the following detailed description of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with this invention . other embodiments are possible , and modifications may be made to the embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention . therefore , the detailed description is not meant to limit the invention . rather , the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims . it would be apparent to one of skill in the art that the present invention , as described below , may be implemented in many different embodiments of software , hardware , firmware , and / or the entities illustrated in the figures . any actual software code with the specialized control of hardware to implement the present invention is not limiting of the present invention . thus , the operational behavior of the present invention will be described with the understanding that modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible , given the level of detail presented herein . fig1 is an illustration of conventional noise cancellation headphones 100 . the conventional noise cancellation headphones 100 include a left ear portion 102 and a right ear portion 104 . as noted above , the headphones 100 also include a microphone 109 to provide active pick - up , along with electronic processing circuitry ( not shown ). the microphone 109 detects a noise signal . the electronic processing circuitry analyzes the received noise signal detected by the microphone 109 . the processing circuitry quantifies amplitude and spectral composition of the detected noise signal a correction module , within the processing circuitry , generates a signal which cancels the detected noise signal ( essentially an inverse of the detected noise signal ) to eliminate unwanted environmental noises . presenting this inverted signal to the listener has the effect of cancelling the noise signal and results in a a relatively noise free environment within enclosed areas 106 and 108 of the headphones 100 . fig2 is a block diagram illustration 200 of generic features included within the headphones 100 shown in fig1 . an input music source could be the output of a cd player , an mp3 player , or some other music source . further , the input signal could be an analog input , a digital bit stream , or some other digital representation of the music signal . the block diagram illustration 200 includes a microphone module 201 configured to receive a signal 202 a indicative of environmental noise , such as an airplane , stadium crowd , wind , or some other noise . a noise detector and analysis circuit 204 receives and characterizes the noise signal output from the microphone module 201 . a noise correction signal generator module 205 receives data output from the noise detector 204 and creates a cancellation signal 202 b which is essentially an inverted version of the original noise signal 202 a . the inverted signal 202 b is mixed with a desirable audio signal 207 output from mp3 source 206 to create a combined signal 207 ′. this combined signal 207 ′ is presented to the listener . the listener is presented with the combined signal 207 ′ and the original noise signal 202 a . the combined signal 207 ′ essentially cancels out the noise signal 202 a . the result of this cancellation is that the listener experiences only the desirable audio signal 207 . in the traditional noise cancellation headphones , such as the headphones 100 , an audio mixing / analyzing circuit is provided within the headphones to perform noise cancellation . the inclusion and packaging of such a circuit is a substantial factor in the high cost of these traditional active headphones . mobile phones , however , include their own active pick - up mechanism in the form of a microphone . they also include advanced audio processing capabilities , in hardware , software , or both , capable of performing the noise detection / analysis / correction signal generation function . in other words , a mobile phone ( such as a standard mp3 enabled mobile phone ) can be extended to include the capabilities to detect and process an incoming noise signal , identify the noise sources , and create the inverse signals to cancel these sources . such mixing / analyzing capabilities are well known to those of skill in the art and are included , for example , in the imageon applications processor , available from advanced micro devices ( amd ), shown at fig3 . more specifically , fig3 is an illustration of the exemplary imageon applications processor noted above . in fig3 , an audio signal ( e . g ., voice + noise or just noise ) is picked up by a microphone 300 . this audio signal is fed through ( in this case ) an audio / power management chip 302 . the audio / power management chip 302 digitizes the received signal and forwards it over an 12 s ( inter ic sound ) interface 303 to applications processor 304 . a digitized signal output from the audio / power management chip 302 is processed by a combination of an audio processor 306 and a host processor 308 to identify the noise component mentioned above . the audio processor 306 can then generate the inverse signal and digitally mix it with a desirable audio stream ( for example a decoded mp3 music stream ). the mixed audio output is forwarded back to the audio / power management chip 302 for playback through bud earphones 310 . the noise and inverse noise signals cancel and the desirable audio output is audible to the listener . applications processors , such as the imageon applications processor 304 above , are included in mp3 players and mobile phones . by performing the noise cancellation processing internal to the mp3 player or mobile phone , the benefits of noise cancellation technology can be experienced with the use of much cheaper ( passive ) generic headphones , such as the bud earphones 310 . fig4 is an exemplary illustration of a standard mp3 enabled mobile phone 400 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the mobile phone 400 can include , for example , a standard multi - media processor , such as the imageon applications processor 304 noted above , to perform the noise cancellation functions . as shown in fig4 , the mobile phone 400 also includes its own active pick - up mechanism in the form of a microphone 402 . since the noise cancellation processing functions are embedded within the mobile phone 400 , the benefits of noise cancellation can be experienced by the listener using inexpensive generic headphones 404 . the present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof . the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description . alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed . the foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can , by applying knowledge within the skill of the art , readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments , without undue experimentation , without departing from the general concept of the present invention . therefore , such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments , based on the teaching and guidance presented herein . it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation , such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance . the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .