JP3438259B2 - Block data transmission method and block data transmission device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention packetizes digital data to be processed in block units such as video data of a digital video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as "digital VTR"), and digital data having a communication cycle asynchronous with this block cycle. The present invention relates to a technique for transmitting via a communication path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital VTR for A / D converting an analog video signal and compressing a data amount for recording has been proposed. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a video signal processing system in such a digital VTR. First,
The digital VTR will be described with reference to this figure.

An input analog component video signal (Y, RY, BY) is converted into a digital component video signal by an A / D converter 1, and a blocking circuit 2 outputs 8 samples in the horizontal direction and 8 samples in the vertical direction.
Lines (hereinafter referred to as 8 × 8 units) are combined into one block of data, and shuffled and Y / C multiplexed. The DCT circuit 3 performs discrete cosine transform on the 8 × 8 unit data, and the time-amplitude domain data is transformed to the frequency domain data. The discrete cosine transformed data is requantized by the encoder 4, variable length coded by a two-dimensional Huffman code or the like, and data compressed. In this case, a predetermined number of DCT blocks (eg, 30DC
The step width in the requantization is set so that the total amount of data for each buffering unit composed of T blocks does not exceed a certain amount. Next, in the framing circuit 5, a plurality of such buffering units are arranged vertically to form a block, and in the parity generation circuit 6, an ECC (Error Correct) is generated.
After adding the parity of the product code structure which is an ion code), it is converted into serial data by the channel encoder 7 and recorded on a magnetic tape (not shown).

During reproduction, the channel decoder 8 performs data detection and serial / parallel conversion, and the ECC circuit 9 performs error correction. The error-corrected data is decomposed into word units of variable-length code by the deframing circuit 10, decoded and dequantized by the decoder 11, and inverse discrete cosine transformed by the inverse DCT circuit 12 to obtain 8 × 8 unit data. Become. This data is deshuffled, Y / C separated, data interpolated, etc. by a deblocking circuit 13 to be returned to a digital component video signal, converted to an original analog component video signal by a D / A converter 14 and output. .

A communication system has been considered in which the digital VTR having the above-described structure is connected to a digital communication path to packetize video data and the like for transmission and reception. Figure 7
Is a diagram showing an example of such a communication system, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on a digital communication path.

As shown in FIG. 7, three digital VTRs are connected to a digital communication path. Each digital VTR can send video data to other digital VTRs. Therefore, for example, the reproduced video data of the digital VTR1 is converted to the digital VTR2.
Or it can be dubbed to 3.

As shown in FIG. 8, data transmission in this communication system takes place at a predetermined cycle (eg, 125).
.mu.s). At the beginning of the communication cycle, there is a cycle start packet CP having reference time information, and after that, the data transmission period of each VTR is set. Each VTR transmits packetized data to the other VTR during the data transmission period set for itself. The cycle start packet CP is transmitted by any of the VTRs connected to the digital communication path.
Further, the data transmission period of each VTR is determined by the VTR connected to the digital communication path by transmitting and receiving a control signal.
Since these details are disclosed in, for example, the serial bus management (P1394) proposed by Apple Inc., they will not be described further here.

[0008]

When the block-by-block data is divided into a plurality of packets for transmission in the communication system, if the cycle of the block and the communication cycle are asynchronous, they are adjacent to each other at the block boundary. Block data may be contained in the same packet.
This point will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 9, (a) shows a pulse indicating the beginning of a block, (b) shows data of the block, and (c) shows a communication cycle and a packet. Here, the block cycle is longer than 6 cycles and shorter than 7 cycles of the communication cycle. In this case, the head of the block 1 is accommodated from the head of the packet DP1, and the packets DP2, DP3, ...
It is accommodated in P7, but the block cycle is as described above.
Since it is longer than 6 cycles and shorter than 7 cycles of the communication cycle, 7
The second packet DP7 includes the data of block 1 and the data of block 2.

If two packets of data are contained in one packet in this way, not only the process of reassembling in block units on the receiving side becomes complicated, but also if this packet causes an error, block 1 Block 2
Since an error has occurred in both data, the error correction process becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and is a system for packetizing data in block units and communicating via a communication path having a communication cycle asynchronous with the cycle of this block. In, the purpose is to match the block unit delimiter with the packet delimiter.

Another object of the present invention is to establish synchronization in a system for packetizing data in block units and communicating via a communication path having a reference time information and a communication cycle asynchronous with the cycle of this block. To do.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides continuous digital data processed in block units through a communication path having a communication cycle different from the cycle of the blocks. In the block data transmission method for transmitting by transmitting the packet, the block is divided into an integer number of packets, the head of the block is aligned with the head of the packet, and the packet is transmitted via the communication path. The packet is made to be a block divided during a communication cycle before the communication cycle in which the transmission is performed, and the time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle is divided. Absorb by sending empty packets in the communication cycle after sending all packets for one block The empty packets in the communication cycle after sending the, and wherein the forming to transmit a packet obtained by dividing a next block.

Further, the present invention is a block data transmission device for transmitting continuous digital data processed in block units through a communication path having a communication cycle having a cycle different from the cycle of the block. The packet to be transmitted includes a dividing unit that divides the packet into an integer number of packets, a unit that aligns the head of the block with the head of the packet, and a transmitting unit that transmits the packet via the communication path. The block is divided into communication blocks before the communication cycle in which the transmission is performed, and the time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle is one divided block. Minute packet is transmitted, the empty packet is absorbed in the communication cycle after the transmission. In communication cycle after sending the Tsu bets, characterized in that the forming to transmit a packet obtained by dividing a next block.

Here, in the present invention, the communication cycle is configured to include a cycle start packet, the cycle start packet is configured to include reference time information, and the reference time information is connected to the device connected to the communication path. Is reflected in the time information of the packet, and the packet is transmitted after the cycle start packet.

Further, continuous digital data processed in block units is data of one track in a digital video recorder.

[0017]

According to the present invention, in a system for transmitting continuous digital data processed in block units through a communication path having a communication cycle different from the cycle of the block, the block is converted into an integer number of packets. The packet is divided, the head of the block is aligned with the head of the packet, and the packet is transmitted via the communication path. The packet transmitted is a block divided during a communication cycle prior to the communication cycle in which the transmission is made,
The time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle is absorbed by transmitting an empty packet in the communication cycle after transmitting all the packets for one divided block. In the communication cycle after transmitting the empty packet, the packet obtained by dividing the next block is transmitted.

Further, in the present invention, the communication cycle is configured to include a cycle start packet, the cycle start packet is configured to include reference time information, and the reference time information is stored in a device connected to the communication path. The packet is transmitted after the cycle start packet without reflecting the time information.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a dubbing system of a digital VTR to which the present invention is applied. Here, the digital VTR in the lower part of FIG.
Playback data from the playback device)
(Hereinafter, referred to as a recording machine) is configured to be dubbed. In order to do this, the output of the deframing circuit 10 is supplied to the dubbing error processing circuit 15 on the reproducing device side, and after being subjected to error processing, input to the framing circuit 5. The data again blocked by the framing circuit 5 is sent to the transmission interface 16, where it is packetized and output to the recorder via the packet communication path 18. The dubbing error processing circuit 15 is an ECC
The error that cannot be corrected by the circuit 9 is replaced with a predetermined error code.

On the other hand, on the recording device side, the data from the reproducing device is supplied to the deframing circuit 10 and the dubbing error processing circuit 15 via the reception interface 17, and after being subjected to error processing, input to the framing circuit 5. Is
Here, the block-shaped data is again input to the parity generation circuit 6, is newly added with parity and the like, and is recorded on the magnetic tape via the channel encoder 7. In addition,
The dubbing error processing circuit 15 replaces an error that cannot be corrected by the reception interface 17 due to an error that has occurred on the transmission line with a predetermined error code.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the transmission interface and the reception interface. The transmission interface inputs the transmission data output from the framing circuit 5 and outputs it to the packet encoder 26, the write control unit 22 and the read control unit 23 of the first FIFO 21, and the latch 2.
4, an adder 25, and a packet encoder 26. The packet encoder 26 has a communication timing generator and a clock register built-in. The communication timing generator generates a communication clock and a cycle pulse having a cycle of 125 μs intervals. The clock register counts the communication clock to generate time information. This time information is calibrated every 125 μs by the reference time information held by the cycle start packet.

The write control section 22 is supplied with a track pulse indicating the timing of the beginning of each recording track of the VTR and the internal clock of the VTR, and controls the write operation of the first FIFO 21 based on these. Also,
The read control 23 is supplied with a pulse p indicating the timing of the last data of each track. The read pulse is input to the read control unit 23, the timing pulse p of the last data of the track, the cycle pulse, and the communication clock, and the read operation of the first FIFO 21 is controlled based on these. Further, the packet encoder 26 is supplied with information indicating the beginning of the track, track number, video data length, empty packet, etc., and the delay time in the first FIFO 21 is supplied to the adder 25. A frame sync pulse is input to the latch 24, and the value of the clock register at this rising timing is sampled and held. The adder 24 adds the delay time in the first FIFO 21 output by the read control unit 23 and the time information stored in the latch 24, and supplies it to the packet encoder 26. Packet encoder 2
6 adds a header including a data length, the time information and the like and an error correction code to the video data read from the first FIFO 21 and sends it to the packet communication path 18.

At the receiving interface, the packet received from the packet communication path 18 is input to the packet decoder 27. The packet decoder 27 decodes the packet and supplies the video data to the second FIFO 28, the data length r in the header to the write control unit 29, and the time information to the adder 31. Also, the packet decoder 2
7 includes a communication timing generator and a clock register, like the packet encoder 26.

The second FIFO 28 is the packet decoder 2
The video data supplied from 7 is supplied to the deframing circuit 10 of FIG. The writing control unit 29 has
A communication clock, a cycle pulse, data length information, etc. are input, and the read operation of the second FIFO 28 is controlled based on these. The track pulse and the internal clock of the VTR are input to the read control unit 30, and the write operation of the second FIFO 28 is controlled based on these. The second FI stored in the register 32 is added to the adder 31.
The delay time in the FO 28 is read out, added to the time information here, and the added time information is latched by the latch 3
3 is stored. The output of the latch 33 is the comparator 34
Is compared with the current time information of the clock register, the comparator 34 outputs a frame synchronization pulse at the timing when the current time information matches, and supplies the frame synchronization pulse to the timing generation unit 40.
The timing generator 40 supplies the track pulse and the internal clock to the read controller 30.

The operation of the transmission interface and the reception interface will be described below with reference to the timing charts of FIGS. First, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing transmission and reception timings of one frame of video data. Here, one frame has ten tracks T1, T2, ...
It is divided into T10. Further, the video data is processed in track units (that is, 1 track = 1 block).

(A) shows a frame sync pulse and a track pulse. The frame sync pulse interval is 1/30 s, and the track pulse interval is 3.33 ms.
(B) shows the data timing of the tracks T1, T2, ... T10. (C) shows a cycle pulse. The cycle pulse interval is 125 μs.

(D) to (i) are enlarged views of the time axis near the frame sync pulse, (d) is the frame sync pulse, (e) is the video data of the track T1, and (f) is the video data.
Indicates a cycle pulse, and (g) indicates a packet. As shown in (d) and (f), the frame sync pulse and the track pulse are not synchronized with the cycle pulse.
The cycle of one track is approximately 26.7 communication cycles.

2 and 3D to 3G, the video data of the track T1 is the first FI from the time t1.
Written to FO21. The video data written in the first FIFO 21 is read out at the timing of the cycle pulse delayed by the time tf1, and the packet encoder 2
6 is supplied. At this time, the value t of the clock register in the packet encoder 26 at the timing of the frame synchronization pulse
1 is stored in the latch 24, and the delay time tf1 output from the read control unit 23 is added by the adder 25,
It is supplied to the packet encoder 26.

The packet encoder 26 is a first FIFO
A header and a parity are added to the video data of the track T1 read from 21 to create a packet DP1 and the packet DP1 is sent to the packet communication path 18. In this header, the address of the device to which the data is transmitted (hence the recorder in this case), the time information t1 + tf1, the length of the data, the track number, the information indicating the packet at the beginning of the track, and the like are entered. A CRC code is used as the parity.

The packet DP1 input to the recorder via the packet communication path 18 is decoded by the packet decoder 27. Then, the video data is written to the second FIFO 28 under the control of the write control unit 29. Further, the information r indicating the head of the track and the packet length included in the header is supplied to the write control unit 9 and used for the write control of the video data. Then, the time information t1 + tf1 included in the header is supplied to the adder 31.

This time information t1 + tf is added by the adder 31.
1 and the second FIFO 28 held in the register 32
The delay time tf2 at is added and stored in the latch 33. Time information t1 + tf1 output from the latch 33
+ Tf2 is compared with the time information of the clock register in the packet decoder, and the frame synchronization pulse of FIG. 3 (h) is output at the coincident timing.

Similarly, the video data of the track T1 is sequentially accommodated in the packets DP2, DP3, ... And sent to the packet communication path 18. After that, the tracks T2, T3, ... T10 are sequentially transmitted.
Then, the time information t2 is stored in the latch 24 at the timing of the next frame synchronization pulse, and the same processing is performed.

FIGS. 3 (j) and 3 (k) are timing charts on the receiving side. Here, the track pulse of (j) is 3.33 ms from the timing of the frame pulse of (h).
(For example, the track pulse of the track T2 is time t1 + tf1 + tf2 + 3.33 m).
s).

In the above description, the processing time in the packet encoder 26, the transmission delay time in the packet communication path 18, and the processing time in the packet decoder 27 are neglected.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the processing in the portion where the tracks are switched. here,
(A) and (a ') are track pulses, (b) and (b')
Is video data of tracks T1 and T2, (c),
(C ') shows a packet.

As described above, the video data of the track T1 is sequentially transferred to the packets DP1, DP2, DP3, ... D.
Housed on P26. Now, let us say that the difference between the timing of the last data of the track T1 and the timing of the rear end B1 of the packet DP26 in which this data is accommodated is b. The timing of the last data of the track T1 is the track pulse of the track T2 when the data is recorded at the last position of the track T1 (for example, when the data is continuously recorded in each track). Timing A
1 clock before 1 and no data is recorded at the last position of the track T1 (eg, when data is intermittently recorded on each track), the timing of the trailing end of the intermittent data Is. Here, for simplicity, the case where data is recorded at the last position of the track T1 is shown. The data of the track T2 is transferred to this packet DP
When the packets DP1 to DP26 next to the packet 26 are to be transmitted, the timing of the last data of the track T (one clock before A2) of the packet DP26 is as shown in (b ′) and (c ′). Since it advances ab from the rear end timing B2, it cannot be accommodated in this packet DP26. Note that a is one track period (3.3
3 ms) and 26 communication cycles (26 × 125 μs) (80 μs≈0.7 cycle).

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, in the read control section 23, the timing of B1 is compared with the timing C1 which is delayed by a from the timing of A1, and B1 is earlier than C1. That is, b <a
If so, an empty packet is inserted after the DP 26. Then, the data of the track T2 from the packet DP1 next to the empty packet is accommodated. As a result, there are 27 communication cycles from the packet DP1 containing the data of the track T1 to the packet DP1 containing the data of the track T2, and the timing of the last data of the track T2 is relative to the timing of the rear end of the packet DP26. 45μ
s (125 μs-80 μs). When the above processing is repeated every time the tracks are switched, empty packets are inserted into 2 tracks of almost every 3 tracks and not inserted into 1 track. 5 (a '), (b'),
(C ′) shows a case where b ≧ a when switching between the track Tn and the track Tn + 1, and an empty packet is not inserted.

Next, the significance of using the time information t1 + tf1 to establish the frame sync pulse in this embodiment will be described. As described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, from the data packet DPI containing the beginning portion of the video data of the predetermined track to the data packet DP1 containing the beginning portion of the video data of the next track. Up to the leading end of, there are cases where there are 26 communication cycles and cases where there are 27 communication cycles. This can be 266 communication cycles or 267 communication cycles when viewed in units of one frame, that is, 10 tracks. Therefore,
When the frame sync pulse is established based on the timing of the cycle pulse at the head of the frame, that is, the data packet DP1 of the track T1, the interval of the frame sync pulse deviates from the regular interval (2666.6666 ... × Communication cycle). Will be lost.

Therefore, as described above, the delay time tf1 required for packetization is added to the time t1 of the frame sync pulse and the result is sent to the recorder. In the recorder, this time information t1 +
The delay time tf2 in the second FIFO 28 is added to tf1 and compared with the value of the clock register calibrated by the reference time information of the cycle start packet every 125 μs, and the frame sync pulse is output when they match. There is.

In this way, the delay time (eg, tf1) required to create a packet on the transmitting side from the time (eg, t1) when the frame synchronization pulse is detected on the transmitting side.
Since the frame sync pulse is accurately created after the delay time (eg, tf2) required to return the packet to video data on the receive side, the interval of the frame sync pulse created on the receive side is Matches the frame sync pulse interval.

Although the compressed video data is packetized and transmitted in the above description, the uncompressed digital component video signal output from the deblocking circuit 13 of the player is packetized by the transmission interface. The digital component video signal may be returned to the blocking circuit 2 by the receiving interface of the recorder.

Further, the time information put in the header of the packet on the transmitting side may be a time later than the above time information by a fixed time (t1 + tf1 + fixed time in the case of the track T1). In this case, the time when the frame sync pulse of the track T1 is output from the comparator on the receiving side is t
1 + tf1 + tf2 + constant time.

In the above embodiment, the empty packet is sent, but the packet may not be sent in this communication cycle.

Further, the present invention can be applied to the data of each track even if it is data other than video data or data in which audio data or subcode data is multiplexed with video data. The data of each track may be intermittently recorded in the track.

Further, the block can be set in a unit smaller or larger than one track.

In the above embodiment, the block is one track and frame synchronization is established. However, a cycle longer than the cycle of the block such as track synchronization, field synchronization, or synchronization of a plurality of frames. The present invention can also be applied to the case of establishing synchronization of.

[0047]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, continuous digital data processed in block units is transmitted through a communication path having a communication cycle different from the cycle of the block. In the system, the block is divided into an integer number of packets, the head of the block is aligned with the head of the packet, and the packet is transmitted via the communication path. The packet to be transmitted is a block divided during a communication cycle before the communication cycle in which the transmission is performed, and the time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle is divided. This is absorbed by transmitting an empty packet in the communication cycle after transmitting all the packets for one block. In the communication cycle after transmitting the empty packet, the packet in which the next block is divided is transmitted, so that it is possible to match the block delimiter with the packet delimiter, and the receiving side converts the packet into block unit data. The process of regrouping is simplified. Even if an error occurs in a packet, the effect is closed within one block, so error processing is easy. Therefore, the hardware scale of the reception interface can be reduced.

Also, in the present invention, the communication cycle includes a cycle start packet, and the cycle start packet includes reference time information.
Since the reference time information is reflected in the time information that the device connected to the communication path has and the packet is transmitted after the cycle start packet, continuous digital data processed in block units is Synchronization can be established in a system that transmits via a communication path having a communication cycle that is different from the block cycle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a dubbing system of a digital VTR to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing configurations of a transmission interface and a reception interface.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing transmission and reception timings of 1-frame video data.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing processing in a portion where tracks are switched.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a process for inserting an empty packet.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a conventional digital VTR.

FIG. 7: Connected to a digital VTR digital communication path,
It is a figure which shows an example of the communication system which packetizes and transmits video data.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on a digital communication path in the communication system of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart for explaining that data of blocks adjacent to each other at a block boundary is accommodated in the same packet.

[Explanation of symbols]

16 ... Transmission interface, 17 ... Reception interface, 18 ... Packet communication path, 26 ... Packet encoder, 27 ... Packet decoder

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Takatsugu Kojima 6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Within Sony Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-4-291546 (JP, A) JP-A-2-272851 (JP, A) JP 5-14399 (JP, A) JP 5-14763 (JP, A) JP 1-276853 (JP, A) JP 3-141752 (JP, A) Kaihei 5-83694 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Publication 3-946 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/56 H04L 7/08 H04N 7/24

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A block data transmission method for transmitting continuous digital data processed in block units via a communication path having a communication cycle different from the cycle of the block, wherein the block is an integer number of packets. And the head of the block is aligned with the head of the packet, and the packet is transmitted via the communication path. The packet to be transmitted is a communication cycle prior to the communication cycle in which the transmission is performed. The block is divided into blocks, and the time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle causes a difference in the communication cycle after transmitting all packets for one divided block. Absorb by sending empty packets, in the communication cycle after sending the empty packets, The block data transmission method is characterized in that a packet obtained by dividing each block is transmitted. 2. The communication cycle is configured to include a cycle start packet, the cycle start packet is configured to include reference time information, and the reference time information is used as time information included in a device connected to the communication path. The block data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the packet is transmitted, and the packet is transmitted after the cycle start packet. 3. The block data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the continuous digital data processed in block units is data of one track in a digital video recorder. 4. A block data transmission device for transmitting continuous digital data processed in block units through a communication path having a communication cycle different from the cycle of the block, wherein the block is an integer number of packets. Dividing means for dividing into blocks, means for aligning the head of the block with the head of the packet, and transmitting means for transmitting the packet through the communication path. It is assumed that the block is divided during the communication cycle before the communication cycle, and the time lag caused by the period of the block being different from the period of the communication cycle is the entire packet for one divided block. So that it is absorbed by sending an empty packet in the communication cycle after sending In the communication cycle after,
A block data transmission device characterized by transmitting a packet obtained by dividing the next block. 5. The device connected to the communication path has time information and a reflection means for reflecting the reference time information included in the cycle start packet included in the communication cycle in the time information. 4. The block data transmission device according to 4. 6. The block data transmission device according to claim 4, wherein the continuous digital data processed in block units is data of one track in a digital video recorder.