Abstract:
A device, a system and a method for remotely processing multimedia stream are disclosed. In the present invention, an instant communicating module is used for establishing a communication interface between a remote device and a stream operating device. An operating function for the multimedia stream is executed according to an operating command given by the remote device. Furthermore, a virtual capturing unit is used for converting the format of the multimedia stream into a specific streaming format supported by the instant communicating module. Finally, the processed multimedia stream is output to the remote device via the instant communicating module. Therefore, the present invention not only realizes the ideal of remotely receiving multimedia stream, but also provides various operating functions for multimedia stream, such that users may enjoy the pleasure of viewing or listening multimedia stream remotely at their will via instant communicating module.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95147915, filed on Dec. 20, 2006. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a device, a system and a method for processing multimedia stream and, more particularly, to a device, a system and a method for remotely processing multimedia stream. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    With the continuous innovation of the multimedia stream processing technology, more and more products are related to the multimedia. Windows operating system developed by Microsoft provides various kinds of multimedia stream formats, and Directshow of the Microsoft DirectX provides strong support for capturing and playing the multimedia stream. Data can be captured from the video or audio capture device supporting the windows driver model (WDM) easily by Directshow, and corresponding latter multimedia data processing can be executed. Directshow widely supports various media formats including MPEG, AVI, MP3, WAVE and so on, so that reading and playing multimedia stream become easily. 
         [0006]    To make re-usage more convenient, Windows operating system packages the operating functions such as playing, editing and transmitting of the multimedia stream to be Directshow filter (filter for short hereinbelow). The filter can be classified as source filter, transform filter, renderer filter, splitter filter, and mux filter and so on according to the functions thereof. Besides a series of normal filters provided by Directshow, a developer also can develop own filters to expand the range of application. 
         [0007]    For example, conventional multimedia stream application software utilizes the source filter to read multimedia stream from a multimedia stream source, and utilizes the splitter filter to examine the header file of the multimedia stream to separate the video stream from the audio stream of the multimedia stream. Then, the decoder filter is chosen to decode the video stream according to the compression format of the multimedia stream. At least, the renderer filter is used to redraw the video image and transmit it to the graphic card to display, and audio device filter transmits the audio stream to the audio card to play. 
         [0008]    From the above, each filter is linked to one or more than one filter, and multimedia stream is transmitted by called pin between two filters. Such a graph is called a filter graph. From another view, the filter can be viewed as an operating interface of the multimedia stream, while the filter graph describes the linkage relationship between each filter. Under this frame, a program developer only needs to add various existing filters to the filter graph and make a combination, and make them cooperate with the filter developed by self, needed application software can be developed. 
         [0009]    Instant communicating software can be viewed as one kind of multimedia stream application software. With the development of the Internet and maturation of the information environment, using instant communicating software (such as Skype           MSN Messenger           Yahoo Messenger and so on) to transmit information has gradually become a manner for communicating in daily life. Instant communicating software can provide functions such as two sides talking, sharing video or audio, word communicating and so on. However, in the existing manner, if a user wants to use instant communicating software to make a video communication, interfaces of the video capture device and audio capture device must be chosen in advance, and then the transmission of video and audio stream can be done. This manner restricts the kind of the multimedia stream that can be used by the instant communicating software, and restricts the function that the instant communicating software can provide indirectly. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    One objective of the invention is to provide a device for remotely processing multimedia stream, which executes corresponding operating functions for the multimedia stream and convert it to a specific streaming format supported by the instant communicating module according to the operating command received by the instant communicating module, so that the instant communicating module can be applied to more kinds of multimedia stream. 
         [0011]    Another objective of the invention is to provide a system for remotely processing multimedia stream, which establishes a connection with a remote device and receives operating commands by an instant communicating module to control the stream operating device to execute operating functions and to achieve the objective of controlling the transmission of the multimedia stream remotely. 
         [0012]    Another objective of the invention is to provide a method for remotely processing multimedia stream, which executes operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding and turning round and so on for a plurality of multimedia stream according to operating commands transmitted from the remote, and transmits it to the remote device via the instant communicating module after the format conversion to achieve the objective of remotely operating the multimedia stream function. 
         [0013]    The invention provides a device for remotely processing multimedia stream including an instant communicating module, a first stream providing unit, an processing unit and a virtual capturing unit. The instant communicating module is used to establish a communicating connection with a remote device and receive operating commands transmitted by the remote device. The first stream providing unit is used to provide a first multimedia stream. The processing unit controls the stream providing unit to execute the operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding, turning round and so on according to the operating commands received by the instant communicating module. The virtual capturing unit is used to convert the format of the first multimedia stream to a specific streaming format that the instant communicating module corresponds to, and provide the converted first multimedia stream for the instant communicating module by which the converted first multimedia stream is outputted to the remote device. 
         [0014]    The invention provides a system for remotely processing multimedia stream including a remote device and a stream operating device. The remote device transmits operating commands via a first instant communicating module. The stream operating device includes a second instant communicating module, a first stream providing unit, an processing unit and a virtual capturing unit. The second instant communicating module is used to establish a communicating connection with the first instant communication module of the remote device and receive operating commands transmitted by the first instant communicating module of the remote device. The first stream providing unit is used to provide first multimedia stream. The processing unit is used to receive operating commands from the second instant communicating module and control the first stream providing unit to execute operating functions according to the operating commands. The virtual capturing unit is used to convert the format of the first multimedia stream to a specific streaming format that the second instant communicating module corresponds to, and provide the converted first multimedia stream for the second instant communicating module by which the converted first multimedia stream is outputted to the remote device. 
         [0015]    For the system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the remote device further includes a control unit for giving operating commands to the remote device, and the control unit is, for example, a remote controller. 
         [0016]    The system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention further includes a second stream providing unit for providing second multimedia stream. 
         [0017]    For the system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the processing unit further includes controlling the virtual capturing unit to execute operating functions such as format converting, mixing, editing and so on for the first and second multimedia stream. 
         [0018]    The invention provides a method for remotely processing multimedia stream including the following steps: receiving an operating command transmitted by a remote device by an instant communicating module first, capturing first multimedia stream and executing operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding, turning round and so on for the first multimedia stream according to the operating command, and then converting the format of the first multimedia stream to a specific streaming format that the instant communicating module corresponds to, at last, outputting the first multimedia stream whose format is converted to the remote device via the instant communicating module. 
         [0019]    The method for remotely processing multimedia stream of one preferred embodiment of the invention further includes establishing a communicating connection with the remote device via the instant communicating module before receiving the operating command transmitted by the remote device. 
         [0020]    The method for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention further includes receiving second multimedia stream, and executing operating functions such as format converting, mixing and editing and so on for the first and second multimedia stream. 
         [0021]    For the device, system and method for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the first multimedia stream is, for example, digital television stream, analog television stream, video stream, audio stream and so on. In addition, the specific streaming format has, for example, defined the image size, color and sampling rate of the first multimedia stream or the combination thereof and so on. 
         [0022]    In the invention, the virtual capturing unit is utilized to convert the format of the multimedia stream to the format supported by the instant communicating module to make the multimedia stream that the instant communicating module can provide more plentiful. In addition, in the invention, operating functions such as mixing or editing are executed for a plurality of multimedia stream according to the operating command transmitted from the remote device, so that the plurality of multimedia stream can be transmitted to the instant communicating module as single multimedia stream and outputted to the remote device to play. Thus, objective of sharing various multimedia stream is achieved. 
         [0023]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0024]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a device for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0025]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing a method for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing an analog television capture card according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a digital television capture card according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0028]      FIG. 5  shows a system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0029]      FIG. 6  shows a system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to another preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0030]    Instant communicating software can provide functions such as two sides talking, sharing video or audio, word communicating and so on. If the above stated restriction for the multimedia stream can be gotten rid of, and the communicating interface of the instant communicating software can be well used, advanced multimedia application such as remotely watching television, listening to music, remotely controlling or remotely monitoring and so on can be developed. The invention provides a device, system and method for remotely processing multimedia stream based on this idea. To make the content of the invention more clear, the following embodiment is described as an example. 
         [0031]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a device for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 1 . The device for remotely processing multimedia stream  100  includes an instant communicating module  110 , a stream providing unit  120 , an processing unit  130  and a virtual capturing unit  140 . 
         [0032]    The instant communicating module  110  is used to establish a communicating connection with a remote device (not shown), and receive an operating command transmitted by a remote device. After receiving the operating command, the instant communicating module  110  provides the operating command for the processing unit  130 . In addition, the instant communicating module  110  also receives multimedia stream converted by the virtual capturing unit  140 , and shares the multimedia stream with the remote device. Wherein the instant communicating module  110  is, for example, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger or Skype and so on nowadays on the market commonly, which is not limited. 
         [0033]    The stream providing unit  120  is used to provide a sum of multimedia stream for the virtual capturing unit  140 , and execute operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding or turning round and so on for the multimedia stream. The stream providing unit  120  is, for example, television capture card or web cam and so on, while the multimedia stream is, for example, digital television stream, analog television stream, video stream, audio stream and so on. The kinds of the stream providing unit  120  and multimedia stream are not limited herein. 
         [0034]    The processing unit  130  controls the stream providing unit  120  to execute the operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding, turning round and so on according to the operating command transmitted from the instant communicating module and given by the remote device. In addition, the processing unit  130  is also used to control the virtual capturing unit  140  to execute operating functions such as format converting, mixing, editing and so on for the multimedia stream. 
         [0035]    The virtual capturing unit  140  is used to convert the format of the multimedia stream provided by the stream providing unit  120  to a specific streaming format such as video capture source or audio capture source that the instant communicating module  110  corresponds to. In other words, the specific streaming format is the format that can be “understood” by the instant communicating module  110 . After the format is converted, the virtual capturing unit  140  transmits the converted multimedia stream to the instant communicating module  110  by which the converted multimedia stream is outputted to the remote device. The specific streaming format has, for example, defined the image size, color, sampling rate of the multimedia stream or the combination thereof and so on. 
         [0036]    For example, if a user wants to remotely control the multimedia stream to fast forward, the user can transmit a fast forwarding command to the instant communicating module  110  by the remote device. At that moment, the instant communicating module  110  provides the fast forwarding command for the processing unit  130 , and the processing unit  130  controls the stream providing unit  120  to execute the function of the fast forwarding for the multimedia stream. 
         [0037]    The processing unit  130  also controls the virtual capturing unit  140  to covert the format of the movie to the specific streaming format supported by the instant communicating module  110 . For example, if the instant communicating module  110  only can receive the multimedia stream with YUY2 format, and format of the multimedia stream provided by the stream providing unit  120  is RGB, the virtual capturing unit  140  converts the RGB format of the multimedia stream to be the YUY2 format, and provides the converted multimedia stream to the instant communicating module  110 . In this way, the remote device can display the fast forwarding multimedia stream via the instant communicating module  110 . 
         [0038]    To make the content of the above embodiment clearer, a flowchart is taken for description.  FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing a method for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . In the method, an operating command transmitted by the remote device is received via the instant communicating module  110  first (step S 210 ), and the operating command is provided for the processing unit  130 . In other words, after the remote device gives the operating command to the instant communicating module  110 , the instant communicating module  110  does the subsequent operation according to the operating command. 
         [0039]    Next multimedia stream is captured, (step S 220 ) and the multimedia stream is, for example, television stream captured by a television capture card. Then, operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding and turning round can be executed for the multimedia stream according the operating command received by the instant communicating module  110  (step S 230 ). 
         [0040]    Then, the format of the multimedia stream can be converted to the specific streaming format that the instant communicating module  110  corresponds to (step S 240 ), and the specific streaming format is, for example, video capture source format or audio capture source format, which is not limited. After the format is converted, the instant communicating module  110  can recognize the multimedia stream, and output the converted multimedia stream to the remote device (step S 250 ). 
         [0041]    Take the television stream for example. If the multimedia stream which needs to be transmitted is analog television stream, the device for remotely processing multimedia stream can utilize analog television capture card to capture analog television stream. Similarly, if the multimedia stream which needs to be transmitted is digital television stream, the device for remotely processing multimedia stream can utilize digital capture card to capture and provide digital television stream. The two situations are described with examples, respectively. 
         [0042]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the analog television capture card according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 3 , if the instant communicating software is used to share the analog television stream, the part of the operating end must be composed of the filters provided by the analog television capture card and the virtual capturing unit. The analog television capture card must register the filters such as a television turner  310 , a television audio device  320 , a crossbar  330  and a capture source  340  and so on at the Windows operating system. According to the channel chosen by a user, the television turner  310  decodes the television stream corresponding to the channel from the antenna or cable signals. The television audio device  320  is used to decode audio stream. The crossbar  330  is used to choose video interface which includes an AV terminal, an S-Video terminal or a TV terminal, and the video stream source which is chosen herein is TV terminal. At least, the video stream and audio stream are captured by the capture resource  340  and outputted to the back video input interface and audio input interface. 
         [0043]    The digital television capture card is not the same with the analog capture card.  FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the digital television capture card of one preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 4 . The digital television capture card includes registering filters such as broadcast driver architecture (BDA) tuner  420  and BDA capture  430  and so on at the Windows operating system. In addition, two filters network provider  410  and demux  440  are provided by Windows operating system. The video decoder  450  and the audio decoder  460  for decoding are provided by the third part. The network provider  410  provides the resource of the digital television stream. The BDA turner  420  and BDA capture  430  are used to choose the channel of the digital television stream and capture digital television stream. The demux  440  is used to distribute the digital television stream to the video decoder  450  and the audio decoder  460  to decode, so that the needed video stream and audio stream can be obtained. 
         [0044]    The television stream captured by the analog television capture and digital television card described above is transmitted to the virtual capturing unit  140  via the video input interface and audio input interface. After the virtual capturing unit  140  executes operating functions such as format converting, mixing and editing, the television stream is outputted to the instant communicating module  110  via the video output interface and the audio output interface. At last, the instant communicating module  110  can share the analog television stream or digital television stream with the remote device. 
         [0045]    The invention provides the method for sharing various multimedia stream, and also provides a system for remotely processing multimedia stream.  FIG. 5  is a system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 5 . The system for remotely processing multimedia stream  500  includes a stream operating device  510  and a remote device  520 . The stream operating device  510  includes an instant communicating module  511 , a stream providing unit  513 , an processing unit  515  and a virtual capturing unit  517 , while the remote device  520  includes an instant communicating module  521  and a control unit  523 . Since the components ( 511 ˜ 517 ) of the stream operating device  510  are same or similar with that of the device for remotely processing multimedia stream in the above embodiment, they are not described in detail herein. 
         [0046]    In the invention, a communicating system is set up between the stream operating device  510  and the remote device  520  by the application programming interface (API) opened by the instant communicating modules  511  and  521 . When the stream operating device  510  receives the operating commands transmitted by the remote device  520 , it can control the stream operating device  510  to execute the corresponding operating function. 
         [0047]    Please continue to refer to  FIG. 5 . The control unit  523  (such as a remote controller) is used to give an operating command to the remote device  520 , while the instant communicating module  521  is used to establish a communicating connection with the instant communicating module  511  and transmits the operating command given by the control unit  523  to the instant communicating module  511  via the communicating connection. The communicating connection is established by the existing connection system between the instant communicating module  511  and instant communicating module  521 . The transmitted operating command also utilizes a function provided by the instant communicating modules  511  and  512 . Using this manner to transmit the operating command, the remote device  520  can transmit multimedia stream via the instant communicating module  511  without knowing or setting the Internet protocol (IP) of the stream operating device  510 , which is convenient. 
         [0048]    For example, when a user is not at home and wants to watch television, the user can utilize a notebook to connect with the personal computer at home via an instant communicating module. The remote controller is cooperated with the instant communicating module to give an operating command to the notebook, and then the user can remotely control the personal computer to share the television stream via the instant communicating module. In detail, if a user wants to remotely control the personal computer to execute the playing function, the user gives a playing command to the notebook via the remote controller, and the playing command is transmitted to the personal computer via the instant communicating module. According to the received playing command, the personal computer controls the television capture card to begin providing television stream and utilizes the virtual capturing unit  517  to convert the format of the television stream to the specific streaming format supported by the instant communicating module. At last, the television stream is transmitted to the notebook to play by the instant communicating module. In this way, a user can watch television outside. 
         [0049]    In the invention, a plurality of operations of the stream providing unit are also supported, and operating functions such as format converting, mixing, editing and so on can be executed for the multimedia stream provided by different stream providing unit.  FIG. 6  is a system for remotely processing multimedia stream according to another embodiment of the invention. Please refer to  FIG. 6 . In the embodiment, the system for remotely processing multimedia stream  600  includes a stream operating device  610  and a remote device  620 . The stream operating device  610  includes an instant communicating module  611 , stream providing units  613  and  615 , an processing unit  617  and a virtual capturing unit  619 , while the remote device  620  includes a instant communicating module  621  and a control unit  623 . Compared with the prior embodiment, this embodiment has a stream providing unit  615 , and other components of this embodiment are same or similar with that of the prior embodiment, and therefore, they are not described for concise purpose. 
         [0050]    In this embodiment, the stream providing unit  613  and the stream providing unit  615  provides a sum of multimedia stream for the virtual capturing unit  619 , respectively. The processing unit  617  controls the stream providing units  613  and  615  to execute operating functions such as playing, pausing, fast forwarding, turning round and so on according the operating command received by the instant communicating module  611 , and it also controls the virtual capturing unit  619  to execute operating function such as format converting, mixing, or editing and so on for the two sums of the multimedia stream. After being processed, the multimedia stream is provided for the instant communicating module  611 . At last, the remote device  620  receives and plays the multimedia stream. 
         [0051]    For example, if the two sums of the multimedia stream provided by stream providing unit  613  and the stream providing unit  615 , respectively, are ball match television steaming and album television steaming, the processing unit  617  can control the virtual capturing unit  619  to mix the television stream to be picture-in-picture (PIP), and only the mixed television stream is outputted. In this way, a user can watch two different televisions remotely. 
         [0052]    To sum up, the device, system and method for remotely processing multimedia stream of the invention have at least following advantages: 
         [0053]    First, since the virtual capturing unit is utilized to convert the format of the multimedia stream to a specific streaming format, the instant communicating module can recognize various multimedia stream, so that the resource of the multimedia stream is more plentiful. 
         [0054]    Second, utilizing the existing network connection function of the instant communicating module, a user can use the control unit to give an operating command remotely and control the stream operating device to provide multimedia stream, so that the effect of remote control is achieved. 
         [0055]    Third, since the virtual capturing unit is utilized to execute operating functions such as format converting, mixing, editing and so on, multimedia stream can be outputted after being combined or edited according to the need of the user to provide more various multimedia stream operating application. 
         [0056]    Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.