TWI712895B - The usb hub with resolution switching and the processing method therefore - Google Patents

Abstract

The USB HUB with resolution switching and the processing method therefore comprises of a first port, a second port, a video port, a switch port, a power unit, a storage unit and control unit. The first port couples to the host and for transports the video and data. The second port couples to the device and for transports the data. The power unit couples to the first port or the extra adapter. The storage unit record to the working flag. If the extra power does not exist, the control unit switch to the first status and setting the working flag to the first status. If the extra power exist, the control unit changes the working flag from the first status to the second status, or changes the working flag from the second status to the first status.

Description

USB hub with resolution switching and processing method thereof

A USB hub and an operation processing method, particularly related to a USB hub with resolution switching and a processing method.

With the rapid development of integrated circuits, the demand for large amounts of data transmission is also increasing. In particular, related equipment of Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives various demands for data storage, transmission, and switching. The transmission bandwidth of the current USB3.0 gen1 and gen2 devices can reach 5Gbit/s and 10Gbit/s.

At a high-speed transmission rate, USB3.0 can not only achieve the purpose of rapid data transmission, but also complete the transmission of heterogeneous signals. Heterogeneous signals refer to signals that transmit different protocols through the USB architecture. For example, in addition to a USB connection port, a USB hub can also be equipped with a network interface, audio interface, or video interface. Under the high-speed USB3.0 series, the video interface can transmit high-traffic audio and video files, especially ultra-high-resolution video files (or game screens), such as 4K videos or 8K videos. And the display frequency of ultra-high-resolution movies is further divided into 30Hz, 60Hz or higher frequencies.

Traditional USB hubs share all the bandwidth when transferring data or ultra-high-resolution videos, so that the transfer rate of both the data and the video will be affected during the transfer. If it is a high-resolution video transmission, all the bandwidth will be used, resulting in low transmission performance of all devices.

For the USB hub of the prior art, if the transmission speed is to be changed, the user can only replug and unplug the USB hub, so that the host can reallocate the number of transmission channels. But for the user, the user cannot directly observe the distribution of the transmission channel directly from the plugged USB hub. In addition, some manufacturers have proposed automatic switching devices and automatic switching methods The previous case (TW I615719). Since the basis of the automatic switching in the prior art is determined by the host side according to the number of transmission channels. Users cannot intuitively know the distribution of transmission speed from the appearance of USB hubs and peripheral devices, especially when 4K videos are played at 30Hz or 60Hz.

The invention provides a USB hub with resolution switching, which is used to switch the transmission speed of high-speed data transmission and high-resolution video.

The USB hub with resolution switching of the present invention includes: a first communication interface, a second communication interface, a video output interface, a switching unit, a power input unit, a storage unit and a control unit. The first communication interface is connected to the host and transmits the target video and data signals. The first communication interface has a first transmission channel, a second transmission channel and a third transmission channel; the second communication interface is connected to the peripheral device, and the second communication interface is used for For transmitting data signals, the second communication interface has a fourth transmission channel and a fifth transmission channel; the video output interface is used to output the target video to the display, and the video output interface has a sixth transmission channel and a seventh transmission channel; the switching unit is used to generate Switching command; the power input unit is electrically connected to the first communication interface, the power input unit is used to receive external power; the storage unit is used to record the current state, the current state is the first state or the second state; the control unit is electrically connected to the first state A communication interface, a second communication interface, a video output interface, a switching unit, a power input unit, and a storage unit. The control unit determines the first transmission channel to the fourth transmission channel, or the first transmission channel to the sixth transmission channel when receiving the switching command The connection of the transmission channel; when the control unit receives the switching command, the control unit determines whether there is external power input. If there is no external power, the control unit switches to the first state and records the first state as the current state; if there is external power, it controls The unit switches from the first state to the second state, or the control unit switches from the second state to the first state, and the control unit updates the current state.

The present invention also provides a resolution switching processing method, which includes the following steps: connecting the USB hub to the host and the display; initializing the USB hub and loading the current state; the USB hub playing the target movie according to the current state; receiving the switching command Then, confirm whether the USB hub has an external power supply; if the current state is the first state and there is external power supply, the USB hub will set the current state to the second state; if the current state is the second state and there is external power supply, the USB hub will The current state is set to the first state; if there is no external power Power supply, the USB hub is initialized.

The USB hub with resolution switching and its processing method of the present invention are applied to high-speed data and high-resolution video transmission. The user can select the corresponding transmission speed and video playback resolution through the switching unit. With the USB hub of the present invention, the transmission speed and the video resolution can be changed without re-plugging and unplugging the USB hub.

With regard to the features and implementation of the present invention, the best embodiments are described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

100‧‧‧USB Hub

110‧‧‧First communication interface

120‧‧‧Second communication interface

130‧‧‧Video output interface

140‧‧‧Switching unit

150‧‧‧Warning Unit

160‧‧‧Power Input Unit

170‧‧‧Storage unit

180‧‧‧Control Unit

191‧‧‧The first transmission channel

192‧‧‧Second transmission channel

193‧‧‧Third transmission channel

194‧‧‧The fourth transmission channel

195‧‧‧Fifth Transmission Channel

196‧‧‧The sixth transmission channel

197‧‧‧The seventh transmission channel

210‧‧‧Host

220‧‧‧Peripherals

230‧‧‧Display

310‧‧‧Data signal

320‧‧‧Target movie

330‧‧‧External power

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of the present invention.

Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of each transmission channel of the present invention.

Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of the connection between the first state of the present invention and each transmission channel.

Figure 2C is a schematic diagram of the connection between the second state of the present invention and each transmission channel.

Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of the operation flow of the present invention.

Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of state switching of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the USB hub 100 of the present invention. The USB hub 100 with resolution switching of the present invention includes: a first communication interface 110, a second communication interface 120, a video output interface 130, a switching unit 140, a warning unit 150, a power input unit 160, a storage unit 170, and a control unit 180. The control unit 180 is electrically connected to the first communication interface 110, the second communication interface 120, the video output interface 130, the switching unit 140, the warning unit 150, the power input unit 160 and the storage unit 170.

The first communication interface 110 is electrically connected to a host 210 (host), and the second communication interface 120 can be selectively connected to a peripheral device 220. In addition to transmitting the data signal 310 to the peripheral device 220, the host terminal 210 may also transmit the target video 320 to the display 230. In the present invention, in order to distinguish the difference between the data and the video, the data and the video are divided into two types of signals, namely the data signal and the target video. The first communication interface 110 and the second communication interface 120 are serial interfaces of the third-generation universal serial bus (USB3.X). Of the aforementioned interface type The type can be a USB type A, B or C connector. The video output interface 130 is electrically connected to the display 230. The type of the video output interface 130 may be a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a DisplayPort (DP) connector, or a USB Type-C (USB Type-C).

The present invention defines the transmission state as the first state and the second state respectively. Each operating state corresponds to a different configuration of the transmission channel, so that the first communication interface 110 and the second communication interface 120 can obtain different combinations of transmission channels. In the present invention, the data transmission rate of the host 210 depends on the USB to DP transmission protocol. The current DP protocol is divided into version 1.2 and version 1.4. The USB protocol types are USB2.0 and USB3.X respectively. The various USB protocols described need to cooperate with different combinations of transmission channels, which will be described in detail later.

The USB hub 100 of the present invention can provide corresponding data transmission rates and frame rates (Frame per Second, FPS) of movies of various resolutions in different transmission states. The aforementioned frame rate can also be expressed in Hertz (Hz). The following is a convenient way to express the video resolution and frame rate, so the prefix "XX resolution" video plus the suffix "(XX Hz)" will be used as a distinction. In particular, it should be noted that in addition to representing the frame rate of the movie, the suffix also represents the traffic limit of the target movie 320.

The resolution and frame rate of the target movie 320 are respectively defined as high-flow movies and medium-flow movies in the present invention. The distinction between high-flow movies and medium-flow movies is based on the DP protocol and the USB protocol. Taking USB3.1Gen2 and DP1.4 protocol as an example, high-traffic videos can include 4K videos (60Hz) and 8K videos (30Hz), and medium-traffic videos can include 4K videos (30Hz), 1080p videos or 720p videos. In the previous article, movies with a frame rate greater than the suffix will also be considered high-traffic movies. For example, the suffix frame rate of 4K video (120Hz) is greater than that of 4K video (60Hz), so it is also included in high-traffic videos.

Conversely, videos with a frame rate less than the suffix will be regarded as medium traffic videos. If it is under the environment of USB3.1Gen2 and DP1.2 protocol, the high-traffic video is 4K video (30Hz), and the medium-traffic video can be 1080p (60Hz) video or 720p video. The 4K video is a 3840×2160 or 4096×2160 pixel video, streaming video or game screen. 8K video is 7680*4320 pixel video, streaming video or game screen.

In the present invention, the first communication interface 110 and the second communication interface 120 are each It has a transmission channel, and each transmission channel has its own connection mode corresponding to the first state and the second state. In order to clearly describe the transmission channels of each communication interface, the transmission channels of the first communication interface 110 and the second communication interface 120 are respectively defined as follows. The first communication interface 110 has a first transmission channel 191, a second transmission channel 192 and a third transmission channel 193. The second communication interface 120 has a fourth transmission channel 194 and a fifth transmission channel 195. The video output interface 130 has a sixth transmission channel 196 and a seventh transmission channel 197, as shown in FIG. 2A. In Figure 2A, the solid black bidirectional arrow is the transmission channel, and the black dashed frame is the file to be transmitted, such as the target video 320 or the data signal 310. Among them, the first transmission channel 191, the second transmission channel 192, the fourth transmission channel 194, the sixth transmission channel 196, and the seventh transmission channel 197 are formed by the differential signal lines of TX± and RX±. The third transmission channel 193 and the fifth transmission channel 195 are formed by USB2.0 D+ and D- signal lines.

In the present invention, the communication of the first transmission channel 191 to the fourth transmission channel 194 and the sixth transmission channel 196 is controlled by the switching unit 140 and the control unit 180. In other words, the connection of the first transmission channel 191 to the fourth transmission channel 194 or the connection of the first transmission channel 191 to the sixth transmission channel 196 is determined by the control unit 180 according to the current operating state. The user can trigger the switching unit 140 to drive the control unit 180 to switch the transmission path.

When the USB hub 100 is in the first state, the control unit 180 will disconnect the first transmission channel 191 and the sixth transmission channel 196. The first transmission channel 191 is connected to the fourth transmission channel 194, and the third transmission channel 193 is connected to the fifth transmission channel 195, as shown in FIG. 2B. When the USB hub 100 is in the second state, the control unit 180 will connect the first transmission channel 191 and the sixth transmission channel 196. The second transmission channel 192 is connected to the seventh transmission channel 197, and the third transmission channel 193 is connected to the fifth transmission channel 195, as shown in FIG. 2C. In Figures 2B and 2C, the thick black lines indicate the connected transmission channels.

The storage unit 170 is used to record the current state of the USB hub 100. The storage unit 170 may be a programmable read-only memory (Programmable read-only memory) or a flash memory (Flash memory). In the present invention, the current state is either the first state or the second state. The switching unit 140 is electrically connected to the control unit 180. A switching command will be generated when the switching unit 140 is triggered. The switching command enables the control unit 180 to change the content of the current state and adjust the connection mode of the transmission channel.

In addition to switching the connection of each transmission channel, the control unit 180 also forwards the switching command to the host side 210 so that the host side 210 actively changes the resolution and frame rate (or hertz) of the target video 320. The switch unit 140 yuan can be a peripheral button or a DIP switch. The first state is that the host side 210 outputs a medium-flow video and the transmission structure of the USB3.X series. The second state is the transmission structure of the host 210 outputting high-flow videos and USB2.0.

When the user triggers the switching unit 140, the control unit 180 uses the input power of the power input unit 160 to determine the content of the current state. In addition to being powered by a transformer, the external power 330 may also be provided by the host terminal 210. If it is provided by the host 210, the external power 330 is based on the USB Power Delivery protocol of the universal serial bus.

When the control unit 180 switches the current state, the control unit 180 will also link with the warning unit 150 to remind the user of the current state of the USB hub 100. The warning unit 150 may be an LED light emitting element or a liquid crystal display screen. For example, when the control unit 180 is in the current state in the first state, the warning unit 150 may emit a red LED. When the control unit 180 is in the second state as the current state, the warning unit 150 may emit blue LEDs. Of course, in other application environments, the warning unit 150 can also use lights of different colors to indicate their respective states.

In order to further illustrate the switching of the operating state of the USB hub 100 of the present invention, please cooperate with FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, which are schematic diagrams of the operation flow and state switching of the present invention. The method for processing the resolution switching of the USB hub 100 of the present invention includes the following steps: Step S410: Connect the USB hub to the host and the display; Step S420: Confirm whether the display has EDID; Step S421: If the display does not have EDID, the USB hub will The current state is set to the first state; Step S430: If the display has EDID, initialize the USB hub; Step S440: The USB hub loads the current state; Step S450: After receiving the switching command, confirm whether the USB hub has external power supply; Step S461: If The current state is the first state and there is external power supply, the USB hub sets the current state to the second state; step S462: if the current state is the second state and there is external power supply, the USB hub Set the current state to the first state; and step S463: if there is no external power supply, the USB hub performs the initialization of step S440.

First, connect the USB hub 100 to the host terminal 210 and the display 230 respectively. At the same time, the USB hub 100 can selectively connect to the peripheral device 220. When the USB hub 100 is connected to the host terminal 210, the control unit 180 enters the power up phase of initialization, such as the initialized block in Figure 3B. When initially powered on, the USB hub 100 only obtains power from the host side 210. The control unit 180 obtains the current status from the storage unit 170. The control unit 180 sends the current status to the host terminal 210, so that the host terminal 210 selects the corresponding target movie 320 format according to the current status.

Then, the control unit 180 requests the display 230 to obtain extended display identification data (EDID), so as to identify whether the display 230 supports 4K video (or 8K video) playback. If the display 230 has no EDID, the control unit 180 will directly use the first state as the current state. In other words, the video output interface 130 transmits the target video 320 of the medium-flow video to the display 230, and the second communication interface 120 transmits data to the peripheral device 220 at the speed of USB3.0.

If the display 230 has an EDID, the control unit 180 will read the current status in the storage unit 170 and transmit the data and movies in the current status. If the current state is the first state, the control unit 180 sends the current state (meaning the first state) to the host side 210 through the first communication interface 110, so that the host side 210 sends the target movie 320 of the medium traffic movie to the video output interface 130 . Similarly, if the current state is the second state, the control unit 180 will send the current state to the host terminal 210 so that the host terminal 210 transmits the target movie 320 that matches the high-traffic movie. The second communication interface 120 uses the transmission speed of USB 2.0.

Then, when the user triggers the switching unit 140 yuan, the control unit 180 and the host terminal 210 will receive the switching command. Assuming that the current state is the first state, the control unit 180 will immediately determine whether the power input unit 160 has input of the external power 330 after receiving the switching command. If the power input unit 160 receives the external power 330, the control unit 180 switches the first state to the second state, and sets the second state as the current state. The control unit 180 also sends the current status to the host terminal 210. At the same time, the second transmission channel 192 and the fifth transmission channel 195 are disconnected, so that the second communication interface 120 can only transmit data at the speed of USB 2.0. To ensure the bandwidth of the target movie 320 when playing. The host 210 will send the target movie 320 of the high-traffic movie to the video output interface 130. If the power input unit 160 has no external power 330 input, the control unit 180 will perform the initial power-on process of step S430. The control unit 180 is used to play the target video 320 according to the new current state (the second state).

Similarly, if the current state is the second state and the user triggers the switching unit for 140 yuan, the control unit 180 will switch the second state to the first state. The control unit 180 defines the first state as a new current state. The control unit 180 is determining whether there is an input of external power 330. If there is no external power 330 input, the control unit 180 will perform the initial power-on process of step S430. Otherwise, the control unit 180 will change the connection between the second transmission channel and the fifth transmission channel 195, and the control unit 180 will also send the new current status to the host terminal 210.

The USB hub 100 with resolution switching and its processing method of the present invention are applied to high-speed data and high-resolution video transmission. The user can select the corresponding transmission speed and video playback resolution through the switch unit 140. With the USB hub 100 of the present invention, the transmission speed and the resolution of the video can be changed without re-plugging the USB hub 100, and the user can intuitively check the operating status of the USB hub 100.

Although the present invention is disclosed in the foregoing preferred embodiments as above, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone who is familiar with similar art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of patent protection for inventions shall be determined by the scope of patent applications attached to this specification.

100‧‧‧USB Hub

110‧‧‧First communication interface

120‧‧‧Second communication interface

130‧‧‧Video output interface

140‧‧‧Switching unit

150‧‧‧Warning Unit

160‧‧‧Power Input Unit

170‧‧‧Storage unit

180‧‧‧Control Unit

210‧‧‧Host

220‧‧‧Peripherals

230‧‧‧Display

310‧‧‧Data signal

320‧‧‧Target movie

330‧‧‧External power

Claims (10)

A USB hub with resolution switching is used to switch high-speed data transmission and high-resolution video transmission. The USB hub with resolution switching includes: a first communication interface connected to a host terminal and transmits a target Video and a data signal, the first communication interface has a first transmission channel, a second transmission channel and a third transmission channel; a second communication interface connected to a peripheral device, the second communication interface for transmission For the data signal, the second communication interface has a fourth transmission channel and a fifth transmission channel; a video output interface for outputting the target video to a display, the video output interface has a sixth transmission channel and a first Seven transmission channels; a switching unit for generating a switching command; a power input unit electrically connected to the first communication interface and the second communication interface, the power input unit for receiving an external power; a storage unit , For recording a current state, the current state is a first state or a second state; a control unit, electrically connected to the first communication interface, the second communication interface, the video output interface, the switching unit , The power input unit and the storage unit, the control unit determines the connection of the first transmission channel to the fourth transmission channel, or the first transmission channel to the sixth transmission channel when receiving the switching command; wherein, When the control unit receives the switching command, the control unit determines whether the external power is input; if there is no external power, the control unit switches to the first state and records the first state as the current state; if it exists For the external power, the control unit switches from the first state to the second state, or the control unit switches from the second state to the first state, and the control unit updates the current state. The USB hub with resolution switching according to claim 1, wherein the first transmission channel, the second transmission channel, the fourth transmission channel, the sixth transmission channel and the seventh transmission channel are divided by TX± and RX The third transmission channel and the fifth transmission channel are composed of USB2.0 D+ and D- signal lines. The USB hub with resolution switching as described in claim 1, wherein the type of the first communication interface and the second communication interface is a third-generation universal serial bus, and the video output interface The types of ports are High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), DisplayPort or USB Type-C connector. The USB hub with resolution switching as described in claim 1, wherein in the first state, the host side outputs a high-traffic video and USB3 protocol, and in the second state, the host side outputs a medium-traffic The video is in agreement with the USB2.0 version. The USB hub with resolution switching as described in claim 4, wherein the display is connected to the video output interface, and the control unit checks whether the display has an extended display identification data (EDID). The USB hub with resolution switching as described in claim 5, wherein if the extended display capability identification information does not exist, the control unit is set to the operating state in the first state, and if the extended display capability identification information exists, The control unit loads the operating state. The USB hub with resolution switching as described in claim 1, wherein the external power comes from the host side or a transformer connected to the power input unit. A processing method of resolution switching, which is used to switch high-speed data transmission and high-resolution video transmission. The processing method of resolution switching includes the following steps: connecting a USB hub to a host and a display for Transmit a target movie from the host to the display; initialize the USB hub; load the USB hub into a current state; the USB hub plays the target movie according to the current state; after receiving a switching command, confirm whether the USB hub has an external Power supply; if the current state is a first state and the external power supply is available, the USB hub sets the current state to a second state; if the current state is the second state and the external power supply is available, the USB hub The USB hub sets the current state to the first state; and if there is no external power supply, the USB hub initializes. The processing method of resolution switching according to claim 8, wherein after the USB hub is initialized, it includes: determining by the USB hub an extended display capability identification information of the display; if the extended display capability identification information does not exist, the USB The hub sets the first state Set to the current state; the USB hub outputs the target movie to the display according to the current state; and if the extended display capability identification information exists, the USB hub outputs the target movie to the display according to the current state. The processing method for resolution switching as described in claim 8, wherein after the USB hub is initialized, it includes: the USB hub plays the target movie according to the current state.

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