Methods and apparatus for optical wireless communication

• US 20060153572A1
• Filed: 01/13/2005
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hardacker, Robert, Unger, Robert A., Champion, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,675,509 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/140
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1143 Bidirectional transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4367 Establishing a secure communication between the client and a peripheral device or smart card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/22 Adaptations for optical transmission

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for optical wireless communication. In one embodiment, a wireless optical video system in which video content (e.g., DVI or HDMI) is transmitted wirelessly between a digital video source and a display device. This wireless optical communication is accomplished using a laser, encoded with the digital video data, directed from an optical transmitter to an optical receiver. In another embodiment, the data to be communicated includes high-definition video content.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a video data source having a source output;

an optical wireless transmitter to receive video data from the source output and encode said video data into a laser beam;

an optical wireless receiver to receive said laser beam and to extract said video data there from; and

a display device having a destination input, wherein said display device is to receive said video data from said optical wireless receiver and presents a video display based on said video data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said video data has a video format determined by said video data source, and wherein said optical wireless transmitter is to provide said video data to said optical wireless receiver in said determined video format.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said optical wireless transmitter includes a laser diode and a collimating lens, and wherein said laser beam is generated using said laser diode and then directed using said collimating lens.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said optical wireless receiver includes a focusing lens and a photo diode usable to receive said laser beam.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said video data is encrypted using High-Bandwidth Digital-Content Protection.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said video data is transmitted from said optical wireless transmitter to said optical wireless receiver at a rate of approximately 2.2 Gbps.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said optical wireless receiver is further to recover a video clock signal from said video data, wherein said video clock signal is generated by the optical wireless transmitter and encoded into said video data.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said video data has forward error correction encoding applied to correct errors caused by sending said video data from said optical wireless transmitter to said optical wireless receiver.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said source output is one of a Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HD SDI) output.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a control-channel radio frequency communication link to enable said video data source to exchange information with said display device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said video data is encrypted using High-Bandwidth Digital-Content Protection.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said video data source and display device exchange information over said control-channel radio frequency communication link to satisfy one or more DVI or HDMI queries.

13. A method comprising:

receiving video data from a source output;

encoding said video data into a laser beam;

transmitting said laser beam from an optical wireless transmitter to an optical wireless receiver;

receiving said laser beam by the optical wireless receiver to extract said video data there from; and

providing said video data to a display device having a destination input.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said video data has a video format determined by said source output, and wherein said transmitting said laser beam comprises transmitting said video data encoded into said laser beam in said determined video format.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting said laser beam comprises transmitting said laser beam using a laser diode and a collimating lens of the optical wireless transmitter.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising generating said laser beam using said laser diode, and directing said laser beam to said optical wireless receiver using said collimating lens.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting said laser beam comprises transmitting said laser beam from the optical wireless transmitter to the optical wireless receiver, wherein said optical wireless receiver includes a focusing lens and a photo diode usable to receive said laser beam.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting said laser beam comprises transmitting said laser beam from said optical wireless transmitter to said optical wireless receiver at a rate of approximately 2.2 Gbps.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

measuring a video clock signal by the optical wireless transmitter to provide a video clock measurement; and

encoding said video clock measurement into said video data

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising recovering said video clock signal from said video data using said optical wireless receiver.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein said source output is one of a Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HD SDI) output.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising exchanging information over a control-channel radio frequency communication link between said source output and said display device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said video data is encrypted using High-Bandwidth Digital-Content Protection.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said source output and display device exchange information over said control-channel radio frequency communication link to satisfy one or more DVI or HDMI queries.

25. The method of claim 13, further comprising applying forward error correction to said video data to correct errors caused by said transmitting said laser beam from the optical wireless transmitter to the optical wireless receiver.

26. A system comprising:

a high-definition video data source having a source output;

an optical wireless transmitter to receive video data from the source output and encode said video data into a laser beam, said optical wireless transmitter to further generate a clock signal to be transmitted to said optical wireless receiver;

an optical wireless receiver to receive said laser beam and to extract said video data and said clock signal there from; and

a display device having a destination input, wherein said display device is to receive said video data from said optical wireless receiver and present a video display based on said video data.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said optical wireless transmitter includes a laser diode and a collimating lens, and wherein said laser beam is generated using said laser diode and then directed using said collimating lens.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein said optical wireless receiver includes a focusing lens and a photo diode usable to receive said laser beam.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein said video data has a video format determined by said high-definition video data source, and wherein said optical wireless transmitter is to provide said optical wireless receiver with said video data in said determined video format.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein said source output is one of a Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HDSDI) output.

31. The system of claim 26, further comprising a control-channel radio frequency communication link to enable said high-definition video data source to exchange information with said display device.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said video data is encrypted using High-Bandwidth Digital-Content Protection.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said video data source and display device exchange information over said control-channel radio frequency communication link to satisfy one or more DVI or HDMI queries.