Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing – Local trick play processing – With randomly accessible medium
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-31
2002-10-15
Nguyen, Huy (Department: 2615)
Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing
Local trick play processing
With randomly accessible medium
C386S349000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06466736
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to systems for reproducing information stored on storage media such as optical discs and more particularly to an integrated apparatus and method for facilitating the reproduction of information read from optical storage discs of different types such as digital video discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs).
The transition of audio and video storage from the analog domain to the digital domain has revolutionized the way in which audio and video information is distributed to consumers. For example, digital optical storage media such as CDs and DVDs are quickly becoming the media of choice for distribution of information. The rising popularity of optical storage media, such as CDs and DVDs, has given rise to an expanding market for playback systems which are capable of reproducing information recorded on optical storage discs. Further, since the optical discs may store information encoded in different formats, playback systems which are capable of reading and reproducing information stored in various formats are preferred. Examples of such integrated playback systems include DVD/CD players which are capable of reading and reproducing information stored on CDs and DVDs.
FIG. 1
depicts a typical prior art playback system
1
used for reproducing information stored on CDs and DVDs. Traditional playback system
1
typically includes a disc motor
6
for rotating disc
2
, an optical pickup (OPU) subsystem
4
, a current-voltage (I/V) amplifier
8
, a signal amplifier
10
, a servo error detector
12
, servo control subsystem
14
, servo drivers
16
, a read channel (RC)
18
, a CD digital signal processor (CD-DSP)
22
along with its associated memory
24
, a digital audio processor
34
, a DVD DSP
26
along with its associated memory
28
, a block decoder
30
along with its associated memory
32
, an Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) interface
36
, a host system central processing unit (CPU)
38
, a MPEG decoder
40
(MPEG-1 or MPEG-2) along with its associated memory
42
, audio playback subsystem
44
, video playback subsystem
46
, a microcontroller
48
coupled with CD/DVD subsystems, and a microcontroller
49
coupled with MPEG decoder
40
.
Disc motor
6
typically includes a spindle motor which rotates disc
2
to a desired speed. Servo drivers
16
output currents to disc motor
6
to drive and control the rate of rotations of motors contained in disc motor
6
. Servo drivers
16
also output currents to OPU
4
to position OPU
4
on the desired location of disc
2
, to focus the laser beam onto disc
2
, and to track the recorded spiral pits on disc
2
.
As disc
2
rotates, OPU
4
reads information stored on the CD or DVD by scanning the pits and lands on optical disc
2
. OPU
4
may contain one or more lasers, optical elements, and associated electronic circuitry, and reads the information stored on disc
2
by detecting the laser beam reflected from disc
2
. OPU
4
is usually mounted on a sled which physically positions OPU
4
over disc
2
. OPU
4
is capable of reading information from both DVDs and CDs. I/V amplifier
8
converts the photo-diode currents generated by the reflected laser beam into voltages which are supplied to signal amplifier
10
which equalizes the signal representing information read from disc
2
.
Servo error detector
12
generates servo error controls signals which are fed back to servo control subsystem
14
. The servo error signals include a focus error signal, a tracking error signal, and a track-crossing pulse. Based on the servo error signals received from servo error detector
12
, servo control subsystem
14
determines and controls the speed of rotation of disc
2
using servo drivers
16
, and also adjusts the height and position of OPU
4
for reading information from disc
2
.
Read channel (RC) subsystem
18
extracts bit clock and bit data information for CD and DVD from the output of signal amplifier
10
. Read channel subsystem
18
also performs analog-to-digital conversion of the input analog signal. The digital bit stream generated by RC subsystem
18
is provided either to CD-DSP
22
or to DVD-DSP
26
depending on whether playback system
1
is operating in CD or in DVD mode.
CD-DSP
22
demodulates channel bits read from a CD into data bytes and performs error detection and correction on the data bytes. Memory
24
coupled to CD-DSP
22
facilitates de-interleaving operation, and error detection and correction operations. Audio processor
34
coupled with CD-DSP
22
may be used for CD audio playback. The output from CD-DSP
22
may be provided to block decoder
30
or to MPEG decoder
40
via a serial interface. Block decoder
30
performs data block error correction on the CD data and converts the data blocks received from CD-DSP
22
into CD blocks. Memory
32
coupled to block decoder
30
facilitates functions performed by block decoder
30
and also acts as buffer memory for ATAPI interface
36
.
DVD-DSP
26
demodulates channel bits read from a DVD into data bytes and performs error detection and correction on the data bytes. DVD-DSP
26
also converts the DVD data into DVD data sector format data. Memory
28
coupled to DVD-DSP
26
facilitates the demodulation, error detection and correction, and data sector formatting operations.
ATAPI interface
36
facilitates the transfer of CD data blocks and DVD sector data to host system CPU
38
using a host system bus. For DVD playback, host system CPU
38
outputs the received data to MPEG decoder
40
using a host system bus, such as ISA/EISA bus. MPEG decoder
40
decompresses and separates the compressed audio and video data. The decompressed video data is output to video playback subsystem
46
for MPEG video playback. The decompressed MPEG audio is output to audio playback subsystem
44
for MPEG-audio or AC
3
audio playback.
The ATAPI interface
36
and host CPU
38
are typically required for CD-ROM and DVD and DVD-ROM applications. The CD-ROM/DVD-ROM approach is also used for integrated DVD/CD player applications, but is by no means a cost effective or efficient solution for audio and video playback applications. For a DVD/CD playback system, a 2× DVD speed or a 8× CD speed is adequate for MPEG playback. Higher speeds which are generally required for CD-ROM and DVD-ROM application are not required for audio and video playback since they do not provide much difference in playback performance.
Microcontroller
48
allows the playback system user to program and control the operations of playback system
1
. Microcontroller
48
allows the user to perform various housekeeping functions such as register configuration or setup of playback system
1
. Microcontroller
48
facilitates this by providing read and write capabilities for the various registers and memory locations within the various subsystems of playback system
1
. Microcontroller
48
also allows the user to monitor the flow of information within the various subsystems of playback system
1
. Microcontroller
49
may be programmed to control the functioning of MPEG decoder
40
.
As can be seen from
FIG. 1
, most conventional DVD/CD players use separate subsystems to process information read from CDs and DVDs since the format of the information is different. The various subsystems are generally incorporated into separate chips, each dedicated to processing information of a particular format. The separate subsystems occupy valuable real estate in the playback system and as a whole make the playback system bulky and expensive. Use of separate subsystems for information processing also results in inefficient use of system processing and memory resources and hinders efficient sharing of distributed resources. Further, an increased number of chips also increases the total pin count of playback system I making it bulky and complex. All of the above mentioned factors eventually translate to increased manufacturing costs for the playback system.
Additionally, because of low bit rate associated with CDs (use
Chen Kong-Chen
Hsu Wen
Tsu Chris
Cahill Steven J.
Nguyen Huy
Oak Technology, Inc.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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