Abstract:
A system and method for wireless transmission of high-definition audio and video signals include providing lossless raw video data wirelessly to a soundbar from a headunit to eliminate the multitude of wires that traditionally connect to a television in a home theater. In one embodiment, a wireless transmitter in the headunit transmits a wireless HDMI signal as the lossless raw video data.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority of U.S. provisional Application Ser. No. 61/309,835 titled WIRELESS THEATER SYSTEM, filed Mar. 2, 2010, which is incorporated in its entirety into this application by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to home theater systems and more particularly home theater systems with wireless audio and video capabilities. 
     2. Related Art 
     The popularity of liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions has increased over the last few years, partially due to the improved picture quality and the ability to mount the LCD televisions on walls. But, as with any television, there are numerous connections to audio/video components and content providers that typically require wired connections. These wires limit the placement of the audio/video components to within a few feet of the television and make for an unsightly mess of wires. 
     Newer televisions have been made with HDMI connectors and have associated copy protection provided by the HDMI standards. In order to get the highest quality digital picture from a device such as a Blue-ray disc, HDMI connections must be made between the television and all of the components. This results in HDMI cables being required from the audio/video component to the television. Thus, if the television is mounted on the wall there are only two approaches for cabling the television. The first approach is running a HDMI cable up the wall and results in an unsightly cable being visible. The other approach is running the HDMI cable in the wall. This requires changing the structure of the house and often requires a carpenter or electrician to actually do the work. 
     A problem exists relative to wire placement and the necessity of locating the audio/video components in relative close proximity to the television. Attempts to resolve the problem have included in-wall wiring approaches, such as A-bus and other wired Ethernet cabling system approaches or 900 Mhz wireless analog speaker and video approaches. All of these approaches fail to solve all of the cabling problems and maintain the encrypted HDMI signal that has the superior picture quality. 
     Therefore, there is a need for providing a wireless theater system in which HDMI signals are maintained while allowing audio/video components to be placed anywhere in a room while reducing the cabling connecting to a television or other display. 
     SUMMARY 
     To address the foregoing problems, in whole or in part, and/or other problems that may have been observed by persons skilled in the art, the present disclosure provides methods, processes, systems, apparatus, instruments, and/or devices, as described by way of example in implementations set forth below. 
     According to one implementation, a headunit is able to connect to other audio/video devices using HDMI connections along with other connections (audio, composite video, etc. . . . ). The headunit is able to process the digital audio and video signals and send raw video along with audio signals wirelessly to a soundbar. The sound bar may be a 5.1 surround sound bar that has a receiver to receive the raw video and analog signals and transport them to a television that is tethered via a cable, such as an HDMI cable. The wireless transmission of the video signal may be via a lossless protocol, such as wireless HDMI. 
     Other devices, apparatus, systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The invention may be better understood by referring to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of wireless theater system in accordance with an example implementation. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the headunit  102  of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an example implementation. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the soundbar  108  of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an example implementation. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of the wireless theater approach of  FIGS. 1-3  in accordance with an example implementation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The foregoing description of implementations has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimed inventions to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above description or may be acquired from practicing the invention. The claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention. 
     In  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of wireless theater system  100  in accordance with an example implementation is depicted. The wireless theater system  100  may have a headunit  102 , one or more audio/video components  104 , cabling  106 , a soundbar  108 , and television  112 . The headunit  102  may act as a hub and connect to other audio/video components  104 , such as Blue-Ray disc players, DVD player, cassette tape players, IPOD video players, media players, personal computers, karaoke machines, turntables, interactive toys, and video tape players. At least one of the audio/video components may be a HDMI capable device (i.e. the Blue-Ray disc player) and provide encrypted video content in addition to audio content. In other implementations, some of the audio/video components may be located within the headunit  102 , such as a Blue-Ray disc player. 
     The headunit processes the video and audio content received over the HDMI cable and transmits the video and audio content as data via a wireless link  110  to a soundbar  108 . The transmission may be done with a protocol such as wireless HDMI that transports the raw video or with a similar lossless protocol. A lossless protocol requires more bandwidth than may be provided by wireless data communication protocols such as wireless internet (WiFi). A lossless wireless protocol (lossless wireless signal), such as wireless HDMI, typically will require a bandwidth of 60 Gigahertz. Lossless transmission  108  maintains the integrity of the HDMI signal and the associated copy protection required by the HDMI standards. 
     The soundbar  108  receives the wireless HDMI signal and plays the audio via multiple speakers that may support 5.1 surround sound. The HDMI video signal may be passed from the soundbar  108  via a cable  114 , such as a HDMI cable, to the television  112  or other display. In other implementations, the soundbar  108  may be connected to the television  112  via component cables, composite cables, or S-Video cables. Further, the television  112  may be, for example, a LCD television, tube television, computer display, or projector. 
     Turning to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram of the headunit  102  of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an example implementation is depicted. The headunit  102  may have an audio visual (a/v) switch  202 , network interface  204 , controller  206 , display  208 , wireless HDMI transmitter  210  and antenna  212 . Audio/video components may connect to the headunit  108  via a/v switch  202 . The a/v switch  202  may be capable of switching between different audio/video inputs and connections, such as HDMI connections, component connections, composite connections, and S-video connections. In other implementations, only one type of connections (such as HDMI) may be supported. In yet other implementations at least one audio/video component  214  may be integrated within the headunit  102  and connected internally to the a/v switch  202  and controller  206 . 
     A controller  206  may be implemented with a digital signal processor, microprocessor, or other electrical circuits that may function as a controller. The controller  206  may process audio and video signals received from the a/v switch  202  and control the a/v switch that is selects the input audio/video signals. The controller  206  may have a video processor that aids in the scaling and graphic overlays for on screen displays. Further, the controller  206  may have an audio processor for processing the audio signals received at the headunit  102 . A network interface  204  may be coupled to the controller  206  and receive digital data (including audio and video data) from a telephone network, data network (such as the internet), or infrared receiver. The controller  206  processes the different received signals and provides visual data via display  208 . Examples of the visual data may include sound fields, selected input, volume level, equalizer bars, and power status. Audio, video and control data/signals for the soundbar  108  may be transmitted via a wireless connection  110  of  FIG. 1 . The controller  206  sends the audio, video, and control data/signals to the wireless HDMI transmitter  210  that transmits the data/signals via antenna  212  to the soundbar  108 . 
     In  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of the soundbar  108  of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an example implementation is depicted. The soundbar  108  may have an antenna  302 , wireless HDMI receiver  304 , controller  306 , television interface  308 , speaker array  310 , and soundbar display  312 . The wireless link  110  of  FIG. 1  carries the lossless audio/video signal and is received by the soundbar  108  at the wireless HDMI receiver  304  via antenna  302 . The controller  306  processes the data and signals from the wireless HDMI receiver  304  and transmits the respective audio signals and video signals to the television interface  308  and speaker array  310 . The controller  306  may also have an audio processor for processing the audio signals received at the wireless HDMI receiver  304 . Thus, a portion of the received data/signal may be sent to the speakers array  310 . The controller  306  may also control a soundbar display  312 . The soundbar display  312  may display information, for example, surround sound status and power state of the soundbar  108 . The television interface  308  may be a HDMI interface that accepts a HDMI cable  114  of  FIG. 1 . The HDMI cable may be connected to a television  112  or other display device. Thus, the multitude of cables and wires that were traditionally connected to a television has been reduced to one cable, such as an HDMI cable. The speaker array  310  may be a 5.1 surround sound speaker array with speakers for the right rear, left rear, center, right front and left front. The speaker array  310  may also have a wireless transmitter  314 , such as a 900 Mhz transmitter for transmitting audio signals to an external subwoofer (not shown). 
     The wireless HDMI transmitter  210  and HDMI receiver  304  may be implemented as transceiver in other implementations. The transceivers would enable two-way communication over control channels, such as HDMI back channels. The control data would be generated and processed by the respective controller ( 206  and  306 ) in the headunit  102  and soundbar  108 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 4 , a flow diagram  400  of the wireless theater approach of  FIGS. 1-3  in accordance with an example implementation is shown. Audio/video signals, such as the HDMI signals from a Blue-Ray disc player, may be received  402  at the head unit  102 . The controller  206  processes the audio/video signals  404  and transmits the audio/video signals as raw video signals (such as encapsulated H.264 data) and audio  406  from the headunit  102 , via wireless HDMI transmitter  210  and antenna  212 . The soundbar  108  receives the wireless audio/video signals  408  at antenna  302  and wireless HDMI receiver  304 . The controller then directs the audio/video to speakers and the television  410 . The flow diagram is shown as having a start and stop position, but in practice the process may be continuous as long as the headunit  102  and sound bar  108  are powered on and active. 
     It will be understood, and is appreciated by persons skilled in the art, that one or more processes, sub-processes, or process steps described in connection with  FIG. 4  may be performed by hardware and/or software. If the process is performed by software, the software may reside in software memory (not shown) in a suitable electronic processing component or system such as, one or more of the functional components or modules schematically depicted in  FIGS. 1-3 . The software in software memory may include an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions (that is, “logic” that may be implemented either in digital form such as digital circuitry or source code or in analog form such as analog circuitry or an analog source such as an analog electrical, audio or video signal), and may selectively be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that may selectively fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” is any means that may contain, store or communicate the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium may selectively be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device. More specific examples, but nonetheless a non-exhaustive list, of computer-readable media would include the following: a portable computer disk (magnetic), a RAM (electronic), a read-only memory “ROM” (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) (electronic) and a portable compact disc read-only memory “CDROM” (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium may even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. 
     The foregoing description of implementations has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimed inventions to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above description or may be acquired from practicing the invention. The claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.