 and 5 hence operatively coupled to the second communication interface controller 220 and so to the flash storage circuit 202. At the side of the personal computer 310, the USB controller 312 is coupled to a processing unit 314 like a microprocessor or a motherboard comprising a microprocessor. In turn, the processing unit 314 is coupled to a disk drive 316 and a harddisk 318 as a mass storage device.

10

In addition to controlling the portable audio player 100 by means of the input element 130, functionality of the portable audio player 100 can also be controlled by the personal computer 310. One functionality is that data stored on the flash storage circuit 202 can be read by the personal computer 310. Such data may either be stored on the first 15 partition 214 or the second partition 216 or both. Reciprocally, data may also be stored on the flash storage circuit 202, either on the first partition 214 or the second partition 216 or both. Such data to be written to the flash storage circuit 202 may be copied or moved from the harddisk 318 or from a disk placed in the disk drive 316. This data passes via the processing unit 314, the USB controller 312, the connector 212 and the 2 0 second communication interface controller 220 to the flash storage circuit 202.

In certain scenarios, the portable audio player 100 is provided to consumers with prestored audio content in the form of audio data files. As such pre-stored audio content represents a certain value, a content provider may not want consumers to retrieve the 2 5 pre-stored audio content to reproduce and disseminate the audio data files to other consumers, for example via peer-to-peer networks. Therefore, the content provider or a vendor or other supplier of the portable audio player 100 will arrange the second communication interface controller 220 to be restricted to receive and pass through data from the first partition 214 from and to the personal computer 310 or other further 3 0 processor in a way as discussed before. In such scenarios, the pre-stored content is stored in the first partition 214 of the flash storage circuit 202.

In this way, the pre-stored content can still be reproduced on the speakers of the headphone 160 connected to the portable audio player 100, but not copied in digital 35 form, as the possible restrictions on the second communication interface controller 220 do not apply to the first communication interface controller 204. In summary, because access to the first partition 214 is restricted for the second communication interface 10 controller 220, but not for the first communication interface controller 204, a user can freely listen to music stored in the first partition 214, but the user cannot access the audio data files otherwise.

5 A person skilled in the art will appreciate that if access to the first partition 214 is restricted right from the start, so directly after manufacturing of the portable audio player 100, storage of pre-stored content on the first partition 214 may not be possible. Therefore, in an initial operating state of the portable audio player 100, the first partition 214 and the second partition 216 will be fully accessible by the personal computer 310 10 in full duplex for read and write operations. Alternatively, the flash storage circuit 202 is initially not divided in partitions at all. In such stage, the flash storage circuit 202 can be divided in two or more partitions by controlling the portable audio player 100 by means of personal computer 310.

15 Subsequently, the content to be the pre-stored content is stored in the first partition 214. Having stored the content, the access to the first partition 214 is restricted by means of personal computer 310. Alternatively, the restriction is controlled by means of the input element 130.

2 0 Some alternatives of restricting data flows from the first partition 214 via the second communication interface controller 220 have already been discussed. In conventional scenarios where a mass storage device comprising multiple partitions is connected to a computer like the personal computer 310 via the USB protocol or a similar data communication protocol, each partition is recognised as a separate drive. Besides 25 disabling data flow from the first partition 214 via the second communication interface controller 220 to the USB controller 312 of the personal computer 310, it is also possible to fully hide the first partition 214 to the USB controller 312 of the personal computer 310. In this way, a user of the personal computer 310 will only see the second partition 216 appearing as a removable disk, because the first partition 214 will not be 3 0 recognised by the personal computer 310.

This means that the pre-stored content stored on the first partition 214 is completely shielded off from the user. The user will subsequently not be tempted to try to access the pre-stored content or at least less tempted to do compared to a scenario where the 35 first partition 214 is visible via the personal computer 310, though protected by means of a password and an optional username.

11

The restriction of the dataflow from the first partition 214 via the second communication interface controller 220 may be restricted by configuration of the second communication interface controller 220, the microcontroller 230, both or otherwise. The actual restriction may be implemented in software running on the microcontroller 230 or 5 the interface controller. Alternatively or additionally, the restriction may be executed in hardware, either soft by means of one or more reprogrammable non-volatile memory elements or hard by blowing a fuse or programming an OTP (one-time programmable) non-volatile memory element.

10 With access of the first partition 214 by the personal computer 310 being restricted (including the option of disabling access), the second partition 216 still is fully accessible by the personal computer 310 in duplex. This allows the user of the personal computer 310 to store his or her own data like audio data files on the second partition of the flash storage circuit 202. Such audio data files may be created by the user by inserting a disk 15 with audio content like a Compact Disc ® in the disk drive 316 and converting the music or other audio data stored on the disk to a data file coded according to the MPEG 1 Layer 3 audio codec, the Ogg Vorbis codec or another codec. Such codec would be running on and/or controlled by the processing unit 314.

2 0 Subsequently, such audio data files are stored on the second partition 216 of the flash storage circuit 202 via second communication interface controller 220. With these audio data files stored on the second partition 216 of the flash storage circuit 202, the content of the audio data files can be reproduced for presentation to a user via the speakers of the headphone 160 as discussed above. In this way, storage space of the flash storage 2 5 circuit 202 not being used by pre-stored content in the first partition 214 is made available to a user. In a preferred scenario, the size of the first partition 214 is equal or slightly larger than the total data amount of the pre-stored data.

While listening to audio, in particular music, stored on and reproduced by the portable 30 audio player 100, the user may switch between listening to pre-stored content stored on the first partition 214 and listening to user content stored on the second partition 216 as discussed above, i.e. by controlling this functionality of the portable audio player 100 by means of the buttons of the input element 130.

35 Having thus discussed various embodiments of the invention, variations on these embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. Alternative to providing a programmable flash memory with the pre-stored contend (in the first 12 partition 214), the pre-stored content could also be provided in a ROM memory, either OTP or in a so-called metal ROM, where the contents of the memory are already defined during the IC manufacturing process, in the interconnect process phase. In that way, such OTP or metal ROM memory takes the place of the first partition 214.

5

In the embodiments disclosed and discussed, only the single connector 212 has been presented for connecting the headphones 160 and the USB cable 350 to. Additionally, the connector 212 can also serve as a connector for an external power source for either charging the battery 120 and/or for powering the circuit 110. A person skilled in the art 10 will also appreciated that the battery 120 can also be charged through a USB connection.

Alternatively, several contacts are provided for several functions. Either three contacts are provided, separately for headphones, charging and contact with a personal 15 computer, or two or more functions share one single contact.

Furthermore, it is noted that the first communication interface controller 204 and the second communication interface controller 220 may be embodied as relatively independent bus controllers, like a USB bus controller. Alternatively, the first 2 0 communication interface controller 204 and the second communication interface controller 220 are embodied as mere latches. In that case, where it is indicated that the first communication interface controller 204 and the second communication interface controller 220 are configured to perform or not to perform certain functionality, such functionality is controlled by the microcontroller 230. In that way, the first communication 25 interface controller 204 and the second communication interface controller 220 act as a communication controller while each communication interface controller acts in conjunction with the microcontroller 230.

Expressions such as "comprise", "include", "incorporate", "contain", "is" and "have" are 30 to be construed in a non-exclusive manner when interpreting the description and its associated claims, namely construed to allow for other items or components which are not explicitly defined also to be present. Reference to the singular is also to be construed in be a reference to the plural and vice versa. When data is being referred to as audiovisual data, it can represent audio only, video only or still pictures only or a 35 combination thereof, unless specifically indicated otherwise in the description of the embodiments.

13

Furthermore, the invention may also be embodied with less components than provided in the embodiments described here, wherein one component carries out multiple functions. Just as well may the invention be embodied using more elements than depicted in Figure 2, wherein functions carried out by one component in the 5 embodiment provided are distributed over multiple components.

A person skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various parameters disclosed in the description may be modified and that various embodiments disclosed and/or claimed may be combined without departing from the scope of the invention.

10

It is stipulated that the reference signs in the claims do not limit the scope of the claims, but are merely inserted to enhance the legibility of the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Circuit for reproduction of audiovisual data, comprising: a) a storage element for storing audiovisual data, which storage element is adapted to comprise a first partition and a second partition; b) a processing unit for processing audiovisual data, which processing unit is coupled to the storage element; C) a first communication controller coupled to the storage element and the processing unit, which first communication controller is adapted to receive and transmit data from the first partition and the second partition to the processing unit; d) a second communication controller coupled to the storage element and adapted to be coupled to a further processing unit, which second communication controller is adapted to receive and forward data from and to the first partition and the second partition to and from the further processing unit and further arranged to be limited in receiving and forwarding data 2. from the first partition to and from the further processing unit.

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second communication controller is adapted to communicate with a further processing unit not included in the circuit. 25

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first communication controller is adapted to be coupled to an input element and further adapted to switch between receiving and forwarding data from either the first partition or the second partition upon actuation of the input element. 30

The circuit of claim 1, further comprising a memory element coupled to the processing unit for storing a first address location of audio-visual data stored in the first partition and for storing a second address location of audio-visual data stored in the second partition. 35

The circuit of claim 4, wherein the first address location is the address location of an element of audio-visual data processed by the processing unit the last time the processing unit has processed audio-visual data stored in the first partition and the second address location is the address location of a further element of audiovisual data that has been processed by the processing unit the last time the processing unit has processed audiovisual data which is stored in the first partition.

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is arranged to perform at least one of the following processing: a) decoding of audiovisual data; B) decompressing audiovisual data; c) decrypting audiovisual data; d) reproduction of audiovisual data; and / or e) strengthen audiovisual data.

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second communication controller, when limited in receiving and forwarding data from the first partition, is disabled to receive and / or forward data from the first partition.

8. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein the second communication controller when limited in receiving and forwarding data from the first partition, the second communication controller requires at least password information to receive data from the first partition and / or to send.

9. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second communication controller when limited in receiving and forwarding data from the first partition, the second communication controller controls that the first partition is not accessible to the further processing unit coupled to the second communication controller.

The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second communication controller 30 when limited in receiving and forwarding data from the first partition, controls that the first partition cannot be recognized by the further processing unit coupled to the second communication controller.

11. Apparatus for reproduction of audiovisual data, comprising: a) circuit for reproduction of audiovisual data, comprising: i) a storage element for storing audiovisual data, which storage element is adapted to comprise a first partition and a second partition; ii) a processing unit for processing audiovisual data, which processing unit is coupled to the storage element; iii) a first communication controller coupled to the storage element and the processing unit, which first communication controller is adapted to receive and forward data from the first partition and the second partition to the processing unit; iv) a second communication controller coupled to the storage element and adapted to be coupled to a further processing unit, which second communication controller is adapted to receive and forward data from and to the first partition and the second partition to and from the further processing unit and further arranged to be limited in receiving and forwarding data from the first partition to and from the further 2. processing unit. b) an input element for controlling the circuit and / or elements thereof; c) a power source to at least power the circuit; D) a connector for connecting the device to at least one of the following: i) a speaker; ii) a computer; iii) a power source; and 3. e) a housing for housing the other elements of the device.