VCR backup system
First Claim
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1. A controller for coupling a video cassette recorder to a computer system bus, said bus adapted to transfer data on the bus to and from a computer, said controller comprising;
- memory means for storing blocks of data, said blocks comprising a plurality of digital data bytes received from said bus for transfer to said video cassette recorder, and received from said video cassette recorder for transfer to said bus;
control means coupled to said bus and said memory means for generating control signals to cause digital data placed on said bus to be stored in said memory means, and to cause digital data stored in said memory means to be placed on said bus;
output means for transferring data from said memory means to said video cassette recorder; and
input means for transferring data from said video cassette recorder to said memory means;
wherein said output means comprises;
(i) horizontal sync and vertical sync and blanking means coupled to said control means for generating sync and blanking signals corresponding to a predetermined video format; and
(ii) digital to analog conversion means having said horizontal sync, vertical sync and blanking means, and said memory means connected as inputs for mixing said sync and blanking signals with data stored in said memory means to provide a mixed signal and converting the mixed signal to an output analog video signal; and
wherein said input means comprises;
(i) analog to digital conversion means for converting the data portions of an input analog video signal into a serial digital signal; and
(ii) parallelizer means having said analog to digital conversion means as an input and coupled to said memory means for converting said serial digital signal into digital data bytes prior to storing in said memory means.
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Abstract
The present invention is a video casette recorder (hereinafter referred to as "VCR") backup controller that can be installed in a S-100 bus system which is compatible with NTSC, PAL and SECAM systems. The controller provides temporary storage and control capability for the S100 interface bus system. The controller organizes the data into data blocks and synchronizes the data to TV signals during the write mode. The control further replicates data for error detection in the read and write modes.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A controller for coupling a video cassette recorder to a computer system bus, said bus adapted to transfer data on the bus to and from a computer, said controller comprising;
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memory means for storing blocks of data, said blocks comprising a plurality of digital data bytes received from said bus for transfer to said video cassette recorder, and received from said video cassette recorder for transfer to said bus; control means coupled to said bus and said memory means for generating control signals to cause digital data placed on said bus to be stored in said memory means, and to cause digital data stored in said memory means to be placed on said bus; output means for transferring data from said memory means to said video cassette recorder; and input means for transferring data from said video cassette recorder to said memory means; wherein said output means comprises; (i) horizontal sync and vertical sync and blanking means coupled to said control means for generating sync and blanking signals corresponding to a predetermined video format; and (ii) digital to analog conversion means having said horizontal sync, vertical sync and blanking means, and said memory means connected as inputs for mixing said sync and blanking signals with data stored in said memory means to provide a mixed signal and converting the mixed signal to an output analog video signal; and wherein said input means comprises; (i) analog to digital conversion means for converting the data portions of an input analog video signal into a serial digital signal; and (ii) parallelizer means having said analog to digital conversion means as an input and coupled to said memory means for converting said serial digital signal into digital data bytes prior to storing in said memory means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A video cassette recorder backup system comprising:
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bus means for providing and receiving parallel data byte streams; controller means for coupling a video cassette recorder to said bus means, said controller means comprising; command means generating a read command for reading the data bytes onto said bus means or a write command for writing the data bytes from said bus means; circuit means interconnecting said command means and said bus means for transfer of data bytes between said command means and bus means; processing means for processing data bytes received from said command means; memory means coupled to said command means and to said processing means for storing a plurality of said data bytes in sequential order of receipt; serial means coupled to said memory means for converting said parallel data byte streams into serial data byte streams; sync and blanking means for generating video sync and blanking signals; digital to analog converter means for combining said sync and blanking signals with said serial data byte streams from said serial means and converting the combined signal to an analog video signal; replication means coupled to said digital to analog converter means for replicating said analog video signal in data blocks a predetermined number of times; analog to digital converter means for converting an analog video signal to a digital serial data bytes stream; parallelizer means for converting said serial data byte stream from said analog to digital converter means into a parallel data byte stream, with said parallelizer means coupled to said memory means; stream detection means for detecting said data byte stream from said analog to digital converter means; sync byte detection means for detecting the first data byte of each serial data byte stream received from said parallelizer means; error detection means for detecting errors in said data bytes to determine whether an error is contained therein; and means for ignoring subsequent replicated data blocks when no error is detected in a block of data bytes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for transferring data from a computer system bus to a video cassette recorder comprising the steps of:
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placing parallel data bytes from the computer onto the bus; isolating the bus from the video cassette recorder by temporarily storing one or more blocks of the parallel data bytes in predetermined locations in a random access memory; converting stored blocks of parallel data bytes into a serial data stream; converting the serial data stream into an analog video signal; and writing the analog video signal to the video cassette recorder.
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17. A method for transferring data from a video cassette recorder to a computer system bus comprising the steps of:
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reading an analog video signal from said video cassette recorder; removing the video sync and blanking signals from said analog video signal to provide a stripped video signal; converting said stripped analog video signal into a serial data stream comprising one or more data blocks; converting the serial data stream into a parallel bit stream comprised of parallel data bytes; isolating the parallel data byte source from the bus by temporarily storing the parallel data bytes in a random access memory as one or more blocks of data; and placing the stored parallel data bytes onto the bus without any video sync or blanking signals. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A controller for transferring data between a bus and a video line, with the data on the bus in parallel data byte streams without any video sync or blanking signals, said controller comprising in combination:
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command means generating a read command for reading the data bytes onto the bus or a write command for writing the data bytes from the bus; circuit means interconnecting said command means and the bus means for transfer of data bytes between said command means and the bus; processing means for processing data bytes received from said command means; memory means coupled to said command means and to said processing means for storing a plurality of said data bytes in sequential order of receipt; serial means coupled to said memory means for converting said parallel data byte streams into serial data byte streams; sync and blanking means for generating video sync and blanking signals; digital to analog converter means for combining said sync and blanking signals with said serial data byte streams from said serial means and converting the combined signal to an analog video signal; replication means coupled to said digital to analog converter means for replicating said analog video signal in data blocks a predetermined number of times; connecting means for connecting said analog video signal to a video line; analog to digital converter means for converting an analog video signal from a video line to a digital serial data byte stream; parallelizer means for converting said serial data byte stream from said analog to digital converter means into a parallel data byte stream, with said parallelizer means coupled to said memory means; stream detection means for detecting said data byte stream from said analog to digital converter means; sync byte detection means for detecting the first data byte of each serial data byte stream received from said parallelizer means; error detection means for detecting errors in said data bytes to determine whether an error is contained therein; and means for ignoring subsequent replicated data blocks when no error is detected in a block of data bytes. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A controller for coupling a video line to a bus, the bus being adapted to transfer data on the bus to and from a computer, said controller comprising in combination:
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memory means for storing blocks of data, said blocks comprising a plurality of digital data bytes received from the bus for transfer to the video line, and received from the video line for transfer to the bus; control means coupled to the bus and said memory means for generating control signals to cause digital data placed on the bus to be stored in said memory means, and to cause digital data stored in said memory means to be placed on the bus; output means for transferring data from said memory means to the video line; and input means for transferring data from the video line to said memory means; wherein said output means comprises; (i) horizontal sync and vertical sync and blanking means coupled to said control means for generating sync and blanking signals corresponding to a predetermined video format; and (ii) digital to analog conversion means having said horizontal sync, vertical sync and blanking means, and said memory means connected as inputs for mixing said sync and blanking signals with data stored in said memory means to provide a mixed signal and converting the mixed signal to an output analog video signal; and wherein said input means comprises; (i) analog to digital conversion means for converting the data portions of an input analog video signal into a serial digital signal; and (ii) parallelizer means having said analog to digital conversion means as an input and coupled to said memory means for converting said serial digital signal into digital data bytes prior to storing in said memory means. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for transferring data from a bus to a video line, comprising the steps of:
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placing parallel data bytes onto the data bus; isolating the bus from the video line by temporarily storing one or more blocks of the parallel data bytes in a random access memory; converting stored blocks of parallel data bytes into a serial data stream; converting the serial data stream into an analog video signal; and writing the analog video signal on the video line.
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31. A method for transferring data from a video line to a bus, comprising the steps of:
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reading an analog video signal from the video line; removing the video sync and blanking signals from the analog video signal to provide a stripped video signal; converting the stripped video signal into a serial data stream comprising one or more data blocks; converting the serial data stream into a parallel bit stream comprised of parallel data bytes; isolating the parallel data byte source from the bus by temporarily storing the parallel data bytes in a random accesss memory as one or more blocks of data; and placing the stored parallel data bytes onto the bus without any video sync blanking signals. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification