 Structure and method for supporting a flexible substrate |
| OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the present invention ... |
|
| Television receiver control box that contains a card reader mounted directly to a motherboard |
| The present invention is a television receiver control box which has a motherboard located within ... |
|
| Composite powdered metal component |
| OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With reference first to FIG. 4, a component 19 ... |
|
| Facsimile apparatus |
| The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object ... |
|
| Help service function control device added to a multi-channel monitor of a personal computer |
| The present invention provides a help service function control device which is added to a multi-... |
|
| System and method for dynamically optimizing a banner advertisement to counter competing advertisements |
| The adaptive advertising system and associated method of the present invention satisfy this need. T... |
|
| Bookmarking television program and channel selections |
| The present invention overcomes or substantially mitigates some of these problems by providing for ... |
|
|
Method and apparatus for controlling connections between devices
| Details |
Inventors: Takano, Hiroshi; Kobayashi, Satoshi; Suzuki, Kazuhiro; Sato, Makoto; Kimura, Yuji;
Assignee: Sony Corporation (Tokyo, JP); Sony Electronics Inc. (Park Ridge, NJ)
Primary Examiner: Miller; John
Assistant Examiner: Manning; John
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
A method including integrating information regarding receiving, transmitting and converting capabilities of each device in a network with regard to signal formats, so that a pertinent transmission path can be determined. Such possible transmission paths can be specified in terms of the order of devices involved in the transmission paths and a signal format between these devices involved. One of the possible transmission paths that match the transmitting device and the transmitted signal format is selected as a pertinent transmission path. The method displays the selected transmission path on a monitor. Commands are issued to devices involved in the pertinent path, and the input/output of these devices is controlled according to the commands to establish the selected transmission path automatically. According to one aspect of the invention, an apparatus includes a means for storing device capability information. Also included is a memory for storing capability information of other devices. An analog input terminal and a digital input/output terminal are included. A decoder coupled to the digital input/output interface is included. A controller to produce possible transmission paths is included. A monitor for displaying a selected path is included to assist a user in manually selecting the path. The controller includes a command generator for issuing commands to devices involved in the possible selected paths. Also, a selector for selecting the path automatically is included. |
|
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the figures, exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described.
The exemplary embodiments are provided to illustrate the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
Consider an audio/video system shown in FIG.
1, including a digital TV (DTV) 11, a digital satellite system integrated receiver decoder (DSS-IRD) 13, a digital VHS player (DVHS) 15, a digital video camera (DVCR) 17, and a converter 19 that converts signal formats between the digital video (DV) and MPEG2.
These devices are connected with each other via an IEEE1394 digital interface 14 to form a network.
Each of the devices has been assigned a node number, which is denoted as "node #n," where n ranges from 0-4 as an example in FIG.
1.
Each node is an addressable entity with its own IEEE1394 interface.
Each node has an associated 16-bit node ID that differentiates each node from all other nodes.
The IEEE1394 digital interface is based upon the IEEE1394 Standard for a high-performance serial bus, and provides a peer-to-peer interface between various digital peripherals with up to 63 isochronous digital communication channels.
Each of the devices in the network is allowed to communicate with the other devices via the IEEE1394 digital interface 14.
Accordingly, the devices are theoretically star-connected with each other as shown in FIG.
1.
Digital video/audio signals in various digital formats, such as the Digital Video Interactive (DVI) format and MPEG1/2 formats, can be transmitted through this digital interface.
In addition to the digital interface, an analog interface 16 is also provided between the DTV 11 (node #0) and DSS-IRD 13 (node #1), so that an analog signal can be transmitted from the DSS-IRD 13 (node #1) to the DTV 11 (node #0).
A device's capability may include, but is not limited to, (1) receiving and decoding (Reception), (2) coding and transmitting (Transmission), and (3) converting (Conversion).
Each of the devices in the network may have different capability, depending upon its nature and scope of use
|
|
Television 
