Peripheral bus video communication using internet protocol

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12592997-B2
Application number	US-202318170391-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 16, 2023
Priority date	Jan 26, 2016
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

Described are techniques for video bridging for conversion of IP network video streams to the USB Video Class (UVC). The conversion of IP video to UVC video can include the use of software-only conversions and hardware assisted conversions, and can be done within purpose-built “conversion” devices or as software only solutions operating within applications or drivers within the operating systems of the “end nodes”. The end-nodes simultaneously see and use multiple USB UVC video sources. The conversion process can also convert the USB UVC video control protocol to IP Video Stream control protocols.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system, comprising:
a camera apparatus coupled to an internet protocol (IP) network; and a bridging apparatus having a first interface coupled to the IP network and a second interface having a peripheral bus, wherein:
the bridging apparatus is coupled to the camera apparatus via the IP network;
the bridging apparatus is couplable to a user device via the peripheral bus and a peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device; and
the bridging apparatus includes a first module configured to transcode video data from the IP network to the peripheral bus, and a second module configured to translate control signals from the peripheral bus to the IP network such that, when coupled to the user device, the bridging apparatus is configured to transmit first control messages in a uniform, single control protocol to control the camera apparatus to provide the user device with access of and control over video streams from the camera apparatus using the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device, wherein the bridging apparatus is configured to output the video data on the peripheral bus in the peripheral bus protocol, wherein the bridging apparatus is configured to receive second control messages from a user device in the peripheral bus protocol for controlling the camera apparatus, and wherein the bridging apparatus is couplable to a switch for conveying the video data and the control messages between the bridging apparatus and the camera apparatus.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein transcoding the video data comprises:
decompressing the video data received over the IP network from the camera apparatus;
recompressing the video data to create a video output viewable at the user device; and
translating the video output to a format compliant with the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device.

3 . The system of claim 2 wherein the video output is motion joint pictures expert group video compatible.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the camera apparatus is controllable using an Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) protocol.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the camera apparatus is a first camera apparatus, wherein the system further comprises a second camera apparatus coupled to the bridging apparatus via the IP network, and wherein the second module in the bridging apparatus is further configured to translate the control signals from peripheral bus to the IP network such that, when coupled to the user device, the user device accesses and controls video streams from the first camera apparatus and the second camera apparatus using at least the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the first interface is a universal serial bus (USB) interface using a USB video class (USB UVC) protocol.

7 . A bridging apparatus for facilitating communication between a camera apparatus and a user device, the bridging apparatus comprising:
a first interface configured to communicate between the camera apparatus and the user device via an Internet Protocol (IP); a second interface configured to communicate via a serial bus protocol; and two or more modules configured to:
receive multimedia data, from the camera apparatus, via the first interface;
transcode the multimedia data from an IP format to a peripheral bus format compliant with a peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device;
output the transcoded multimedia data on the second interface;
convert a control message received via the second interface, from the user device, from the peripheral bus format to the IP format; and
transmit the converted control message via the first interface to the camera apparatus such that the user device accesses and controls the camera apparatus using the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device, wherein the user device uses its own peripheral bus protocol for controlling the camera apparatus so that the user device simultaneously accesses and controls a multimedia data stream provided by the camera apparatus while the camera apparatus is being controlled by a uniform, single control protocol.

8 . The bridging apparatus of claim 7 wherein converting the control message to the IP format includes identifying an entry in a look-up-table corresponding to the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device and a control protocol in the IP format.

9 . The bridging apparatus of claim 7 wherein the multimedia data comprises compressed audio and video data, wherein transcoding the multimedia data from the IP format to the peripheral bus format includes:
decompressing the compressed audio and video data to produce uncompressed audio and video data; and
recompressing the uncompressed audio and video data in the peripheral bus format compliant with the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device.

10 . The bridging apparatus of claim 7 wherein the multimedia data received at the IP interface includes video data received from the camera apparatus and audio data received from a microphone, and wherein transcoding the multimedia data includes buffering the audio data for achieving lip synchronization between the audio data and the video data.

11 . The bridging apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control message is a second control message, and wherein the two or more modules are further configured to:
receive a first control message, from the camera apparatus, via the first interface, wherein the first control message includes a device discovery message;
translate the first control message from the IP format to the peripheral bus format; and
output the translation of the first control message on the second interface.

12 . The bridging apparatus of claim 7 wherein the user device is a first user device from a plurality of user devices, and wherein each individual user device in the plurality of user devices has an independent peripheral bus protocol specific to the individual user device.

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations for facilitating communication between a camera apparatus and a user device, the operations comprising:
receiving multimedia data from the camera apparatus via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface; transcoding the multimedia data from an IP format to a peripheral bus format compliant with a peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device; outputting the transcoded multimedia data on a peripheral bus interface for communication to the user device; converting a control message received via the peripheral bus interface, from the user device, from the peripheral bus format to the IP format; and transmitting the converted control message, via the IP interface, to the camera apparatus such that the user device accesses and controls the camera apparatus using the peripheral bus protocol specific to the user device; wherein the user device uses its own peripheral bus protocol for controlling the camera apparatus so that the user device simultaneously accesses and controls a multimedia data stream provided by the camera apparatus while the camera apparatus is being controlled by a uniform, single control protocol.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the multimedia data comprises compressed video, and wherein the transcoding includes:
decompressing the compressed video to produce uncompressed video; and
recompressing the uncompressed video in a format compliant with the peripheral bus format and the peripheral

Assignees

• Qsc Llc

Inventors

• Pring Ryan

Classifications

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title

• H04L65/765

  intermediate · CPC title

• H04L2012/2849

  Audio/video appliances · CPC title

• H04L69/04

  Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC · CPC title

• H04L69/08

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title