Transmitter, receiver, wireless system, control method, control program, and computer-readable recording medium containing the program

• US 7,636,132 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2004
• Issued: 12/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sakamoto, Kenji
• Primary Examiner(s): Natnael; Paulos M
• Application Number:
  US10/553,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20070032198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,077 Days
• Field of Search: 348/723, 348/722, 348/21, 348/608, 375/240.12, 709/231, 709/233
• US Class Current: 348/723
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• 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: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate

Abstract

A central wireless microcomputer of a central wireless unit (transmitter) constituting a wireless AV system identifies a content type of video and audio data to be transmitted, according to EPG, and sets a transmission rate of the video and audio data to be transmitted, according to a detected communication condition. According to the content type thus identified, the central wireless microcomputer executes transmission rate modification control by modifying the transmission rate thus set, with reference to an MPEG rate. Thus, even when the communication condition deteriorates, it is possible to minimize deterioration of the video and audio data and maintain data transmission as much as possible.

Claims

1. A transmitter for transmitting video data and/or audio data to a receiver, the transmitter comprising:

a reception unit receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a communication condition detected at the receiver, wherein the communication condition is a detected signal strength or a detected channel interference; and

a transmission rate setting unit setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, wherein;

the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted has a plurality of content types, and

the transmission rate setting unit sets the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data and according to each of the content types.

2. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rate setting unit sets a bit rate and/or a maximum number of times of retransmission for each of the content types.

3. The transmitter according to claim 1, comprising a content identification unit identifying the content type of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted.

4. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the video data and/or audio data is transmitted according to a spread spectrum wireless method.

5. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the video data and/or audio data is transmitted by a wireless LAN or a low-power short-range two-way wireless communications technology such as Bluetooth or UWB (Ultra Wide Band).

6. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the video data and/or audio data is transmitted in a form of an MPEG stream encoded in conformity with an MPEG encoding method.

7. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the video data and/or audio data is inputted from a broadcast receiving tuner.

10. A wireless system comprising:

the transmitter according to claim 1; and

the receiver according to claim 1.

16. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, such that when the instructions are read and executed by a processor, the processor is configured to control the transmitter, storing the transmitter control program according to claim 1.

8. A transmitter for transmitting video data and/or audio data to a receiver, the transmitter comprising:

a reception unit receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a communication condition detected at the receiver;

a transmission rate setting unit setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data, wherein;

the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted has a plurality of content types, and

the transmission rate setting unit sets the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to each of the content types; and

a content identification unit identifying the content type of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, wherein the content identification unit identifies the content type of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to program-related information such as EPG (Electrical Program Guide).

9. A transmitter for transmitting video data and/or audio data to a receiver, the transmitter comprising:

a reception unit receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a communication condition detected at the receiver;

a transmission rate setting unit setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data, wherein;

the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted has a plurality of content types, and

the transmission rate setting unit sets the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to each of the content types; and

a content identification unit identifying the content type of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, wherein the content identification unit identifies the content type of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to information on an intra-frame frequency component of the video data and an inter-frame degree of change of the video data.

11. A transmitter control method for controlling a transmitter which transmits video data and/or audio data to a receiver, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a communication condition detected at the receiver, wherein the communication condition is a detected signal strength or a detected channel interference;

setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, wherein;

the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted has a plurality of content types; and

setting the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data and according to each of the content types.

12. A transmitter for transmitting, to a receiver, video data and/or audio data having a plurality of content types, the transmitter comprising:

content identification unit identifying each of the content types of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to information on an intra-frame frequency component of the video data and an inter-frame degree of change of the video data; and

transmission rate setting unit setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the content type.

17. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, such that when the instructions are read and executed by a processor, the processor is configured to control the transmitter according to claim 12.

13. A method for controlling a transmitter which transmits, to a receiver, video data and/or audio data having a plurality of content types, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying each of the content types of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to information on an intra-frame frequency component of the video data and an inter-frame degree of change of the video data; and

setting a transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the content type.

14. A transmitter for transmitting, to a receiver, video data and/or audio data having a plurality of content types, the transmitter comprising:

content identification unit identifying each of the content types of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to information on an intra-frame frequency component of the video data and an inter-frame degree of change of the video data;

content information addition unit adding, to the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, content information indicative of the content type of the video data and/or audio data;

reception unit receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a transmission rate determined at the receiver; and

transmission rate setting unit setting the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data.

18. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, such that when the instructions are read and executed by a processor, the processor is configured to control the transmitter according to claim 14.

15. A method for controlling a transmitter which transmits, to a receiver, video data and/or audio data having a plurality of content types, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying each of the content types of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to information on an intra-frame frequency component of the video data and an inter-frame degree of change of the video data;

adding, to the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, content information indicative of the content type of the video data and/or audio data;

receiving, from the receiver, reception data containing information indicative of a transmission rate determined at the receiver; and

setting the transmission rate of the video data and/or audio data to be transmitted, according to the reception data.