Optical transmission system

Abstract

This invention provides an optical fiber transmission system, including an optical transmitter and an optical receiver. The optical transmitter receives a first video signal corresponding to a first video standard and converts the first video signal into an optical signal with a specified transmission rate. The optical receiver receives the optical signal with the specified transmission rate from the optical transmitter and converts the optical signal into a second video signal corresponding to a second video standard.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a video transmission system, and more particularly to an optical fiber transmission system. Prior Technology

[0002] In hospital operations, surgery has become the hospital's main source of revenue, and in order to improve the quality of surgery, hospitals have invested a considerable amount of money to purchase high-performance operating room instruments and equipment.

[0003] Generally speaking, when doctors perform surgery, they often use auxiliary medical video systems (such as endoscopy systems, surgical navigation systems, angiography systems, da Vinci robots, etc.). In order to achieve better auxiliary effects, the above-mentioned medical video systems mostly need to meet requirements such as high transmission speed, high immediacy, long-distance transmission, low attenuation, good quality, and interoperability.

[0004] However, in the existing technology, the system architecture used to transmit video captured by a video source (such as an endoscope) to a screen that can be viewed by a physician not only has a complex switching relationship, but also easily causes delays in video transmission, thereby increasing the risk of surgery.

[0005] Therefore, for those skilled in the art, designing a low-complexity, low-latency medical video transmission architecture is an important issue. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the present invention provides an optical fiber transmission system that can be used to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0007] This invention provides an optical fiber transmission system, including an optical transmitter and an optical receiver. The optical transmitter receives a first video signal corresponding to a first video standard and converts the first video signal into a first optical signal having a specified transmission rate. The optical receiver receives the first optical signal with the specified transmission rate from the optical transmitter and converts the first optical signal into a second video signal corresponding to a second video standard. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0008] Figure 1A shows the known mechanism used for medical video transmission. Figure 1B is an electrical matrix architecture drawn based on Figure 1A. Figure 2 is an optical fiber transmission system illustrated according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of an optical transmitter and optical receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an optical fiber transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the optical fiber transmission system based on Figure 4. Implementation

[0009] Please refer to Figure 1A, which illustrates a conventional mechanism for medical video transmission. In Figure 1A, it is assumed that the video source 110 is an endoscope that provides High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) video, and the display 170 is used to allow the physician to view the video captured by this endoscope. For ease of explanation, it is assumed below that the display 170 can receive video signals through a Serial Digital Interface (SDI) (i.e., the video source 110 and the display 170 correspond to different video standards).

[0010] Generally speaking, in order for the display 170 to successfully display the video captured by the video source 110, an optical transmitter 120, an optical receiver 130, an optical transmitter 150, and an optical receiver 160 need to be sequentially arranged between the video source 110 and the display 170.

[0011] In this case, when the video source 110 acquires video (e.g., endoscopic video) by taking pictures, it can provide the corresponding electrical signal E1 to the optical transmitter 120, and the optical transmitter 120 can correspondingly convert the electrical signal E1 into an optical signal OP1 and send the optical signal OP1 to the optical receiver 130.

[0012] In the scenario of Figure 1A, since the video source 110 is assumed to be used to provide HDMI video, the designer can pre-connect the optical receiver 130 corresponding to the video source 110 to the HDMI input terminal on the electrical matrix 140 when setting up the operating room environment. Therefore, after the optical receiver 130 receives the optical signal OP1, it can convert the optical signal OP1 into an electrical signal E2 and output the electrical signal E2 to the HDMI input terminal on the electrical matrix 140. In other examples, if the video source 110 is used to provide Digital Visual Interface (DVI) video or DisplayPort (DP) video, the designer can change the connection of the optical receiver 130 to the DVI or DP input terminal on the electrical matrix 140.

[0013] In the above example, since the display 170 is assumed to correspond to the SDI standard, its corresponding optical transmitter 150 can be pre-connected by the designer to the SDI-corresponding output terminal on the electrical matrix 140. In this case, when the electrical matrix 140 receives the electrical signal E2, it can convert it into an electrical signal E3 corresponding to the SDI standard and provide the electrical signal E3 to the optical transmitter 150.

[0014] Subsequently, the optical transmitter 150 can convert the electrical signal E3 into the optical signal OP2 and provide the optical signal OP2 to the optical receiver 160. Correspondingly, the optical receiver 160 can convert the optical signal OP2 into the electrical signal E4 and provide the electrical signal E4 to the display 170 so that the display 170 can display the video captured by the video source 110.

[0015] As shown in Figure 1A, in the illustrated architecture, a separate optical transmitter / receiver needs to be installed for both the video source 110 and the display 170, resulting in a total of two sets of optical transmitters / receivers. Furthermore, the signal source connectors differ for different video standards. Therefore, this approach is not only more costly and involves more complex switching relationships, but the multiple optical / electrical signal conversions also introduce corresponding delays.

[0016] In addition, in order for the electrical matrix 140 to convert the electrical signal E2 corresponding to the HDMI standard into the electrical signal E3 corresponding to the SDI standard, the electrical matrix 140 also needs to perform relatively complex calculations.

[0017] Please refer to Figure 1B, which illustrates the electrical matrix architecture based on Figure 1A. In Figure 1B, when the electrical matrix 140 receives electrical signal E2 from an input corresponding to the HDMI standard, it must first decode the electrical signal E2 into raw data at the RGB level before the image processor 141 of the electrical matrix 140 can encode this raw data into electrical signal E3 corresponding to the SDI standard. In this case, the conversion operation performed by the electrical matrix 140 will also introduce additional latency. Furthermore, since the electrical matrix 140 costs tens of thousands of US dollars, the implementation cost of the architecture in Figure 1A remains high.

[0018] Furthermore, measurements show that the architecture in Figure 1A will result in a delay of approximately 0.3 seconds in the image viewed by the physician on monitor 170. In this scenario, assuming it takes 10 minutes for the video source 110 to enter the stomach from the patient's mouth, this will result in a total delay of 3.3 minutes in the image viewed by the physician on monitor 170, thereby correspondingly increasing the surgical risk.

[0019] In view of this, the present invention proposes a novel optical fiber transmission system that can be used to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0020] Please refer to Figure 2, which illustrates an optical fiber transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the optical fiber transmission system 200 includes an optical transmitter 210 and an optical receiver 220, wherein the optical transmitter 210 can be connected between a video source 201 and an optical receiver 220, and the optical receiver 220 can be connected to a display 202.

[0021] In embodiments of the present invention, the video source 201 may correspond to a first video standard, while the display 202 may correspond to a second video standard. In different embodiments, the first video standard may be the same as or different from the second video standard. In some embodiments, the first video standard corresponding to the video source 201 may be, for example, one of the HDMI standard, DVI standard, DP standard, and SDI standard, but is not limited thereto. Similarly, the second video standard corresponding to the display 202 may also be one of the HDMI standard, DVI standard, DP standard, and SDI standard, but is not limited thereto.

[0022] In one embodiment, after the video source 201 (e.g., an endoscope) generates a corresponding video signal ES1 by taking a picture, the video signal ES1 can be transmitted to the optical transmitter 210.

[0023] Accordingly, after receiving the video signal ES1, the optical transmitter 210 can convert the video signal ES1 into an optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate and transmit the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220. In some embodiments, the optical transmitter 210 can convert the video signal ES1 into an optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate without loss. That is, the optical transmitter 210 can convert the video signal ES1 into an optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate without compression, but it is not limited to this.

[0024] In different embodiments, the specified transmission rate may be between 9.984 Gbps and 10.2 Gbps. In a preferred embodiment, the specified transmission rate may be 10 Gbps, but is not limited thereto.

[0025] After the optical receiver 220 receives the optical signal OS1 with the specified transmission rate from the optical transmitter 210, the optical receiver 220 can convert the optical signal OS1 into a video signal ES2 corresponding to the second video standard, and output the video signal ES2 to the display 202 corresponding to the second video standard. In this way, the display 202 can display the image captured by the video source 201.

[0026] Furthermore, since the optical transmitter 210 is designed to convert the video signal ES1 corresponding to the first video standard into an optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate, and the optical receiver 220 is also designed to convert the optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate into a video signal ES2 corresponding to the second video standard, even if the video source 201 and the display 202 correspond to different video standards, the optical signal OS1 provided by the optical transmitter 210 can be directly transmitted to the optical receiver 220 without any conversion.

[0027] As can be seen from the above, compared to the architecture in Figure 1A which requires an electrical matrix and two sets of optical transmitters / receivers, Figure 2 can achieve the same video transmission function as the architecture in Figure 1A by only setting one set of optical transmitters 210 / receivers 220 between the video source 201 and the display 202. Furthermore, the switching relationship in the architecture of Figure 2 is not only less complex, but also achieves lower latency by reducing the number of optical / electrical signal conversions.

[0028] Measurements show that the latency produced by the architecture in Figure 2 is approximately 2 μs, which is only one 150,000th of that of the architecture in Figure 1A. Furthermore, without requiring the installation of an electrical matrix that costs tens of thousands of dollars, the implementation cost of Figure 2 is also far lower than that of the architecture in Figure 1A.

[0029] Please refer to Figure 3A, which is a schematic diagram of an optical transmitter and optical receiver architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the scenario of Figure 3A, it is assumed that the first video standard corresponding to the video source 201 is the HDMI standard or the DVI standard, and it is assumed that the second video standard corresponding to the display 202 is the HDMI standard or the DVI standard. In this case, the video signal ES1 provided by the video source 201 is, for example, a Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) signal (hereinafter referred to as the first TMDS signal).

[0030] As shown in Figure 3A, the optical transmitter 210 includes a first TMDS transceiver 311, a serializer 312, an optical transceiver 313, and a controller 314. In some embodiments, the first TMDS transceiver 311 can receive and remove noise from a first TMDS signal (i.e., video signal ES1) from a video source 201. Then, the serializer 312, coupled to the first TMDS transceiver 311, can receive the cleaned first TMDS signal ES1' and serialize it into a first serial signal TS1. In some embodiments, the serializer 312 can be configured to output only serial signals with the specified transmission rate. In this case, regardless of the video signal ES1 corresponding to a video signal of what quality, the serializer 312 will correspondingly generate a serial signal with the specified transmission rate, but this is not limited to this. Next, the optical transceiver 313 coupled to the serializer 312 can convert the first serial signal TS1 into an optical signal OS1 with a specified transmission rate. In Figure 3A, the optical transmitter 210 can transmit the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220 through the optical fiber 330 connected between the optical transmitter 210 and the optical receiver 220.

[0031] In different embodiments, the operations performed by the first TMDS transceiver 311, serializer 312, and optical transceiver 313 can all be controlled by the controller 314 coupled to the first TMDS transceiver 311, serializer 312, and optical transceiver 313 through corresponding control signals, but this is not a limitation. In some embodiments, the controller 314 can enable the optical transceiver 313 after the first TMDS transceiver 311 and serializer 312 have completed initialization, thereby preventing the optical transceiver 313 from accidentally sending meaningless data to the optical receiver 220, but this is not a limitation.

[0032] As shown in Figure 3A, the optical receiver 220 may include an optical transceiver 321, a deserializer 322, a second TMDS transceiver 323, and a controller 324. In some embodiments, the optical transceiver 321 can receive an optical signal OS1 from the optical transceiver 313 via an optical fiber 330 and convert the optical signal OS1 into a second serial signal TS2. Then, the deserializer 322 coupled to the optical transceiver 321 can deserialize the second serial signal TS2 from the optical transceiver 321 into a second TMDS signal ES2'. Next, the second TMDS transceiver 323 coupled to the deserializer 322 can receive and remove noise from the second TMDS signal ES2', and output the cleaned second TMDS signal ES2' as a video signal ES2 to the display 202.

[0033] In different embodiments, the operations performed by the optical transceiver 321, deserializer 322, and second TMDS transceiver 323 can all be controlled by the controller 324 coupled to the optical transceiver 321, deserializer 322, and second TMDS transceiver 323 through corresponding control signals, but are not limited to this.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 3B, which is a schematic diagram of an optical transmitter and optical receiver architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the scenario of Figure 3B, it is assumed that the first video standard corresponding to the video source 201 is the SDI standard or the DP standard, and it is assumed that the second video standard corresponding to the display 202 is the SDI standard or the DP standard.

[0035] As shown in Figure 3B, the optical transmitter 210 includes a first HDMI circuit 315, a serializer 312, an optical transceiver 313, and a controller 314. In some embodiments, the first HDMI circuit 315 can receive a video signal ES1 and convert it into a first HDMI signal HS1. Then, the serializer 312, coupled to the first HDMI circuit 315, can receive the first HDMI signal HS1 and serialize it into a first serial signal TS1. In some embodiments, the serializer 312 can be configured to output only serial signals with the specified transmission rate. In this case, regardless of the video signal ES1 corresponding to a video signal of what quality, the serializer 312 will correspondingly generate a serial signal with the specified transmission rate, but this is not limited to this. Next, the optical transceiver 313, coupled to the serializer 312, can convert the first serial signal TS1 into an optical signal OS1 with the specified transmission rate. In Figure 3B, the optical transmitter 210 can transmit the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220 through the optical fiber 330 connected between the optical transmitter 210 and the optical receiver 220.

[0036] In different embodiments, the operations performed by the first HDMI circuit 315, serializer 312, and optical transceiver 313 can all be controlled by the controller 314 coupled to the first HDMI circuit 315, serializer 312, and optical transceiver 313 through corresponding control signals, but this is not a limitation. In some embodiments, the controller 314 can enable the optical transceiver 313 after the first HDMI circuit 315 and serializer 312 have completed initialization, thereby preventing the optical transceiver 313 from accidentally sending meaningless data to the optical receiver 220, but this is not a limitation.

[0037] As shown in Figure 3B, the optical receiver 220 may include an optical transceiver 321, a deserializer 322, a second HDMI circuit 325, and a controller 324. In some embodiments, the optical transceiver 321 can receive an optical signal OS1 from the optical transceiver 313 via an optical fiber 330 and convert the optical signal OS1 into a second serial signal TS2. Then, the deserializer 322, coupled to the optical transceiver 321, can deserialize the second serial signal TS2 from the optical transceiver 321 into a second HDMI signal HS2. Next, the second HDMI circuit 325, coupled to the deserializer 322, can receive the second HDMI signal HS2 and convert it into a video signal ES2 for output to the display 202.

[0038] In different embodiments, the operations performed by the optical transceiver 321, deserializer 322, and second HDMI circuit 325 can all be controlled by the controller 324 coupled to the optical transceiver 321, deserializer 322, and second HDMI circuit 325 through corresponding control signals, but are not limited to this.

[0039] In other embodiments, depending on the first video standard corresponding to the video source 201 and the second video standard corresponding to the display 202, the optical transmitter 210 of FIG3A can be arbitrarily paired with the optical receiver 220 of FIG3A or the optical receiver 220 of FIG3B. Similarly, the optical transmitter 210 of FIG3B can also be arbitrarily paired with the optical receiver 220 of FIG3A or the optical receiver 220 of FIG3B.

[0040] For example, assuming the video source 201 and the monitor 202 correspond to the HDMI standard and the SDI standard respectively, the video source 201 can be connected to the monitor 202 sequentially through the optical transmitter 210 in Figure 3A, the optical fiber 330, and the optical receiver 220 in Figure 3B. As another example, assuming the video source 201 and the monitor 202 correspond to the SDI standard and the HDMI standard respectively, the video source 201 can be connected to the monitor 202 sequentially through the optical transmitter 210 in Figure 3B, the optical fiber 330, and the optical receiver 220 in Figure 3A. As yet another example, assuming the video source 201 and the monitor 202 correspond to the DP standard and the DVI standard respectively, the video source 201 can be connected to the monitor 202 sequentially through the optical transmitter 210 in Figure 3B, the optical fiber 330, and the optical receiver 220 in Figure 3A.

[0041] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the present invention proposes a fiber optic matrix, which can be used to route optical signals between multiple video sources and displays, thereby realizing more diverse video transmission mechanisms, as detailed below.

[0042] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of an optical fiber transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 4, the optical fiber transmission system 400 includes an optical transmitter 210, an optical receiver 220, and an optical fiber matrix 410. Details of the optical transmitter 210 and the optical receiver 220 can be found in the description of the previous embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0043] As shown in Figure 4, the fiber optic matrix 410 may include multiple input terminals I1~I4, multiple output terminals O1~O4, a controller 411, and a communication circuit 412. For ease of explanation, it is assumed below that the optical transmitter 210 is connected to the input terminal I1 and the optical receiver 220 is connected to the output terminal O2, but it is not limited to this.

[0044] In one embodiment, since the display 202 is assumed to be used to display the video captured by the video source 201, a first correspondence can be configured between the input terminal I1 and the output terminal O2 corresponding to the video source 201 and the display 202. In this case, the controller 411 can switch the input terminal I1 to the output terminal O2 according to the first correspondence between the input terminal I1 and the output terminal O2.

[0045] Therefore, after the optical transmitter 210 sends the optical signal OS1 with the specified transmission rate to the input terminal I1, the input terminal I1 can directly forward the optical signal OS1 to the output terminal O2, and the output terminal O2 can correspondingly output the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220.

[0046] In other words, after the fiber optic matrix 410 receives the optical signal OS1 from the optical transmitter 210 through input terminal I1, it can directly output the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220 through the output terminal O2 corresponding to input terminal I1 without performing any processing / conversion on the optical signal OS1. Therefore, compared to the electrical matrix 140 in FIG1A, the fiber optic matrix 410 in FIG4 can complete signal transmission with lower latency.

[0047] Furthermore, compared to the tens of thousands of dollars that the electrical matrix 140 costs, the fiber optic matrix 410 only costs a few thousand dollars, so its implementation cost is also much lower than that of the electrical matrix 140.

[0048] In some embodiments, the designer can remotely configure the correspondence between input terminals I1~I4 and output terminals O1~O4 via a network. For example, after determining that input terminal I1 should correspond to output terminal O2, the designer can run control software corresponding to the fiber optic matrix 410 on their operating computer device and edit the first correspondence between input terminal I1 and output terminal O2 in this control software. After completing the configuration of the first correspondence, the computer device can send the corresponding configuration signal CS to the fiber optic matrix 410 via the network.

[0049] Correspondingly, the communication circuit 412 coupled to the controller 411 can receive a configuration signal CS from the network, and the controller 411 can obtain a first correspondence between the input terminal I1 and the output terminal O2 based on the configuration signal CS, and then switch the input terminal I1 to the output terminal O2 according to this first correspondence.

[0050] In other embodiments, the fiber optic matrix 410 may also provide a control panel for the designer to manually set the correspondence between input terminals I1~I4 and output terminals O1~O4. In some embodiments, the control panel may include multiple light-emitting diode (LED) buttons corresponding to input terminals I1~I4 and output terminals O1~O4. Therefore, after determining that input terminal I1 must correspond to output terminal O2, the designer can locate the LED button corresponding to input terminal I1 (hereinafter referred to as the first LED button) and the LED button corresponding to output terminal O2 (hereinafter referred to as the second LED button) on the control panel.

[0051] Subsequently, the designer can set the first light-emitting diode button to correspond to the second light-emitting diode button, and the controller 411 can obtain the first correspondence between the input terminal I1 and the output terminal O2, and then switch the input terminal I1 to the output terminal O2 according to this first correspondence, but it is not limited to this.

[0052] In other embodiments, the fiber matrix 410 can provide more complex routing capabilities, the details of which are described below.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of the optical fiber transmission system drawn based on Figure 4. As shown in Figure 5, the optical fiber transmission system 500 includes an optical transmitter 210, an optical receiver 220, an optical receiver 220', an optical transmitter 510, an optical receiver 520, and an optical fiber matrix 410.

[0054] In Figure 5, in addition to the first correspondence between input terminal I1 and output terminal O2, a second correspondence can also be configured between input terminal I1 and output terminal O1. In this case, the controller 411 can switch the connection of input terminal I1 to output terminal O1 according to this second correspondence. In other words, input terminal I1 can be connected to both output terminals O1 and O2 simultaneously.

[0055] Therefore, after the optical transmitter 210 sends the optical signal OS1 with the specified transmission rate to the input terminal I1, the input terminal I1 can directly forward the optical signal OS1 to the output terminals O1 and O2. Accordingly, the output terminal O1 can output the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220' connected to the output terminal O1, and the output terminal O2 can output the optical signal OS1 to the optical receiver 220' connected to the output terminal O2.

[0056] After receiving the optical signal OS1, the optical receiver 220' can perform operations similar to those of the optical receiver 220 to convert the optical signal OS1 into a video signal ES2' for the display 202' to display the video captured by the video source 201.

[0057] In the scenario shown in Figure 5, the display 202' may correspond to a third video standard, which may be the same as or different from the first and second video standards. For example, assuming the first and second video standards are HDMI and SDI respectively, the third video standard can be any one of HDMI, SDI, DP, and DVI. Accordingly, the optical receiver 220' can be used to convert the optical signal OS1 into a video signal ES2' corresponding to the third video standard for display 202' to present.

[0058] In short, the fiber optic matrix 410 can broadcast the optical signal OS1 from the optical transmitter 210 to the output terminals O1 and O2 based on the first and second correspondences mentioned above, so that the corresponding displays 202 and 202' can display the video image captured by the video source 201, but it is not limited to this.

[0059] Furthermore, assuming that the display 502 can be used to display the video captured by the video source 501, the designer can establish a third correspondence between the input terminal I2 and the output terminal O4 after connecting the corresponding optical transmitter 510 and optical receiver 520 to the selected input terminal (e.g., input terminal I2) and output terminal (e.g., output terminal O4) respectively. In this case, the controller 411 can switch the input terminal I2 to the output terminal O4 according to the third correspondence between the input terminal I2 and the output terminal O4.

[0060] In one embodiment, the video source 501 may correspond to a fourth video standard, while the display 502 may correspond to a fifth video standard. In different embodiments, the fourth video standard may be the same as or different from the fifth video standard. In some embodiments, the fourth video standard corresponding to the video source 501 may be, for example, one of the HDMI standard, DVI standard, DP standard, and SDI standard, but is not limited to these. Similarly, the fifth video standard corresponding to the display 502 may also be one of the HDMI standard, DVI standard, DP standard, and SDI standard, but is not limited to these.

[0061] In one embodiment, after the video source 501 generates a corresponding video signal ES1a by capturing an image, the video signal ES1a can be transmitted to the optical transmitter 510.

[0062] Accordingly, after the optical transmitter 510 receives the video signal ES1a, it can convert the video signal ES1a into an optical signal OS1a with the specified transmission rate, and transmit the optical signal OS1a to the input terminal I2. Then, the input terminal I2 of the fiber optic matrix 410 can directly forward the optical signal OS1a to the output terminal O4, and the output terminal O4 can correspondingly output the optical signal OS1a to the optical receiver 520.

[0063] After the optical receiver 520 receives the optical signal OS1a with the specified transmission rate from the output terminal O4, the optical receiver 520 can convert the optical signal OS1a into a video signal ES2a corresponding to the fifth video standard, and output the video signal ES2a to the display 502 corresponding to the fifth video standard. In this way, the display 502 can display the image captured by the video source 501.

[0064] As can be seen from the above, after the fiber optic matrix 410 receives the optical signal OS1a from the optical transmitter 510 through the input terminal I2, it can also output the optical signal OS1a directly to the optical receiver 520 through the output terminal O4 corresponding to the input terminal I2 without performing any processing / conversion on the optical signal OS1a. The delay of this process is also much lower than that of the electrical matrix 140 in Figure 1A.

[0065] In other embodiments, the designer may freely configure other combinations of video sources / displays / optical transmitters / optical receivers based on the concepts taught in FIG5, and is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG5.

[0066] Furthermore, although the fiber optic matrix 410 is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 as having four input terminals I1~I4 and four output terminals O1~O4, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this. In other embodiments, those skilled in the art can adjust the fiber optic matrix 410 to have any number of input terminals and output terminals as needed.

[0067] In summary, in the fiber optic transmission system proposed in this invention, the optical transmitter is designed to convert video electrical signals received from a video source into optical signals with a specified transmission rate. Correspondingly, the optical receiver is also designed to convert the optical signals with the specified transmission rate into video electrical signals corresponding to the video standard, so that the display can present the image captured by the video source. Therefore, even if the video source and the display correspond to different video standards, the optical signal provided by the optical transmitter can be directly transmitted to the optical receiver without any conversion. This effectively simplifies the (medical) video transmission process, thereby reducing cost, latency, and complexity.

[0068] Furthermore, by setting up fiber optic matrix switches in the fiber optic transmission system, multiple optical signals (all with the aforementioned specified transmission rates) can be routed between multiple video sources / displays. Moreover, since the fiber optic matrix switch simply forwards optical signals between corresponding input and output terminals without requiring additional signal processing / conversion, routing latency can be effectively reduced, thus enabling implementation at a lower cost.

[0069] Although the present invention has been disclosed above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the appended claims.

[0070] 110, 201, 501: Video Source 120, 150, 210, 510: Optical Transmitters 130, 160, 220, 220', 520: Optical receiver 140: Electrical Matrix 141: Image Processor 170, 202, 202', 502: Monitor 200, 400, 500: Fiber optic transmission systems 311: First TMDS transceiver 312: Serializer 313, 321: Optical transceivers 314, 324: Controller 315: First HDMI Circuit 322: Deserializer 323: Second TMDS transceiver 325: Second HDMI circuit 330: Fiber optic 410: Fiber Optic Matrix 411: Controller 412: Communication circuit CS: Configuration Signal E1, E2, E3, E4: Telecommunications signals ES1, ES1a, ES2, ES2a: Video signals ES1': First TMDS signal ES2': Second TMDS signal HS1: First HDMI signal HS2: Second HDMI signal TS1: First Serial Signal TS2: Second Serial Signal OS1, OS1a, OP1, OP2: Optical signals

Claims

1. An optical fiber transmission system, comprising: An optical transmitter receives a first video signal corresponding to a first video standard and converts the first video signal into a first optical signal having a specified transmission rate; an optical fiber matrix includes: at least one input terminal to which the optical transmitter is connected; at least one output terminal; and an optical receiver connected to the at least one output terminal of the optical fiber matrix, wherein a first correspondence is configured between the at least one input terminal and the at least one output terminal. After the optical transmitter transmits the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate to the at least one input terminal of the optical fiber matrix, the optical fiber matrix directly outputs the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate to the optical receiver through the at least one output terminal without performing any conversion on the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate. The optical receiver converts the first optical signal into a second video signal corresponding to a second video standard.

2. The optical fiber transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein after the optical fiber matrix receives the first optical signal of the specified transmission rate from the optical transmitter through the at least one input terminal, it directly outputs the first optical signal of the specified transmission rate to the optical receiver through the at least one output terminal corresponding to the at least one input terminal without performing any processing / conversion on the first optical signal of the specified transmission rate.

3. The optical fiber transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical fiber matrix further comprises: One controller; And a communication circuit, wherein the communication circuit coupled to the controller receives a configuration signal from the network, the controller obtains a first correspondence between the at least one input terminal and the at least one output terminal based on the configuration signal, and switches the at least one input terminal to the at least one output terminal according to the first correspondence.

4. The fiber optic transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical transmitter losslessly converts the first video signal into the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate.

5. The fiber optic transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first video standard includes one of an HDMI standard and a DVI standard, and the first video signal includes a first Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) signal, wherein the optical transmitter includes: A first TMDS transceiver receives and removes noise from the first TMDS signal; A first serializer, coupled to the first TMDS transceiver, receives the cleaned first TMDS signal and serializes it into a first serial signal; a first optical transceiver, coupled to the first serializer, converts the first serial signal into the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate.

6. The fiber optic transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video standard includes one of an HDMI standard and a DVI standard, wherein the receiver includes: A second optical transceiver receives the first optical signal and converts it into a second serial signal; a first deserializer is coupled to the second optical transceiver and deserializes the second serial signal from the second optical transceiver into a second TMDS signal; a second TMDS transceiver is coupled to the first deserializer, receives and removes noise from the second TMDS signal, and outputs the cleaned second TMDS signal as the second video signal.

7. The optical fiber transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first video standard includes one of an SDI standard and a DP standard, and the optical transmitter includes: A first HDMI circuit receives the first video signal and converts the first video signal into a first HDMI signal; A first serializer, coupled to the first HDMI circuit, receives the first HDMI signal and serializes it into a first serial signal; a first optical transceiver, coupled to the first serializer, converts the first serial signal into the first optical signal having the specified transmission rate.

8. The optical fiber transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video standard includes one of an SDI standard and a DP standard, wherein the optical receiver includes: A second optical transceiver receives the first optical signal and converts the first optical signal into a second serial signal; A first deserializer is coupled to the second optical transceiver and deserializes the second serialized signal from the second optical transceiver into a second HDMI signal; a second HDMI circuit is coupled to the first deserializer, receives the second HDMI signal, and converts the second HDMI signal into the second video signal.

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