Reconfigurable data distribution system

• US 8,102,845 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2009
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SYNEXXUS Inc.
• Original Assignee: SYNEXXUS Inc.
• Inventors: Mangal, Nandita, Glaros, Gregory Emil
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Man
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEE, KEVIN H
• Application Number:
  US12/473,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20100303068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 971 Days
• Field of Search: 370/389, 370/395.1, 370/473, 370/474, 709/238, 709/244
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer programs products for a reconfigurable data distribution system are described herein. An embodiment includes a stream generator that receives analog data from a plurality of sensors. Data received from sensors, for example, may include video data received from an externally mounted camera on an armored vehicle. The stream generator converts analog data received from the sensors into a digital format that can be transmitted to a router. The router forwards the data in the digital format to a display processor. The display processor formats the data received from the router for display on a display device. The display processor may also receive data from other peripherals, including but not limited to, a touch screen device or a keypad. Furthermore, the display processor may communicate with the sensors and includes all operational information needed to operate the sensors that provide data to the stream generator, regardless of the sensors'"'"' operational platform.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable data distribution system, comprising:

a stream generator configured to generate data packets encapsulating data received from a plurality of distinct operational platforms to enable communication between said distinct operational platforms, said operational platforms associated with components configured to operate on respective said distinct operational platforms; and

a processor configured to integrate said data encapsulated in said data packets for display, and to operate and control said components, regardless of said distinct operational platforms associated with said components using operational information comprising one or more control values needed to control said components, wherein said processor integrates said data encapsulated in said data packets by embedding data received from a first component into one or more other data packets including other data received from a second component.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of external devices; and

a video data distributor to receive video data from said external devices and provide said video data to said processor.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor provides said integrated data to a display device.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a video data generator to generate NTSC and PAL video signals corresponding to VGA signals from a display device.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a switch configured to control a plurality of external devices using a single input device and a single display.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data repository to store data received from said processor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said data packets comprise one or more MPEG frames.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, based on said data received from said plurality of distinct operational platforms.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, by providing commands to application program interfaces (APIs) associated with said operational platforms.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, by providing control voltages to said operational platforms, wherein said control voltages are based on user input.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said operational platforms and said stream generator are associated with distinct Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an encryption module configured to encrypt said data packets generated by said stream generator.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to cycle a display of said data received from each of said distinct operational platforms to enable integrated display of said data on a single display.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is further configured to receive parametric data from said components associated with each of said distinct operational platforms and embed said parametric data as text into each MPEG frame generated by said stream generator.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to detect similarity between video data received from a first set of operational platforms and video data received from a second set of operational platforms, and embed parametric data associated with said first set of operational platforms into one or more frames of video data from said second set of operational platforms, when said similarity is detected.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to embed user generated content (UGC) into one or more MPEG frames.

18. The system of claim 7, wherein said processor is configured to overlay MPEG frames received from a first operational platform associated with a first component and MPEG frames received a second operational platform associated with a second component.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

mapping said user input to a control voltage level using a conversion table.

17. The system of 5, wherein said switch is configured to determine if an application program interface (API) is available for each of said operational platforms and generate one or more control voltages to control said components, when said API is not available, said API enabling said switch to communicate with said operational platforms and said components.

20. A method for reconfigurable data distribution, comprising:

generating data packets encapsulating data received from a plurality of distinct operational platforms to enable communication between said distinct operational platforms, said operational platforms associated with components configured to operate on respective said distinct operational platforms;

integrating said data encapsulated in said data packets for display, wherein said integrating of said data encapsulated in said data packets includes embedding data received from a first component into one or more other data packets including other data received from a second component; and

controlling said components, regardless of said distinct operational platforms associated with said components using operational information comprising one or more control values needed to control said components.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

generating one or more MPEG frames using said data received from said plurality of distinct operational platforms.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

processing said MPEG frames by embedding user generated content (UGC) in said MPEG frames.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said processing step comprises:

edge detecting said MPEG frames.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said processing step comprises:

detecting motion by comparing two or more consecutively generated MPEG frames.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

displaying said MPEG frames at a configurable rate on a display device.

26. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

generating data packets encapsulating data received from a plurality of distinct operational platforms to enable communication between said distinct operational platforms, said operational platforms associated with components configured to operate on respective said distinct operational platforms;

integrating said data encapsulated in said data packets for display, wherein said integrating of said data encapsulated in said data packets includes embedding data received from a first component into one or more other data packets including other data received from a second component; and

controlling said components, regardless of said distinct operational platforms associated with said components using operational information comprising one or more control values needed to control said components.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, said operations further comprising:

generating one or more MPEG frames using said data received from said plurality of distinct operational platforms.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, said operations further comprising:

displaying said MPEG frames at a configurable rate on a display device.

29. The computer program product of claim 26, said operations further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, based on said data received from said operational platforms.

30. The computer program product of claim 26, said operations further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, by providing commands to application program interfaces (APIs) associated with said operational platforms.

31. The computer program product of claim 26, said operations further comprising:

controlling said components, using said processor and said operational information, by providing control voltages to said operational platforms, wherein said control voltages are based on user input.

32. The computer program product of claim 27, said operations further comprising:

processing said MPEG frames by embedding user generated content (UGC) in said MPEG frames.

33. The computer program product of claim 27, said processing comprising:

edge detecting said MPEG frames.

34. The computer program product of claim 31, said operations further comprising:

mapping said user input to a control voltage level using a conversion table.

35. The computer program product of claim 32, said processing comprising:

detecting motion by comparing two or more consecutively generated MPEG frames.