Solution for consumer electronics control

Abstract

The preferred embodiment of the present invention presents a method and a device for a host control unit to communicate over a protocol compliant bus via the introduction of an auxiliary command control unit that handles communications to and from the protocol compliant bus. The auxiliary command control unit converts the high level commands of the host control unit to low-level protocol compliant electrical signals for transmission across the bus and further converts low-level protocol compliant electrical signals received from the bus into high level commands for use by the host processor.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This invention relates generally to consumer electronic devices, and more specifically to consumer electronics control protocol compliant devices. BACKGROUND [0002] As consumer electronics, and particularly audio / visual electronics, become increasingly feature-rich and complicated to operate, the need for standardized, high-bandwidth communications between devices increases. One solution is the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard. HDMI is a standard for connecting audiovisual appliances that combines high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements. HDMI offers significant advantages over analog A / V connections, including the ability to transmit uncompressed digital video and audio content. [0003] HDMI provides an interface between any compatible digital audio / video source, such as...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] The preferred embodiment of the present invention presents a method and a device for a host control unit to communicate over a protocol compliant bus via the introduction of an auxiliary control unit that handles communications to and from the protocol compliant bus. The auxiliary control unit converts the high level commands of the host control unit to low-level protocol compliant electrical signals for transmission across the bus and further converts low-level protocol compliant electrical signals received from the bus into high level commands for use by the host processor.

[0008] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a command control unit is connected to a host control unit of an HDMI node. The command control unit can be built in the host control unit, where it may share the processor of the host control unit or have its own processor. The command control unit can also be a separate unit connected to the host control unit through a bi-directional link.

[0009] The command control unit switches between an initiator mode that sends commands and a follower mode that receives commands. Receiving commands has higher priority over transmitting commands. If a command control unit detects that a command is to be sent by another command control unit in the network, it switches to a follower mode. When the command control unit has a command to send, it waits a signal free time to avoid conflicts and then switches to initiator mode. If during the signal free time, the command control unit detects a command is to be sent by another command control unit, it switches back to follower mode.

[0010] When acting as an initiator, the command control unit is adapted to receive a high-level command from a host control unit, and convert and transmit the high-level command to a remote command control unit via a bi-directional link in a format of frame. When acting as a follower, the command control unit is adapted to receive high-level commands from the bi-directional link as frames, and convert and send the frames to the host control unit as high-level commands.

[0011] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a CEC compliant network comprises a display device such as a digital TV or a speaker, and a content playback device such as a DVD player or a CD player and possibly other devices. An HDMI cable that includes an additional CEC bus interconnects the display device, the content playback device and other CEC compliant devices. The high-level commands are CEC compliant. The command frames are CEC frames defined by the CEC protocol. Therefore a high-level control through a CEC protocol is implemented.

Problems solved by technology

As such, the device will have increased overhead in configuring its internal command protocols and procedures to be compatible with the standardized protocol, such as CEC.

Images