Digital cable TV receiver, diagnosis method for the same, and data structure of HDMI status report

• US 20070056005A1
• Filed: 11/07/2006
• Published: 03/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Cha, Sang, Kwon, Kwang
• Granted Patent: US 7,900,238 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/107
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/04 Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/02 Graphics controller able to handle multiple formats, e.g. input or output formats
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/047 using display data channel standard [DDC] communication
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/12 Use of DVI or HDMI protocol in interfaces along the display data pipeline
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/12 Synchronisation between the display unit and other units, e.g. other display units, video-disc players
• 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 21/418 External card to be used in combination with the client device, e.g. for conditional access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44227 Monitoring of local network, e.g. connection or bandwidth variations; Detecting new devices in the local network configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; monitoring connectivity in data switched networks H04L43/0811
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver

Abstract

A communication system includes at least one High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port. A content provider forwards a request to a receiver. The receiver includes a controller configured to receive the request and collects HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port in response to the request.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

at least one High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port; and

a content provider that forwards a request to a receiver,

the receiver including

a controller configured to receive the request, wherein the controller is further configured to collect HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port in response to the request.

2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is configured to collect HDMI status information associated with more than one HDMI port in response to a single request.

3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to forward the HDMI status information of more than one HDMI port to the content provider in response to the single request.

4. The communication system of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to forward the HDMI status information of more than one HDMI port using at least one status report.

5. The communication system of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to include a first field in the at least one status report that indicates the number of HDMI ports for which HDMI status information is forwarded.

6. The communication system of claim 2, wherein the HDMI status information identifies a corresponding HDMI port from among a plurality of HDMI ports.

7. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the HDMI status information includes at least one of connect status information indicating whether a connection exists on the HDMI port, host HDCP status information indicating whether a HDCP is enabled on the HDMI link, device HDCP status information indicating a HDCP status of the peripheral device connected to the host, video format information indicating a current video format used on the HDMI port, audio information.

8. The communication system of claim 7, wherein the video format information includes at least one of horizontal_lines information, vertical_lines information, aspect_ratio information, prog_inter_type information.

9. A method comprising the steps of:

forwarding a request to a receiver by a content provider;

receiving the request by the receiver;

collecting High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) status information associated with at least one HDMI port in response to the request by the receiver; and

forwarding the HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port to the content provider by the receiver in response to the request.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein collecting HDMI status information includes collecting HDMI status information associated with more than one HDMI port in response to a single request.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein forwarding the HDMI status information includes forwarding the HDMI status information of more than one HDMI port to the content provider in response to the single request.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising creating at least one status report for forwarding the HDMI status information of more than one HDMI port.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising creating a first field in the at least one status report that indicates a number of HDMI ports for which the HMDI status information is forwarded.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising creating a second field in the HDMI status information that identifies a corresponding HDMI port from among a plurality of HDMI ports.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the HDMI status information includes at least one of connect status information indicating whether a connection exists on the HDMI port, host HDCP status information indicating whether a HDCP is enabled on the HDMI link, device HDCP status information indicating a HDCP status of the peripheral device connected to the host, video format information indicating a current video format used on the HDMI port, audio information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the video format information includes at least one of horizontal_lines information, vertical_lines information, aspect_ratio information, prog_inter_type information.

17. A host comprising:

at least one High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port; and

a controller configured to receive a request from a source external to the host, wherein the controller is further configured to collect HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port in response to the request, and initiate a signal to a display to display the HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port.

18. The host of claim 17, wherein the host includes a plurality of HDMI ports;

and

the controller is further configured to collect HDMI status information associated with more than one HDMI port in response to a single request.

19. The host of claim 18, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether there is a connection in any of the plurality of HDMI ports.

20. The host of claim 19, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the number of HDMI ports in which a connection exists.

21. The host of claim 18, wherein the displayed HDMI status information identifies a corresponding HDMI port from among the plurality of HDMI ports.

22. The host of claim 17, wherein the HDMI status information includes at least one of connect status information indicating whether a connection exists on the HDMI port, host HDCP status information indicating whether a HDCP is enabled on the HDMI link, device HDCP status information indicating a HDCP status of the peripheral device connected to the host, video format information indicating a current video format used on the HDMI port, audio information.

23. The host of claim 22, wherein the video format information includes at least one of horizontal_lines information, vertical_lines information, aspect_ratio information, prog_inter_type information.

24. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a source external to the host;

collecting High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) status information associated with at least one HDMI port in response to the request; and

displaying the HDMI status information associated with the HDMI port.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein collecting HDMI status information includes collecting HDMI status information associated with more than one HDMI port in response to a single request.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining whether there is a connection in any of a plurality of HDMI ports.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising determining the number of HDMI ports in which a connection exists.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein displaying the HDMI status information includes displaying an identifier identifying a corresponding HDMI port from among a plurality of HDMI ports.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the HDMI status information includes at least one of connect status information indicating whether a connection exists on the HDMI port, host HDCP status information indicating whether a HDCP is enabled on the HDMI link, device HDCP status information indicating a HDCP status of the peripheral device connected to the host, video format information indicating a current video format used on the HDMI port, audio information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the video format information includes at least one of horizontal_lines information, vertical_lines information, aspect_ratio information, prog_inter_type information.