TW202316282A - Bidirectional video data communications - Google Patents

Abstract

In some examples, a cable includes an arrangement of electrical lines according to Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C, where the arrangement of electrical lines supports concurrent bidirectional communication of video data. The cable includes a first video signal line to carry video data in a first direction in the cable, and a second video signal line to carry video data in an opposite second direction in the cable.

Description

Two-way video data communication technology

The invention relates to two-way video data communication technology.

An electronic device includes a connector for connecting to an electrical cable for communicating with another electronic device (or multiple other electronic devices). The connector may include an arrangement of pins for communicating various signals, including data signals, power signals, ground signals, control signals, and the like. The configuration of the pins of the connector may be defined by a standard.

In one aspect of the invention, a cable is disclosed comprising: an arrangement of electrical circuits according to Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C, wherein the arrangement of electrical circuits supports simultaneous two-way communication of video data, and comprising: a first video signal line for carrying video data in a first direction in the cable, and a second video signal line for carrying video data in an opposite first direction in the cable Carry video data in two directions.

In this disclosure, the term "a" or "the" is intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, the terms "comprising", "comprising", or "having" when used in this disclosure specify the presence of stated elements, but do not exclude the presence or addition of other elements.

According to the USB Type-C specification, a connector type for an electronic device is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C connector. USB Type-C is also known as USB-C.

A current version of USB-C uses 24 pins. It should be noted that different versions of USB-C may utilize different pin configurations.

A "pin" of a connector may refer to an electrical contact that is electrically matable with an electrical contact of a corresponding connector, such as a cable or a connector of another electronic device. A "cable" may refer to an arrangement of electrical conductors used to carry signals, power, ground, etc. This arrangement of electrical conductors may be contained within a protective outer sheath. In some examples, a "cable" may also refer to multiple subsets of electrical conductors, where each subset of electrical conductors is contained by a separately different protective outer sheath.

A DisplayPort technology enables the communication of audio and video data over a single cable. One of the current versions of DisplayPort technology is DisplayPort 2.0. DisplayPort 2.0 provides a relatively high bandwidth communication of video data, and DisplayPort 2.0 may support 4K or 8K video data, for example. Although reference is made to DisplayPort 2.0 in some examples, it should be noted that the term "DisplayPort" may refer to DisplayPort 2.0 or another version of DisplayPort.

As used herein, "visual data" may refer to still image data and/or moving image data showing depicted objects in motion.

DisplayPort data can be carried via designated pins of a USB-C connector. In some examples, DisplayPort data is only transferred in a single direction through a USB-C connector between electronic devices. Some examples support multiple DisplayPort lanes using a single set of USB-C pins. However, the multiple DisplayPort lanes are used to increase bandwidth in a single direction by performing unidirectional transmission of sets of video data through the multiple DisplayPort lanes. A "lane" may refer to a group of signals or pins.

In some situations, it may be desirable to perform high-speed two-way communication of video data between electronic devices. According to some implementations of the present disclosure, a USB-C connector is provided, wherein multiple sets of video signal pins are used to transmit video data simultaneously and bidirectionally in opposite directions through a USB-C connector.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example configuration in which bidirectional communication of video data between devices can occur over a USB-C communication link. As used herein, a "communication link" may refer to a cable and/or a connector.

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration including a user device 102 , a console device 104 and a computer device 106 . Although FIG. 1 shows a particular device configuration, it should be noted that in other examples different device configurations may be used. For example, instead of three devices, a configuration may include only two devices or more than three devices in other examples.

The user device 102 may include any one or some combination of the following: a desktop computer, a notebook computer, an all-in-one (AIO) computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a game appliance, a vehicle, A controller in a vehicle, a household appliance, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.

Console device 104 may perform certain control operations associated with the communication and/or presentation of video data. For example, the console device 104 can be a conference room control device used in a conference room where participants can participate in an online video conference with other participants at other locations. For example, the console device 104 can be used to connect to a computer device 106 to establish a video conference session involving multiple participants, including participants at the user device 102, at the console device 104 ( such as participants in a conference room) and possibly additional participants at additional user devices.

For example, computer device 106 executes a session control program 108 that may be used to control the establishment of a communication session, such as a videoconferencing session, in response to activation at console device 104 or at user device 102 . The session control program 108 can be any of a variety of different commercially available videoconferencing session programs, such as SKYPE, WEBEX, MICROSOFT TEAMS, ZOOM, and the like. In other examples, other types of dialog control programs may be used.

In some examples, a user at the console device 104 can use the control elements of a control interface 130 of the console device 104 to initiate a session such as a videoconferencing session using the session control program 108 in the computer device 106 A communication dialogue. For example, the control elements of the control interface 130 may include graphical control elements displayed in the touch-sensitive display screen 132 of the console device 104 .

The user device 102 can be connected to the console device 104 via a cable 116 . For example, a given participant in the conference room in which the console device 104 is located may connect the given participant's user device 102 to the console device 104 so that the given participant can view A video of the communication session on a display screen 134 of the user device 102 . The user device 102 also includes a program 136 for generating an output comprising image data that may be presented as part of a communication session. For example, the program 136 can produce a spreadsheet or other graphical output for sharing. Although not shown, the user device 102 may also include a video camera to capture video of the given participant using the user device 102 .

During a communication session, user device 102 may send video data (e.g., image data output by program 136 and/or camera video data from a camera of user device 102 ) to console device 104 via cable 116 . In other examples, the user device 102 can send video data to the console device 104 via a wireless link.

The console device 104 also includes a video feed 138 received from a video source, such as a video camera (or cameras) connected to the console device 104 . In other examples, the console device 104 may include a video camera to generate the video feed 138 . The video feed 138 may include video data of participants in the conference room in which the console device 104 is located.

Console device 104 sends user device video data (received from user device 102 ) and video feed 138 to computer device 106 via a cable 122 .

The computer device 106 includes a video switching module 140 that receives video data 142 transmitted from the console device 104 to the computer device 106 . The video switching module 140 is used to route different portions of the received video data 142 along different paths. In some examples, the video switching module 140 can be implemented using executable machine-readable instructions in the computer device 106 . In other examples, the video switching module 140 can be implemented using a hardware processing circuit in the computer device 106 .

The video switching module 140 can send the user device video data (144) from the computer device 106 to a first display device 110-1 connected to the computer device 106 via an interface 124-1. The user device video data 144 (eg, which may have been generated by the program 136 at the user device 102) may be displayed at the first display device 110-1.

The video switching module 140 can pass the video feed 138 received at the console device 104 to the session control program 108, which can combine the video feed 138 from the console device 104 with other participants involved in the communication session video data of another participant's device (or multiple other participant's devices). Other participant devices may be coupled to the computer device 106 and/or the control device via a network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public network such as the Internet, etc. Station device 104.

The session control program 108 can send the combined (of all participants in the communication session) video feed 146 from the computer device 106 to a second display device 110-2 via an interface 124-2, which can display The combined video feed 146 .

In some examples, the session control program 108 can send the video data 148 to the console device 104 via the cable 122 in the other direction.

According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the cable 122 can support simultaneous two-way communication of video data in opposite directions between the console device 104 and the computer device 106 . Simultaneous two-way communication of video data includes user device video data and video feed 138 sent from the console device 104 to the computer device 106 , and video data 148 sent from the computer device 106 to the console device 104 .

More generally, "simultaneous two-way communication of video data" may refer to communication of first video data in a first direction and second video data in an opposite second direction through a cable or a connector Communications, wherein the first video data communication and the second video data communication have some temporal overlap (partially or fully).

In some examples, the user device 102 includes a user device connector 112 and the console device 104 includes a first console device connector 114 . A cable 116 interconnects the user device connector 112 and the first console device connector 114 . In some examples, the connectors 112 and 114 are USB-C connectors, and the cable 116 is a USB-C cable.

A USB-C connector is capable of communicating according to the USB-C standard, and a USB-C cable includes electrical lines for connecting to pins of a USB-C connector.

An "electrical circuit" may mean an electrical conductor or a pair of electrical conductors. In an example where an electrical circuit includes a pair of electrical conductors, the pair of electrical conductors is used to convey a differential signal. It should be noted that each electrical line used to carry power, ground, or some other signal includes a single electrical conductor.

The console device 104 further includes a second console device connector 118 , and the computer device 106 includes a computer device connector 120 . A cable 122 interconnects the connectors 118 and 120 .

The connectors 118 and 120 are USB-C connectors, and the cable 122 is a USB-C cable 122 . According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the USB-C connectors 118, 120 and the USB-C cable 122 support simultaneous two-way communication of video data.

In some examples, the interface 124-1 between the computer device 106 and the first display device 110-1 is a USB-C interface, and the interface between the computer device 106 and the second display device 110-2 124-2 is a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) interface. Although a particular interface is mentioned for the connection between the computer device 106 and the display devices 110-1 and 110-2, in other examples different interfaces may be used. An "interface" can refer to a combination of connectors and cables, or to a wireless link.

Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which two display devices are connected to the computer device 106 , in other examples more than two display devices or less than two display devices may be connected to the computer device 106 .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a pin configuration of a USB-C connector 200 , which can be the connector 118 or the connector 120 of FIG. 1 . The USB-C connector 200 includes 24 pins A1-A12 and B1-B12. In other examples, a USB-C connector may include a different configuration and/or a different number of pins.

According to some implementations of the present disclosure, the USB-C connector 200 includes new purpose pins to support bi-directional communication of video data through the USB-C connector 200 . These new purpose pins are used for purposes other than those contemplated by the current USB-C standard. However, according to some examples, a later version of the USB-C standard (or another standard) may define a use of the pins of a USB-C connector consistent with the description provided in this disclosure.

Although FIG. 2 shows the assignment of specific pins of the USB-C connector 200 for the corresponding purpose, in other examples, a different assignment of the pins of the USB-C connector 200 for the corresponding purpose is described in this disclosure. within the scope of the content.

In the example according to FIG. 2, the pins B2, B3 are used to transmit the first video data (DP0+, DP0-) in a first direction (such as through the cable 122 of FIG. 1), and the pins A11, A10 is used to transmit the second video data (DP1+, DP1-) in the first direction, such as through the cable 122 of FIG. 1 . The pins B2 and B3 constitute a first differential pair pin for transmitting the first video data (in the form of a differential signal), and the pins A11 and A10 constitute a pair for transmitting the second video data (in the form of a differential signal). A second differential pair pin in the form of a differential signal.

According to some implementations of the present disclosure, pins A6, A7 are used to receive third video data (DPOX+ , DP0X-). The pins A6, A7 constitute a differential pair pin for receiving the third video data (in the form of a differential signal). The third video data can be communicated in one direction using the pins A6, A7 simultaneously with the first and second video data communicating in the opposite direction using the pins B2, B3 and A11, A10.

In some examples, the first video data, the second video data and the third video data are display port data in some examples. According to DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0, two DP (DisplayPort) lanes can be used to carry video data along a given direction. In the example of FIG. 2, a first DP lane uses pins B2, B3 of the USB-C connector 200, and a second DP lane uses pins A11, A10 of the USB-C connector 200. . In the reverse direction, a DP lane uses pins A6 , A7 of the USB-C connector 200 .

For audio and/or video data transmitted in each direction, auxiliary pins are defined to carry auxiliary information, which may include and use DP pins (B2, B3 or any of A11, A10 or A6, A7) Miscellaneous data carried separately from the audio and/or visual data. For example, the content of the auxiliary information can be defined by a display port standard.

For example, pins A8, B8 constitute a differential pair of pins carrying auxiliary information ( AUX+, AUX-). Similarly, pins B7, B6 form a differential pair of pins carrying auxiliary information (AUXX+, AUXX-) for audio and/or video data transmitted in the second direction using pins A6, A7.

In some examples, the pins A2 and A3 constitute a differential pair of pins for transmitting USB data, and the pins B11 and B10 constitute a differential pair of pins for receiving USB data.

The remaining pins of the USB-C connector 200 are used to pass other signals according to the USB-C standard, which includes a power supply voltage (eg, A9, B4, B5, A4, B9) and ground ( For example, A12, B1, A1, B12).

The pin A5 is used to carry the CC signal, and the pin B5 is used to carry the VCONN signal. The purpose of the CC signal and the VCONN signal is explained by the USB-C standard.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical circuit between a first electronic device 302 and a second electronic device 304 . For example, the electronic device 302 can be the console device 104 of FIG. 1 , and the electronic device 304 can be the computer device 106 of FIG. 1 . In other examples, other types of electronic devices 302 and 304 may be used.

The electronic device 302 has a USB-C connector 306 , and the electronic device 304 has a USB-C connector 308 .

A cable 310 (eg, cable 122 of FIG. 1 ) interconnects the USB-C connectors 306 and 308 . The cable 310 includes various signal lines, including: a USB transmit signal line 312 (SSTX1) connected to pins A2, A3; a USB receive signal line 314 (SSRX1) connected to pins B11, B10; A first DisplayPort signal line 316 of pins B2, B3; a second DisplayPort signal line 318 connected to one of pins A11, A10; an auxiliary signal line 320 connected to one of pins A8, B8; connected to pin A6 , a third DisplayPort signal line 322 of A7; and an auxiliary signal line 324 connected to pins B7 and B6. There are other signal lines of the cable 310 not shown, such as to carry VBUS, GND, CC and VCONN.

Each signal line shown in FIG. 3 includes a differential pair of electrical conductors for carrying a differential signal.

DisplayPort signal lines 316 and 318 carry DisplayPort data in a first direction via cable 310, and DisplayPort signal line 322 carries DisplayPort signal line 322 in a second direction opposite the first direction via cable 310 Display port information.

In a further example, the configuration of FIG. 1 can support a switchable keyboard/mouse and video management (KVM) mode of operation, wherein the user device 102 can be a smartphone or a tablet computer, and the console device 104 is is a docking station, and the computer device 106 can be an all-in-one (AIO) computer or another type of computer device.

In this example, the docking station can send video data (e.g., DisplayPort data) from the smartphone or computer to the AIO computer via cable 122, and the docking station can receive video data from the smartphone or computer in the opposite direction via the cable 122. The video data of the AIO computer. User input made at the smartphone or tablet can be sent as data to the AIO computer via the cable 122 .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a cable 400 according to some examples. The cable 400 includes a configuration of electrical circuits according to USB-C. The electrical circuitry is configured to support simultaneous two-way communication of video data and includes: a first video signal line 402 for carrying video data 404 (e.g., display port data) in a first direction 406 of cable 400 or other video data); and a second video signal line 408 for carrying video data 410 (for example, display port data or other video data) on an opposite direction 412 in the cable 400 .

In some examples, the first video signal line 402 includes electrical conductors for connecting to pins A11 and A10 or pins B2 and B3 of a USB-C connector, and the second video signal line 408 includes electrical conductors for connecting to pins A11 and A10 or pins B2 and B3 of a USB-C connector. Electrical conductors connected to pins A6 and A7 of the USB-C connector.

In some examples, an auxiliary signal line for the second video signal line 408 includes electrical conductors for connecting to pins B7 and B6 of the USB-C connector.

In some examples, an auxiliary signal line for the first video signal line 402 includes electrical conductors for connecting to pins A8 and B8 of the USB-C connector.

In some examples, the first video signal line 402 and the second video signal line 408 are separate and distinct from a USB signal line (eg, transmit USB signal line and/or receive USB signal line) of the cable 400 .

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a first electronic device 500 including a USB-C connector 501 for connecting to a cable for communicating with a second electronic device. The USB-C connector 501 supports simultaneous two-way communication of video data.

The USB-C connector 501 includes: a first video signal pin 502 (for example, a display port pin or other type of video signal pin) for a first direction 506 in the cable sending first video data 504; and a second video signal pin 508 for receiving second video data 510 in an opposite second direction 512 of the cable.

In some examples, the first video signal pin 502 is part of a first pair of video signal pins for sending the first video data 504 in the first direction 506, and the second video signal pin 508 It is part of a second pair of video signal pins for receiving the second video data 510 in the second direction 512 .

In some examples, the first electronic device 500 (for example, the console device 104 of FIG. 1 ) includes a display device and a controller to receive information from a third electronic device (for example, the user device 102 of FIG. 1 ). and send the first video data 504 to the second electronic device through the first video signal pin 502 . The controller is used to use the second video signal pin 508 to receive the second video data 510 from the second electronic device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a USB-C connector 600 for an electronic device that supports simultaneous two-way communication of video data. The USB-C connector 600 includes: a first pair of DisplayPort signal pins 602 for sending first video data in a first direction 606 via a cable connected to the USB-C connector 600 604 ; and a second pair of DisplayPort signal pins 608 for receiving second video data 610 in an opposite second direction 612 via the cable.

In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject matter disclosed herein. However, implementations may also be practiced without these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and variations.

102: User device 104: Console device 106:Computer device 108:Dialogue control program 110-1: First display device, display device 110-2: Second display device, display device 112: user device connector, connector 114: first console device connector, connector 116,310,400: cables 118: Second console unit connector, connector, USB-C connector 120: computer device connector, connector, USB-C connector 122: Cable, USB-C cable 124-1, 124-2: interface 130: Control interface 132: Touch-sensitive display screen 134: Display screen 136: program 138,146: Video feed 140:Video switching module 142,148,404,410: video data 144: User device video data 200, 306, 308, 501, 600: USB-C connector 302: first electronic device, electronic device 304: Second electronic device, electronic device 312: USB transmission signal line 314: USB receiving signal line 316: The first display port signal line, display port signal line 318: Second display port signal line, display port signal line 320,324: auxiliary signal line 322: The third display port signal line, display port signal line 402: The first video signal line 406,506,606: the first direction 408: Second video signal line 412: Opposite direction 500: The first electronic device 502: The first video signal pin 504,604: First video data 508: Second video signal pin 510,610: second video data 512,612: the second direction 602: The first pair of display port signal pins 608: The second pair of display port signal pins A1-A12, B1-B12: pins

Some implementations of the disclosure are described with reference to the following figures.

1 is a block diagram of one configuration including devices and cables interconnecting electronic devices, according to some examples.

2 is a block diagram of one configuration of signal pins of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C connector, according to some examples.

3 is a block diagram of a cable interconnecting electronic devices according to some examples.

4 is a block diagram of a cable for interconnecting electronic devices according to a further example.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to some examples.

6 is a block diagram of a USB Type-C connector according to some examples.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the dimensions of some components may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the illustrated examples. Also, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

400: cable

402: The first video signal line

404,410: Video data

406: first direction

408: Second video signal line

412: Opposite direction

Claims (15)

A cable comprising: An arrangement of electrical circuits according to Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C, wherein the arrangement of electrical circuits supports simultaneous two-way communication of video data and comprises: a first video signal line for carrying video data in a first direction in the cable, and A second video signal line for carrying video data in a second opposite direction in the cable. The cable of claim 1, wherein the first video signal line includes a first display port signal line to carry display port data in the first direction, and the second video signal line includes a second video signal line DisplayPort signal lines for carrying DisplayPort data in the second direction. The cable of claim 1, wherein the first video signal line is used to carry a differential pair signal, and the second video signal line is used to carry a differential pair signal. The cable of claim 1, wherein the first video signal line includes electrical conductors for connecting to A11 and A10 pins or B2 and B3 pins of a USB Type-C connector, and the second video signal line are the electrical conductors that are used to connect to the A6 and A7 pins of the USB Type-C connector. The cable according to claim 4, wherein an auxiliary signal line for the second video signal line includes conductors for connecting to pins B6 and B7 of the USB Type-C connector. The cable according to claim 5, wherein an auxiliary signal line for the first video signal line includes conductors for connecting to pins A8 and B8 of the USB Type-C connector. The cable of claim 1, wherein the first video signal line and the second video signal line are separate and distinct from a USB signal line of the cable. A first electronic device comprising: a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C connector for connecting to a cable for communicating with a second electronic device, wherein the USB Type-C connector supports simultaneous two-way communication of video data, and Include: a first video signal pin for sending first video data in a first direction in the cable, and A second video signal pin is used for receiving second video data in a second opposite direction in the cable. The first electronic device according to claim 8, wherein the first video signal pin is part of a first pair of video signal pins used to transmit the first video data in the first direction, and the second video signal The signal pins are part of a second pair of video signal pins for receiving the second video data in the second direction. The first electronic device according to claim 8, wherein the first video signal pin is used to send the first video data to the second electronic device in the first direction, and the second video signal pin is used for to receive the second video data from the second electronic device in the second direction. As the first electronic device of claim 8, it further includes: A third video signal pin for sending further video data in the cable in the first direction. As the first electronic device of claim 8, it further includes: a display device; and a controller for: receiving the first video data from a third electronic device, and using the first video signal pin to send the first video data to the second electronic device, and Using the second video signal pin to receive the second video data from the second electronic device. The first electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the USB Type-C connector includes: a first auxiliary pin for receiving auxiliary information about the first video data; and A second auxiliary pin is used for receiving auxiliary information about the second video data. A Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C connector for an electronic device, the USB Type-C connector supporting simultaneous two-way communication of video data and comprising: a first pair of DisplayPort signal pins for sending first video data in a first direction via a cable connected to the USB Type-C connector; and A second pair of DisplayPort signal pins is used for receiving second video data in a second opposite direction through the cable. Such as the USB type C connector of claim 14, which includes: A1-A12 pins and B1-B12 pins, Wherein the first pair of DisplayPort signal pins include A11 and A10 pins or B2 and B3 pins, and The second pair of DisplayPort signal pins includes A6 and A7 pins.

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