CN112994818A

CN112994818A - Time synchronization method and display device

Info

Publication number: CN112994818A
Application number: CN201911309964.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 董娜; 修建竹; 周晓磊
Original assignee: Hisense Visual Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hisense Visual Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-18
Filing date: 2019-12-18
Publication date: 2021-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-18
Also published as: CN112994818B

Abstract

The application discloses a time synchronization method and display equipment, wherein the display equipment comprises a first controller, the first controller comprises a timing module and a second controller which is in communication connection with the first controller; the time correcting module is configured to perform time correcting processing on the first controller, and sends a time change broadcast after time correcting is successful; the first controller is configured to transmit a current time of the first controller to the second controller when the time change broadcast is monitored; the second controller is configured to receive a current time of the first controller, determine whether time synchronization is required; when time synchronization is required, the current time of the second controller is changed to the current time of the first controller. The method and the device ensure that the second controller can acquire accurate time, thereby ensuring that the dual systems have time synchronism.

Description

Time synchronization method and display device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of display device technologies, and in particular, to a time synchronization method and a display device.

Background

Fig. 1 shows a display device having a dual system structure, where a dual system includes a first controller and a second controller, and the first controller and the second controller can communicate with each other through an Interface module, such as an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), a network port, and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) Interface. The first controller may be externally connected to a wireless network card, a Digital Television (DTV), and other devices, and multimedia and application programs are set in the second controller.

For the above dual-system display device, if the first controller is connected to the external Network through the wireless Network card, the Time correction may be performed on the first controller through an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server, and when there is no Network connection or in an internal Network environment, the first controller cannot access the NTP server; if the first controller is connected with the DTV, the DTV code stream time can be written into the first controller. The network of the second controller is equivalent to an intranet, and no matter whether the first controller is normally connected with an extranet or not, the second controller always keeps a network connection state, and NTP timing can be carried out.

The applicant found in practice the following: for example, after the display device is turned on, if the first controller is connected to the external network after a long time, although the first controller can successfully perform NTP timing, the second controller cannot be successfully synchronized by the existing NTP timing logic; or, if the first controller is externally connected with the DTV code stream but not connected with the external network, although the first controller can acquire the correct time, the second controller does not have a path to acquire the correct time. Both of these situations can result in the second controller not being synchronized to the exact time. Taking the application in the second controller as an example, the time of the second controller is compared with the timestamp in the license certificate of the application when the application is used, and once the time of the second controller is inaccurate, the application cannot acquire the trusted license certificate, so that the application in the second controller cannot be normally used, and therefore, the time synchronization between the second controller and the first controller needs to be ensured.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the technical problem, the application provides a time synchronization method and a display device.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a display device comprising:

a first controller comprising a timing module;

and a second controller communicatively coupled to the first controller;

the time correcting module is configured to perform time correcting processing on the first controller, and sends a time change broadcast after time correcting is successful;

the first controller is configured to transmit a current time of the first controller to the second controller when the time change broadcast is monitored;

the second controller is configured to receive a current time of the first controller, determine whether time synchronization is required; when time synchronization is required, the current time of the second controller is changed to the current time of the first controller.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the timing module is configured to execute the following NTP timing program:

when a network of a first controller is in a connection state, if a timing trigger condition is met, a server list is obtained, wherein the server list comprises domain names corresponding to a plurality of NTP servers;

creating a plurality of time correction sub-threads, wherein one time correction sub-thread corresponds to one NTP server in the server list;

and enabling each time correction sub-thread to acquire NTP time from the corresponding NTP server.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the timing module is further configured to:

when the time correction sub-thread successfully acquires the corresponding NTP time, judging whether the NTP time is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment;

changing a current time of the first controller to the NTP time if the NTP time is greater than or equal to a device preset time;

setting a time correction success flag bit, sending the time change broadcast, and quitting the time correction sub-thread;

and when all the time correction sub-threads are quitted, the NTP time correction program is quitted.

In a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the timing module is configured to execute the following timing procedure:

when the time correction starting condition is met, judging whether the current time of the first controller is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment;

if the current time of the first controller is less than the preset time of the equipment, acquiring the time from the background server;

if the time is successfully acquired from the background server, judging whether the time acquired from the background server is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment;

and if the time acquired from the background server is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment, changing the current time of the first controller into the time acquired from the background server, and sending the time change broadcast.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the timing module is further configured to:

if the time acquisition from the background server fails or if the time acquired from the background server is less than the preset time of the equipment, judging whether the retry number is greater than a first threshold value or not;

if the retry number is less than or equal to the first threshold value, the timing program is executed again;

if the retry number is larger than the first threshold value, exiting the timing program and prompting the failure of timing.

In a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the timing module is configured to:

acquiring the code stream time of a DTV connected with the first controller;

and if the code stream time is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment, changing the current time of the first controller into the code stream time, and sending the time change broadcast.

In a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the second controller is further configured to:

and when the current time of the first controller is later than the current time of the second controller and the current time of the first controller is later than the preset time of the equipment, determining that time synchronization is required.

In a seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the second controller is further configured to

After time synchronization, calculating a time difference between the current time of the second controller and the current time of the first controller;

if the time difference is smaller than or equal to a second threshold value, feeding back state information of successful time synchronization to the first controller;

and if the time difference is larger than a second threshold value, feeding back the state information of time synchronization failure to the first controller.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the start timing condition includes that the display device is turned on and a network connection state is changed from unconnected to connected; the display equipment is started up and comprises a normal mode and a suspend-to-memory mode.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a time synchronization method, for a display device according to any one of the first to eighth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, including:

the time correcting module is used for correcting the time of the first controller and sending time change broadcast after the time correction is successful;

when the first controller monitors the time change broadcast, the current time of the first controller is sent to a second controller;

the second controller receives the current time of the first controller and determines whether time synchronization is needed or not; when time synchronization is required, the current time of the second controller is changed to the current time of the first controller.

The technical scheme that this application provided possesses following beneficial effect: the time correction module may include various time correction logics, such as DTV code stream time correction, NTP time correction, and the like, when the time correction module changes the current time of the first controller, the time change broadcast is sent to the first controller, and the first controller monitors the time change broadcast, that is, when the system time of the first controller changes, a time synchronization mechanism of the dual systems needs to be triggered, and the first controller sends the current time of the first controller to the second controller. After the second controller receives the current time of the first controller, whether time synchronization is needed or not is judged because whether time correction processing is carried out on the second controller is uncertain, and if time synchronization is not needed, time correction of the second controller is completed, and the time of the double systems meets the synchronization state; if time synchronization is needed, the current time of the second controller is changed into the current time of the first controller after time correction, and the second controller can acquire accurate time, so that time synchronization of the dual systems is guaranteed, and the performance of the display device is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display device having a dual system structure;

figure 2 is a flow diagram of native NTP timing logic according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation scenario between a display device and a control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the control device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a display device 200 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware architecture of a display device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a display device 200 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a software configuration in the display device 200 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8(b) is a schematic configuration diagram of an application program in the display device 200 according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a user interface in the display device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a time synchronization process performed by a display device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a time synchronization process performed by another display device according to an embodiment of the present application;

figure 12 is a flow chart illustrating an optimized NTP timing logic for an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a flow chart of a HiNTP timing logic according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows an existing native NTP timing logic, after a system of a display device is started, a system server starts a Network Time Update Service (Network Time Update Service), which is responsible for processing Network Time synchronization, so as to implement timing of system Time, where a specific flow is as follows:

(a) and (c) triggering timing logic, and executing the judgment of the step (b) when the automatic timing flag bit is selected, or the network connection state is changed (from the unconnected state to the connected state), or the timing is finished (see the step (e) below).

(b) Judging whether the time difference between the current time correction and the last time correction success exceeds a time threshold value or not; if the time threshold is exceeded (typically 24h in native logic), then step (c) is performed, otherwise step (d) is performed.

(c) Entering actual NTP timing logic, carrying out NTP timing, judging whether timing is successful or not in the period, and executing the step (d) if timing is successful; and (e) if the timing fails, executing the step (e) and entering a retry mechanism.

(d) In order to determine the time for triggering timing next time, timing is started, whether the time difference between the acquired network time and the current system time exceeds a deviation threshold (5 s can be selected in native logic) is judged, if the time difference exceeds the deviation threshold, the deviation between the network time and the current system time is large, and the system time needs to be set as the network time; if the deviation threshold is not exceeded, the deviation between the network time and the current time of the system is small, time synchronization is not needed, and the next time is triggered after the time correction is finished; and the network time is acquired from the NTP server.

(e) Entering a retry mechanism, firstly judging whether the retry number exceeds a threshold (generally 3 times in native logic), if not, setting a short timer, generally 60s, namely retrying the timing once every 60 s; if the threshold number is exceeded, the number of retries is cleared and a long timer is set, typically 24 h. And (c) when the long/short timer finishes timing, entering the step (a) to trigger timing logic.

It can be seen from the above-mentioned native NTP logic that, after the system is started, NTP timing is triggered for the first time, and if the network time cannot be obtained from the NTP server within 3 minutes, the next timing logic trigger can be entered only after the timing is finished and waiting for 24 hours or when the network state changes. For a single-system display device, the native NTP timing logic has no problem, and time synchronization can be triggered as long as networking is carried out; however, for the dual-system display device, as described in the background art, after the second controller is started, the wired network card is in a connection state (i.e., intranet connection) under a normal condition, that is, there is no change in the network state in the second controller, so that the NTP timing logic can only be triggered after 24 hours, and if the first controller is started and then connected to the external network for a long time, the second controller cannot perform timing normally. In addition, when the first controller is connected to the DTV and not connected to the network, based on the problem of the native NTP logic, the first controller may pass the code stream synchronization time, but the second controller may not pass the code stream synchronization time, and similarly, the second controller may not normally correct the time.

Based on the problem that the existing native NTP timing logic is applied to a dual-system display device, the present application provides a new time synchronization method and a corresponding display device, which mainly aims at the time synchronization processing of a display device with a dual-system structure, that is, a display device with a first controller and a second controller, fig. 1 and the background art only simply describe the dual-system display device, and the following first describes the structure, function, implementation manner, and other aspects of the display device with a dual-system hardware structure in detail.

For the convenience of users, various external device interfaces are usually provided on the display device to facilitate connection of different peripheral devices or cables to implement corresponding functions. When a high-definition camera is connected to an interface of the display device, if a hardware system of the display device does not have a hardware interface of a high-pixel camera receiving the source code, data received by the camera cannot be displayed on a display screen of the display device.

Furthermore, due to the hardware structure, the hardware system of the conventional display device only supports one path of hard decoding resources, and usually only supports video decoding with a resolution of 4K at most, so when a user wants to perform video chat while watching a network television, the user needs to use the hard decoding resources (usually GPU in the hardware system) to decode the network video without reducing the definition of the network video screen, and in this case, the user can only process the video chat screen by using a general-purpose processor (e.g. CPU) in the hardware system to perform soft decoding on the video.

The soft decoding is adopted to process the video chat picture, so that the data processing burden of a CPU (central processing unit) can be greatly increased, and when the data processing burden of the CPU is too heavy, the problem of picture blocking or unsmooth flow can occur. Further, due to the data processing capability of the CPU, when the CPU performs soft decoding on the video chat screen, multi-channel video calls cannot be generally implemented, and when a user wants to perform video chat with multiple other users in the same chat scene, access is blocked.

In view of the above aspects, to overcome the above drawbacks, the present application discloses a dual hardware system architecture to implement multiple channels of video chat data (at least one channel of local video).

The concept to which the present application relates will be first explained below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following descriptions of the concepts are only for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the contents of the present application, and do not represent limitations on the scope of the present application.

The term "module," as used in various embodiments of the present application, may refer to any known or later developed hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combination of hardware and/or software code that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element.

The term "remote control" as used in the embodiments of the present application refers to a component of an electronic device (such as the display device disclosed in the present application) that is capable of wirelessly controlling the electronic device, typically over a short distance. The component may typically be connected to the electronic device using infrared and/or Radio Frequency (RF) signals and/or bluetooth, and may also include functional modules such as WiFi, wireless USB, bluetooth, motion sensors, etc. For example: the hand-held touch remote controller replaces most of the physical built-in hard keys in the common remote control device with the user interface in the touch screen.

The term "gesture" as used in the embodiments of the present application refers to a user behavior used to express an intended idea, action, purpose, or result through a change in hand shape or an action such as hand movement.

The term "hardware system" used in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a physical component having computing, controlling, storing, inputting and outputting functions, which is formed by a mechanical, optical, electrical and magnetic device such as an Integrated Circuit (IC), a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and the like. In various embodiments of the present application, a hardware system may also be referred to as a motherboard (or chip).

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation scenario between a display device and a control apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, a user may operate the display apparatus 200 through the control device 100.

The control device 100 may be a remote controller 100A, which can communicate with the display device 200 through an infrared protocol communication, a bluetooth protocol communication, a ZigBee (ZigBee) protocol communication, or other short-range communication, and is used to control the display device 200 in a wireless or other wired manner. The user may input a user instruction through a key on a remote controller, voice input, control panel input, etc., to control the display apparatus 200. Such as: the user can input a corresponding control command through a volume up/down key, a channel control key, up/down/left/right moving keys, a voice input key, a menu key, a power on/off key, etc. on the remote controller, to implement the function of controlling the display device 200.

The control apparatus 100 may also be a smart device, such as a mobile terminal 100B, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, etc., which may communicate with the display device 200 through a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), or other networks, and implement control of the display device 200 through an application program corresponding to the display device 200.

For example, the mobile terminal 100B and the display device 200 may each have a software application installed thereon, so that connection communication between the two can be realized through a network communication protocol, and the purpose of one-to-one control operation and data communication can be further realized. Such as: a control instruction protocol can be established between the mobile terminal 100B and the display device 200, a remote control keyboard is synchronized to the mobile terminal 100B, and the function of controlling the display device 200 is realized by controlling a user interface on the mobile terminal 100B; the audio and video content displayed on the mobile terminal 100B may also be transmitted to the display device 200, so as to implement a synchronous display function.

As shown in fig. 3, the display apparatus 200 may also perform data communication with the server 300 through various communication means. In various embodiments of the present application, the display device 200 may be allowed to be communicatively coupled to the server 300 via a local area network, a wireless local area network, or other network. The server 300 may provide various contents and interactions to the display apparatus 200.

Illustratively, the display device 200 receives software Program updates, or accesses a remotely stored digital media library by sending and receiving information, and Electronic Program Guide (EPG) interactions. The servers 300 may be a group or groups, and may be one or more types of servers. Other web service contents such as a video on demand and an advertisement service are provided through the server 300.

The display device 200 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display, an oled (organic Light Emitting diode) display, or a projection display device; on the other hand, the display device can be a display system consisting of an intelligent television or a display and a set-top box. The specific display device type, size, resolution, etc. are not limiting, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that the display device 200 may be modified in performance and configuration as desired.

The display apparatus 200 may additionally provide an intelligent network tv function that provides a computer support function in addition to the broadcast receiving tv function. Examples include a web tv, a smart tv, an Internet Protocol Tv (IPTV), and the like. In some embodiments, the display device may not have a broadcast receiving television function.

As shown in fig. 3, the display device may be connected or provided with a camera, and is configured to present a picture taken by the camera on a display interface of the display device or other display devices, so as to implement interactive chat between users. Specifically, the picture shot by the camera can be displayed on the display device in a full screen mode, a half screen mode or any optional area.

As an optional connection mode, the camera is connected with the display rear shell through the connecting plate, is fixedly installed in the middle of the upper side of the display rear shell, and can be fixedly installed at any position of the display rear shell as an installable mode, so that an image acquisition area is ensured not to be shielded by the rear shell, for example, the display orientation of the image acquisition area is the same as that of the display equipment.

As another optional connection mode, the camera is connected to the display rear shell through a connection board or another conceivable connector, the camera is capable of lifting and descending, a lifting motor is installed on the connector, when a user wants to use the camera or an application program wants to use the camera, the camera is lifted out of the display, and when the camera does not need to be used, the camera can be embedded in the rear shell, so that the camera is protected from being damaged, and privacy safety of the user is protected.

As an embodiment, the camera adopted in the present application may have 1600 ten thousand pixels, so as to achieve the purpose of ultra high definition display. In actual use, cameras higher or lower than 1600 ten thousand pixels may also be used.

After the camera is installed on the display device, the contents displayed by different application scenes of the display device can be fused in various different modes, so that the function which cannot be realized by the traditional display device is achieved.

Illustratively, a user may conduct a video chat with at least one other user while watching a video program. The presentation of the video program may be as a background frame over which a window for video chat is displayed. The function is called 'chat while watching'.

Optionally, in a scene of "chat while watching", at least one video chat is performed across terminals while watching a live video or a network video.

In another example, a user can conduct a video chat with at least one other user while entering the educational application for learning. For example, a student may interact remotely with a teacher while learning content in an educational application. Vividly, this function can be called "chatting while learning".

In another example, a user conducts a video chat with a player entering a card game while playing the game. For example, a player may enable remote interaction with other players when entering a gaming application to participate in a game. Figuratively, this function may be referred to as "watch while playing".

Optionally, the game scene is fused with the video picture, the portrait in the video picture is scratched and displayed in the game picture, and the user experience is improved.

Optionally, in the motion sensing game (such as ball hitting, boxing, running and dancing), the human posture and motion, limb detection and tracking and human skeleton key point data detection are obtained through the camera, and then the human posture and motion, the limb detection and tracking and the human skeleton key point data detection are fused with the animation in the game, so that the game of scenes such as sports and dancing is realized.

In another example, a user may interact with at least one other user in a karaoke application in video and voice. Vividly, this function can be called "sing while watching". Optionally, when at least one user enters the application in a chat scenario, multiple users may jointly complete recording of a song.

In another example, a user may turn on a camera locally to take pictures and videos, figurative, which may be referred to as "looking into the mirror".

In other examples, more or less functionality may be added. The function of the display device is not particularly limited in the present application.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control apparatus 100 according to the exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, the control device 100 includes a controller 110, a communicator 130, a user input/output interface 140, a memory 190, and a power supply 180.

The control apparatus 100 is configured to control the display device 200, and to receive an input operation instruction from a user, and convert the operation instruction into an instruction recognizable and responsive by the display device 200, and to mediate interaction between the user and the display device 200. Such as: the user operates the channel up/down key on the control device 100, and the display device 200 responds to the channel up/down operation.

In some embodiments, the control device 100 may be a smart device. Such as: the control apparatus 100 may install various applications that control the display device 200 according to user demands.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the mobile terminal 100B or other intelligent electronic device may function similar to the control apparatus 100 after installing an application for manipulating the display device 200. Such as: the user may implement the functions of controlling the physical keys of the apparatus 100 by installing applications, various function keys or virtual buttons of a graphical user interface available on the mobile terminal 100B or other intelligent electronic devices.

The controller 110 includes a processor 112, a RAM113 and a ROM114, a communication interface, and a communication bus. The controller 110 is used to control the operation of the control device 100, as well as the internal components for communication and coordination and external and internal data processing functions.

The communicator 130 enables communication of control signals and data signals with the display apparatus 200 under the control of the controller 110. Such as: the received user input signal is transmitted to the display apparatus 200. The communicator 130 may include at least one of a WIFI module 131, a bluetooth module 132, an NFC module 133, and the like.

A user input/output interface 140, wherein the input interface includes at least one of a microphone 141, a touch pad 142, a sensor 143, a key 144, and the like. Such as: the user can realize a user instruction input function through actions such as voice, touch, gesture, pressing, and the like, and the input interface converts the received analog signal into a digital signal and converts the digital signal into a corresponding instruction signal, and sends the instruction signal to the display device 200.

The output interface includes an interface that transmits the received user instruction to the display apparatus 200. In some embodiments, it may be an infrared interface or a radio frequency interface. Such as: when the infrared signal interface is used, the user input instruction needs to be converted into an infrared control signal according to an infrared control protocol, and the infrared control signal is sent to the display device 200 through the infrared sending module. The following steps are repeated: when the rf signal interface is used, a user input command needs to be converted into a digital signal, and then the digital signal is modulated according to the rf control signal modulation protocol and then transmitted to the display device 200 through the rf transmitting terminal.

In some embodiments, the control device 100 includes at least one of a communicator 130 and an output interface. The communicator 130 is configured in the control device 100, such as: the modules of WIFI, bluetooth, NFC, etc. may send the user input command to the display device 200 through the WIFI protocol, or the bluetooth protocol, or the NFC protocol code.

And a memory 190 for storing various operation programs, data and applications for driving and controlling the control apparatus 100 under the control of the controller 110. The memory 190 may store various control signal commands input by a user.

And a power supply 180 for providing operation power support for each electrical component of the control device 100 under the control of the controller 110. A battery and associated control circuitry.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a hardware system in the display apparatus 200 according to an exemplary embodiment.

When a dual hardware system architecture is adopted, the mechanism relationship of the hardware system can be shown in fig. 5. For convenience of description, one hardware system in the dual hardware system architecture will be referred to as a first hardware system or a first controller, and the other hardware system will be referred to as a second hardware system or a second controller. The first controller comprises various processors and various interfaces of the first controller, and the second controller comprises various processors and various interfaces of the second controller. The first controller and the second controller may each have a relatively independent operating system installed therein, and the operating system of the second controller and the operating system of the first controller may communicate with each other through a communication protocol, which is as follows: the frame layer of the operating system of the second controller and the frame layer of the operating system of the first controller can communicate for the transmission of commands and data, so that there are two independent but interrelated subsystems in the display device 200.

As shown in fig. 5, the connection, communication and power supply between the second controller and the first controller can be realized through a plurality of interfaces of different types. The interface type of the interface between the second controller and the first controller may include a General-purpose input/output (GPIO), a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a UART interface, and the like. One or more of these interfaces may be used for communication or power transfer between the second controller and the first controller. For example, as shown in fig. 5, in the dual hardware system architecture, the first controller may be powered by an external power source (power), and the second controller may be powered by the first controller without the external power source. Optionally, the external power source may also be connected to the first controller and the second controller, respectively, to supply power to the first controller and the second controller.

In addition to the interface for connecting with the first controller, the second controller may also include an interface for connecting with other devices or components, such as a MIPI interface for connecting with a Camera (Camera), a bluetooth interface, etc., shown in fig. 5.

Similarly, in addition to the interface for connecting with the first controller, the first controller may further include an VBY interface for connecting with a display screen tcon (timer Control register), an I2S interface for connecting with a power Amplifier (AMP) and a Speaker (Speaker); and an IR/Key interface, a USB interface, a Wifi interface, a bluetooth interface, an HDMI interface, a Tuner interface, and the like.

The dual hardware system architecture of the present application is further described below with reference to fig. 6. It should be noted that fig. 6 is only an exemplary illustration of the dual hardware system architecture of the present application, and does not represent a limitation of the present application. In actual practice, both hardware systems may contain more or less hardware or interfaces as desired.

A block diagram of the hardware architecture of the display device 200 according to fig. 5 is exemplarily shown in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 6, the hardware system of the display apparatus 200 may include a first controller 210 and a second controller 310, and a module connected to the first controller 210 or the second controller 310 through various interfaces.

The first controller 210 mainly implements a conventional television function (for example, a set-top box may be connected externally), and the second controller 310 may be configured to receive an instruction sent by the first controller 210.

The modules connected to the first controller 210 may include a tuning demodulator 220, a communicator 230, an external device interface 250, a memory 290, a user input interface 260-3, a video processor 260-1, an audio processor 260-2, a first display 280, an audio output interface 270, and a power supply module 240. The first controller 210 may include more or fewer modules in other embodiments.

In other embodiments, more or fewer modules may be connected to the first controller 210.

In other embodiments, the first controller 210 may include any one or more of the modules described above. When any one or more of the above modules is included in the first controller 210, the first controller 210 may not be connected to modules having the same function.

The tuning demodulator 220 is configured to perform modulation and demodulation processing such as amplification, mixing, resonance and the like on a broadcast television signal received in a wired or wireless manner, so as to demodulate an audio/video signal carried in a frequency of a television channel selected by a user and additional information (e.g., an EPG data signal) from a plurality of wireless or wired broadcast television signals. Depending on the broadcast system of the television signal, the signal path of the tuner 220 may be various, such as: terrestrial broadcasting, cable broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, internet broadcasting, or the like; according to different modulation types, the adjustment mode of the signal can be a digital modulation mode or an analog modulation mode; and depending on the type of television signal being received, tuner demodulator 220 may demodulate analog and/or digital signals.

The tuner demodulator 220 is also operative to respond to the user-selected television channel frequency and the television signal carried thereby, in accordance with the user selection and as controlled by the first controller 210.

In other exemplary embodiments, the tuner/demodulator 220 may be in an external device, such as an external set-top box. In this way, the set-top box outputs television audio/video signals after modulation and demodulation, and the television audio/video signals are input into the display device 200 through the external device interface 250.

The communicator 230 is a component for communicating with an external device or an external server according to various communication protocol types. For example: the communicator 230 may include a WIFI module 231, a bluetooth communication protocol module 232, a wired ethernet communication protocol module 233, and other network communication protocol modules such as an infrared communication protocol module or a near field communication protocol module (not shown).

The display apparatus 200 may establish a connection of a control signal and a data signal with an external control apparatus or a content providing apparatus through the communicator 230. For example, the communicator may receive a control signal of the remote controller 100A according to the control of the controller.

The external device interface 250 is a component for providing data transmission between the first controller 210 and the second controller and other external devices. The external device interface 250 may be connected with an external apparatus such as a set-top box, a game device, a notebook computer, etc. in a wired/wireless manner, and may receive data such as a video signal (e.g., moving image), an audio signal (e.g., music), additional information (e.g., EPG), etc. of the external apparatus.

The external device interface 250 may include: a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) terminal is also referred to as HDMI251, a Composite Video Blanking Sync (CVBS) terminal is also referred to as AV252, an analog or digital component terminal is also referred to as component 253, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) terminal is also referred to as USB254, a Red Green Blue (RGB) terminal (not shown in the figure), and the like. The number and type of external device interfaces are not limited by this application.

The first controller 210 controls the operation of the display apparatus 200 and responds to the operation of the user by running various software control programs (e.g., an operating system and/or various application programs) stored on the memory 290.

As shown in fig. 6, the first controller 210 includes a read only memory RAM214, a random access memory ROM213, a graphics processor 216, a CPU processor 212, a communication interface 218, and a communication bus. The RAM214, the ROM213, the graphic processor 216, the CPU processor 212, and the communication interface 218 are connected via a bus.

A ROM213 for storing instructions for various system boots. If the display apparatus 200 starts to be powered on when the power-on signal is received, the CPU processor 212 executes a system boot instruction in the ROM213, and copies the operating system stored in the memory 290 to the RAM214 to start running the boot operating system. After the start of the operating system is completed, the CPU processor 212 copies the various application programs in the memory 290 to the RAM214, and then starts running and starting the various application programs.

A graphics processor 216 for generating various graphics objects, such as: icons, operation menus, user input instruction display graphics, and the like. The display device comprises an arithmetic unit which carries out operation by receiving various interactive instructions input by a user and displays various objects according to display attributes. And a renderer for generating various objects based on the operator, and displaying the rendered result on the first display 280.

A CPU processor 212 for executing operating system and application program instructions stored in memory 290. And executing various application programs, data and contents according to various interactive instructions received from the outside so as to finally display and play various audio and video contents.

In some exemplary embodiments, the CPU processor 212 may include a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may include a main processor and a plurality of or a sub-processor. A main processor for performing some operations of the display apparatus 200 in a pre-power-up mode and/or operations of displaying a screen in a normal mode. A plurality of or one sub-processor for performing an operation in a standby mode or the like.

The communication interface 218 may include a first interface 218-1 through an nth interface 218-n. These interfaces may be network interfaces that are connected to external devices via a network.

The first controller 210 may control the overall operation of the display apparatus 200. For example: in response to receiving a user command for selecting a UI object to be displayed on the first display 280, the first controller 210 may perform an operation related to the object selected by the user command.

Wherein the object may be any one of selectable objects, such as a hyperlink or an icon. Operations related to the selected object, such as: displaying an operation connected to a hyperlink page, document, image, or the like, or performing an operation of a program corresponding to an icon. The user command for selecting the UI object may be a command input through various input means (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pad, etc.) connected to the display apparatus 200 or a voice command corresponding to a voice spoken by the user.

The memory 290 includes a memory for storing various software modules for driving and controlling the display apparatus 200. Such as: various software modules stored in memory 290, including: a base module, a detection module, a communication module, a display control module, a browser module, and various service modules, etc. (not shown in the figure).

The basic module is a bottom layer software module for signal communication between hardware in the display device 200 and sending processing and control signals to an upper layer module. The detection module is a management module used for collecting various information from various sensors or user input interfaces, and performing digital-to-analog conversion and analysis management. The voice recognition module comprises a voice analysis module and a voice instruction database module. The display control module is a module for controlling the first display 280 to display image content, and may be used to play information such as multimedia image content and UI interface. The communication module is used for carrying out control and data communication with external equipment. And the browser module is used for executing data communication between the browsing servers. The service module is a module for providing various services and various application programs.

Meanwhile, the memory 290 is also used to store visual effect maps and the like for receiving external data and user data, images of respective items in various user interfaces, and a focus object.

A user input interface 260-3 for transmitting an input signal of a user to the first controller 210 or transmitting a signal output from the first controller 210 to the user. For example, the control device (e.g., the mobile terminal 100B or the remote controller 100A) may send an input signal, such as a power switch signal, a channel selection signal, a volume adjustment signal, etc., input by the user to the user input interface, and then forward the input signal to the first controller 210 through the user input interface 260-3; alternatively, the control device may receive an output signal such as audio, video or data processed by the first controller 210 and output from the user input interface 260-3, and display or output the received output signal in audio or vibration form.

In some embodiments, the user may input a user command on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) displayed on the first display 280, and the user input interface 260-3 receives the user input command through the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Alternatively, the user may input a user command by inputting a specific sound or gesture, and the user input interface 260-3 receives the user input command by recognizing the sound or gesture through the sensor.

The video processor 260-1 is configured to receive a video signal, and perform video data processing such as decompression, decoding, scaling, noise reduction, frame rate conversion, resolution conversion, and image synthesis according to a standard codec protocol of the input signal, so as to obtain a video signal directly displayed or played on the first display 280.

Illustratively, the video processor 260-1 includes a demultiplexing module, a video decoding module, an image synthesizing module, a frame rate conversion module, a display formatting module, and the like (not shown in the figure).

The demultiplexing module is used for demultiplexing the input audio and video data stream, and if the input MPEG-2 is input, the demultiplexing module demultiplexes the input audio and video data stream into a video signal and an audio signal.

And the video decoding module is used for processing the video signal after demultiplexing, including decoding, scaling and the like.

And the image synthesis module, such as an image synthesizer, is used for performing superposition mixing processing on the GUI signal input by the user or generated by the user and the video picture after the zooming processing by the graphics generator so as to generate an image signal for display.

The frame rate conversion module is configured to convert a frame rate of an input video, such as a 24Hz, 25Hz, 30Hz, or 60Hz video, into a 60Hz, 120Hz, or 240Hz frame rate, wherein the input frame rate may be related to a source video stream, and the output frame rate may be related to a refresh rate of a display. And a display formatting module for converting the signal output by the frame rate conversion module into a signal conforming to a display format of a display, such as converting the format of the signal output by the frame rate conversion module to output an RGB data signal.

A first display 280 for receiving the image signal from the video processor 260-1 and displaying the video content and image and the menu manipulation interface. The first display 280 includes a display component for presenting a picture and a driving component for driving an image display. The video content may be displayed from the video in the broadcast signal received by the tuner/demodulator 220, or from the video content input from the communicator or the external device interface. The first display 280 simultaneously displays a user manipulation interface UI generated in the display apparatus 200 and used to control the display apparatus 200.

And a driving component for driving the display according to the type of the first display 280. Alternatively, a projection device and a projection screen may be included, provided that the first display 280 is a projection display.

The audio processor 260-2 is configured to receive an audio signal, decompress and decode the audio signal according to a standard codec protocol of the input signal, and perform noise reduction, digital-to-analog conversion, amplification and other audio data processing to obtain an audio signal that can be played in the speaker 272.

An audio output interface 270 for receiving the audio signal output by the audio processor 260-2 under the control of the first controller 210, wherein the audio output interface may include a speaker 272 or an external sound output terminal 274 for outputting to a generating device of an external device, such as: external sound terminal or earphone output terminal.

In other exemplary embodiments, video processor 260-1 may comprise one or more chip components. The audio processor 260-2 may also include one or more chips.

And, in some other exemplary embodiments, the video processor 260-1 and the audio processor 260-2 may be separate chips or may be integrated in one or more chips together with the first controller 210.

And a power supply module 240 for providing power supply support for the display device 200 by the power input from the external power source under the control of the first controller 210. The power supply module 240 may include a built-in power supply circuit installed inside the display apparatus 200, or may be a power supply installed outside the display apparatus 200, such as a power supply interface for providing an external power supply in the display apparatus 200.

As shown in fig. 6, the modules connected with the second controller 310 may include a communicator 330, a detector 340, and a memory 390. A user input interface, a video processor 360-1, an audio processor 360-2, a display, an audio output interface (not shown) may also be included in some embodiments. In some embodiments, there may also be a power module ((not shown)) that independently powers the second controller 310.

In some embodiments, more or fewer modules may also be connected to the second controller 310.

In some embodiments, the second controller 310 may include any one or more of the modules described above. When any one or more of the above modules is included in the second controller 310, the first controller 210 may not be connected to modules having the same function.

The communicator 330 is a component for communicating with an external device or an external server according to various communication protocol types. For example: the communicator 330 may include a WIFI module 331, a bluetooth communication protocol module 332, a wired ethernet communication protocol module 333, and other network communication protocol modules such as an infrared communication protocol module or a near field communication protocol module. (not shown in the figure)

The communicator 330 of the second controller 310 and the communicator 230 of the first controller 210 also interact with each other. For example, the WiFi module 231 within the hardware system of the first controller 210 is used to connect to an external network, generate network communication with an external server, and the like. The WiFi module 331 in the hardware system of the second controller 310 is used to connect to the WiFi module 231 of the first controller 210 without making a direct connection with an external network or the like, and the second controller 310 is connected to the external network through the first controller 210. Therefore, for the user, a display device as in the above embodiment displays a WiFi account to the outside.

The detector 340 is a component of the display device, the second controller 310 is used to collect an external environment or a signal interacting with the outside. The detector 340 may include a light receiver 342, a sensor for collecting the intensity of ambient light, which may be used to adapt to display parameter changes, etc.; the system may further include an image collector 341, such as a camera, a video camera, etc., which may be configured to collect external environment scenes, collect attributes of the user or interact gestures with the user, adaptively change display parameters, and identify user gestures, so as to implement a function of interaction with the user.

An external device interface 350, which provides a component for data transmission between the second controller 310 and the first controller 210 or other external devices. The external device interface 350 may be connected with an external apparatus such as a set-top box, a game device, a notebook computer, etc. in a wired/wireless manner.

A video processor 360-1 for processing the associated video signal.

The second controller 310 controls the operation of the display device 200 and responds to the operation of the user by running various software control programs stored on the memory 390 (e.g., using installed third party applications, etc.), and interacting with the first controller 210.

As shown in fig. 6, the second controller 310 includes a read only memory ROM313, a random access memory RAM314, a graphic processor 316, a CPU processor 312, a communication interface 318, and a communication bus. The ROM313 and the RAM314, the graphic processor 316, the CPU processor 312, and the communication interface 318 are connected via a bus.

A ROM313 for storing instructions for various system boots. The CPU processor 312 executes the system boot instructions in the ROM313, copying the operating system stored in the memory 390 into the RAM314 to start running the boot operating system. After the start of the operating system is completed, the CPU processor 312 copies various application programs in the memory 390 to the RAM314, and then starts running and starting various application programs.

A CPU processor 312 for executing the operating system and application program instructions stored in the memory 390, communicating with the first controller 210, transmitting and interacting signals, data, instructions, etc., and executing various application programs, data and contents according to various interactive instructions receiving external input, so as to finally display and play various audio-video contents.

The communication interface 318 is plural and may include a first interface 318-1 to an nth interface 318-n. These interfaces may be network interfaces connected to external devices via a network, or may be network interfaces connected to the first controller 210 via a network.

The second controller 310 may control the overall operation of the display apparatus 200. For example: in response to receiving a user command for selecting a UI object to be displayed on the display 280, the first controller 210 may perform an operation related to the object selected by the user command.

A graphics processor 316 for generating various graphics objects, such as: icons, operation menus, user input instruction display graphics, and the like. The display device comprises an arithmetic unit which carries out operation by receiving various interactive instructions input by a user and displays various objects according to display attributes. And a renderer for generating various objects based on the operator, and displaying the rendered result on the first display 280.

The graphics processor 316 of the second controller 310 and the graphics processor 216 of the first controller 210 are both capable of generating various graphics objects. In distinction, if the application 1 is installed in the second controller 310 and the application 2 is installed in the first controller 210, the graphic object is generated by the graphic processor 316 of the second controller 310 when the user performs an instruction input by the user in the application 1 at the interface of the application 1. When a user is at the interface of the application 2 and an instruction input by the user is made within the application 2, a graphic object is generated by the graphic processor 216 of the first controller 210.

Fig. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of a display device according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in fig. 7, the memory 390 of the second controller and the memory 290 of the first controller are used to store an operating system, an application program, contents, user data, and the like, respectively, perform system operations for driving the display device 200 and various operations in response to a user under the control of the second controller 310 and the first controller 210. The memory 390 of the second controller and the memory 290 of the first controller may include volatile and/or non-volatile memory.

As for the first controller 210, the memory 290 is specifically used for storing an operating program for driving the first controller 210 in the display device 200, and storing various applications built in the display device 200, various applications downloaded by a user from an external device, various graphical user interfaces related to the applications, various objects related to the graphical user interfaces, user data information, and internal data of various supported applications. The memory 290 is used to store system software such as an Operating System (OS) kernel, middleware, and applications, and to store input video data and audio data, and other user data.

The memory 290 is specifically used for storing drivers and related data such as the video processor 260-1 and the audio processor 260-2, the first display 280, the communicator 230, the tuning demodulator 220, the input/output interface, and the like.

In some embodiments, memory 290 may store software and/or programs, software programs for representing an Operating System (OS) including, for example: a kernel, middleware, an Application Programming Interface (API), and/or an application program. For example, the kernel may control or manage system resources, or functions implemented by other programs (e.g., the middleware, APIs, or applications), and the kernel may provide interfaces to allow the middleware and APIs, or applications, to access the controller to implement controlling or managing system resources.

The memory 290, for example, includes a broadcast receiving module 2901, a channel control module 2902, a volume control module 2903, an image control module 2904, a display control module 2905, a first audio control module 2906, an external instruction recognition module 2907, a communication control module 2908, a light receiving module 2909, a power control module 2910, an operating system 2911, and an application 2912, a browser module (not shown in the figure), and the like. The first controller 210 performs operations such as: the system comprises a broadcast television signal receiving and demodulating function, a television channel selection control function, a volume selection control function, an image control function, a display control function, an audio control function, an external instruction identification function, a communication control function, an optical signal receiving function, an electric power control function, a software control platform supporting various functions, a browser function and other various functions.

The memory 390 includes a memory storing various software modules for driving and controlling the display apparatus 200. Such as: various software modules stored in memory 390, including: a base module, a detection module, a communication module, a display control module, a browser module, and various service modules, etc. (not shown in the figure). Since the functions of the memory 390 and the memory 290 are similar, reference may be made to the memory 290 for relevant points, and thus, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

Illustratively, the memory 390 includes an image control module 3904, a second audio control module 3906, an external instruction recognition module 3907, a communication control module 3908, a light receiving module 3909, an operating system 3911, and an application 3912, a browser module 3913, and the like. The second controller 310 performs operations such as: the system comprises an image control function, a display control function, an audio control function, an external instruction identification function, a communication control function, an optical signal receiving function, an electric power control function, a software control platform supporting various functions, a browser function and other various functions.

Distinctively, the external instruction recognition module 2907 of the first controller and the external instruction recognition module 3907 of the second controller can recognize different instructions.

Illustratively, since the image receiving device such as a camera is connected with the second controller 310, the external instruction recognition module 3907 of the second controller may include an image recognition module 3907-1, a graph database is stored in the image recognition module 3907-1, and when the camera receives an external graph instruction, the camera corresponds to the instruction in the graph database to perform instruction control on the display device. Since the voice receiving device and the remote controller are connected to the first controller 210, the external command recognition module 2907 of the first controller may include a voice recognition module 2907-2, a voice database is stored in the voice recognition module 2907-2, and when the voice receiving device receives an external voice command or the like, the voice receiving device and the like perform a corresponding relationship with a command in the voice database to perform command control on the display device. Similarly, the control device 100 such as a remote controller is connected to the first controller 210, and the button command recognition module 2907-3 performs command interaction with the control device 100.

Fig. 8(a) is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a software system in the display device 200 according to the exemplary embodiment.

As shown in fig. 8(a), the operating system 2911, including the executing operating software for handling various basic system services and for carrying out hardware related tasks, acts as an intermediary between application programs and hardware components for accomplishing data processing for the first controller 210.

In some embodiments, portions of the operating system kernel may contain a series of software to manage the display device hardware resources and provide services to other programs or software code.

In other embodiments, portions of the operating system kernel may include one or more device drivers, which may be a set of software code in the operating system that assists in operating or controlling the devices or hardware associated with the display device. The drivers may contain code that operates the video, audio, and/or other multimedia components. Examples include a display, a camera, Flash, WiFi, and audio drivers.

The accessibility module 2911-1 is configured to modify or access the application program to achieve accessibility and operability of the application program for displaying content.

A communication module 2911-2 for connection to other peripherals via associated communication interfaces and a communication network.

The user interface module 2911-3 is configured to provide an object for displaying a user interface, so that each application program can access the object, and user operability can be achieved.

Control applications 2911-4 for controlling process management, including runtime applications and the like.

The event transmission system 2914 may be implemented within the operating system 2911 or within the application 2912. In some embodiments, an aspect is implemented within the operating system 2911, while implemented in the application 2912, for listening for various user input events, and will implement one or more sets of predefined operations in response to various events referring to the recognition of various types of events or sub-events.

The event monitoring module 2914-1 is configured to monitor an event or a sub-event input by the user input interface.

The event identification module 2914-2 is used to input various event definitions for various user input interfaces, identify various events or sub-events, and transmit them to the process for executing one or more sets of their corresponding handlers.

The event or sub-event refers to an input detected by one or more sensors in the display device 200 and an input of an external control device (e.g., the control apparatus 100). Such as: the method comprises the following steps of inputting various sub-events through voice, inputting a gesture sub-event through gesture recognition, inputting a remote control key command of a control device and the like. Illustratively, the one or more sub-events in the remote control include a variety of forms including, but not limited to, one or a combination of key presses up/down/left/right/, ok keys, key presses, and the like. And non-physical key operations such as move, hold, release, etc.

The interface layout management module 2913, directly or indirectly receiving the input events or sub-events from the event transmission system 2914, monitors the input events or sub-events, and updates the layout of the user interface, including but not limited to the position of each control or sub-control in the interface, and the size, position, and level of the container, which are related to the layout of the interface.

Since the os 3911 of the second controller has similar functions to the os 2911 of the first controller, reference may be made to the os 2911 for relevant points, and details are not repeated here.

As shown in fig. 8(b), the application programs of the display device include various application programs executable at the display device 200.

The first controller's applications 2912 may include, but are not limited to, one or more applications such as: a video-on-demand application, an application center, a game application, and the like. The applications 3912 of the second controller may include, but are not limited to, one or more applications such as: live television applications, media center applications, and the like. It should be noted that what applications are respectively contained in the second controller and the first controller is determined according to the operating system and other designs, and the present invention does not need to make specific limitations and divisions on the applications contained in the second controller and the first controller.

The live television application program can provide live television through different signal sources. For example, a live television application may provide television signals using input from cable television, radio broadcasts, satellite services, or other types of live television services. And, the live television application may display video of the live television signal on the display device 200.

A video-on-demand application may provide video from different storage sources. Unlike live television applications, video on demand provides a video display from some storage source. For example, the video on demand may come from a server side of the cloud storage, from a local hard disk storage containing stored video programs.

The media center application program can provide various applications for playing multimedia contents. For example, a media center, which may be other than live television or video on demand, may provide services that a user may access to various images or audio through a media center application.

The application program center can provide and store various application programs. The application may be a game, an application, or some other application associated with a computer system or other device that may be run on a display device. The application center may obtain these applications from different sources, store them in local storage, and then be operable on the display device 200.

A schematic diagram of a user interface in a display device 200 according to an exemplary embodiment is illustrated in fig. 9. As shown in fig. 9, the user interface includes a plurality of view display areas, illustratively, a first view display area 201 and a play screen 202, wherein the play screen includes a layout of one or more different items. And a selector in the user interface indicating that the item is selected, the position of the selector being movable by user input to change the selection of a different item.

It should be noted that the multiple view display areas may present display screens of different hierarchies. For example, a first view display area may present video chat project content and a second view display area may present application layer project content (e.g., web page video, VOD presentations, application screens, etc.).

Optionally, the different view display areas are presented with different priorities, and the display priorities of the view display areas are different among the view display areas with different priorities. If the priority of the system layer is higher than that of the application layer, when the user uses the acquisition selector and picture switching in the application layer, the picture display of the view display area of the system layer is not blocked; and when the size and the position of the view display area of the application layer are changed according to the selection of the user, the size and the position of the view display area of the system layer are not influenced.

The display frames of the same hierarchy can also be presented, at this time, the selector can switch between the first view display area and the second view display area, and when the size and the position of the first view display area are changed, the size and the position of the second view display area can be changed along with the change.

Since the second controller 310 and the first controller 210 may have independent operating systems installed therein, there are two independent but interrelated subsystems in the display apparatus 200. For example, Android (Android) and various APPs may be independently installed on the second controller 310 and the first controller 210, so that each chip may implement a certain function, and the second controller 310 and the first controller 210 cooperatively implement a certain function.

Specifically describing how to implement the time synchronization between the first controller and the second controller on the basis of the aforementioned display device, as shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present application provides a flow of time synchronization processing performed by the display device, and on the basis of the aforementioned display device structure, the first controller 210 further includes a timing module 260-4, the timing module 260-4 performs timing processing on the first controller, the timing module 260-4 may include various timing logics, such as DTV code stream timing, and the HiNTP timing logic and optimized NTP timing logic (refer to the following in this embodiment) proposed in the present application, and after the timing module 260-4 calibrates the current time of the first controller, a time change broadcast is triggered, and when the first controller monitors the time change broadcast, a time synchronization mechanism of the dual-system display device is entered, the concrete configuration is as follows:

the timing module 260-4 is configured to perform timing processing on the first controller, and trigger time change broadcasting after timing is successful.

The first controller is subjected to timing processing through timing logic in the timing module 260-4, and a TIME change (TIME _ CHANGED) broadcast is sent after the timing is successful, wherein the TIME change broadcast is equivalent to a notification and a trigger signal, and the first controller is notified that the timing is successful, and the start of the dual-system TIME synchronization mechanism is triggered.

The first controller is configured to transmit a current time of the first controller to the second controller when the time change broadcast is listened to.

The first controller judges whether time change broadcasting is monitored, and if the time change broadcasting is not monitored, the time change broadcasting is monitored in a circulating mode; if it is monitored, the current time of the first controller needs to be sent to the second controller. When the first controller monitors the time varying broadcast, the current time of the first controller is the time after the first controller is calibrated by the time calibration module 260-4.

Because the second controller is connected with the intranet all the time, in practical application, the second controller can be provided with NTP timing service, so that the second controller can perform timing through NTP timing logic. After the second controller receives the current time of the first controller, whether time synchronization is needed or not can be judged according to the received time information because it is uncertain whether the second controller carries out timing processing, and if the time synchronization is not needed, the time synchronization of the double systems is met when the second controller finishes timing, the double-system time synchronization mechanism can be exited; if time synchronization is needed, the current time of the second controller is changed into the current time of the first controller after time correction, namely, under the condition that the time correction of the first controller is successful without time correction of the second controller, the time of the second controller is set by utilizing the time of the first controller, so that the second controller can acquire accurate time, the time synchronization of the two systems is ensured, and the performance of the display device is improved.

Optionally, the second controller is configured to determine whether time synchronization is required as follows: and when the current time of the first controller is later than the current time of the second controller and the current time of the first controller is later than the preset time of the equipment, determining that time synchronization is required. The preset time of the equipment is the whole time preset according to the system version of the equipment before the synchronous processing of the double-system time, and the time is not a fixed and unchangeable value but can be dynamically updated according to the change of the system version. For example, if the preset time of the device is 10:00:00 in 2019, 10 and 25 months, the current time of the second controller is 09:00:00 in 2019, 10 and 25 months, and the current time of the first controller received by the second controller is 10:30:00 in 2019, 25 and 25 months, the current time of the first controller is up to date, which is later than the preset time of the device and the current time of the second controller, and time synchronization is required at this time.

In a specific implementation, as shown in fig. 11, the present application further provides another display device to perform a time synchronization processing procedure, where a TimeSync Service N and a TimeSync Service a are respectively disposed on the first controller and the second controller, and the time synchronization Service is responsible for processing a time synchronization mechanism; the first controller and the second controller can respectively register Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service, the RPC supports three physical communication modes of a network, a serial port and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) CEC, and the first controller and the second controller communicate through the RPC to achieve synchronization and consistency of dual-system time.

After the display equipment is started, the first controller starts the TimeSync Service N, the second controller starts the TimeSync Service A, then the first controller and the second controller register the RPC Service respectively, and after the initial preparation work of the time synchronization mechanism is finished, the time synchronization processing logic can be formally entered as follows:

(1) the first controller determines whether a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is monitored, and the triggering TIME of the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is that the first controller is successfully timed by the timing module 260-4, for example, the synchronization TIME of the DTV code stream is successfully passed, or the NTP timing is successfully performed. If the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is not monitored, circularly monitoring; if the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is heard, step (2) is performed.

(2) The first controller acquires the current time (get time from N) of the first controller, and sends the current time of the first controller to the second controller (CallRPC: set time to A) through the RPC to inform the second controller of setting time; after receiving the current time (Receive RPC Cmd: set time to A) of the first controller through the RPC, the second controller judges whether time synchronization is needed, if the time synchronization is not needed, the second controller is successful in NTP timing, and the current time synchronization process can be exited; if time synchronization is required, the current time of the second controller is changed to the current time (set time to A) of the first controller, and after the current time setting of the second controller system is completed, step (3) is performed.

(3) Judging whether the time synchronization is successful or not by the second controller, specifically, calculating a time difference between the current time of the second controller and the current time of the first controller, then judging whether the time difference is smaller than or equal to a second threshold, if the time difference is smaller than the second threshold, judging that the time synchronization is successful, notifying the NTP time correction service that the time correction is successful by the second controller, simultaneously feeding back state information of the time synchronization success to the first controller, and then quitting the time synchronization processing flow by the second controller; if the time difference is larger than the second threshold value, the time synchronization is considered to fail, the second controller feeds back the state information of the time synchronization failure to the first controller, and then the second controller can quit the time synchronization processing flow. The second threshold is an allowable deviation of the current time of the second controller and the first controller, and may be set according to an actual situation, for example, 2s, and the application is not limited.

(4) The first controller receives state information (time synchronization is successful or failed) fed back by the second controller, and if the state information indicates that the time synchronization of the second controller is successful, the first controller can quit the time synchronization processing flow; and (5) if the state information indicates that the time synchronization of the second controller fails, returning to the step (2) and continuing the next time synchronization processing flow.

In this embodiment, the timing module 260-4 sends a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast after successfully timing the first controller, and in a specific implementation, if the timing module 260-4 detects that the first controller is not networked but connected to a DTV, timing may be performed by synchronizing code stream TIME to the first controller, where the timing module 260-4 may be configured to: acquiring the code stream time of a DTV connected with the first controller; and if the code stream time is greater than or equal to the preset time of the device, the code stream time obtained from the DTV is considered to be normal, the current time of the first controller is changed into the code stream time, so that the code stream time can be written into the system time of the first controller, the code stream time is synchronized with the time of the first controller, and the time change broadcast is sent after the synchronization is successful. When the timing module sends a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast and the first controller monitors the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast, the dual-system TIME synchronization processing flow can be started.

In the practical application process, the applicant finds that the following problems are easy to occur when NTP timing is performed in the state that the first controller does not access a DTV code stream but is only networked: firstly, due to the fact that the access capacity of a default NTP server in NTP timing logic is large, probabilistic access timeout is prone to occurring, and therefore network time cannot be obtained from the NTP server, and time consumed by NTP timing is long; second, some test sites limit the NTP port, and may not be able to obtain network time from the NTP server, resulting in NTP timing failure.

In order to solve the first problem described above, in order to solve the problem that the first controller cannot acquire the network time from the NTP server due to a probabilistic timeout access caused by a large access load rate of the NTP server, an embodiment of the present application proposes an optimized NTP timing logic, in which, based on the native NTP timing logic, a plurality of timing sub-threads are created to synchronously acquire the network time, and when the timing module detects that the first controller does not access the DTV code stream and the first controller is in a network connection state, a processing flow of the NTP timing logic is as shown in fig. 12, the timing module 260-4 is configured to perform the following program steps:

and step S101, judging whether the network of the first controller is in a connection state, if so, executing step S102, otherwise, if not, the first controller is in an unconnected state, and if not, exiting the NTP timing logic.

When the network of the first controller is in a connected state, in step S102, it is determined whether a timing trigger condition is satisfied, where the timing trigger condition includes that "when an automatic timing flag bit is selected, or a network connection state is changed (from an unconnected state to a connected state), or a long timer/short timer timing is over" in the native NTP timing logic, if the timing trigger condition is satisfied, it indicates that the time of the first controller is inaccurate, and timing needs to be corrected again, for example, the "timing over" condition is satisfied, it indicates that the previous NTP timing fails, a retry mechanism is started, and timing needs to be retried again after timing is over. If the timing trigger condition is not satisfied, the NTP timing logic is exited, and if the timing trigger condition is satisfied, the previous timing failure may be an access timeout due to a large access load rate of the NTP server that is the default of the main thread, and then step S103 is executed.

Step S103, a server list is obtained, and the server list comprises domain names corresponding to a plurality of NTP servers. To alleviate the load pressure of a single NTP server, multiple NTP servers may be added, thereby increasing the acquisition source of network time and building a server list, one NTP server for each domain name in the server list.

And step S104, creating a plurality of time correction sub-threads, wherein one time correction sub-thread corresponds to one NTP server in the server list.

Under the condition of increasing NTP servers, if linear access to the NTP servers is carried out, namely one server accesses overtime and then continues to access the next server, the problem that NTP time correction consumes long time is bound to exist in the serial access mode. For example, if one server list includes 3 domain names, i.e., baidu.com, google.com, and alibaba.com, 3 time-correcting sub-threads need to be set, where baidu.com corresponds to the time-correcting sub-thread t1, google.com corresponds to the time-correcting sub-thread t2, and alibaba.com corresponds to the time-correcting sub-thread t3, then t1-t3 may work in parallel, and each time-correcting sub-thread may obtain network time from a corresponding NTP server. Wherein, the steps S101 to S105 are executed by the NTP timing main thread. The following procedural steps are performed in each individual time correction sub-thread:

in step S105, each time correction sub-thread acquires an NTP time from the corresponding NTP server. Each time correction sub-thread acquires the network time from the corresponding NTP server respectively, and then synchronizes the network time to a system of the display device, namely the first controller.

Step S106, judging whether the time acquisition is successful, namely judging whether the time correction sub-thread successfully acquires the corresponding NTP time, and returning to the step S105 if the time acquisition is failed; if the acquisition time is successful, step S107 is performed.

And step S107, judging whether the NTP time is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment. If the judgment result is yes, the time acquired from the NTP server is normal, then step S108 is executed; if the judgment result is no, the timing sub-thread is described not to acquire normal network time from the NTP server, and the step S105 is returned.

Step S108 is to change the current time of the first controller to the NTP time. NTP timing of the first controller is accomplished by synchronizing network time obtained from the NTP server to the first controller.

After the timing is completed, in step S109, a timing success flag is set. And the time correction success flag bit is used for marking the time correction success of the time correction sub-thread.

Step S110, sending a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast. When the timing module sends a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast and the first controller monitors the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast, the dual-system TIME synchronization processing flow can be started.

Step S111, if the timing sub-thread exits, the processing flow of the timing sub-thread is finished; and when all the created time correction sub-threads exit, the optimized NTP time correction program exits, and the optimized NTP time correction logic processing flow is finished.

After the NTP timing logic is optimized, the probability existing situation that the network time cannot be synchronized within 3min or even longer time is optimized to ensure that the timing is successful after the first controller is started for about 14s when the network is in a connection state, and the NTP timing efficiency and reliability are effectively improved.

For the second problem, for some user families which only have networks but do not handle cable television services, DTV code stream time cannot be acquired, under the condition that an NTP port is limited, NTP time correction cannot be performed, in order to enable the first controller to perform time correction, the embodiment of the application provides a HiNTP time correction logic, the nature of the HiNTP time correction logic is still network time synchronization, but does not depend on an NTP protocol, and is connected with a background server to acquire network time, wherein the background server is a server matched with display equipment in a default mode, for example, a maritime television is connected with a maritime mail background server. A HiNTP Service may be provided in the timing module connected to the first controller to be responsible for executing the logic, when the timing module detects that the first controller does not access the DTV code stream and the first controller is in the network connection state, and the processing flow of the HiNTP timing logic is as shown in fig. 13, the timing module 260-4 is configured to execute the following program steps:

step S201, when the starting time correction condition is met, starting the HiNTP Service. The step is the initial preparation work of the HiNTP logic, and the HiNTP timing can be realized after the HiNTP Service is started. The start-up timing condition includes that the display device is powered on and the network connection state is changed from unconnected to connected, and the power-on of the display device may include a normal mode and a Suspend to RAM (Suspend to RAM) mode. The STR stores data and system running state information in a host memory, and reads corresponding data from the memory to directly cause the system to enter a state before suspension without complex system detection after startup.

Step S202, judging whether the current time of the first controller is normal or not, namely judging whether the current time of the first controller is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment or not, if so, indicating that the time correction of the first controller is successful, and exiting the HiNTP time correction process without performing time correction processing; if the determination result is no, it indicates that the HiNTP timing is required, the process proceeds to step S203.

If the current time of the first controller is less than the preset time of the equipment, in step S203, judging whether the network of the first controller is in a connection state, and if the first controller is not networked, exiting the HiNTP timing process; if the first controller is already networked, the process proceeds to step S204. Step S203 is to confirm whether the first controller performs network connection again before acquiring time from the background server, so as to perform timing under networking conditions.

Step S204, acquiring time from the background server. When the first controller is networked, the timing module can acquire the network time from the background server and synchronize the network time to the current time of the first controller.

Step S205, judging whether the time is successfully acquired from the background server, if so, executing step S206; if the acquisition fails, step S209 is executed to enter a retry mechanism.

Step S206, judging whether the time acquired from the background server is greater than or equal to the preset time of the equipment, if so, executing step S207; if the judgment result is no, step S209 is executed to enter a retry mechanism.

In step S207, the current time of the first controller is changed to the time acquired from the background server. And synchronizing the network time acquired from the background server to the first controller, so that the HiNTP time correction of the first controller is completed.

In step S208, a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is transmitted. When the timing module sends a TIME _ CHANGED broadcast and the first controller monitors the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast, the dual-system TIME synchronization processing flow can be started. And the HiNTP Service can be quitted after the TIME _ CHANGED broadcast is sent.

Step S209, judging whether the retry number is larger than a first threshold value, if so, returning to the step S202; if the value is greater than the first threshold, quitting the HiNTP Service and prompting the timing failure, for example, the prompting mode may be a pop-up window on the display screen to prompt the timing failure, and the embodiment is not limited. Wherein the first threshold is a preset maximum number of allowed retries.

As for the retry mechanism in step S209, a delayed retry mechanism may be adopted, when the calibration is retried once every delay time, the number of retries may be set according to actual situations, the delay time may gradually increase, for example, the delay time is 0 second, 1 second, 2 seconds, 4 seconds, 8 seconds, 16 seconds … to 5 minutes, the threshold value of the number of retries corresponding to each delay time is 10, that is, the retries are 10 retries every 0 second, 10 retries every 1 second, …, until 10 retries every 5 minutes, when the number of retries every 5 minutes exceeds 10, the calibration fails, the HiNTP Service is exited, and the calibration failure is prompted.

When the display equipment is not externally connected with a DTV code stream and NTP timing cannot be carried out under the condition that an NTP port is limited, the HiNTP timing logic can acquire network time from a background server, and the network time source acquisition mode is not limited by an NTP protocol any more, so that the display equipment can adapt to more use scenes, the timing efficiency and accuracy are ensured, and the consistency of the system time of the first controller and the second controller is ensured through the double-system time synchronization flow.

On the basis of the foregoing dual system display device function configuration, this embodiment further provides a time synchronization method, where the method includes:

the time correction module performs time correction processing on the first controller, and sends time change broadcast after time correction is successful;

when the first controller monitors the time change broadcast, the current time of the first controller is sent to the second controller;

The time synchronization method further includes the program steps of the dual system time synchronization process flow shown in fig. 11; the timing module may perform timing processing on the first controller, and the timing processing may include DTV code stream timing, optimized NTP timing logic shown in fig. 12, and HiNTP timing logic shown in fig. 13, which are not described herein again.

In the embodiments of the present application, the timing module is used to perform timing on the first controller, and then the current time after the timing of the first controller is used to synchronously set the current time of the second controller. It should be noted that, in other possible implementation manners, the second controller may also include a corresponding timing module, the second controller may be first calibrated, and then the current time after the second controller is calibrated is used to synchronously set the current time of the first controller, which is similar to the foregoing embodiment, and details are not repeated here, but since the second controller only has a network and cannot be connected to a DTV code stream, the timing module configured and connected at the second controller end may include a conventional NTP logic, an optimized NTP timing logic shown in fig. 12, and a network time synchronization timing manner such as a HiNTP timing logic shown in fig. 13, so that a form of bidirectional synchronization may be implemented.

Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the techniques in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by way of software plus a required general hardware platform. In a specific implementation, the present application further provides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium may store a program, and the program may include some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the time synchronization method and the display device provided by the present application when executed. The computer storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM) or a Random Access Memory (RAM).

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. The specification and examples are to be regarded in an illustrative manner only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. With a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

The same and similar parts in the various embodiments are referred to each other in this specification.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

a first controller comprising a timing module;

and a second controller communicatively coupled to the first controller;

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the timing module is configured to execute the following NTP timing procedure:

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the timing module is further configured to:

4. The display device of claim 1, wherein the timing module is configured to perform the following timing procedure:

5. The display device of claim 4, wherein the timing module is further configured to:

if the time acquisition from the background server fails or if the time acquisition from the background server is less than the preset time of the equipment, judging whether the retry number is greater than a first threshold value or not;

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein the timing module is configured to:

acquiring the code stream time of a DTV connected with the first controller;

7. The display device according to any one of claims 3-6, wherein the second controller is further configured to:

8. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the second controller is further configured to calculate a time difference between a current time of the second controller and a current time of the first controller after performing time synchronization;

9. The display device according to claim 4, wherein the start timing condition comprises the display device being powered on and the network connection status being changed from unconnected to connected; the display equipment is started up and comprises a normal mode and a suspend-to-memory mode.

10. A time synchronization method for a display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising: