Network to computer internal interface

• US 20040049624A1
• Filed: 12/05/2002
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Zoran Corporation (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oak Technology Inc (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Salmonsen, Daniel R.
• Application Number:
  US10/313,782
• Publication Number:
  US 20040049624A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/306
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/40 Bus structure for computer networks G06F15/163; for optical bus networks H04B10/25

Abstract

An apparatus for connecting a computer bus to a network comprises a network interface capable of coupling to an external network and an emulator coupled to the network interface. The emulator comprises a processor control block that can emulate a host processor coupled to the computer bus and a device control block that can emulate a device coupled to the computer bus.

Claims

1. An apparatus for connecting a computer bus to a network comprising:

a network interface capable of coupling to an external network; and

an emulator coupled to the network interface, the emulator comprising a processor control block that can emulate a host processor coupled to the computer bus and a device control block that can emulate a device coupled to the computer bus.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor control block is capable of functioning as a host processor that implements drive control functionality so that the emulator emulates a host processor.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor control block is capable of functioning as a host processor that implements drive control functionality for one or more storage drive subsystems selected from among hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-R storage subsystems.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor control block is capable of functioning as a storage drive, emulating functionality of hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-R, and solid-state storage subsystems.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:

a processor capable of executing one or more functions including control, data transfer, emulation, transcoding, data storage, interface, and test operations.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the network interface is a media access control interface to physical layer devices that can support one or more of 10-BaseT, 100-BaseTX, 100-BaseFX, and 32-bit standards-based BVCI bus interfaces and direct memory access (DMA) control.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:

a register bus coupled to the network interface and the emulator;

a memory bus coupled to the network interface and the emulator;

one or more interfaces coupled to the register bus and the memory bus selected from among a general purpose input/output interface, a synchronous dynamic RAM interface, and timers.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:

a processor; and

an emulator system executable on the controller and capable of generating data and control signals on the bus that emulate data and control signals generated by a host processor coupled to the computer bus and generated by a device coupled to the computer bus.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

the device block is capable of implementing a storage drive emulation functionality, enabling the emulator to function as a storage drive so that an external device coupled to the emulator can function as a host that uses the emulator as a storage drive.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

the device block is capable of communicating with storage drives including hard disk drives, low-power drives, portable drives, tape drives, solid-state drives, and flash drives.

11. An interface for coupling a network to a computer bus that communicates bus data and control signals between a host and one or more devices coupled to the bus, the interface comprising:

a network controller capable of coupling to an external network; and

an interface controller coupled to the network controller and capable of coupling to the computer bus, the interface controller including an emulator that emulates bus data and control signals of the host and at least one of the devices.

12. An interface according to claim 11 further comprising:

a processor coupled to the interface controller and capable of executing multiple functions including control, data transfer, emulation, transcoding, data storage, interfacing, and test operations.

13. An interface according to claim 11 further comprising:

a processor coupled to the interface controller; and

a storage coupled to the interface controller and capable of storing data and program code executable on the processor including program code for emulating bus data and control signals of the host, program code for emulating bus data and control signals of a device, and program code for selecting and seamlessly combining communication of actual bus data and control signals and emulated bus data and control signals on the computer bus.

14. An interface according to claim 11 further comprising:

a content bus interface coupled to the interface controller and capable of enabling communication with one or more network devices via one or more interfaces in a group including a local area network (LAN) interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, an IEEE 1394 standard compatible interface, an Audio/Visual (A/V) bus interface, a Small Systems Interconnect Bus (SCSI) interface, a cable modem, a digital camera, a video camcorder, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or any other device that produces electronic signals.

15. An interface according to claim 11 further comprising:

a serial bus interface coupled to the interface controller and capable of enabling communication with one or more devices in a group including a user interface device, a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a trackpad, an alternative input device.

16. An interface according to claim 11 wherein the network interface further comprises:

a local area network (LAN) controller coupled to the interface controller.

17. An interface according to claim 11 wherein the network interface further comprises:

a local area network (LAN) controller coupled to the interface controller; and

a wide area network (LAN) controller coupled to the LAN controller and capable of communicatively coupling with one or more remote computers and systems.

18. An interface according to claim 11 wherein the network interface can couple to other devices, processors, and components over one or more communication links selected from among Ethernet media access control (MAC) links, serial links, parallel links, memory controller links, direct memory access (DMA) links, parallel I/O (PIO) links, register interfaces, shared RAM interfaces, radio frequency links, universal serial bus (USB) links.

19. An interface according to claim 11 wherein the interface controller further comprises:

an emulator comprising a processor control block that can emulate a host processor coupled to the computer bus and a device control block that can emulate a device coupled to the computer bus.

20. An emulator according to claim 11 wherein:

the host and computer bus-coupled devices are one or more devices and systems selected from among computers, work-stations, laptop computers, calculators, palm computers, mobile telephones, televisions, electronic picture frames, video cassette recorders, compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD) players and recorders, DVD drives, CD-ROM drives (R/RW), jukeboxes, karaoke devices, camcorders, set-top boxes, audio systems, MP3 players, still-image cameras, remote control devices, control panels, MPEG decoders, televisions with embedded MPEG decoders, personal video recorders (PVRs), and other control devices and information storage, retrieval, and display devices;

supported bus data and control signal formats are one or more formats selected from among Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG2, MPEG4), picture standards including Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), audio standards including MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3), and Windows Media Architecture (WMA), bitmaps (BMP), National Television Standards Committee (NTSC), Phase Alteration Line (PAL), Sequential Couleur avec Memoire (SECAM), Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), video compact disk (VCD) and S-VCD standards, Power Point (PPT), karaoke functions, features such as MP3 or progressive scan display; and

the network controller supports one or more information transfer protocols selected from among broadband, IEEE-1394 high-speed serial bus, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC-61883) Standard that describes;

Isochronous Plug Control Registers, Connection Management Protocol (CMP), Function Control Protocol (FCP), Common Isochronous Packet (CIP) headers, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP GET/PUT/POST), Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

21. An apparatus for connecting a computer bus to a network, the computer bus for communicating between a host processor and one or more devices, the apparatus comprising:

a network interface capable of coupling to an external network;

an emulator coupled to the network interface and capable of emulating the host processor in device interactions and emulating a device in host interactions.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions.

23. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions; and

the emulator is capable of receiving host information in the native format from the host processor and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network, and seamlessly alternatively supplying the host information and the network information in the native format to the device.

24. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions; and

the emulator is capable of receiving device information in the native format from a device and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network, and seamlessly alternatively supplying the device information and the network information in the native format to the host processor.

25. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of analyzing bus data and signals to determine format of a presented information and whether the presented information format is a format supported by a device and, if not, reformatting the presented information to the supported format.

26. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of analyzing bus data and control signals for commands and responses to determine a format supported by a device, determining whether information received from an external source does not comply with the supported format, and, if not, converting the information received from the external source to the supported format.

27. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of receiving signals from an external source and converting the signals so that the host processor functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device, seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

28. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein:

the emulator is capable of receiving signals from an external source and converting the signals so that a device functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device, seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

29. An apparatus for connecting a computer bus to a network, the computer bus for communicating between a host processor and one or more devices, the apparatus comprising:

a network interface capable of coupling to an external network;

an emulator coupled to the network interface, the emulator being capable of;

reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format;

receiving host information in the native format from the host processor and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

seamlessly alternatively supplying the host information and the network information in the native format to the device.

30. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein the emulator is further capable of:

reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions; and

receiving device information in the native format from a device and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

seamlessly alternatively supplying the device information and the network information in the native format to the host processor.

31. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein:

the emulator is capable of analyzing bus data and signals to determine format of a presented information and whether the presented information format is a format supported by a device and, if not, reformatting the presented information to the supported format.

32. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein:

the emulator is capable of analyzing bus data and control signals for commands and responses to determine a format supported by a device, determining whether information received from an external source does not comply with the supported format, and, if not, converting the information received from the external source to the supported format.

33. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein:

the emulator is capable of receiving signals from an external source and converting the signals so that the host processor functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device, seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

34. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein:

the emulator is capable of receiving signals from an external source and converting the signals so that a device functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device, seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

35. A method of supplying information from a network to a computer bus comprising:

communicating with the computer bus;

emulating a host processor coupled to the computer bus; and

emulating a device coupled to the computer bus.

36. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

emulating bus data and control signals of the host processor;

emulating bus data and control signals of the device; and

selecting and seamlessly combining communication of actual bus data and control signals and emulated bus data and control signals on the computer bus.

37. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions;

receiving host information in the native format from the host processor and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

seamlessly alternatively supplying the host information and the network information in the native format to the device.

38. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions;

receiving device information in the native format from a device and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

seamlessly alternatively supplying the device information and the network information in the native format to the host processor.

39. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

analyzing bus data and signals;

determining format of a presented information and whether the presented information format is a format supported by a device; and

reformatting the presented information to the supported format if not in the supported format.

40. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

analyzing bus data and control signals for commands and responses;

determining a format supported by a device;

determining whether information received from an external source does not comply with the supported format; and

converting the information received from the external source to the supported format, if not in the supported format.

41. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

receiving signals from an external source;

converting the signals so that the host processor functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device; and

seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

42. A method according to claim 35 further comprising:

receiving signals from an external source;

converting the signals so that a device functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device; and

seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

43. A media apparatus comprising:

means for communicating with the computer bus;

means for emulating a host processor coupled to the computer bus; and

means for emulating a device coupled to the computer bus.

44. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for emulating bus data and control signals of the host processor;

means for emulating bus data and control signals of the device; and

means for selecting and seamlessly combining communication of actual bus data and control signals and emulated bus data and control signals on the computer bus.

45. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions;

means for receiving host information in the native format from the host processor and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

means for seamlessly alternatively supplying the host information and the network information in the native format to the device.

46. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for reformatting bus data and control signals into a native device format for device interactions and host interactions;

means for receiving device information in the native format from a device and network information in a format different from the native format from the external network; and

means for seamlessly alternatively supplying the device information and the network information in the native format to the host processor.

47. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for analyzing bus data and signals;

means for determining format of a presented information and whether the presented information format is a format supported by a device; and

means for reformatting the presented information to the supported format if not in the supported format.

48. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for analyzing bus data and control signals for commands and responses;

means for determining a format supported by a device;

means for determining whether information received from an external source does not comply with the supported format; and

means for converting the information received from the external source to the supported format, if not in the supported format.

49. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for receiving signals from an external source;

means for converting the signals so that the host processor functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device; and

means for seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.

50. A media apparatus according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for receiving signals from an external source;

means for converting the signals so that a device functions as if receiving signals from a standard information source device; and

means for seamlessly supplying content to the device from multiple diverse-format sources.