Mobile Information Display Maintenance Without Ethernet

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional in-flight entertainment systems face challenges in identifying the cause of malfunctions in information display terminals when Ethernet connections fail, preventing effective maintenance.

Innovation Solution

An information display system that allows maintenance to be performed using a passenger terminal without Ethernet, utilizing a separate information processing device connected via a first signal line for serial communication, combining maintenance and video signals, and employing a response unit and processing units to transmit and decompose these signals.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of repair

If maintenance is performed using Ethernet connection via cabin terminals, then maintenance capability is provided, but system complexity increases and reliability decreases when Ethernet malfunctions occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemaintenance capabilityVSAvoidmaintenance reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of repairVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a passenger terminal as an intermediary device that enables maintenance operations without requiring direct access to the information display terminal through Ethernet. The passenger terminal receives maintenance signals from the information processing device and transmits them to the information display terminal, serving as a mediator that bypasses the need for direct Ethernet connection between cabin terminals and display terminals, thereby improving reliability when Ethernet malfunctions occur

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the maintenance signal transmission path into separate components: the information processing device generates maintenance signals, the passenger terminal receives and relays these signals, and the information display terminal executes the maintenance operations. This segmentation allows the maintenance function to be independent of the Ethernet connection status, as each component can function independently without requiring direct Ethernet connectivity between all elements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of operation

If Ethernet connection is used for maintenance, then connection capability is established, but difficulty in identifying malfunction causes increases when Ethernet fails

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnection capabilityVSAvoidmalfunction detection difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The passenger terminal acts as an intermediary that can detect and report Ethernet connection status and transmission errors. When Ethernet malfunctions occur, the passenger terminal can identify the nature of the malfunction (e.g., connection failure, transmission errors) and provide this information to the information processing device, thereby reducing the difficulty of detecting and measuring malfunction causes compared to direct Ethernet connections

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If separate signal lines are used for video and maintenance signals, then signal transmission reliability improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesignal transmission reliabilityVSAvoidsignal line complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the video signal transmission and maintenance signal transmission into a single integrated signal path between the information processing device and the information display terminal. The information processing device transmits both video signals and maintenance signals through the same communication interface, eliminating the need for separate dedicated signal lines for each function, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability through proper signal separation at the processing level

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP4622272A1Information display system
Publication Date: 2025.09.24 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP4622272A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4622272A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4622272A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An information display system (10) is installed in a mobile body, and includes an information processing device (21) that receives a maintenance signal from an external device (11), an information display device (31) that is configured to have a different housing from that of the information processing device (21) and has a display (31g), and a first signal line (21f) that connects the information processing device (21) and the information display device (31) and allows a video signal of the display (31g) to be transmitted by serial communication. The information processing device (21) has a first processing unit (21e) that combines the maintenance signal with the video signal displayed on the display (31g) and transmits the combined signal via the first signal line (21f). The information display device (31) further has a processor (31b) that responds to the maintenance signal, and a second processing unit (31e) that decomposes the combined signal received from the first processing unit (21e), transmits the maintenance signal to the processor (31b), and transmits the video signal to the display (31g).