Wireless transmission system, relay device, wireless sink device, and wireless source device

• US 8,898,710 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2013
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2009
• 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: Eguchi, Yohichi, Tsuji, Keisuke, Ohmae, Ryosuke, Etoh, Masayuki, Imanishi, Seiji, Katoh, Shinichi, Kinoshita, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheleheda, James R
• Application Number:
  US14/079,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20140143815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 377 Days
• Field of Search: 725/74, 725/78, 725/80, 725/81, 725/141
• US Class Current: 725/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43635 HDMI
• 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 21/64746 Control signals issued by the network directed to the server or the client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64753 directed to the client

Abstract

A wireless transmission system is provided that can minimize the control command transmission amount by operating a plurality of sink devices in conjunction with each other with respect to each group. The wireless transmission system includes: a bridge device (1) which wireless-transmits an AV content; and a plurality of wireless sink devices (5, 6) which reproduce the wireless-transmitted AV content. The bridge device (1) has a group identification table which stores a group identifier for identifying a group formed by the wireless sink device (5, 6). The bridge device (1) adds a group identifier extracted from the group identification table to a control command for controlling the sink devices (5, 6) and wireless-transmits the control command having the group identifier. The wireless sink devices (5, 6) receive a control command wireless-transmitted from the bridge device (1) if a corresponding group identifier is added to the control command.

Claims

1. A wireless transmission system comprising:

a content transmitting apparatus that wirelessly transmits AV contents including video and/or audio; and

a plurality of sink devices that receive the wirelessly transmitted AV contents, at least one of the plurality of the sink devices being made up of a wireless sink device, wherein

the content transmitting apparatus includes a group identification ID table that stores group identification ID for identifying a group made up of the plurality of the sink devices, a group identification ID adding portion that adds group identification ID extracted from the group identification ID table to a control command controlling the plurality of the sink devices, and a wireless transmitting portion that wirelessly transmits the control command with the group identification ID added, and

the wireless sink device receives a control command wirelessly transmitted from the content transmitting apparatus if its own group identification ID is added to the control command,

any one of the wireless sink devices belonging to the same group is defined as a representative wireless sink device, and the representative wireless sink device wirelessly communicates with the content transmitting apparatus or a representative wireless sink device of another group on behalf of the group to which the representative wireless sink device belongs,

if a control command is broadcast-transmitted from the content transmitting apparatus, the representative wireless sink device receives the control command, integrates a plurality of responses of other sink devices within the group to which the representative wireless sink device belongs into one response based on a predetermined rule, and returns the integrated response to the content transmitting apparatus, and

if the control command is an inquiry about numerical numbers, the predetermined rule is to return the maximum number of the numbers of sink devices connected to the representative wireless sink device as the integrated response.