Video multiviewer system permitting scrolling of multiple video windows and related methods

• US 8,811,499 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2008
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Imagine Communications Limited (Gores Broadcast Holdings LLC)
• Original Assignee: Imagine Communications Limited (Gores Broadcast Holdings LLC)
• Inventors: Moote, Stanley R., Mance, Daniel, Faragher, Chad
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ FUENTES, LUIS M
• Application Number:
  US12/100,529
• Publication Number:
  US 20090256965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,322 Days
• Field of Search: 345440-684, 348153-211, 375/240, 715/782, 725/39
• US Class Current: 375/257
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42653 for processing graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4435 Memory management allocation of memory to service a request G06F9/5016; addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures G06F12/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits

Abstract

A video multiviewer system may include a plurality of video inputs and a multiviewer video processor coupled to the plurality of video inputs for generating video data based upon the plurality of video inputs. The system may further include a display coupled to the multiviewer video processor for displaying multiple video windows based upon the video data, and at least one user input device. The multiviewer video processor may permit scrolling among the multiple video windows displayed on the display at a given instant and at least one other video window not displayed on the display at the given instant based upon the at least one user input device.

Claims

1. A video multiviewer system comprising:

a plurality of video inputs configured to receive a plurality of router outputs from a router that correspond to a plurality of router input video streams;

a video input/Out (I/O) controller configured to assign addresses for a selected subset of the router input video streams;

a multiviewer video processor coupled to said plurality of video inputs, the multiviewer video processor comprising memory that includes a texture buffer, wherein the multiviewer video processor is configured to;

lock an assigned address of the texture buffer in response to the video I/O controller assigning an address to the texture buffer for each of the selected subset of the router input video streams; and

store the selected subset of the router input video streams in respective locked address texture buffers via direct memory access (DMA) and

a display coupled to said multiviewer video processor and configured to receive and simultaneously display in respective video windows of the display the selected subset of the router input video streams that are stored at respective locked address texture buffers in response to a user input at a user input device;

wherein the multiviewer processor is configured to provide a control signal to the router, wherein the control signal identifies the selected subset of the router input video streams to be provided by the router to the plurality of router outputs for display in the respective video windows of the display in response to the user input at the user input device

wherein the router is configured to have a greater number of router inputs than the number of video inputs of the multiviewer system.

2. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein

the multiviewer video processor is further configured to permit scrolling in response to a user input between a given portion of a router input video stream of the selected subset of the router input video streams in a selected window displayed on the display at a given instant and

another portion of the router input video stream of the selected subset of the muter input video streams in the selected window not displayed on the display at the given instant.

3. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein the multiviewer video processor comprises a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU).

4. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein the multiviewer video processor is further configured to:

control the video I/O controller to receive the selected subset of the router input video streams; and

transfer the selected subset of the router input video streams to the respective locked address texture buffers in real time via the DMA.

5. The video multi viewer system of claim 3 wherein the CPU uses at least one application programming interface (API) for operating the said GPU.

7. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein the control signal is based on an update to an array, wherein the array comprises a list of a selected subset of the plurality of router inputs that correspond to the respective video streams to be provided to the plurality of video inputs.

8. The video multiviewer system of claim 7, wherein the update to the array is based on the user input at the user input device, the updating causing the array to reflect a proper subset of the plurality of router inputs that correspond to the respective video streams to be provided to the plurality of video inputs.

9. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein the router is configured to have a greater number of router inputs than router outputs.

10. The video multiviewer system of claim 3, wherein the CPU and the GPU cooperate to configure the display to simultaneously output in the respective video windows of the display the selected subset of the router input video streams that are stored at the respective texture buffers in response to the user input at the user input device.

11. The video multiviewer system of claim 1 wherein the multiviewer video processor is further configured to add graphic content in response to the user input at the user input device to a given video window of the display, the graphic content corresponding to a quality of the given router input video stream of the selected subset of the router input video streams.

12. The video multiviewer system of claim 11 wherein the added graphic content further comprises a meter that provides an indication of a signal level for the given router input video stream of the selected subset of the router input video streams in the given video window of the display.

6. A video processing method comprising:

providing a plurality of video inputs each configured to receive a plurality of router outputs from a router that correspond to a plurality of router input video streams provided to the router;

assigning, by a input/out (I/O) controller, addresses to a memory location for each of a selected subset of router input video streams;

locking, by a multiviewer processor, for each of the selected subset of router input video streams an assigned address of the memory location in response to assigning;

storing, by the multiviewer processor, the selected subset of the router input video streams in respective locked address memory locations via direct memory access (DMA);

using a multiviewer to receive and display simultaneously in respective video windows the selected subset of respective video streams that are stored at respective locked address memory locations in response to a user input at a user input device; and

using the multiviewer to provide a control signal to the router, wherein the control signal identifies the selected subset of respective video streams that are to be provided to the plurality of router outputs for display in the respective video windows of the display in response to a user input

wherein the router is configured to have a greater number of router inputs than the number of video inputs.