Data processing apparatus with adaptive compression/de-compression algorithm selection for data communication over camera interface and related data processing method

Abstract

A data processing apparatus has a compressor and an output interface. The compressor generates an output multimedia data according to an input multimedia data. The output interface packs the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputs the output bitstream to another data processing apparatus via a camera interface. The camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI). In addition, the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm according to context characteristics in the input multimedia data, power supply status, operational status of a storage device, image capture characteristic, configuration of the another data processing apparatus, and/or compression algorithm supported by the another data processing apparatus. Further, the another data processing apparatus adaptively adjusts a de-compression algorithm according to a compression algorithm supported by the compressor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 a compressor, arranged for receiving an input multimedia data and generating an output multimedia data according to the input multimedia data; and   an output interface, arranged for packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   wherein the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm applied to the input multimedia data according to context characteristics of the input multimedia data.   
     
     
         2 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the compressor comprises:
 a content analysis unit, arranged for analyzing the input multimedia data to classify contents included in the input multimedia data and accordingly generating a content classification result; and   a compression unit, arranged for referring to at least the content classification result to adaptively adjust the compression algorithm.   
     
     
         3 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the contents are selected from a group consisting of a video content, an image content, a text content, and a graphic content. 
     
     
         4 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the contents comprise a first content generated using a first quantization level and a second content generated using a second quantization level which is different from the first quantization level. 
     
     
         5 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the contents comprise a first content with a first bit rate and a second content with a second bit rate which is different from the first bit rate. 
     
     
         6 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 a compressor, arranged for receiving an input multimedia data and generating an output multimedia data according to the input multimedia data; and   an output interface, arranged for packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   wherein the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm applied to the input multimedia data according to a power supply status.   
     
     
         7 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the data processing apparatus is powered by a battery device, and the power supply status indicates an available battery capacity of the battery device. 
     
     
         8 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the compressor is arranged to employ a first compression algorithm as the compression algorithm when the power supply status indicates that the available battery capacity is higher than a predetermined threshold, and employ a second compression algorithm as the compression algorithm when the power supply status indicates that the available battery capacity is not higher than the predetermined threshold, where the second compression algorithm is different from the first compression algorithm. 
     
     
         9 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the first compression algorithm is more complex than the second compression algorithm; or the first compression algorithm has a higher compression efficiency than the second compression algorithm. 
     
     
         10 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the compressor is arranged to disable the compression algorithm when the power supply status indicates that the available battery capacity is higher than a predetermined threshold, and enable the compression algorithm when the power supply status indicates that the available battery capacity is not higher than the predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         11 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 a compressor, arranged for receiving an input multimedia data and generating an output multimedia data according to the input multimedia data; and   an output interface, arranged for packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   wherein the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm applied to the input multimedia data according to an operational status of a storage device.   
     
     
         12 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the operational status indicates a used bandwidth of the storage device. 
     
     
         13 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the compressor is arranged to employ a first compression algorithm as the compression algorithm when the operational status indicates that the used bandwidth is lower than a predetermined threshold, and employ a second compression algorithm as the compression algorithm when the operational status indicates that the used bandwidth is not lower than the predetermined threshold, where the second compression algorithm is different from the first compression algorithm. 
     
     
         14 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the first compression algorithm is more complex than the second compression algorithm; or the first compression algorithm has a higher compression efficiency than the second compression algorithm. 
     
     
         15 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the compressor is arranged to disable the compression algorithm when the operational status indicates that the used bandwidth is lower than a predetermined threshold, and enable the compression algorithm when the operational status indicates that the used bandwidth is not lower than the predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         16 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 a compressor, arranged for receiving an input multimedia data and generating an output multimedia data according to the input multimedia data; and   an output interface, arranged for packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   wherein the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm applied to the input multimedia data according to at least one image capture characteristic.   
     
     
         17 . The data processing apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one image capture characteristic includes at least one of a focus level, an exposure level, and an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) value. 
     
     
         18 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 a compressor, arranged for receiving an input multimedia data and generating an output multimedia data according to the input multimedia data; and   an output interface, arranged for packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream to another data processing apparatus via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   wherein the compressor adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm applied to the input multimedia data according to a de-compression algorithm supported by the another data processing apparatus.   
     
     
         19 . A data processing apparatus comprising:
 an input interface, arranged for receiving an input bitstream from another data processing apparatus via a camera interface, and un-packing the input bitstream into an input multimedia data, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI); and   a de-compressor, arranged for generating a de-compressed multimedia data according to the input multimedia data when the input multimedia data is a compressed multimedia data;   wherein the de-compressor adaptively adjusts a de-compression algorithm according to a compression algorithm employed by the another data processing apparatus.   
     
     
         20 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input multimedia data;   adaptively adjusts a compression algorithm according to context characteristics of the input multimedia data;   generating an output multimedia data according to the compression algorithm and the input multimedia data; and   packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).   
     
     
         21 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input multimedia data;   adaptively adjusting a compression algorithm according to a power supply status;   generating an output multimedia data according to the compression algorithm and the input multimedia data; and   packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).   
     
     
         22 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input multimedia data;   adaptively adjusting a compression algorithm according to an operational status of a storage device;   generating an output multimedia data according to the compression algorithm and the input multimedia data; and   packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).   
     
     
         23 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input multimedia data;   adaptively adjusting a compression algorithm according to at least one image capture characteristic;   generating an output multimedia data according to the compression algorithm and the input multimedia data; and   packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).   
     
     
         24 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input multimedia data;   adaptively adjusting a compression algorithm according to a de-compression algorithm supported by a data processing apparatus;   generating an output multimedia data according to the compression algorithm and the input multimedia data; and   packing the output multimedia data into an output bitstream, and outputting the output bitstream to the data processing apparatus via a camera interface, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).   
     
     
         25 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving an input bitstream from a data processing apparatus via a camera interface, and un-packing the input bitstream into an input multimedia data, wherein the camera interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI);   adaptively adjusting a de-compression algorithm according to a compression algorithm employed by the data processing apparatus; and   when the input multimedia data is a compressed multimedia data, generating a de-compressed multimedia data according to the input multimedia data and the de-compression algorithm.