Apparatus for inserting data into the vertical blanking interval of a video signal
First Claim
1. An apparatus for inserting digital data into selected lines of a video signal, the apparatus receiving a plurality of video signals each corresponding to a programming channel and having vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses disposed therein for identifying individual lines of the signal, the apparatus comprising:
- a parallel interface for receiving the digital data to be inserted;
a digital signal processor coupled to receive the digital data from the parallel interface, the digital signal processor including a bus structure and being constructed and arranged to monitor at least the vertical synchronization pulses of each received video signal;
a dual port memory structure having a first port and a second port, the dual port memory structure being connected through the first port to the bus structure for receiving and temporarily storing digital data from the digital signal processor;
at least one autobuffer unit associated with the dual port memory structure, the at least one autobuffer unit connected to the second port of the dual port memory structure for receiving digital data stored therein and to the bus structure so as to permit the digital signal processor to load instructions into the autobuffer unit; and
a switch associated with each received video signal, each switch connected to receive its corresponding video signal and further coupled to an autobuffer unit so as to receive digital data temporarily stored in the dual port memory structure,wherein the digital signal processor is constructed and arranged to receive digital data to be inserted into a given video signal via the parallel interface, transfer that data via the bus structure to a predetermined location in the dual port memory structure and load the at least one autobuffer unit with a pointer identifying the location of the data within the dual port memory structure and the switch coupled to the given video signal, andwherein the autobuffer unit is constructed and arranged to identify the selected lines for data insertion in the given video signal by monitoring at least the horizontal synchronization pulses and, in response, to retrieve the temporarily stored data at the predetermined location in the dual port memory structure from the second port and transfer the data to the identified switch whereby the switch inserts the received data into the selected lines of the selected video signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved data inserter for inserting data into selected lines, including the vertical blanking interval, of a television or video signal. The data inserter includes a parallel interface for receiving data and a digital signal processor (DSP) for controlling the insertion of that data. A dual port memory structure is used to temporarily store data to be inserted. The dual port memory is associated with and connected to an autobuffer unit. Each video signal received by the inserter is provided to a switch which is also coupled to the autobuffer unit so that the switch may receive data stored in the dual port memory devices. When a selected line in a given video signal is detected by the DSP, it triggers the respective autobuffer unit which, in turn, transfers the data out of the dual port memory to the respective switch for insertion into the selected line of the video signal.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for inserting digital data into selected lines of a video signal, the apparatus receiving a plurality of video signals each corresponding to a programming channel and having vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses disposed therein for identifying individual lines of the signal, the apparatus comprising:
-
a parallel interface for receiving the digital data to be inserted; a digital signal processor coupled to receive the digital data from the parallel interface, the digital signal processor including a bus structure and being constructed and arranged to monitor at least the vertical synchronization pulses of each received video signal; a dual port memory structure having a first port and a second port, the dual port memory structure being connected through the first port to the bus structure for receiving and temporarily storing digital data from the digital signal processor; at least one autobuffer unit associated with the dual port memory structure, the at least one autobuffer unit connected to the second port of the dual port memory structure for receiving digital data stored therein and to the bus structure so as to permit the digital signal processor to load instructions into the autobuffer unit; and a switch associated with each received video signal, each switch connected to receive its corresponding video signal and further coupled to an autobuffer unit so as to receive digital data temporarily stored in the dual port memory structure, wherein the digital signal processor is constructed and arranged to receive digital data to be inserted into a given video signal via the parallel interface, transfer that data via the bus structure to a predetermined location in the dual port memory structure and load the at least one autobuffer unit with a pointer identifying the location of the data within the dual port memory structure and the switch coupled to the given video signal, and wherein the autobuffer unit is constructed and arranged to identify the selected lines for data insertion in the given video signal by monitoring at least the horizontal synchronization pulses and, in response, to retrieve the temporarily stored data at the predetermined location in the dual port memory structure from the second port and transfer the data to the identified switch whereby the switch inserts the received data into the selected lines of the selected video signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An apparatus for inserting digital data into selected lines of a video signal, the apparatus receiving a plurality of video signals each corresponding to a programming channel and having vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses disposed therein for identifying individual fields and lines of the signal, the apparatus comprising:
-
a parallel interface for receiving the digital data to be inserted; a digital signal processor coupled to receive the digital data from the parallel interface, the digital signal processor including a bus structure and being constructed and arranged to monitor at least the vertical synchronization pulses of each received video signal; a plurality of dual port memory devices each having a first port and a second port, the first port of each dual port memory device connected to the bus structure for receiving and temporarily storing digital data from the digital signal processor; an autobuffer unit associated with each dual port memory device and connected to the second port of its associated dual port memory device for receiving digital data stored therein and to the bus structure so as to permit the digital signal processor to load instructions into the autobuffer unit, each autobuffer unit having a horizontal synchronization counter; a switch associated with each received video signal, each switch connected to receive the corresponding video signal and further coupled to one of the autobuffer units so as to receive digital data temporarily stored in the dual port memory device associated with the respective autobuffer unit; a timing circuit associated with each video signal, each timing circuit coupled to one of the autobuffer units and configured and arranged to receive and detect horizontal synchronization pulses from the associated video signal and to provide a data insertion message to the respective autobuffer unit at a preselected time following the detection of a horizontal synchronization pulse; and a transport/interrupt processor coupled to the digital signal processor, the transport/interrupt processor configured and arranged to receive and detect vertical synchronization pulses from the video signals and to provide an interrupt flag to the digital signal processor in response to the detection of a vertical synchronization pulse, wherein the digital signal processor is constructed and arranged to receive digital data to be inserted into a given video signal via the parallel interface, transfer that data via the bus structure to a predetermined location in the dual port memory device associated with the given video signal, and load the at least one autobuffer unit with a pointer identifying the location of the data within the dual port memory structure and the switch coupled to the given video signal, in response to receiving an interrupt flag from the transport/interrupt processor for the given video signal, and wherein each autobuffer unit is constructed and arranged to zero its horizontal synchronization pulse counter in response to receiving the pointer from the digital signal processor, to increment its horizontal synchronization pulse counter in response to data insertion messages from the timing circuit, and, upon detecting a match between its horizontal synchronization pulse counter and the data in the predetermined to retrieve the temporarily stored data from the second port of the dual port memory device and transfer the data to the identified switch whereby the switch inserts the received data into the matching line of the selected video signal.
-
-
14. A method for inserting digital data into selected lines of a plurality of video signals, each video signal corresponding to a programming channel and having vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses disposed therein for identifying individual lines of the signal, the method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving data on a parallel interface to be inserted in a given video signal; examining the received data to identify the given video signal; transferring the received data to a dual port memory structure through a first port of the dual port memory structure for temporary storage of the data; monitoring the vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses of the given video signal to identify a first selected line for data insertion; upon identifying the first selected line, triggering an autobuffer unit coupled to a second port of the dual port data structure; in response to the step of triggering, transferring data stored in the dual port memory structure through the second port to a switch also coupled to the given video signal; and inserting the data obtained from the second port of the dual port memory structure into the first selected line of the given video signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
Specification