Patent Grant
8478910
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-344022, filed Nov. 29, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a processing device that performs a predetermined process according to an instruction from a supply device, and more specifically, to a supply device and a processing device that make an instruction by use of the high definition multimedia interface (HDMI: registered trademark) and an instruction method between the devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, digital apparatuses for handling video signals have spread widely, and these video apparatuses can arbitrarily communicate content signals and operation signals with one another via a communication cable or the like. Communications by different communication standards are possible among the video apparatuses. An example of a recently known communication standard is HDMI (Non-patent Document 1: High Definition Multimedia Interface) (HDMI Licensing LLC, High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification Version 1.2, Non-patent Document 2: EIA/CEA-861-B ADTV Profile for Uncompressed High Speed Digital Interface).
Patent Document 1 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-184079) discloses an AV network correspondence recording and reproducing apparatus using HDMI, and the apparatus performs operation control of recording and reproduction by use of HDMI commands.
In the Patent Document 1, however, it cannot be said that possibilities of the HDMI standard are utilized sufficiently. For example, in the HDMI standard, there is an area of Device Information of source product description (SPD) that enables relatively free definition, and such an area is not sufficiently utilized, which has been a problem in the prior art.
A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a supply device comprising: an operating unit which detects a signal from an operating switch; a generating unit which generates a packet signal in which instruction information in response to the detected signal from the operating unit is described in an ASCII description area of source product description (SPD) of a packet signal for use in the HDMI standard; and an interface unit which supplies the packet signal from the generating unit to an external device via an HDMI cable.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a processing device comprising: an interface unit which receives a packet signal from an external device via an HDMI cable in the HDMI standard; a detecting unit which detects instruction information from an ASCII description area of SPD of the packet signal; and a control unit which, upon detecting the instruction information from the ASCII description area of SPD of the packet signal detected by the detecting unit, controls the processing device so as to perform a predetermined operation according to the detection.
By use of the ASCII description area of SPD of the HDMI standard, a desired instruction can be made from the supply device to the processing device.
Embodiments according to the present invention will be described in more details with reference to the accompanying drawings hereinafter.
A supply device and a processing device according to the present invention can perform an instruction method utilizing the HDMI standard by using, by way of example, a hard disk recorder and a digital television shown in
<Supply Device and Processing Device as One Embodiment of the Invention>
Hereinafter, the relation among a supply device and a processing device according to an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to
A cable based on the HDMI standard is connected between the supply device 1 and the processing device 10, and a content signal 7 for supplying source product description (SPD) to be described later is supplied from the supply device 1 to the processing device 10. On the contrary, an EDID is supplied from the processing device 10 to the supply device 1 as a DCC signal 8 to be explained with a pin signal of an HDMI cable in
<Supply Device: Recording and Reproducing Apparatus>
Hereinafter, an example of a recording and reproducing apparatus as one embodiment of the supply device according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A recording and reproducing function of a hard disk and an optical disk is loaded on the recording and reproducing apparatus. However, the recording and reproducing function is not necessarily required, and it is sufficient so long as the apparatus has at least a communication function based on the HDMI standard.
(Configuration)
In the beginning,
Further, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 in
Connected to the selector 16 at the input side are, as an example, an HDMI connector 9 of HDMI interface based on the HDMI standard that supplies a video signal or the like to the outside, and a communication unit 11 such as Ethernet (registered trademark) connected to a modem or the like. Herein, a modem (not shown) is connected to an Internet service provider or the like via an optical fiber and makes communications and the like to the Internet. Further, a so-called broadcasting satellite (BS/CS) tuner unit 12, and a so-called terrestrial tuner unit 13 are connected to the selector 16 at the input side, and the selector 16 outputs a signal to the encoder unit 21. Further, a satellite antenna is connected to the BS/CS tuner unit 12, and a terrestrial antenna is connected to the terrestrial tuner unit 13.
The recording and reproducing apparatus 1 also includes the encoder unit 21, a data editing unit 20 that receives the output of the encoder unit 21 to performs a desired data process such as data editing, and the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk drive unit 19 that are connected to the data editing unit 20. Furthermore, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 has an MPEG decoder unit 23 that receives signals from the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk drive unit 19 to decodes the received signals, the encoder unit 21, a buffer unit 22, the MPEG decoder unit 23, a multiplexing unit 28, a demultiplexing unit 29, the control unit 30, an SPD control unit 42, a program table generating unit 43 that generates a reservation list and program table image and performs timer recording. These units are connected to the control unit 30 via the data bus. Moreover, the output of the selector unit 17 is supplied to an external monitor or the like, and supplied to an external device via the interface unit 27 that performs communications with the external device.
Furthermore, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 has an operating unit 32 that is connected to the control unit 30 via the data bus to receive a user's operation and an operation from a remote controller R. Herein, the remote controller R can perform substantially the same operation as that of the operating unit 32 provided in the main body of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1. The remote controller R can instruct the recording and reproduction of the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk drive unit 19, instruct editing, and operate the tuner, set the timer recording, and perform other settings.
(Operation)
In the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the BS/CS tuner unit 12 and the terrestrial tuner unit 13 receive and demodulate user's desired broadcasting signals, and supply the demodulated signals to the MPEG decoder unit 23 or an audio/video processing unit 24 via the selector unit 16 under the control of the control unit 30 according to the operation at the operating unit 32. As a consequence, the demodulated signals are output from the audio/video processing unit 24 as video/audio signals that can be displayed on a monitor 41, and are supplied to the monitor 41 and the I/F unit 27 to be displayed thereon.
In the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the outline of the reproducing process and the recording process will be explained with the optical disk as an example. Under the control of the control unit 30, laser beam is radiated on the optical disk D that is rotated at a predetermined speed, the reflected light is detected by an optical pickup, and a detected signal based on the detection is output. On the basis of the detected signal, an RF signal is generated, and the data reading process is performed, followed by the replaying process.
In the process of recording the optical disk, data supplied via, for example, an input unit (not shown) and the selector unit 16 is supplied to the encoder unit 21, and the supplied data is encoded and output, under the control of the control unit 30. According to this encoded output and the output of the control unit 30, a drive current of a laser driver is supplied to the optical pickup, and radiated to a storage area of the optical disk D, whereby the recording process is performed. Timer recording can be also performed by the program table generating unit 43.
Furthermore, in the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 having such a configuration, as described later herein, an HDMI packet is generated and an instruction signal is supplied to a processing device 10 described later herein via the HDMI connector 9 of the HDMI interface under the control of the control unit 30 and the SPD control unit 42, so that the instruction process can be performed.
<Processing Device: Digital Television>
A digital television as an example of the processing device according to the invention will be described with reference to
(Configuration)
First,
Herein, an HDMI connector 109 as HDMI interface is connected to the selector 166 at the input side. An HDMI cable 6 for performing communications based on the HDMI standard is attached to the HDMI connector 109. Further, by way of example, the processing device 10 has a single or plural external input terminals 114 for taking in video signals and the like from the outside. The processing device 10 also has a communication unit 111 such as Ethernet to which a modem or the like (not shown) is connected.
Moreover, a so-called broadcasting satellite (BS/CS) tuner unit 112, and a so-called terrestrial tuner unit 113 are connected to the selector 116 at the input side, and the selector 116 outputs signals to an encoder unit 121. Further, a satellite antenna is connected to the BS/CS tuner unit 112, and a terrestrial antenna is connected to the terrestrial tuner 113.
The processing device 10 as a digital television has a program table generating unit 143 that generates a program table image, which is connected to a control unit 130 via the data bus. Furthermore, the output of the selector unit 117 is supplied to a monitor 141, and it is supplied to an external device via an interface unit 127 that performs communications with the external device.
Furthermore, the processing device 10 as a digital television has an operating unit 132 that is connected to the control unit 130 via the data bus to receives a user's operation and an operation from a remote controller R2. Herein, the remote controller R2 can perform substantially the same operation as that of the operating unit 132 provided in the main body of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1, and can operate the tuner and perform various settings.
A power source is supplied from a power source unit 144 to the monitor 141 as a display unit. Herein, the power source unit 144 is a power source whose operation is controlled by the control unit 130 and an SPD control unit 142. Meanwhile, power is supplied to the control unit 130, the SPD control unit 142, the communication unit 111, and the HDMI interface 109 by means of a power source unit (not shown), and they can control the operation of the power source unit 144. The power source unit 144 may not only supply the power to merely the monitor 141 as the display unit, but also supply the power to other circuits (especially, units of large consumption current) and the like.
(Operation)
In the processing device 10 as a digital television having such a configuration, the BS/CS tuner unit 112 and the terrestrial tuner unit 113 receive and demodulate user's desired broadcasting signals, and supply the demodulated signals to the audio/video processing unit 124 via the selector unit 116, under the control of the control unit 130 according to the operation at the operating unit 132. As a consequence, the demodulated signals are output from the audio/video processing unit 124 as video audio signals that can be displayed on the monitor 141, and are supplied to the monitor 141 and the I/F unit 127 to be displayed thereon.
As described later herein, under the control of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142, an instruction signal of an HDMI packet acquired via the HDMI connector 9 of the HDMI interface is interpreted to perform a desired process.
<Instruction Process Using HDMI Packet>
Next, the instruction process by use of an HDMI packet according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in details with reference to the drawings.
(HDMI Packet)
First, the data structure in the HDMI packet for use in the instruction process by use of the HDMI packet according to an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Signals of pins 1 to 19 of the HDMI connector 9 of the HDMI interface into which the HDMI cable 6 is inserted are shown respectively.
Herein, with regard to 0x80 InfoFrame Type, 0x81 is Vendor-Specific InfoFrame, 0x82 is AVI InfoFrame, 0x83 is Source Product Descriptor InfoFrame, 0x84 is Audio InfoFrame, and 0x85 is MPEG Source InfoFrame.
Display items and display contents of 0x83 Source Product Descriptor InfoFrame are specified by the Length of Source Product Description InfoFrame format in Table 16, as shown in “Table 16 Source Product Description InfoFrame format” in
In Table 16, an ASCII description area is an area from data byte 1 to data byte 24 in the Length of Source Product Description InfoFrame. In the area, a vendor can arbitrarily define information by ASCII codes. Accordingly, by way of example, “Vendor Name Character” and “Product Description Character” can be defined in the ASCII description area.
As described later by use of a flowchart, it is possible to send various instructions from the supply device 1 to the processing device 10 by, for example defining “Power ON” or “Line Switching”, further, “Specific Program” such as debugging to the source device information.
(Nonconformity in Operation Between Hard Disk Recorder and Digital Television)
Next, description will be given to the case in which, when the hard disk recorder 1 and the digital television 10 are connected with a video cable to be used as shown in
In this case, the user must perform complicated operations including operating the remote controller R or the operating unit 32 of the hard disk recorder 1, then operating the remote controller R or the operating unit 132 of the digital television 10, and thereby at least supplying the power source, followed by changing the line of the selector unit 116 to, for example, the HDMI connector 109. Further, there are specifications where the operation of the digital television 10 can be made by the remote controller R of the hard disk recorder 1. However, the user must perform complicated operations including switching an operation mode of the remote controller R into a hard disk recorder mode or switching it into a digital television mode. This gives the impression that it is difficult to operate a hard disk recorder to those young and aged users who are unfamiliar to operations, which has been a problem in the prior art.
(Instruction Process)
In an instruction process according to an embodiment of the invention, an instruction process for making operations extremely easy is performed, for example, to such a problem in the operation between the hard disk recorder and the digital television.
In the flowchart in
When it is detected that any switch is pressed down, instruction information is generated in an ASCII code by the functions of the control unit 30 and the SPD control unit 42 (step S13). The instruction information means to turn on the digital television or to change the line to the hard disk recorder in the digital television. At the same time, as shown in
On the other hand, in the flowchart in
Then, for example, if the digital television 10 is of Company A, it is determined whether or not the predetermined vendor described in the ASCII description area supplied from the hard disk recorder 1 shows Company A by the functions of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142 (step S22). At this moment, it is also preferable that it is not determined whether or not the digital television 10 and the hard disk recorder 1 are of a same vendor, but there is a specific range like Company A of the digital television 10 and related Company B, Company C, Company D and the like. Herein, it is also preferable to determine whether or not the product description of the hard disk recorder 1 is appropriate from the product description described in the ASCII description area. However, this determination is not always required.
Next, by the operations of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142, if it is determined that the vendor name and the like are appropriate, the process ends. If it is not determined that they are appropriate (step S23), the instruction information described in the ASCII description area of SPD is determined. That is, it is determined whether or not there is instruction information showing power on anywhere in the ASCII description area of SPD by the functions of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142. If there is such instruction information, the power source unit 144 of the digital television 10 is turned on. As a result, the power source of the monitor 141 having a relatively large consumption power is supplied from, for example, the power source unit 144. Herein, it is also preferable that the power source supply of the power source unit 144 is not limited to the monitor 141, but also may be supplied to other units.
Next, it is determined whether or not there is instruction information showing switch of the line to the hard disk recorder 1 (master device) anywhere in the ASCII description area of SPD by the functions of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142. If there is such instruction information, the selector switch 116 is switched to be controlled so as to select a content signal from the hard disk recorder 1 supplied from, for example, the HDMI connector 109, from a plurality of video signals from, for example, the terminal 114 or the like (step S27).
Further, by the functions of the control unit 130 and the SPD control unit 142, it is determined whether or not there is instruction information meaning a specific process execution such as starting a predetermined program or the like anywhere in the ASCII description area of SPD (step S28). If there is such instruction information, it is preferable to execute its processing execution. By way of example, it is preferable that this is a program for processing errors, but the present invention is not limited thereto (step S29).
As described above, according to the embodiment, when the user, in order to reproduce contents recorded in the hard disk recorder 1, touches the remote controller R of the hard disk recorder 1, and presses down, for example, the replay button, the SPD control unit 42 having detected the press generates an HDMI packet including instruction signals of power on and line switching, and the generated HDMI packet is supplied to the digital television 10 via the HDMI cable. The digital television 10 determines the instruction signals of power on and line switching by the functions of the SPD control unit 42 and the like. Then, the digital television 10 is turned on automatically, and the line is switched to the hard disk recorder 1.
As a consequence, when the user only touches the remote controller R of the hard disk recorder 1, the power supply and the line switching in the digital television 10 are performed automatically. For this reason, the hard disk recorder 1 and the digital television 10 work by only the operation on the remote controller R of the hard disk recorder 1 as if it is an integrated household electric appliance, so that the user can watch a desired program. Thereby, the present invention eliminates such complicated and difficult operations as operating respective devices separately as in the prior art. It becomes possible even for the aged and young users who are unfamiliar to the operation of digital apparatuses to use these systems through intuitive operations.
It may be well understood by those skilled in the art that each of the embodiments mentioned above includes various modifications of the invention, and by appropriate combinations of plural structural components disclosed in each of the embodiments. It is possible to extract various stages of invention, which is apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but the present invention may be embodied by appropriately modifying the structural components thereof without departing from the principle and innovative characteristics thereof disclosed herein.
For example, the instruction process as the above embodiment has been explained by use of the hard disk recorder 1 and the digital television 10, but one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. It may be embodied between apparatuses which enable communications therebetween based on the HDMI standard (relation between a master device and a sync device). For example, cases are preferable where a personal computer is served as the master device, and a projector is served as the sync device.
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-344022 | Nov 2005 | JP | national |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2-205179 | Aug 1990 | JP |
| 2003-046535 | Feb 2003 | JP |
| 2004-179899 | Jun 2004 | JP |
| 2005-184079 | Jul 2005 | JP |
| 2007-141345 | Jun 2007 | JP |
| WO 2005015901 | Feb 2005 | WO |
| WO 2005098854 | Oct 2005 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification Version 1.2, Aug. 22, 2005, Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Philips Consumer Electronics, International B.V., Silicon Image, Inc., Sony Corporation, Thomson Inc., Toshiba Corporation. |
| “High-Definition Multimedia Interface, Specification Version 1.2a,” HDMI Licensing, LLC (Dec. 14, 2005), pp. i-110 and CEC-i-CEC-62. |
| McGeehan et al., “EIA/CEA-861B, A DTV Profile for Uncompressed High Speed Digital Interfaces,” EIC/CEA-861B DRAFT 020328 (Mar. 28, 2002), pp. i-116. |
| Notice of Reasons for Rejection mailed Nov. 9, 2010, from the Japanese Patent Office for Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-344022 (3 pages). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070123104 A1 | May 2007 | US |
