Patent Publication Number: US-8977206-B2

Title: Data transmission device, system and method using the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/963,245, filed on Dec. 8, 2010, now pending, which in turn is claiming foreign priority to Taiwan patent application no. 099109126, filed on Mar. 23, 2010, now pending, and the entirety of the above-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention generally relates to a data transmission system, in particular to a data transmission device, and method using the same. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     With the advancement of the semiconductor industry, the physical size of various electronic devices is greatly reduced. Along with the rapid expansion of wireless networks, data transmission and reception are made more convenient. As a result, portable electronic devices (often referred to as handheld electronic devices) such as a mobile phone. MP3 player and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) are becoming mainstream in the electronic products market and indispensable in everyday life. 
     Portable electronic devices, with their compact size, are easy to carry yet provide limited display areas. Given many electronic devices support multimedia data playback functions, it is not comfortable to watch multimedia data with the small display on portable devices. Therefore, users are not accustomed to watching movies or television programs on portable electronic devices because images must be shrunk, rendering details, especially subtitles, almost indistinguishable. Therefore, it is difficult for users to enjoy watching multimedia data played on these types of electronic devices. 
     Recently, the demand for portable electronic devices has increased. There are many game developers starting to develop games playable on portable electronic devices. Despite this desire, compact display area remains a critical factor in whether a user can fully enjoy playing a game while maintaining good control of a game. It is possible that the game has potential to be popular yet is not accepted by the general public. 
     Further, a user may play these multimedia data or execute computer games on a notebook computer or a desktop computer. Nonetheless, it is more enjoyable to watch multimedia data on a large display screen than on a personal computer screen. Also, the user is required to sit next to a notebook computer or a desktop computer when watching multimedia data or executing computer games. 
     To sum up, it is desirable to provide technology compatible with designs of current portable electronic devices for transmitting multimedia data in various portable electronic devices or computers to a player with a large display area via wireless transmission and displaying the multimedia data on that player. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objective of the present invention is to provide a data transmission device, system and method for receiving a multimedia data generated by an electronic apparatus and wirelessly transmitting the multimedia data to a display monitor. 
     To achieve the above objective, the data transmission device of the present invention is connected to a monitor. The data transmission device mainly comprises a wireless transmission module, a multimedia processing unit and an output interface. The wireless transmission module wirelessly receives multimedia data transmitted by the electronic apparatus. The multimedia processing unit receives and decompresses and decodes the multimedia data, and the output interface transmits the multimedia data to the monitor for displaying the multimedia data. 
     Compared to prior art, the advantages provided by the present invention are that the audio data and video data generated by the electronic apparatus executing the multimedia file are allowed to be wirelessly transmitted to a monitor with a larger display area. Also, a command stream sent by a remote external controller is transmitted to the electronic apparatus via the data transmission device for controlling the multimedia file execution. Thus, a user is allowed to control the electronic apparatus without being next to the electronic apparatus and watch the multimedia data generated by the electronic apparatus executing the multimedia file. In addition, the data transmission device of the present invention also provides features such as low power consumption, compact size and mobility, which makes the present invention useful in everyday life. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
       The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes an exemplary embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the data transmission device according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating data transmission in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the data transmission system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating another preferred embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating data transmission in another preferred embodiment according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating instruction transmission in another preferred embodiment according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In cooperation with attached drawings, the technical contents and detailed description of the present invention are described thereinafter according to a preferable embodiment, being not used to limit its executing scope. Any equivalent, variation and modification made according to appended claims is all covered by the claims claimed by the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the data transmission device according to the present invention. As shown in the diagram, a data transmission device  1  of the present invention wirelessly transmits data between an external monitor  2  and an external electronic apparatus  3 . The data transmission device  1  is connected via an output interface  11  to the monitor  2  having an interface port  21  identical to the output interface  11 , whereby the data transmission device  1  transmits received data to the monitor  2 . Also, the data transmission device  1  receives power from the monitor  2  via the output interface  11 . Thus the data transmission device  1  is not required to have an internal power supply, which is useful in both reducing the dimension of the data transmission device  1  and makes the data transmission device  1  convenient to transport. The output interface  11  could be a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) port. The interface port  21  could be a HDMI or MHL interface port  21 . The output interface  11  is interconnected to the monitor and adapts to an HDMI or MHL standard but not limited by the embodiment. The electronic apparatus  3  is a portable electronic apparatus  3  such as a mobile phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld gaming machine, etc. The electronic apparatus  3  is mainly used for executing a multimedia file such as a movie file, music file, computer game file, etc. Also, the multimedia file is displayed via a display  31  and a speaker  32  of the electronic apparatus  3  upon execution of the multimedia file. 
     The electronic apparatus  3  generates multimedia data P1, for example, the multimedia data P1 comprises audio data, video data, and etc., generated from the electronic apparatus  3  executing the multimedia file. The generated multimedia data P1 is wirelessly transmitted to the data transmission device  1  via a wireless transmission module (not shown) configured in the electronic apparatus  3 . Thus, the multimedia data P1 is transmitted via the data transmission device  1  to the monitor  2  for displaying the multimedia data P1. The monitor  2  has a display area larger than that of the display  31  of the electronic apparatus  3 . Therefore, a user may use the electronic apparatus  3  for executing the multimedia file correlated to the multimedia data P1 and watching the multimedia data P1 generated from the electronic apparatus  3  executing the multimedia file on the monitor  2  having larger display area. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in the diagram, the data transmission device  1  mainly comprises the output interface  11 , a wireless transmission module  12  and a multimedia processing unit  13 . The electronic apparatus  3  encodes and compresses the generated multimedia data P1 via an internal processor (not shown) and transmits the encoded and compressed multimedia data P1 to the data transmission device  1  via a wireless transmission. The data transmission device  1  is wirelessly communicated with the electronic apparatus  3  via the wireless transmission module  12  for receiving the multimedia data P1. The wireless transmission module  12  adapts to IEEE802.11 communication protocol and establishes a wireless connection with the electronic apparatus  3  via a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) system, but the scope of the invention is not limited to this embodiment. 
     The multimedia processing unit  13  is electrically connected to the wireless transmission unit  12  for receiving the multimedia data P1. The multimedia data P1 is decompressed and decoded by the multimedia processing unit  13  for recovering the multimedia data P1 to original form before the multimedia data P1 was encoded and compressed. The output interface  11  is electrically connected to the multimedia processing unit  13 , the multimedia data P1 is converted in accordance with a display specification of the monitor  2  by the output interface  11 , and then transmitted to the monitor  2  for playing the multimedia data P1. Moreover, the display specification of the monitor  2  comprises a high resolution display, but not intent to limited. It should be noted that the data transmission device  1  further comprises a memory  14  electrically connected to the multimedia processing unit  13  and configured to be a buffer for the decompressing and decoding of the multimedia data P1. This design has benefits such as increasing the compression ratio of the multimedia data P1 and lowering the bandwidth required for the wireless transmission. The memory  14  is a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) for example, but the scope of this invention is not limited to this particular embodiment. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating data transmission in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. Firstly, the user executes a multimedia file on the electronic apparatus  3  (step S 30 ). Next, the electronic apparatus  3  generates the multimedia data P1 by executing the multimedia file (step S 32 ). Also, the electronic apparatus  3  encodes and compresses the generated multimedia data P1 (step S 34 ). Lastly, the multimedia data P1 is wirelessly transmitted to the data transmission device  1  by the electronic apparatus  3  (step S 36 ). 
     The data transmission device  1  wirelessly receives the multimedia data P1 via the wireless transmission module  12  (step S 38 ). Next, the multimedia data P1 is transmitted to the multimedia processing unit  13  for decompressing and decoding (step S 40 ). Lastly, the decompressed and decoded multimedia data P1 is converted and transmitted to the monitor for displaying via the output interface  11  (step S 42 ). 
     The above embodiment is applied to general executable multimedia files and implemented with an exemplary portable electronic apparatus having a wireless transmission function. However, general desktop computers or entry level notebook computers suitable for word processing purpose are built with simple and low cost configurations and often do not include wireless transmission function. Consequently, the multimedia data P1 cannot be transmitted between the electronic apparatus  3  and the data transmission device  1 , thereby preventing the data transmission method with an electronic apparatus  3  having the above limited configurations. Considering the limitation, the inventor also provides a data transmission system based on the data transmission device  1  and further detailed in the following description. 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the data transmission system according to the present invention. The data transmission system of the embodiment comprises a display-end data transmission device  1 ′ (which is identical to the data transmission device  1  and is indicated as the display-end data transmission device in the following embodiment) connected to the monitor  2 , and an execution-end data transmission device  4  which is in communication with the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ and connected to the electronic apparatus  3 . The display-end data transmission device  1 ′ connects to the interface port  21  of the monitor  2  via the output interface  11 . The execution-end data transmission device  4  connects to a multimedia interface port  33  of the electronic apparatus  3  via an input interface  41 . The input and output interfaces  11 ,  41  are HDMI or MHL interface ports, adapting to an HDMI or MHL standard and transmitting the multimedia data P1 with high speed and receive required working power from the monitor  2  and the electronic apparatus  3 , but are not limited to such interface or power source. The execution-end data transmission device  4  further has a receiver  45 . The execution-end data transmission device  4  connects with a control interface port  34  of the electronic apparatus  3  via the receiver  45 . The execution-end data transmission device  4  receives and transmits an external command stream (for example the command stream C1 in  FIG. 5 ) and then the command stream C1 is transmitted to and processed by the electronic apparatus  3  via the receiver  45  for controlling the electronic apparatus  3  while executing the multimedia file (detailed in the following). 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating another preferred embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in the diagram, the execution-end data transmission device  4  mainly comprises the input interface  41 , a first wireless transmission module  42 , a first multimedia processing unit  43 , a first memory  44  and the receiver  45 . The input interface  41  is connected to the electronic apparatus  3  to receive the power required by the execution-end data transmission device  4  and to receive and transmit the multimedia data P1 generated by the electronic apparatus  3 . The first multimedia processing unit  43  is electrically connected to the input interface  41  in such a way for receiving the multimedia data P1 received by the input interface  41  and further encoding and compressing the multimedia data P1. The first wireless transmission module  42  is electrically connected to the first multimedia processing unit  43  in such a way for wirelessly receiving and transmitting the encoded and compressed multimedia data P1 to the display-end data transmission device  1 ′. 
     The display-end data transmission device  1 ′ is in communication with the execution-end data transmission device  4  and comprises a second wireless transmission module  12 ′, a second multimedia processing unit  13 ′ electrically connected to the second wireless transmission module  12 ′, the output interface  11  electrically connected to the second multimedia processing unit  13 ′ and a second memory  14 ′ electrically connected to the second multimedia processing unit  13 ′. 
     The second wireless transmission module  12 ′ wirelessly receives the multimedia data P1 transmitted via the first wireless transmission module  42  of the execution-end data transmission device  4 . Following that, the second multimedia processing unit  13 ′ receives the multimedia data P1 and decompresses and decodes the received multimedia data P1. The decompressed and decoded multimedia data P1 is transmitted and converted in accordance with a display specification of the monitor via the output interface  11  coupled to the monitor  2  for displaying said multimedia data P1 on the monitor  2 . Moreover, the display specification of the monitor for displaying the multimedia comprises a high resolution display. 
     The first memory  44  and the second memory  14 ′ are configured to be buffers for compression, decompression, encoding or decoding of the multimedia data P1. The first and second memories  44  and  14 ′ can be, for example, SDRAM. The first wireless transmission module  42  and the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ adapts to IEEE802.11 communication protocol and to establish a wireless connection via WIFI system, but the scope of the invention is not limited to this embodiment. 
     As mentioned above, the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ further adapts to a Bluetooth profile to wirelessly receive the command stream C1 sent by an external controller  5  (for example a remote controller or a game machine controller). For example, if the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ and the monitor  2  are in a living room and the execution-end data transmission device  4  and the electronic apparatus  3  are in a room far from the living room, the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ receives the command stream C1 via a short distance transmission such as Bluetooth and then transmits the command stream C1 via a long distance transmission such as WIFI system to the first multimedia processing unit  42  of the execution-end data transmission device  4 . The execution-end data transmission device  4  transmits the command stream C1 to the electronic apparatus  3  via the receiver  45  for controlling the execution of the multimedia file, for example controlling execution of an electronic game. The receiver  45  and the control interface port  34  adapt to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard. Thus, the first multimedia processing unit  42  is configured to receive and convert the command stream C1 to adapt to a USB standard and transmit the converted command stream C1 to the receiver  45 , the receiver  45  and the control interface port  34  are interconnected via a USB transmission cable (not shown) to transmit the command stream C1, but the scope of the invention is not limited to utilization of a USB standard. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating data transmission in another preferred embodiment according to the present invention. Firstly, the execution-end data transmission device  4  receives the multimedia data P1 generated by the electronic apparatus  3  (step S 50 ). Next, the first multimedia processing unit  43  of the execution-end data transmission device  4  encodes and compresses the generated multimedia data P1 (step S 52 ). Next, the encoded and compressed multimedia data P1 is wirelessly transmitted to the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ via WIFI system (step S 54 ). The display-end data transmission device  1 ′ wirelessly receives the multimedia data P1 via the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ from the first wireless transmission module  42  of the execution-end data transmission device  4  (step S 56 ). Next, the second multimedia processing unit  13 ′ decompresses and decodes the multimedia data P1 (step S 58 ). Lastly, the decompressed and decoded multimedia data P1 is converted in accordance with a display specification of the monitor  2  and transmitted to the monitor  2  for displaying via the output interface  11  (step S 60 ). 
       FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating instruction transmission in another preferred embodiment according to the present invention. Firstly, a user sends the command stream C1 via an external controller  5  (step S 70 ). Meanwhile, if the distance between the controller  5  and the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ falls within the supported distance of the Bluetooth profile, the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ wirelessly receives the command stream C1 inputted externally via the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ (step S 72 ), wherein the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ adapts to the Bluetooth profile, and the command stream C1 transmitted adapts to the Bluetooth profile. Next, the second wireless transmission module  12 ′ wirelessly transmits the command stream C1 to the execution-end data transmission device  4  via WIFI system with long distance wireless transmission (step S 74 ). 
     The execution-end data transmission device  4  wirelessly receives the command stream C1 inputted externally by the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ (step S 76 ). In the present embodiment, the receiver  45  adapts to the USB standard. Therefore, the execution-end data transmission device  4  converts the command stream C1 to adapt to the USB standard by the first multimedia processing unit  43  (step S 78 ). In other embodiment, the execution-end data transmission device  4  may interconnect with the electronic apparatus  3  and convert and transmit the command stream C1 by other communication protocols, the scope of the invention is not limited to the above. Lastly, the execution-end data transmission device  4  transmits the converted command stream C1 to the electronic apparatus  3  via the receiver  45  coupled to the electronic apparatus  3  (step S 80 ). Thus, the command stream C1 is transmitted to and processed by the electronic apparatus  3 , and the execution of the multimedia file is controlled by the command stream C1. 
     It should be noted that if the distance between the controller  5  and the execution-end data transmission device  4  falls within the supported distance of the Bluetooth profile, and the first wireless transmission module  42  adapts to the Bluetooth profile, then the controller  5  can directly transmit the command stream C1 to the first wireless transmission module  42  of the execution-end data transmission device  4 . Also, the command stream C1 is then converted to adapt to the USB standard by the first multimedia processing unit  43  and transmitted to the electronic apparatus  3  for displaying by the receiver  45 . 
     As the skilled person will appreciate, various changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments. For example, in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the data transmission device  1  receives power from the monitor  2  via the output interface  11 . It is noted that alternatively the data transmission device  1  may receive power from the monitor  2  through another interface (e.g. USB port) provided by the monitor  2 . Or the data transmission device  1  may receive power from a battery incorporated within the data transmission device  1 . Similarly, in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ and the execution-end data transmission device  4  receive power from the monitor  1  and the electronic apparatus  3  via the interfaces  11  and  41  respectively. In another embodiment, the display-end data transmission device  1 ′ may receive power via another interface (e.g. USB port) provided by the monitor  2 , or receive power from a battery incorporated within the display-end data transmission device. The execution-end data transmission device  4  may receive power from the control interface port  34  (which is, for example, an USB port) provided by the electronic apparatus  3 , or receive power from a battery incorporated within the execution-end data transmission device. It is intended to include all such variations, modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in the accompanying claims.