Layered Frame Buffer Control for Low-Latency Video Composition
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video signal processing technologies face challenges in combining video signals from multiple sources with varying image components between frames and images while maintaining low latency, particularly when using software-based methods which increase latency and require expensive hardware.
Innovation Solution
An integrated circuit arrangement with a frame buffer control system and interface that writes video data from multiple streams into different layers of a frame buffer, allowing for hardware-based combination of video signals with variable image regions using defined color values to form a combined frame, independent of computing units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If software is used to generate combined video signals from different video signals, then image components such as operating interfaces can be flexibly adapted during combination, but latency is significantly increased and expensive hardware is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the frame buffer into multiple layers (first layer, second layer, etc.) where different video signals are written to different layers. The combination of video signals is achieved by selectively reading from these layers based on defined color values that indicate which layer should be visible in each image region. This segmentation allows flexible composition without software processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - a control signal with defined color values - that mediates between the multiple video signal layers and the final combined output. This control signal indicates in which image regions video data from which layer should be used, enabling flexible composition through hardware-based selective reading rather than software processing.
2Adaptability or versatility
If software-based combination of video signals is used, then image components can be flexibly adapted, but expensive hardware is required
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses self-service by having the video signals themselves carry composition information through defined color values. The frame buffer control system automatically determines which video data to combine based on these embedded color values, eliminating the need for expensive external software processing hardware. The composition logic is embedded within the hardware itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation by using defined color values as control parameters rather than requiring complex software instructions. The color values serve dual purposes: they are part of the video content and simultaneously serve as control signals for composition, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining flexibility.
3Loss of time
If conventional integrated circuits are used for video signal combination, then latency is low, but the configuration must be known in advance and cannot adapt to varying image components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the circuit dynamic by allowing the composition configuration to change frame by frame through the defined color values in the control signals. Unlike static conventional circuits with fixed configurations, this system can dynamically adapt which video layers are combined and where, based on the content-specific color value information present in each frame.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining color values that encode composition information within the video data itself. These predefined color values are embedded in the video signals before they reach the frame buffer, allowing the hardware to automatically perform adaptive composition without requiring real-time configuration changes or complex control logic.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an integrated circuit arrangement, in particular an FPGA or an ASIC, for processing video data. It has a number of video interfaces for receiving and/or emitting video data from a plurality of data streams, as well as a frame buffer control system and a frame buffer interface. The invention further relates to a network device, a network, a computer unit and a method for processing video data.