Devices for transmitting digital video and data over the same wires

Abstract

A wired communication port comprising a transmitter operative to transmit, over a set of wires, a first transmission comprising a digital video clock multiplexed with a first direction of a bidirectional data channel. The transmitter is further operative to transmit video pixel data and video synchronization data over the same set of wires. And a receiver operative to receive a second transmission comprising a second direction of the bidirectional data channel, over at least a subset of the set of wires utilized for the first transmission.

1 . A wired communication link comprising a first and a second transceiver;
 the first transceiver comprising a transmitter operative to transmit, over a set of wires, a first multiplexed transmission comprising a first direction of a bidirectional data channel and lossless high definition digital video comprising pixel data, video clock related data, and video synchronization data; the transmitter is further operative to transmit the first multiplexed transmission symbols at a symbol rate that is unsynchronized with the video clock;   the first transceiver further comprising a receiver operative to receive a second transmission comprising a second direction of the bidirectional data channel, over at least a subset of the set of wires utilized for the first multiplexed transmission;   the second transceiver operative to receive the first multiplexed transmission and regenerate the digital video timing based on: the received video clock related data, and the order in which the pixel data and the video synchronization data are received.   
     
     
         2 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first transmission provides better signal protection to the first direction of the bidirectional data channel compared to the signal protection provided to the lossless high definition digital video. 
     
     
         3 . The wired communication link of  claim 2 , wherein the first direction of the bidirectional data channel is transmitted using a first modulation and the lossless high definition digital video is transmitted using a second modulation. 
     
     
         4 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first transmission comprises at least two different modulations providing different levels of protection against noise. 
     
     
         5 . The wired communication link of  claim 4 , wherein the different modulations are pulse amplitude modulations. 
     
     
         6 . The wired communication link of  claim 4 , wherein the different modulations use at least partially overlapping subsets of the same symbol set. 
     
     
         7 . The wired communication link of  claim 6 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         8 . The wired communication link of  claim 10 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         9 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the lossless high definition digital video is an uncompressed high definition digital video. 
     
     
         10 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the pixels are displayed in the order in which they are received. 
     
     
         11 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the communication link transmits the data it receives without adding additional information describing the relationship between the received data and the video frame. 
     
     
         12 . The wired communication link of  claim 11 , wherein the communication link uses the video clock related data to regenerate the original video clock. 
     
     
         13 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the communication link does not add the following data to the first transmission: picture line number, video frame number, or sequential number of the video frame. 
     
     
         14 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first transmission comprises at least two unidirectional lossless high definition digital video streams. 
     
     
         15 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the link rate is independent of the digital video clock. 
     
     
         16 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first transmission comprises video clock related data, pixel data, and video synchronization data. 
     
     
         17 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the link further transmits the digital video clock over some of the wires. 
     
     
         18 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the link further transmits the digital video clock occasionally. 
     
     
         19 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first and the second transmissions are half duplex. 
     
     
         20 . The wired communication link of  claim 19 , wherein the second transmission operates during blanking periods of the lossless high definition digital video transmitted by the first transmission. 
     
     
         21 . The wired communication link of  claim 1 , wherein the first and the second transmissions are full duplex. 
     
     
         22 . A wired communication link comprising a first and a second transceiver;
 the first transceiver comprising a transmitter operative to transmit, over a set of wires, a first multiplexed transmission comprising high definition video pixel data, video clock related data, video synchronization data, and a first direction of a bidirectional data channel; the transmitter is further operative to transmit the first multiplexed transmission symbols at a symbol rate that is unsynchronized with the video clock;   the first transceiver further comprising a receiver operative to receive a second transmission comprising a second direction of the bidirectional data channel, over at least a subset of the set of wires utilized for the first multiplexed transmission;   the second transceiver operative to receive the first multiplexed transmission and regenerate the video timing based on the video clock related data, and the order in which the video pixel data and the video synchronization data are received.   
     
     
         23 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission provides better signal protection to the first direction of the bidirectional data channel compared to the signal protection provided to the high definition video pixel data. 
     
     
         24 . The wired communication link of  claim 23 , wherein the first multiplexed direction of the bidirectional data channel is transmitted using a first modulation and the high definition video pixel data is transmitted using a second modulation. 
     
     
         25 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission comprises at least two different modulations providing different levels of protection against noise. 
     
     
         26 . The wired communication link of  claim 25 , wherein the different modulations are pulse amplitude modulations. 
     
     
         27 . The wired communication link of  claim 25 , wherein the different modulations use at least partially overlapping subsets of the same symbol set. 
     
     
         28 . The wired communication link of  claim 27 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         29 . The wired communication link of  claim 34 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         30 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the video pixel data is an uncompressed high definition digital video. 
     
     
         31 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the link rate is independent of the digital video clock. 
     
     
         32 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the video clock related data is the video clock, which is transmitted at least occasionally. 
     
     
         33 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission and the second transmission are half duplex. 
     
     
         34 . The wired communication link of  claim 33 , wherein the second transmission operates during blanking periods of the video transmitted by the first multiplexed transmission. 
     
     
         35 . The wired communication link of  claim 22 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission and the second transmission are full duplex. 
     
     
         36 . A wired communication port comprising:
 a transmitter operative to transmit, over a set of wires, a first transmission comprising a digital video clock multiplexed with a first direction of a bidirectional data channel; the transmitter is further operative to transmit video pixel data and video synchronization data over the same set of wires; and   a receiver operative to receive a second transmission comprising a second direction of the bidirectional data channel, over at least a subset of the set of wires utilized for the first transmission.   
     
     
         37 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the first transmission comprises at least two different modulations providing different levels of protection against noise. 
     
     
         38 . The wired communication port of  claim 37 , wherein the different modulations are pulse amplitude modulations. 
     
     
         39 . The wired communication port of  claim 37 , wherein the different modulations use at least partially overlapping subsets of the same symbol set. 
     
     
         40 . The wired communication port of  claim 39 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         41 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the digital video clock is a video clock of uncompressed high definition video. 
     
     
         42 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the link rate is independent of the digital video clock. 
     
     
         43 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the digital video clock is transmitted occasionally. 
     
     
         44 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the first and the second transmissions are half duplex. 
     
     
         45 . The wired communication port of  claim 36 , wherein the first and the second transmissions are full duplex. 
     
     
         46 . A wired communication link comprising:
 means for transmitting, over a set of wires, a first multiplexed transmission comprising a first direction flow of a bidirectional data channel and high definition digital video comprising pixel data, video clock related data, and video synchronization data; wherein the first multiplexed transmission symbols are transmitted at a symbol rate that is unsynchronized with the video clock;   means for receiving a second transmission comprising a second direction of the bidirectional data channel, over at least a subset of the set of wires utilized for the first multiplexed transmission; and   means for regenerating the digital video timing based on: the video clock related data, and the order in which the pixel data and the video synchronization data are received.   
     
     
         47 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission provides better signal protection to the first direction of the bidirectional data channel compared to the signal protection provided to the high definition digital video. 
     
     
         48 . The wired communication link of  claim 47 , wherein the first direction of the bidirectional data channel is transmitted using a first modulation and the high definition digital video is transmitted using a second modulation. 
     
     
         49 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission comprises at least two different modulations providing different levels of protection against noise. 
     
     
         50 . The wired communication link of  claim 49 , wherein the different modulations are pulse amplitude modulations. 
     
     
         51 . The wired communication link of  claim 49 , wherein the different modulations use at least partially overlapping subsets of the same symbol set. 
     
     
         52 . The wired communication link of  claim 51 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         53 . The wired communication link of  claim 63 , wherein the symbol set is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-16. 
     
     
         54 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the communication link is agnostic to the format of the digital video. 
     
     
         55 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the link rate is independent of the digital video clock. 
     
     
         56 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the video clock related data enables the communication link to regenerate the original video clock. 
     
     
         57 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the high definition digital video is an uncompressed high definition digital video. 
     
     
         58 . The wired communication link of  claim 57 , wherein the uncompressed high definition digital video is selected from the group of: Digital Video Interfacing (DVI), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), and DisplayPort. 
     
     
         59 . The wired communication link of  claim 57 , wherein the communication link further transmits audio data. 
     
     
         60 . The wired communication link of  claim 59 , wherein the audio-video synchronization data is based on the order in which the pixel data and the audio data are received. 
     
     
         61 . The wired communication link of  claim 57 , wherein the bidirectional data comprises multimedia control signal data. 
     
     
         62 . The wired communication link of  claim 57 , wherein the bidirectional data comprises one or more of the following: Digital Video Interfacing (DVI) control signal data, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) control signal data, or DisplayPort control signal data, I2C, Consumer Electronics Control (CEC), Hot Plug Detection (HPD), 5V indication, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         63 . The wired communication link of  claim 57 , wherein the bidirectional data comprises Ethernet. 
     
     
         64 . The wired communication link of  claim 46 , wherein the first multiplexed transmission is transmitted over a first frequency band, the second transmission is received over a second frequency band, and the first and the second frequency bands at least partially overlap but not coincident.