JP2009232432A - Hi-vision transceiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a Hi-Vision transceiver capable of collectively transmitting nineteen signals of HDML terminals. <P>SOLUTION: A transceiver, which has a transmitting function for converting signals from all HDMI terminals of Hi-Vision transmitting equipment such as a video camera into optical signals and a receiving function for converting the transmitted optical signals into electric signals, is connected between the Hi-Vision transmitting equipment and Hi-Vision receiving equipment. Further, a wiring method of the HDML terminals, where four TMDS high-speed digital signals are transmitted by wide-band optical fiber transmission and other low-speed signals are transmitted between an input part and an output in the equipment as inter-equipment recognition and connection of control signals, is adopted. An optical fiber transmission portion is a system for converting four TMDS signals into beams of four different wavelengths and multiplexing these beams. When four optical wavelengths different from four optical wavelengths of a going route are used for a return route, signals of the going route and the return route can be also transmitted only by one optical fiber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a technical field of a transceiver that performs high-definition transmission from a device having an HDMI output (high-definition video camera, high-definition player, PC, etc.) to a device having an HDMI input (high-definition display, PC projector, PC, etc.). It is.
(Note) HDMI is an abbreviation for High-Definition Multimedia Interface.

High-definition broadcasting begins with BS digital broadcasting, and terrestrial digital broadcasting begins in December 2003. At the end of 2006, it became available for reception at the prefectural government offices in Japan. It has spread all the way. Also, since 2006, small and lightweight high-definition cameras have become widespread, and it has become an era where high-quality high-definition images can be taken and viewed at home. A simple environment in which such high-definition video is transmitted to a remote place or a two-way video conference is desired. For example, the use of HDTV is expected for various applications such as telemedicine cyber hospitals and remote monitors for safety and security.
In the transmission of high-definition video, an attempt was first made to convert an i-link (IEEE 1394) MPEG2-TS signal from a high-definition camera to a remote place by converting the IP into a PC or a dedicated device. This method has a drawback that a time delay occurs due to conversion to i-link or software processing. However, such slight delay is a quality that can be used for broadcast-type applications. However, high-definition transmission without delay is expected in telemedicine such as interactive conferences and cyber hospitals. Recently, small and light high-definition cameras, DVD / BD players / recorders, game machines such as the pre-station 3 and the like equipped with an HDMI terminal have been widely used for interconnection. The HDMI cable used for connection between the HDMI terminals needs to be able to transmit a high-speed digital video signal while maintaining high quality, and is limited to the transmission over a short distance of about 5 m. An environment that can be fully satisfied for enjoying high-definition television in the home has been established, and it has become widespread from high-vision enthusiasts to ordinary households.
Broadcasting high-definition equipment is still quite expensive. Hi-vision cameras and high-definition BD recorders that are also sold at home appliance stores such as the above will cost around 100,000 yen, and the signals from the HDMI terminal can be used to transmit and use such high-definition signals bidirectionally. Expectations for long-distance transmission equipment are growing.

HDMI is becoming mainstream in the connection between high-definition video devices that have been spread in this way. The HDMI terminals are physically ± TMDS-clock, three uncompressed high-definition video signals and digital audio ± TMDS-0, ± TMDS-1, ± TMDS-2, 8 pins, ± CEC, ± SCL, ± SDA 6 It is composed of a total of 19 terminals in which a spare is added to a total of 18 lines, a DDC / CEC ground line, an HPD hot plug detection line, a power supply line, and a ground line. Normally, this 19-terminal connection is electrically connected by an HDMI cable. Therefore, the HDMI cable requires an HDMI cable that transmits an ultra-high-speed digital signal and a low-speed electric signal at the same time. The configuration of the cable is complicated, the transmission distance is limited, and transmission to a remote place is impossible. In the above description of the terminals, the description is made along the terminals of the actual HDMI connector, but in the following, the symbols of the differential signals are omitted.
CECs other than the above TMDS are display control signals connected via HDMI, SCL and SDA are display data channel (DDC) signals used to detect EDID-ROM signals for device recognition built in the display, and hot plug detection (HPD) There is a signal. This HPD is used to determine whether or not the EDID-ROM of the device can be read even during standby.
(Note) TMDS: Transition Minimized Differential Signaling, 10-bit TMDS signal (165 Mpixels / sec)
CEC: Consumer Electronics Control
SCL: Serial Clock for DDC
SDA: Serial Data for DDC
EDID: Extended Display Identification Data
DDC: Display Data Channel
HPD: Hot Plug Detector signal

In the conventional HDMI transmission, as shown in FIG. 1, electrical wiring is connected by HDMI cables 5 and 6.
Here, 1 and 4 are transmitting devices such as a video camera and a high-definition player, and 2 and 3 are receiving devices such as a display and a PC. The 5 and 6 HDMI cables are configured by electrical wiring, and it is difficult to transmit long distances while maintaining uncompressed high-definition transmission quality, and is usually limited to short-distance transmission up to about 5 m.
"High-Definition Multimedia Interface" Specification Version 1.3a November 10, 2006, HDMI Licensing, LLC

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that the conventional method of collectively transmitting 19 signals of HDMI terminals via an HDMI cable requires high-speed transmission of about 6.6 Gbps (up to 165 Mbps x 10 bits x (3 channels + clock)) in high-definition transmission. Therefore, long-distance transmission was impossible with metal wiring. This long-distance transmission, which has been difficult in the past, is to be solved by introducing a new wiring method inside optical wiring and equipment.

  A first block diagram of the present invention is shown in FIG. A transmission function that multiplexes (multiplexes) signals from the HDMI all terminals 1a of the high-definition transmission device 1 such as a video camera and converts the signals into optical signals, and converts the signals converted to light from the HDMI into electricity for demultiplexing. By interposing a transceiver having a receiving function for quessing into an HDMI signal, HDMI transmission over a long distance is enabled.

A second block diagram of the present invention is shown in FIG. In the HDMI terminal 3a, four high-speed digital signals of TMDS are transmitted by the broadband optical fiber 7, and other low-speed inter-device recognition and control signal connection are performed by directly connecting the input unit and output unit inside the device. By introducing the wiring method 11 to perform, high-quality long-distance transmission of HDMI is realized. It has been confirmed that HDMI inter-device recognition and control signals can be transmitted if the display 3 connected as a receiving device is a HDMI standardized model similar to the display 2 of the transmission destination. Although it may not be recognized due to differences in device manufacturers, basically, any device to which the HDMI standard of Non-Patent Document 1 is applied can be transmitted. By separately handling broadband signal transmission and other signals, the transmission / reception circuit inside the device can be greatly simplified, enabling high quality, long-distance transmission as well as economy.
In HDMI, content protection by HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) may be used. When performing encryption transmission by HDCP, first, HDCP license authentication and data encryption key sharing are performed between the source device and the sink device, and then encrypted communication of data is performed. When such mutual authentication between the HDCP source device and the sink device is required, there is a case where the HDTV cannot be transmitted / received by this apparatus. In this case, after the HDMI output of the source device, the HDMI standard reception circuit of the sink device is inserted and the HDMI device is devised to transmit HDMI again.
In FIG. 3 of the present invention, four optical fiber transmission parts can be converted into four light beams for each optical wavelength and combined to form the forward path 7 with one optical fiber. On the other hand, if the return path 8 is similarly transmitted with four waves of light, it can be transmitted by one line.
FIG. 4 shows a configuration in which the forward path and the return path are transmitted by a single fiber 11 by using four light wavelengths different from the four paths of the optical wavelengths in the return path.

  In the present invention, an electrical signal in HDMI is converted into an optical signal and transmitted by an optical fiber, thereby enabling long-distance transmission. Furthermore, by separately handling TDMS wideband digital signal transmission and other signals such as device recognition, the transmission / reception circuit inside the device can be simplified, and high-definition transmission maintaining high quality can be transmitted over a long distance. In addition, there is an effect of reducing the device manufacturing cost by simplifying the circuit.

In order to implement the present invention, there are a method using two optical fibers for the forward path and the return path, and a method using a single optical fiber by utilizing optical wavelength multiplexing.
The former has a characteristic that a configuration in which an output and an input are individually provided can cope more flexibly in transmission control when transmitting through a complicated optical fiber network. For example, it is possible to cope with a case where the output destination is different from the input destination.
The latter can also be handled flexibly in the same way as the former by separating the wavelengths of the forward path and the return path in the transceivers 9 and 10. In particular, bi-directional high-definition transmission between two points has the effect of reducing the cost of installing an optical fiber because it is possible with a single optical fiber.

  An embodiment of the cyber hospital of the present invention is shown in FIG. The optical network interface boxes ONIB 15 and 16 are devices corresponding to the transceivers 9 and 10 in the configuration diagram of the present invention shown in FIG. The ONIB has a built-in optical wavelength selection switch. In addition, it is necessary to devise an optical fiber network connection method in a network that enables transmission / reception between multiple points. In this embodiment, an optical hub device OHUB17 that enables multi-input, multi-output optical fiber connection is used. is doing. By switching the optical wavelengths of the optical network interfaces ONIB 15 and 16, bidirectional high-definition transmission with a desired partner becomes possible. A specialist at a core hospital can treat patients at remote clinics while observing high-definition video. By using the HDMI optical transmission of the present invention, it is possible to realize advanced medical treatment using high-quality high-definition video without uncompressed delay.

    The present invention has a feature that a transmission distance by a short-distance HDMI cable used for high-definition transmission can be transmitted over a long distance while maintaining a high-quality image, and an uncompressed high-definition signal can be extended to a long-distance transmission. is there. Cyber hospitals such as telemedicine with high-quality images without delay using high-definition bidirectional transmission between remote locations can be realized. In addition, real-time high-definition transmissions such as vehicle driving conditions and horse quality can be transmitted to remote locations for effective car sales and horse racing sales.

It is a figure which shows the high-definition bidirectional transmission by the conventional HDMI. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 1st HDTV transceiver of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 2nd high-vision transceiver of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 3rd high-vision transceiver of this invention. It is a figure which shows the Example to the cyber hospital of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 4 High-definition transmission equipment (HD video camera, HD player, PC, etc .: source equipment)
2, 3 Hi-Vision receiver (HD display, HD projector, PC, etc .: sink device)
1a, 2a, 3a, 4a HDMI terminal 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b HDMI terminal 5, 6 HDMI cable 7, 8, 13, 14 Optical fiber 9, 10 Transceiver (electro-optical conversion transceiver)
11, 12 Electrical wiring wires 15, 16 Optical network interface box ONIB (transceiver)
17 Multi-input multi-output optical hub device OHUB

Claims (5)

In order to connect between devices having HDMI electrical output or HDMI electrical input, the transmission side converts the HDMI electrical signal to an optical signal and transmits it, and the reception side converts the optical signal to an HDMI electrical signal. All high-speed digital electrical signals TMDS-0, TMDS-1, TMDS-2, TMDS-3, and other low-speed electrical signals such as CEC, SCL, SDA, and HPD are multiplexed in a high-definition optical transceiver A high-definition transceiver characterized in that it is converted into an optical signal and transmitted by two optical fibers on the forward and return paths. In claim 1, the HDMI high-speed digital electrical signals TMDS-0, TMDS-1, TMDS-2, and TMDS-3 are each converted into light of four different wavelengths and transmitted and received by two optical fibers of the forward path and the backward path, For low-speed electrical signals such as CEC, SCL, SDA, HPD, etc., the input terminals of the respective low-speed electrical signals and the respective low-speed electrical signal output terminals are directly connected within the transceiver. A high-definition transceiver characterized by being converted to light for transmission and reception. 2. The high-definition transceiver according to claim 1, wherein light having different wavelengths is used for the forward path and the backward path, and the light is transmitted and received by a single fiber. 3. The high-definition transceiver according to claim 2, wherein, in optical signal transmission of four wavelengths, the four wavelengths different from the four wavelengths in the forward path are used in the return path and transmitted / received by one optical fiber. In Claims 2 and 4, a device having an electrical output of HDMI is connected to the HDMI input of the HDTV transceiver A, converted into an optical signal, and received from the HDTV transceiver B that receives an optical signal transmitted to a remote place through an optical fiber. In a configuration for transmitting HDTV by connecting to a device C that receives an HDMI electrical output, the same HDMI standard device as the device C that receives an HDMI electrical signal connected to the HDTV transceiver B is connected to the HDMI electrical output of the HDTV transceiver A A high-definition transceiver characterized by

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