Method and apparatus for indicating low signal quality in a digitized audio environment

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, the quality of a received digital signal is determined by the receiver, such as by observing the received signal strength indication (RSSI) and/or the bit error rate (BER). When the quality drops below a first threshold, the receiver injects white noise into the reproduced audio signal to simulate the noise that typically accompanies an analog wireless signal of low quality. The amount of injected white noise may be increased as the signal quality continues to decrease beyond the first threshold. Preferably, at a second threshold at which the receiver can no longer reassemble the received signal, the white noise is muted to audibly indicate to the user that the signal has been lost.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.