CN110225289B

CN110225289B - Conference terminal and interface signal conversion method

Info

Publication number: CN110225289B
Application number: CN201910399693.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 彭宇龙; 彭郑君; 韩杰; 刘蒙
Original assignee: Visionvera Information Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Visionvera Information Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-14
Filing date: 2019-05-14
Publication date: 2021-07-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-14
Also published as: CN110225289A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a conference terminal and an interface signal conversion method, wherein the terminal is applied to a video network, the video network comprises video network equipment, and the terminal comprises a signal integration interface, a signal uniform mutual conversion chip and a video network conference minimum system controller; the embodiment of the invention can convert the interface signal accessed into the minimal system controller of the video networking conference by utilizing the signal uniform mutual conversion chip according to the specific function or service requirement of the minimal system controller of the video networking conference, can customize an external interface at the same time, can support the simultaneous transmission of various signals at the same time, can realize the cable unification in the field of audio and video, avoids the problems of poor cable interface stability and inconvenient user operation caused by more and miscellaneous connecting cables, saves the original interface chip, and has great benefits on the cost control and miniaturization of products.

Description

Conference terminal and interface signal conversion method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of video networking, in particular to a conference terminal and an interface signal conversion method based on the conference terminal.

Background

Before a video conference is carried out, more cables, such as network cables, HDMI cables, analog/digital audio cables and the like, need to be connected with a video conference terminal, and the connecting wires are different in length and various in type, so that a user is often inconvenient to operate. And the stability of the cable interface is poor because the connecting cable is complicated.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention are proposed to provide a conference terminal that overcomes or at least partially solves the above problems, and an interface signal conversion method based on a conference terminal.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a conference terminal, where the terminal is applied to a video network, the video network includes a video network device, and the terminal includes a signal integration interface, a signal uniform mutual conversion chip, and a video network conference minimum system controller, where:

one end of the signal integration interface is connected with the video networking equipment through a cable, and the other end of the signal integration interface is connected with the signal uniform mutual conversion chip;

one end of the signal unified mutual conversion chip is connected with the signal integration interface, and the other end of the signal unified mutual conversion chip is connected with the video networking conference minimum system controller and is used for converting a first interface signal which can be identified by the signal integration interface into a second interface signal which can be identified by the video networking conference minimum system controller or converting the second interface signal into the first interface signal;

and the video network conference minimum system controller is used for generating the second interface signal or executing a corresponding program according to the second interface signal.

Further, when the first interface signal is a port physical layer PHY signal and the second interface signal is an ethernet address MAC signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises an MAC-PHY submodule;

the MAC-PHY sub-module is configured to convert the PHY signal to the MAC signal or to convert the MAC signal to the PHY signal.

Further, when the first interface signal is an HDMI-IN signal input for an HDMI, and the second interface signal is an HDMI signal bt.1120 signal and an ic internal audio bus I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises a TMDS-BT.1120 submodule for minimizing transmission differential signals and an audio-video separation submodule;

the TMDS-BT.1120 sub-module is used for converting the HDMI-IN signal and transmitting the converted signal to the audio and video separation sub-module;

the audio and video separation submodule is used for separating the converted signal into the BT.1120 signal and the I2S signal.

Further, when the first interface signal is an HDMI-OUT signal, and the second interface signal is a bt.1120 signal and an I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises a BT.1120-TMDS sub-module and an audio and video synchronization sub-module;

the BT.1120-TMDS sub-module is used for converting the BT.1120 signal and transmitting the converted signal to the audio and video synchronization sub-module;

the audio and video synchronization sub-module is used for synchronizing the converted signal and the I2S signal into the HDMI-OUT signal.

Further, when the first interface signal is an input interface or an output interface LINE-IN/OUT signal, and the second interface signal is an I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises an Audio-Codec submodule of a sound Codec;

and the Audio-Codec submodule is used for converting the LINE-IN signal into the I2S signal or converting the I2S signal into the LINE-OUT signal.

Further, when the first interface signal is a serial communication interface RS232 signal, and the second interface signal is a UART signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises a UART-RS232 submodule;

the UART-RS232 sub-module is used for converting the RS232 signal into the UART signal or converting the UART signal into the RS232 signal.

Furthermore, when the video networking equipment is the conference terminal, one end of the signal integration interface is connected with the video networking equipment through a cable.

Further, when the video networking device comprises a plurality of sub-devices, one end of the signal integration interface is connected with the sub-devices through a plurality of cables respectively.

In order to solve the technical problem of the present invention, an interface signal conversion method based on a conference terminal in the embodiment of the present invention is provided, the method is applied to a video network, and the method includes:

the signal unified mutual conversion chip receives the first interface signal forwarded by the signal integrated interface; wherein the first interface signal is generated by the video networking device;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip converts the first interface signal into the second interface signal which can be recognized by the video network conference minimum system controller;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip sends the second interface signal to the video networking conference minimum system controller; and the video network conference minimum system controller is used for executing a corresponding program according to the second interface signal.

In order to solve the technical problem of the present invention, another interface signal conversion method based on a conference terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided, where the method is applied to a video network, and the method includes:

the signal unified mutual conversion chip receives the second interface signal sent by the video networking conference minimum system controller; wherein the second interface signal is generated by the video networking conferencing minimum system controller;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip converts the second interface signal into the first interface signal which can be identified by the signal integration interface;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip sends the first interface signal to the signal integration interface; the signal integration interface is used for forwarding the first interface signal to the video networking device.

The embodiment of the invention has the following advantages:

in the embodiment of the invention, the interface signal accessed into the minimal system controller of the video networking conference can be converted by utilizing the signal uniform mutual conversion chip according to the specific function or service requirement of the minimal system controller of the video networking conference, and meanwhile, the external interface can be customized, so that the simultaneous transmission of various signals can be supported at the same time, the cable unification in the audio and video field can be realized, the problems of poor cable interface stability and inconvenient user operation caused by more and miscellaneous connecting cables are avoided, the original interface chip is saved, and the method has great benefits on the cost control and miniaturization of products.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic networking diagram of a video network of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware architecture of a node server according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of an access switch of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of an ethernet protocol conversion gateway according to the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a conference terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a unified signal conversion chip according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating steps of an interface signal conversion method of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating steps of another interface signal conversion method of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a block diagram of an interface signal conversion apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a block diagram of an interface signal conversion apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a part of an interface structure of a conventional conference terminal.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in further detail below.

The video networking is an important milestone for network development, is a real-time network, can realize high-definition video real-time transmission, and pushes a plurality of internet applications to high-definition video, and high-definition faces each other.

The video networking adopts a real-time high-definition video exchange technology, can integrate required services such as dozens of services of video, voice, pictures, characters, communication, data and the like on a system platform on a network platform, such as high-definition video conference, video monitoring, intelligent monitoring analysis, emergency command, digital broadcast television, delayed television, network teaching, live broadcast, VOD on demand, television mail, Personal Video Recorder (PVR), intranet (self-office) channels, intelligent video broadcast control, information distribution and the like, and realizes high-definition quality video broadcast through a television or a computer.

To better understand the embodiments of the present invention, the following description refers to the internet of view:

some of the technologies applied in the video networking are as follows:

network Technology (Network Technology)

Network technology innovation in video networking has improved the traditional Ethernet (Ethernet) to face the potentially huge first video traffic on the network. Unlike pure network Packet Switching (Packet Switching) or network Circuit Switching (Circuit Switching), the Packet Switching is adopted by the technology of the video networking to meet the Streaming requirement. The video networking technology has the advantages of flexibility, simplicity and low price of packet switching, and simultaneously has the quality and safety guarantee of circuit switching, thereby realizing the seamless connection of the whole network switching type virtual circuit and the data format.

Switching Technology (Switching Technology)

The video network adopts two advantages of asynchronism and packet switching of the Ethernet, eliminates the defects of the Ethernet on the premise of full compatibility, has end-to-end seamless connection of the whole network, is directly communicated with a user terminal, and directly bears an IP data packet. The user data does not require any format conversion across the entire network. The video networking is a higher-level form of the Ethernet, is a real-time exchange platform, can realize the real-time transmission of the whole-network large-scale high-definition video which cannot be realized by the existing Internet, and pushes a plurality of network video applications to high-definition and unification.

Server Technology (Server Technology)

The server technology on the video networking and unified video platform is different from the traditional server, the streaming media transmission of the video networking and unified video platform is established on the basis of connection orientation, the data processing capacity of the video networking and unified video platform is independent of flow and communication time, and a single network layer can contain signaling and data transmission. For voice and video services, the complexity of video networking and unified video platform streaming media processing is much simpler than that of data processing, and the efficiency is greatly improved by more than one hundred times compared with that of a traditional server.

Storage Technology (Storage Technology)

The super-high speed storage technology of the unified video platform adopts the most advanced real-time operating system in order to adapt to the media content with super-large capacity and super-large flow, the program information in the server instruction is mapped to the specific hard disk space, the media content is not passed through the server any more, and is directly sent to the user terminal instantly, and the general waiting time of the user is less than 0.2 second. The optimized sector distribution greatly reduces the mechanical motion of the magnetic head track seeking of the hard disk, the resource consumption only accounts for 20% of that of the IP internet of the same grade, but concurrent flow which is 3 times larger than that of the traditional hard disk array is generated, and the comprehensive efficiency is improved by more than 10 times.

Network Security Technology (Network Security Technology)

The structural design of the video network completely eliminates the network security problem troubling the internet structurally by the modes of independent service permission control each time, complete isolation of equipment and user data and the like, generally does not need antivirus programs and firewalls, avoids the attack of hackers and viruses, and provides a structural carefree security network for users.

Service Innovation Technology (Service Innovation Technology)

The unified video platform integrates services and transmission, and is not only automatically connected once whether a single user, a private network user or a network aggregate. The user terminal, the set-top box or the PC are directly connected to the unified video platform to obtain various multimedia video services in various forms. The unified video platform adopts a menu type configuration table mode to replace the traditional complex application programming, can realize complex application by using very few codes, and realizes infinite new service innovation.

Networking of the video network is as follows:

the video network is a centralized control network structure, and the network can be a tree network, a star network, a ring network and the like, but on the basis of the centralized control node, the whole network is controlled by the centralized control node in the network.

As shown in fig. 1, the video network is divided into an access network and a metropolitan network.

The devices of the access network part can be mainly classified into 3 types: node server, access switch, terminal (including various set-top boxes, coding boards, memories, etc.). The node server is connected to an access switch, which may be connected to a plurality of terminals and may be connected to an ethernet network.

The node server is a node which plays a centralized control function in the access network and can control the access switch and the terminal. The node server can be directly connected with the access switch or directly connected with the terminal.

Similarly, devices of the metropolitan network portion may also be classified into 3 types: a metropolitan area server, a node switch and a node server. The metro server is connected to a node switch, which may be connected to a plurality of node servers.

The node server is a node server of the access network part, namely the node server belongs to both the access network part and the metropolitan area network part.

The metropolitan area server is a node which plays a centralized control function in the metropolitan area network and can control a node switch and a node server. The metropolitan area server can be directly connected with the node switch or directly connected with the node server.

Therefore, the whole video network is a network structure with layered centralized control, and the network controlled by the node server and the metropolitan area server can be in various structures such as tree, star and ring.

The access network part can form a unified video platform (the part in the dotted circle), and a plurality of unified video platforms can form a video network; each unified video platform may be interconnected via metropolitan area and wide area video networking.

Video networking device classification

1.1 devices in the video network of the embodiment of the present invention can be mainly classified into 3 types: server, exchanger (including Ethernet protocol conversion gateway), terminal (including various set-top boxes, code board, memory, etc.). The video network as a whole can be divided into a metropolitan area network (or national network, global network, etc.) and an access network.

1.2 wherein the devices of the access network part can be mainly classified into 3 types: node server, access exchanger (including Ethernet protocol conversion gateway), terminal (including various set-top boxes, coding board, memory, etc.).

The specific hardware structure of each access network device is as follows:

a node server:

as shown in fig. 2, the system mainly includes a network interface module 201, a switching engine module 202, a CPU module 203, and a disk array module 204;

the network interface module 201, the CPU module 203, and the disk array module 204 all enter the switching engine module 202; the switching engine module 202 performs an operation of looking up the address table 205 on the incoming packet, thereby obtaining the direction information of the packet; and stores the packet in a queue of the corresponding packet buffer 206 based on the packet's steering information; if the queue of the packet buffer 206 is nearly full, it is discarded; the switching engine module 202 polls all packet buffer queues for forwarding if the following conditions are met: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queue packet counter is greater than zero. The disk array module 204 mainly implements control over the hard disk, including initialization, read-write, and other operations on the hard disk; the CPU module 203 is mainly responsible for protocol processing with an access switch and a terminal (not shown in the figure), configuring an address table 205 (including a downlink protocol packet address table, an uplink protocol packet address table, and a data packet address table), and configuring the disk array module 204.

The access switch:

as shown in fig. 3, the network interface module mainly includes a network interface module (a downlink network interface module 301 and an uplink network interface module 302), a switching engine module 303 and a CPU module 304;

wherein, the packet (uplink data) coming from the downlink network interface module 301 enters the packet detection module 305; the packet detection module 305 detects whether the Destination Address (DA), the Source Address (SA), the packet type, and the packet length of the packet meet the requirements, and if so, allocates a corresponding stream identifier (stream-id) and enters the switching engine module 303, otherwise, discards the stream identifier; the packet (downstream data) coming from the upstream network interface module 302 enters the switching engine module 303; the incoming data packet of the CPU module 304 enters the switching engine module 303; the switching engine module 303 performs an operation of looking up the address table 306 on the incoming packet, thereby obtaining the direction information of the packet; if the packet entering the switching engine module 303 is from the downstream network interface to the upstream network interface, the packet is stored in the queue of the corresponding packet buffer 307 in association with the stream-id; if the queue of the packet buffer 307 is nearly full, it is discarded; if the packet entering the switching engine module 303 is not from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the data packet is stored in the queue of the corresponding packet buffer 307 according to the guiding information of the packet; if the queue of the packet buffer 307 is nearly full, it is discarded.

The switching engine module 303 polls all packet buffer queues and may include two cases:

if the queue is from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the following conditions are met for forwarding: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queued packet counter is greater than zero; 3) obtaining a token generated by a code rate control module;

if the queue is not from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the following conditions are met for forwarding: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queue packet counter is greater than zero.

The rate control module 308 is configured by the CPU module 304, and generates tokens for packet buffer queues from all downstream network interfaces to upstream network interfaces at programmable intervals to control the rate of upstream forwarding.

The CPU module 304 is mainly responsible for protocol processing with the node server, configuration of the address table 306, and configuration of the code rate control module 308.

Ethernet protocol conversion gateway：

As shown in fig. 4, the apparatus mainly includes a network interface module (a downlink network interface module 401 and an uplink network interface module 402), a switching engine module 403, a CPU module 404, a packet detection module 405, a rate control module 408, an address table 406, a packet buffer 407, a MAC adding module 409, and a MAC deleting module 410.

Wherein, the data packet coming from the downlink network interface module 401 enters the packet detection module 405; the packet detection module 405 detects whether the ethernet MAC DA, the ethernet MAC SA, the ethernet length or frame type, the video network destination address DA, the video network source address SA, the video network packet type, and the packet length of the packet meet the requirements, and if so, allocates a corresponding stream identifier (stream-id); then, the MAC deletion module 410 subtracts MAC DA, MAC SA, length or frame type (2byte) and enters the corresponding receiving buffer, otherwise, discards it;

the downlink network interface module 401 detects the sending buffer of the port, and if there is a packet, obtains the ethernet MAC DA of the corresponding terminal according to the destination address DA of the packet, adds the ethernet MAC DA of the terminal, the MAC SA of the ethernet protocol gateway, and the ethernet length or frame type, and sends the packet.

The other modules in the ethernet protocol gateway function similarly to the access switch.

A terminal:

the system mainly comprises a network interface module, a service processing module and a CPU module; for example, the set-top box mainly comprises a network interface module, a video and audio coding and decoding engine module and a CPU module; the coding board mainly comprises a network interface module, a video and audio coding engine module and a CPU module; the memory mainly comprises a network interface module, a CPU module and a disk array module.

1.3 devices of the metropolitan area network part can be mainly classified into 2 types: node server, node exchanger, metropolitan area server. The node switch mainly comprises a network interface module, a switching engine module and a CPU module; the metropolitan area server mainly comprises a network interface module, a switching engine module and a CPU module.

2. Video networking packet definition

2.1 Access network packet definition

The data packet of the access network mainly comprises the following parts: destination Address (DA), Source Address (SA), reserved bytes, payload (pdu), CRC.

As shown in the following table, the data packet of the access network mainly includes the following parts:

DA

SA

Reserved

Payload

CRC

wherein:

the Destination Address (DA) is composed of 8 bytes (byte), the first byte represents the type of the data packet (such as various protocol packets, multicast data packets, unicast data packets, etc.), there are 256 possibilities at most, the second byte to the sixth byte are metropolitan area network addresses, and the seventh byte and the eighth byte are access network addresses;

the Source Address (SA) is also composed of 8 bytes (byte), defined as the same as the Destination Address (DA);

the reserved byte consists of 2 bytes;

the payload part has different lengths according to different types of datagrams, and is 64 bytes if the datagram is various types of protocol packets, and is 32+1024 or 1056 bytes if the datagram is a unicast packet, of course, the length is not limited to the above 2 types;

the CRC consists of 4 bytes and is calculated in accordance with the standard ethernet CRC algorithm.

2.2 metropolitan area network packet definition

The topology of a metropolitan area network is a graph and there may be 2, or even more than 2, connections between two devices, i.e., there may be more than 2 connections between a node switch and a node server, a node switch and a node switch, and a node switch and a node server. However, the metro network address of the metro network device is unique, and in order to accurately describe the connection relationship between the metro network devices, parameters are introduced in the embodiment of the present invention: a label to uniquely describe a metropolitan area network device.

In this specification, the definition of the Label is similar to that of the Label of MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switch), and assuming that there are two connections between the device a and the device B, there are 2 labels for the packet from the device a to the device B, and 2 labels for the packet from the device B to the device a. The label is classified into an incoming label and an outgoing label, and assuming that the label (incoming label) of the packet entering the device a is 0x0000, the label (outgoing label) of the packet leaving the device a may become 0x 0001. The network access process of the metro network is a network access process under centralized control, that is, address allocation and label allocation of the metro network are both dominated by the metro server, and the node switch and the node server are both passively executed, which is different from label allocation of MPLS, and label allocation of MPLS is a result of mutual negotiation between the switch and the server.

As shown in the following table, the data packet of the metro network mainly includes the following parts:

DA

SA

Reserved

label (R)

Payload

CRC

Namely Destination Address (DA), Source Address (SA), Reserved byte (Reserved), tag, payload (pdu), CRC. The format of the tag may be defined by reference to the following: the tag is 32 bits with the upper 16 bits reserved and only the lower 16 bits used, and its position is between the reserved bytes and payload of the packet.

In the interior of the existing conference terminal, each interface needs a corresponding interface chip during design, for example, a PHY chip is needed for a network port, a sound card chip is needed for audio, a CH430 chip (capable of converting UART to RS232) and an HDMI interface chip are also designed, so that high-definition playing of the conference terminal can be realized. With the development of the video networking technology, the size of the minimum system controller (conference terminal) of the video networking conference is limited by the above mode, and the size cannot be too small, otherwise, the requirement of normal high-definition playing of the existing video networking cannot be met; meanwhile, before the video conference is carried out, more cables, such as network cables, HDMI cables, analog/digital audio cables and the like, need to be connected with the video conference terminal, and the connecting wires are different in length and various in type, so that the operation of a user is inconvenient. And the stability of the cable interface is poor because the connecting cable is complicated. A schematic diagram of a part of an interface structure of a conventional conference terminal is shown in fig. 11.

In view of the above technical problem, referring to fig. 5, a schematic structural diagram of a conference terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the terminal is applied to a video network, the video network includes a video network device, and the terminal includes a signal integration interface 501, a signal unified mutual conversion chip 502, and a video network conference minimum system controller 503, where:

one end of the signal integration interface 501 is connected with the video networking equipment through a cable, and the other end of the signal integration interface 501 is connected with the signal uniform conversion chip 502;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 has one end connected to the signal integration interface 501 and the other end connected to the video networking conference minimum system controller 503, and is configured to convert a first interface signal that can be recognized by the signal integration interface 501 into a second interface signal that can be recognized by the video networking conference minimum system controller 503, or convert the second interface signal into the first interface signal;

the minimal system controller 503 for video network conference is configured to generate the second interface signal or execute a corresponding program according to the second interface signal.

The signal integration interface 501, the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502, and the video network conference minimum system controller 503 described in the embodiment of the present invention are all physical devices, wherein the signal integration interface 501 can integrate pins (the interface of the present invention can also be referred to as a probe) of a plurality of different interfaces (the interface of the present invention can also be referred to as a connector) into one interface channel, and share pin circuits having similar or identical coding rules, and distinguish the plurality of pin circuits by using the existing interface standard specification and identification rules, so that a plurality of pins with different numbers are combined together and identified as an interface. Since the interface standard specification and the identification rule are existing, the specific way of integrating a plurality of physical interfaces into one interface channel is also existing, and can be understood by referring to the existing splitter, but the integrated interface of the present invention is different from the prior art.

One end of the signal integration interface 501 of the embodiment of the present invention is connected to the video networking device through a cable, and when the signal integration interface is specifically connected to the video networking device, the following two connection modes may be provided according to the difference of the video networking device:

first, when the video networking device is the conference terminal, one end of the signal integration interface 501 is connected to the video networking device through a cable.

In the first case, when the video networking device is the conference terminal, it means that the video networking device also includes the signal integration interface 501 and the signal uniform conversion chip 502 described in the present invention, and at this time, one end of the signal integration interface 501 described in the present invention can be connected to one end of the signal integration interface 501 of the video networking device through one cable.

Secondly, when the video networking device comprises a plurality of sub-devices, one end of the signal integration interface 501 is connected to the sub-devices through a plurality of cables.

In the second case, when the video networking device includes a plurality of sub-devices, it refers to that the video networking device is a general term of the plurality of sub-devices, and the sub-devices may be a streaming media server, a video networking client, and the like. At this time, one end of the signal integration interface 501 is connected to the sub-devices through a plurality of cables, respectively. During specific connection, one end of the signal integration interface 501 may be connected to a main cable, and then the main cable is divided into a plurality of sub-cables with specific functions by a splitter, and the sub-cables are connected to each sub-device respectively.

The minimum system, the most basic hardware and software environment that can make the computer start or operate from the viewpoint of maintenance judgment, is composed of a power supply, a mainboard and a CPU. The video network conference minimum system controller 503 of the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a video network, belongs to a minimum system of a conference terminal, and may include functions of internet access, audio/video playing, audio/video acquisition, storage, and the like. For example, the minimal system controller 503 for video conference described above may include a power management module, a codec chip, a Flash module, and a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory DDR.

The FPGA adopts the concept of logic cell array LCA, and comprises a configurable logic module CLB, an input-output module LOB and an internal connecting line. The FPGA utilizes small lookup tables (16x1RAM) to realize combinational logic, each lookup table is connected to the input end of a D flip-flop, and the flip-flops drive other logic circuits or drive I/O (input/output) circuits, so that basic logic unit modules capable of realizing both combinational logic functions and sequential logic functions are formed, and the modules are connected with each other or connected to an I/O module by utilizing metal connecting wires. The logic of the FPGA is realized by loading programming data through an internal static storage unit, the value stored in the memory unit determines the logic function of the logic unit and the connection mode among modules or between the modules and the I/O, and finally determines the functions which can be realized by the FPGA, and the FPGA allows infinite times of programming.

Based on the above characteristics of the FPGA, the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 of the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by burning a plurality of mutual conversion IP cores on the FPGA chip.

An IP core (Integrated Performance core) is a hardware description language program with specific circuit functions, which is independent of the IC process and can be migrated to different semiconductor processes to produce IC chips. The IP cores can be implemented at different hardware description levels, thus yielding three classes of IP cores: soft, firm, and hard cores. The method for burning the IP core in the FPGA chip belongs to the prior art, is not the essential point of the invention, and is not described herein. In order to more clearly illustrate the functions of each inter-conversion IP core, the invention modularizes the burned inter-conversion IP cores and describes the inter-conversion IP cores in sub-modules. In several alternative embodiments of the present invention, a specific inter-conversion IP core burned by the signal unified inter-conversion chip 502 and a conversion function thereof are described in detail below. Referring to fig. 6, a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

(1) When the first interface signal is a port physical layer (PHY) signal and the second interface signal is an Ethernet address (MAC) signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 comprises an MAC-PHY sub-module 601;

the MAC-PHY sub-module 601 is used to convert the PHY signal into the MAC signal or convert the MAC signal into the PHY signal.

(2) When the first interface signal is a high-definition multimedia interface input HDMI-IN signal, and the second interface signal is a high-definition television studio signal digital interface BT.1120 signal and an integrated circuit built-IN audio bus I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 comprises a transition minimized differential signal TMDS-BT.1120 sub-module 602 and an audio and video separation sub-module 603;

the TMDS-bt.1120 sub-module 602 is configured to convert the HDMI-IN signal and transmit the converted signal to the audio/video separation sub-module 603;

the audio/video separation submodule 603 is configured to separate the converted signal into the bt.1120 signal and the I2S signal.

(3) When the first interface signal is an HDMI-OUT signal, and the second interface signal is a BT.1120 signal and an I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 comprises a BT.1120-TMDS sub-module 604 and an audio and video synchronization sub-module 605;

the bt.1120-TMDS sub-module 604 is configured to convert the bt.1120 signal and transmit the converted signal to the audio/video synchronization sub-module 605;

the audio/video synchronization sub-module 605 is configured to synchronize the converted signal and the I2S signal into the HDMI-OUT signal.

(4) When the first interface signal is an input interface or an output interface LINE-IN/OUT signal, and the second interface signal is an I2S signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 comprises an Audio-Codec submodule 606;

the Audio-Codec sub-module 606 is configured to convert the LINE-IN signal to the I2S signal or the I2S signal to the LINE-OUT signal.

(5) When the first interface signal is a serial communication interface RS232 signal and the second interface signal is a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 comprises a UART-RS232 sub-module 607;

the UART-RS232 sub-module 607 is configured to convert the RS232 signal into the UART signal or convert the UART signal into the RS232 signal.

To sum up, the embodiment of the present invention utilizes the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 to replace the function of the interface chip, and integrates a plurality of mutual conversion sub-modules, such as UART-RS232 sub-module, bt.1120-TMDS sub-module 604, etc., into the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502, so that the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 can convert the signal of the external video network device accessing to the video network conference minimum system controller 503, and freely define the signal transmitted from the video network conference minimum system controller 503 to the external video network device, and simultaneously adopts one signal integrated interface 501 to uniformly access a plurality of entity interfaces of the conference terminal, thereby greatly reducing the volume of the improved conference terminal, avoiding the problems of poor cable interface stability and inconvenient user operation due to multiple connecting cables, and effectively controlling the manufacturing cost of the conference terminal.

For the conference terminal of the present invention, the specific conversion manner is further explained by using the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

The first embodiment is as follows:

referring to fig. 7, a flowchart illustrating steps of a method for converting an interface signal of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the method is applied to a video network, and the method may specifically include the following steps:

step S701: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 receives the first interface signal forwarded by the signal integrated interface 501; wherein the first interface signal is generated by the video networking device;

step S702: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 converts the first interface signal into the second interface signal that can be recognized by the minimal system controller 503 for video networking conference;

step S703: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 sends the second interface signal to the video networking conference minimum system controller 503; the minimal system controller 503 of the video network conference is configured to execute a corresponding program according to the second interface signal.

Example two:

referring to fig. 8, a flowchart illustrating another method for converting an interface signal of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the method is applied to a video network, and the method specifically includes the following steps:

step S801: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 receives the second interface signal sent by the video networking conference minimum system controller 503; wherein the second interface signal is generated by the minimal system for video networking conferencing controller 503;

step S802: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 converts the second interface signal into the first interface signal that can be recognized by the signal integrated interface 501;

step S803: the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 sends the first interface signal to the signal integrated interface 501; the signal integration interface 501 is used to forward the first interface signal to the video networking device.

The first and second of the first interface signal and the second interface signal are only used for distinguishing signals on two sides of the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502, that is, distinguishing signals identified by the signal integration interface 501 and signals identified by the minimal system controller 503 of the video network conference, and do not have any ordering or sequential significance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, specifically, a scheme for converting the first interface signal transmitted by the signal integration interface 501 into the second interface signal recognized by the minimal system controller for video networking conference 503 is provided. The second embodiment specifically provides a scheme for converting the second interface signal generated by the minimal system controller 503 for video networking conference into the first interface signal recognized by the signal integration interface 501.

Two conversion methods are further described below using a specific example:

the current HDMI connectors for high definition multimedia interface are divided into two types, namely a type a connector with 19 pins and a type B connector with 29 pins, and if the HDMI connectors are adapted to different HDMI connectors, the HDMI connectors of the two types, namely the type a connector and the type B connector, need to be arranged in the conference terminal, which has great requirements on the manufacturing cost and the volume of the conference terminal. The inventor finds that most of the audio/video chips in the existing conference terminals generally do not have an HDMI interface for interface compatibility, but use the bt.1120 interface instead.

IN the first embodiment of the present invention, an IP core for mutually converting an HDMI-IN signal, a bt.1120 signal and an I2S signal is burned IN an FPGA, and the IP core includes a TMDS-bt.1120 sub-module 602 and an audio and video separation sub-module 603; the first interface signal sent by the signal integration interface 501 is an HDMI-IN signal, the TMDS-bt.1120 sub-module 602 converts the HDMI-IN signal, transmits the converted signal to the audio/video separation sub-module 603, and the audio/video separation sub-module 603 separates the converted signal into a bt.1120 signal and an I2S signal. It should be noted that the bt.1120 signal is a video playing signal, the I2S signal is an audio playing signal, and the audio/video separation submodule 603 may be an audio/video separation IP core burned in the FPGA, and the specific separation method belongs to the prior art and is not described herein again.

The IP core for mutually converting the BT.1120 signal, the I2S signal and the HDMI-OUT signal in the FPGA comprises a BT.1120-TMDS sub-module 604 and an audio and video synchronization sub-module 605; the video network conference minimum system controller 503 sends bt.1120 signals and I2S signals to the FPGA, first the bt.1120-TMDS sub-module 604 converts the bt.1120 signals, and transmits the converted signals to the audio and video synchronization sub-module 605, and the audio and video synchronization sub-module 605 synchronizes the converted signals and the I2S signals into the HDMI-OUT signals. The audio and video synchronization sub-module 605 may be an audio and video synchronization IP core burned in an FPGA, and a specific synchronization method belongs to the prior art and is not described herein.

IN addition, IN the first and second embodiments of the present invention, IN the process of conversion, according to the specific function or service requirement of the minimum system controller 503 for the video networking conference, the PHY signal and the MAC signal may be further converted into each other, the LINE-IN/OUT signal and the I2S signal may be converted into each other, the RS232 signal and the UART signal may be converted into each other, and after the signal conversion is completed, the signal integration interface 501 interacts with the outside, so that only one interface exists outside.

To sum up, the embodiment of the present invention can convert the interface signal accessing the minimal system controller 503 of the video networking conference according to the specific function or service requirement of the minimal system controller 503 of the video networking conference, and can customize the external interface, and can support the simultaneous transmission of various signals at the same time, thereby realizing cable unification in the audio and video field, saving the original interface chip, and having great benefits for cost control and miniaturization of the product.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combination of acts, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited by the illustrated order of acts, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are presently preferred and that no particular act is required to implement the invention.

Referring to fig. 9, a block diagram of an interface signal conversion apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the apparatus is applied to a video network, and the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 may specifically include the following modules:

a first interface signal receiving module 901, configured to receive the first interface signal forwarded by the signal integration interface 501; wherein the first interface signal is generated by the video networking device;

a first interface signal conversion module 902, configured to convert the first interface signal into the second interface signal that can be recognized by the minimal system controller for video networking conference 503;

a second interface signal sending module 903, configured to send the second interface signal to the minimal system controller for video networking conference 503; the minimal system controller 503 of the video network conference is configured to execute a corresponding program according to the second interface signal.

Referring to fig. 10, a block diagram of an interface signal conversion apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the apparatus is applied to a video network, and the signal unified mutual conversion chip 502 may specifically include the following modules:

a second interface signal receiving module 1001, configured to receive the second interface signal sent by the minimal system controller for video networking conference 503; wherein the second interface signal is generated by the minimal system for video networking conferencing controller 503;

a second interface signal conversion module 1002, configured to convert the second interface signal into the first interface signal that can be recognized by the signal integration interface 501;

a first interface signal sending module 1003, configured to send the first interface signal to the signal integration interface 501; the signal integration interface 501 is used to forward the first interface signal to the video networking device.

For the embodiment of the signal conversion device, since it is basically similar to the embodiment of the interface signal conversion method, the description is relatively simple, and for the relevant points, reference may be made to the partial description of the embodiment of the interface signal conversion method.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an apparatus, including:

one or more processors; and

one or more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform one or more interface signal conversion methods according to embodiments of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program for enabling a processor to execute the interface signal conversion method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, apparatus, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, terminal devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing terminal to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing terminal, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable terminal to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable terminal provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications of these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

Finally, it should also be noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises the element.

The conference terminal, the interface signal conversion method and the interface signal conversion device based on the conference terminal provided by the invention are introduced in detail, a specific example is applied in the text to explain the principle and the implementation mode of the invention, and the description of the embodiment is only used for helping to understand the method and the core idea of the invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. The conference terminal is applied to the video networking, the video networking comprises video networking equipment, the terminal comprises a signal integration interface, a signal uniform mutual conversion chip and a video networking conference minimum system controller, a plurality of mutual conversion sub-modules are integrated in the signal uniform mutual conversion chip, mutual conversion of various types of signals can be achieved, and the conference terminal is characterized in that:

one end of the signal integration interface is connected with the video networking equipment through a cable, and the other end of the signal integration interface is connected with the signal uniform mutual conversion chip; the signal integration interface is used for integrating pins of a plurality of different interfaces into one interface channel and sharing pin circuits with similar or same coding rules;

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the first interface signal is a port physical layer (PHY) signal and the second interface signal is an Ethernet address (MAC) signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises an MAC-PHY submodule;

3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the first interface signal is an HDMI-IN signal for high definition multimedia interface input, and the second interface signal is a bt.1120 signal for high definition television studio signal digital interface and an I2S signal for integrated circuit built-IN audio bus;

4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the first interface signal is an HDMI-OUT signal, the second interface signal is a bt.1120 signal and an I2S signal;

5. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the first interface signal is an input interface or an output interface LINE-IN/OUT signal and the second interface signal is an I2S signal;

6. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the first interface signal is a serial communication interface RS232 signal and the second interface signal is a UART signal;

the signal unified mutual conversion chip comprises a UART-RS232 submodule;

7. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the video networking device is the conference terminal, one end of the signal integration interface is connected with the video networking device through a cable.

8. The terminal of claim 1, wherein when the video networking device comprises a plurality of sub-devices, one end of the signal integration interface is connected to the sub-devices through a plurality of cables, respectively.

9. The method for converting interface signals of the terminal according to claim 1, wherein the method is applied to a video network, and the method comprises:

10. The method for converting interface signals of the terminal according to claim 1, wherein the method is applied to a video network, and the method comprises: