U.S. patent application number 13/965210 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-29 for data processing apparatus for transmitting/receiving compression-related indication information via camera interface and related data processing method.
This patent application is currently assigned to MEDIATEK INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is MEDIATEK INC.. Invention is credited to Chi-Cheng Ju, Tsu-Ming Liu.
Application Number | 20140146195 13/965210 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50772955 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140146195 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ju; Chi-Cheng ; et
al. |
May 29, 2014 |
DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING/RECEIVING
COMPRESSION-RELATED INDICATION INFORMATION VIA CAMERA INTERFACE AND
RELATED DATA PROCESSING METHOD
Abstract
A data processing apparatus has a compressor and an output
interface. The compressor generates a compressed multimedia data by
compressing a multimedia data according to a compression algorithm.
The output interface records indication information in an output
bitstream, and outputs the output bitstream via a camera interface,
wherein the output bitstream is derived from the compressed
multimedia data, and the indication information is set in response
to the compression algorithm employed by the compressor. Another
data processing apparatus has a de-compressor and an input
interface. The de-compressor de-compresses a compressed multimedia
data derived from an input bitstream. The input interface receives
the input bitstream via a camera interface, parses indication
information included in the input bitstream, and configures the
de-compressor to employ a de-compression algorithm as indicated by
the indication information.
Inventors: |
Ju; Chi-Cheng; (Hsinchu
City, TW) ; Liu; Tsu-Ming; (Hsinchu City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MEDIATEK INC. |
Hsin-Chu |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
MEDIATEK INC.
Hsin-Chu
TW
|
Family ID: |
50772955 |
Appl. No.: |
13/965210 |
Filed: |
August 13, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61729426 |
Nov 23, 2012 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
348/222.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/325 20130101;
H04N 5/232411 20180801; H04N 19/184 20141101; H04N 19/154 20141101;
G09G 2340/04 20130101; H04N 5/23293 20130101; G09G 2340/02
20130101; H04N 19/10 20141101; G06F 1/3278 20130101; H04N 19/12
20141101; H04N 5/23229 20130101; H04N 5/23241 20130101; H04N
5/23235 20130101; Y02D 10/00 20180101; H04N 19/146 20141101; H04N
19/179 20141101; G06F 3/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
348/222.1 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/232 20060101
H04N005/232 |
Claims
1. A data processing apparatus comprising: a compressor, arranged
for generating a compressed multimedia data by compressing a
multimedia data according to a compression algorithm; and an output
interface, arranged for recording indication information in an
output bitstream and outputting the output bitstream via a camera
interface, wherein the output bitstream is derived from the
compressed multimedia data, and the indication information is set
in response to the compression algorithm employed by the
compressor.
2. The data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the camera
interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a
Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).
3. The data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output
interface records the indication information by setting a command
set in a payload portion of the output bitstream.
4. The data processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein a first end of
the camera interface is coupled to the output interface of the data
processing apparatus, and a second end of the camera interface is
allowed to be coupled to another data processing apparatus via any
of a plurality of channels; the output interface further records a
channel identification (ID) number in a header portion of the
output bitstream to indicate which one of the channels is connected
for receiving the output bitstream.
5. A data processing apparatus comprising: a de-compressor,
arranged for de-compressing a compressed multimedia data derived
from an input bitstream; and an input interface, arranged for
receiving the input bitstream via a camera interface, parsing
indication information included in the input bitstream, and
configuring the de-compressor to employ a de-compression algorithm
as indicated by the indication information.
6. The data processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the camera
interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a
Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).
7. The data processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the input
interface obtains the indication information by parsing a command
set in a payload portion of the input bitstream.
8. The data processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein one end of the
camera interface is allowed to be coupled to the data processing
apparatus via any of a plurality of channels; and a specific
channel selected from the channels according to a channel
identification (ID) number recorded in a header portion of the
input bitstream is connected for receiving the input bitstream.
9. A data processing method comprising: generating a compressed
multimedia data by compressing a multimedia data according to a
compression algorithm; and recording indication information in an
output bitstream and outputting the output bitstream via a camera
interface, wherein the output bitstream is derived from the
compressed multimedia data, and the indication information is set
in response to the compression algorithm.
10. The data processing method of claim 9, wherein the camera
interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a
Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).
11. The data processing method of claim 9, wherein the step of
recording the indication information in the output bitstream
comprises: recording the indication information by setting a
command set in a payload portion of the output bitstream.
12. The data processing method of claim 11, wherein a first end of
the camera interface is coupled to the output bitstream, and a
second end of the camera interface is allowed to be coupled to a
data processing apparatus via any of a plurality of channels; and
the data processing method further comprises: recording a channel
identification (ID) number in a header portion of the output
bitstream to indicate which one of the channels is connected for
receiving the output bitstream.
13. The data processing method of claim 9, wherein the indication
information is adjusted when at least one of a compression ratio, a
compression unit size, a color format, and a bit depth of the
compression algorithm is changed.
14. A data processing method comprising: de-compressing a
compressed multimedia data derived from an input bitstream; and
receiving the input bitstream via a camera interface, parsing
indication information included in the input bitstream, and
configuring the de-compressing step to employ a de-compression
algorithm as indicated by the indication information.
15. The data processing method of claim 14, wherein the camera
interface is a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized by a
Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).
16. The data processing method of claim 14, wherein the step of
parsing the indication information included in the input bitstream
comprises: obtaining the indication information by parsing a
command set in a payload portion of the input bitstream.
17. The data processing method of claim 16, wherein one end of the
camera interface is allowed to be coupled to any of a plurality of
channels; and the data processing method further comprises:
receiving the input bitstream from the camera interface via a
specific channel selected from the channels according to a channel
identification (ID) number recorded in a header portion of the
input bitstream.
18. The data processing method of claim 14, wherein the indication
information is adjusted when at least one of a compression ratio, a
compression unit size, a color format, and a bit depth of the
compression algorithm is changed.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional
application No. 61/729,426, filed on Nov. 23, 2012 and incorporated
herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to
transmitting and receiving multimedia data over a camera interface,
and more particularly, to a data processing apparatus for
transmitting/receiving compression-related indication information
via a camera interface and related data processing method.
[0003] A camera interface is disposed between a first chip and a
second chip to transmit multimedia data from the first chip to the
second chip for further processing. For example, the first chip may
include a camera module, and the second chip may include an image
signal processor (ISP). The multimedia data may include image data
(i.e., a single still image) or video data (i.e., a video sequence
composed of images). When a camera sensor with a higher resolution
is employed in the camera module, the multimedia data transmitted
over the camera interface would have a larger data size/data rate,
which increases the power consumption of the camera interface
inevitably. If the camera module and the ISP are both located at a
portable device (e.g., a smartphone) powered by a battery device,
the battery life is shortened due to the increased power
consumption of the camera interface. Thus, there is a need for an
innovative design which can effectively reduce the power
consumption of the camera interface.
SUMMARY
[0004] In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present
invention, a data processing apparatus for transmitting/receiving
compression-related indication information via a camera interface
and related data processing method are proposed.
[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, an
exemplary data processing apparatus is disclosed. The exemplary
data processing apparatus has a compressor and an output interface.
The compressor is arranged for generating a compressed multimedia
data by compressing a multimedia data according to a compression
algorithm. The output interface is arranged for recording
indication information in an output bitstream and outputting the
output bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the output
bitstream is derived from the compressed multimedia data, and the
indication information is set in response to the compression
algorithm employed by the compressor.
[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an
exemplary data processing apparatus is disclosed. The exemplary
data processing apparatus has a de-compressor and an input
interface. The de-compressor is arranged for de-compressing a
compressed multimedia data derived from an input bitstream. The
input interface is arranged for receiving the input bitstream via a
camera interface, parsing indication information included in the
input bitstream, and configuring the de-compressor to employ a
de-compression algorithm as indicated by the indication
information.
[0007] According to a third aspect of the present invention, an
exemplary data processing method is disclosed. The exemplary data
processing method includes at least the following steps: generating
a compressed multimedia data by compressing a multimedia data
according to a compression algorithm; and recording indication
information in an output bitstream and outputting the output
bitstream via a camera interface, wherein the output bitstream is
derived from the compressed multimedia data, and the indication
information is set in response to the compression algorithm.
[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an
exemplary data processing method is disclosed. The exemplary data
processing method includes at least the following steps:
de-compressing a compressed multimedia data derived from an input
bitstream; and receiving the input bitstream via a camera
interface, parsing indication information included in the input
bitstream, and configuring the de-compressing step to employ a
de-compression algorithm as indicated by the indication
information.
[0009] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing
system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the
output bitstream generated from the camera module to the ISP
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information
handshaking between the camera module and the ISP.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control and data flow
of the data processing system shown in FIG. 1 when interface
compression is enabled.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing
system according to another embodiment of the present
invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the
output bitstream generated from the camera module to the ISP
according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control and data flow
of the data processing system shown in FIG. 5 when interface
compression is enabled.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Certain terms are used throughout the description and
following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled
in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component
by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish
between components that differ in name but not function. In the
following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and
"comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be
interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to . . . ". Also, the
term "couple" is intended to mean either an indirect or direct
electrical connection. Accordingly, if one device is coupled to
another device, that connection may be through a direct electrical
connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other
devices and connections.
[0018] The present invention proposes applying data compression to
a multimedia data and then transmitting a compressed multimedia
data over a camera interface. As the data size/data rate of the
compressed multimedia data is smaller than that of the original
un-compressed multimedia data, the power consumption of the camera
interface is reduced correspondingly. Besides, the de-compression
algorithm employed by a receiving end which receives and
de-compresses a compressed multimedia data is required to be
compliant with the compression algorithm employed by a transmitting
end which generates and transmits the compressed multimedia data;
otherwise, the receiving end fails to correctly de-compress the
compressed multimedia data. Therefore, the present invention
further proposes transmitting/receiving the compression-related
indication information via the camera interface, such that the
de-compression algorithm of the receiving end is properly
configured based on the compression-related indication information.
Further details will be described as below.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing
system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The
data processing system 100 includes a plurality of data processing
apparatuses such as a camera module 102 and an image signal
processor (ISP) 104. The camera module 102 and the ISP 104 may be
different chips, and the camera module 102 communicates with the
ISP 104 via a camera interface 103. In this embodiment, the camera
interface 103 may be a camera serial interface (CSI) standardized
by a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI).
[0020] The camera module 102 is coupled to the camera interface
103, and supports un-compressed data transmission and compressed
data transmission. When the camera module 102 is used to transmit
un-compressed data to the ISP 104, the camera module 102 generates
the un-compressed multimedia data D1 according to an input
multimedia data derived from capturing the incident light, and
transmits the un-compressed multimedia data D1 over the camera
interface 103. When the camera module 102 is used to transmit
compressed data to the ISP 104, the camera module 102 generates a
compressed multimedia data D1' according to the input multimedia
data derived from capturing the incident light, and transmits the
compressed multimedia data D1' over the camera interface 103. By
way of example, but not limitation, the input multimedia data
obtained by capturing the incident light and used for generating
the un-compressed multimedia data D1/compressed multimedia data D1'
may be an image data or a video data.
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the camera module 102 includes a camera
controller 112, an output interface 114 and a processing circuit
116. The processing circuit 116 includes circuit elements required
for processing the input multimedia data to generate the
un-compressed data D1 or the compressed data D1'. For example, the
processing circuit 116 has a compressor 117 and other circuitry
118, where the other circuitry 118 may have a lens module, a camera
sensor, a camera buffer, multiplexer(s), etc. The lens module
guides the incident light to the camera sensor, and the camera
sensor obtains the input multimedia data correspondingly. The input
multimedia data obtained by the camera sensor may be a single
captured image or a video sequence composed of a plurality of
captured images. Besides, the input multimedia data obtained by the
camera sensor may be single view data for 2D display or multiple
view data for 3D display. The camera buffer is arranged to buffer
the input multimedia data obtained by the camera sensor. The
compressor 117 performs data compression. The multiplexer receives
the un-compressed multimedia data D1 and the compressed multimedia
data D1', and selectively outputs the un-compressed multimedia data
D1 or the compressed multimedia data D1' according to the operation
mode of the camera module 102. For example, the camera controller
112 controls the operation of the camera module 102. When the
camera module 102 is operated under a compression mode, the
multiplexer outputs the compressed multimedia data D1'; and when
the camera module 102 is operated under a non-compression mode, the
multiplexer outputs the un-compressed multimedia data D1. As the
present invention focuses on the handshaking mechanism between the
camera module 102 and the ISP 104, further description of the other
circuit 118 is omitted here for brevity.
[0022] The output interface 114 is arranged for packing/packetizing
the un-compressed multimedia data D1/compressed multimedia data D1'
into an output bitstream according to the transmission protocol of
the camera interface 103, and transmits the output bitstream to the
ISP 104 via the camera interface 103. When the compression mode of
the camera module 102 is enabled, the compressor 117 further sets
indication information INFO in response to the compression
algorithm employed. Besides, the output interface 114 further
records the indication information INFO in the output bitstream. In
this way, when the output bitstream is transmitted from the camera
module 102 to the ISP 104, the compression-related indication
information (e.g., the indication information INFO) is also
transmitted via the camera interface 103.
[0023] Regarding the ISP 104, it communicates with the camera
module 102 via the camera interface 103. In this embodiment, the
ISP 104 is coupled to the camera interface 103, and supports
un-compressed data reception and compressed data reception. When
the camera module 102 transmits the un-compressed data D1 to the
ISP 104, the ISP 104 is operated under a non-decompression mode to
receive an un-compressed data D2 from the camera interface 103,
generate a processed multimedia data according to the un-compressed
data D2, and send the processed multimedia data to one or multiple
processors, such as a display processor 106_1, a video processor
106_2, and/or a graphic processor 106_3, for further processing.
When the camera module 102 transmits the compressed data D1' to the
ISP 104, the ISP 104 is operated under a de-compression mode to
receive a compressed multimedia data D2' from the camera interface
103, generate a processed multimedia data according to the
compressed data D2', and send the processed multimedia data to one
or multiple processors, such as the display processor 106_1, the
video processor 106_2, and/or the graphic processor 106_3, for
further processing. If there is no error introduced during the data
transmission, the un-compressed data D1 transmitted under the
non-compression mode should be identical to the un-compressed data
D2 received under the non-decompression mode, and the compressed
data D1' transmitted under the compression mode should be identical
to the compressed data D2' received under the de-compression
mode.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the ISP 104 includes an ISP controller
122, an input interface 124 and a processing circuit 126. The
processing circuit 126 may include circuit elements required for
generating the processed multimedia data according to an internal
transmission mode (e.g., an on-the-fly mode or an off-line mode).
For example, the other circuitry 128 may have a write direct memory
access (DMA) controller, a read DMA controller, an image processor,
multiplexers, etc. The de-compressor 127 generates the
de-compressed multimedia data by de-compressing the compressed
multimedia data D2' according to a de-compression algorithm, where
the compressed multimedia data D2' is derived from an input
bitstream received from the camera interface 103. The write DMA
controller is arranged for storing a multimedia data into an
external image buffer of the ISP 104, where the multimedia data may
be an un-compressed multimedia data, a compressed multimedia data
or a de-compressed multimedia data. The read write DMA controller
is arranged for reading a buffered multimedia data from the
external image buffer of the ISP 104. The image processor is
arranged to support several image processing operations, including
resizing/scaling, rotation, quality enhancement, etc., where the
processed multimedia data is generated from the image processor.
The multiplexers control interconnections of the de-compressor 127,
the image processor, the write DMA controller, and the read DMA
controller. As the present invention focuses on the handshaking
mechanism between the camera module 102 and the ISP 104, further
description of the other circuitry 128 is omitted here for
brevity.
[0025] The input interface 124 is arranged for receiving the input
bitstream from the camera interface 103, and
un-packing/un-packetizing the input bitstream into un-compressed
multimedia data D2/compressed multimedia data D2' according to the
transmission protocol of the camera interface 103. When the
de-compression mode of the ISP 104 is enabled, the input interface
124 is further arranged for parsing the indication information INFO
included in the input bitstream, and configuring the de-compressor
127 to employ a de-compression algorithm as indicated by the
indication information INFO. In addition to the compressed data
transmission between the camera module 102 and the ISP 104,
information handshaking is realized through the camera interface
103. Therefore, with the help of the indication information INFO
supplied from the camera module 102, the de-compressor 127 of the
ISP 104 is properly configured to employ an adequate de-compression
algorithm needed for de-compressing the compressed data D2'
correctly.
[0026] In one exemplary design, the output interface 114 records
the indication information INFO by setting a command set in a
payload portion of the output bitstream transmitted over the camera
interface 103, and the input interface 124 obtains the indication
information INFO by parsing a command set in a payload portion of
the input bitstream received from the camera interface 103. Please
refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram illustrating a data structure
of the output bitstream generated from the camera module 102 to the
ISP 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The
information handshaking between the camera module 102 and the ISP
104 may be realized by defining a set of commands in the
transmitted payload. For example, these commands can be specified
in vendor-specific commands based on MIPI camera command set (CCS)
specification, where each command in a command set may be an 8-bit
code, and the command set can be used to communicate between the
camera module 102 and the ISP 104 about the compression capability
and compression/de-compression algorithms they support. Please
refer to FIG. 3, which is a diagram illustrating an example of
information handshaking between the camera module 102 and the ISP
104. In this example, the compressor 117 supports four compression
algorithms, and the de-compressor 127 supports four de-compression
algorithms compliant with the compression algorithms, respectively.
The different compression algorithms may handle different
compression ratios, different compression unit sizes, different
color formats (e.g. Bayer or RGBW), and/or different bit depths
(8-bit, 10-bit or 12-bit). Hence, the indication information INFO
is adjusted when at least one of a compression ratio, a compression
unit size, a color format, and a bit depth of a compression
algorithm employed is changed. The camera module 102 may check a
de-compression capability of the ISP 104 by sending a request to
the ISP 104 through the camera interface 103, and the ISP 104 may
inform the camera module 102 of its de-compression capability by
sending a response to the camera module 102 through the camera
interface 103. In this way, the camera module 102 can detect
whether the ISP 104 has the ability of performing data
de-compression, and can further detect what kinds of de-compression
algorithms the ISP 104 supports if the ISP 104 is equipped with the
de-compression capability. In this example, the compressor 117 at
the camera module 102 is configured to use the compression
algorithm #4, and the indication information INFO is set
correspondingly. The indication information INFO is carried by the
command set transmitted from the camera module 102 to the ISP 104
via the camera interface 103. Hence, the ISP 104 receives the
indication information INFO through the camera interface 103, and
configures the de-compressor 127 to employ the de-compression
algorithm #4 as indicated by the indication information INFO.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control and data flow
of the data processing system 100 shown in FIG. 1 when interface
compression is enabled. Provided that the result is substantially
the same, the steps are not required to be executed in the exact
order shown in FIG. 4 The exemplary control and data flow may be
briefly summarized by following steps.
[0028] Step 400: Start.
[0029] Step 402: Configure the compressor 117 to employ a
compression algorithm.
[0030] Step 404: Set the indication information INFO in response to
the compression algorithm employed by the compressor 117.
[0031] Step 406: Record the indication information INFO in an
output bitstream. For example, the indication information INFO is
recorded by setting a command set in a payload portion of the
output bitstream.
[0032] Step 408: Transmit the output bitstream over the camera
interface 103.
[0033] Step 410: Receive an input bitstream from the camera
interface 103.
[0034] Step 412: Parse the indication information INFO included in
the input bitstream. For example, the indication information INFO
is obtained by parsing a command set in a payload portion of the
input bitstream.
[0035] Step 414: Configure the de-compressor 127 to employ a
de-compression algorithm as indicated by the indication information
INFO.
[0036] Step 416: End.
[0037] It should be noted that steps 402-408 are performed by the
camera module 102, and steps 410-414 are performed by the ISP 104.
As a person skilled in the art can readily understand details of
each step shown in FIG. 4 after reading above paragraphs, further
description is omitted here for brevity.
[0038] It should be noted that the same handshaking mechanism may
be applied to a data processing system equipped with virtual
channel capability. Please refer to FIG. 5 in conjunction with FIG.
1. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system
according to another embodiment of the present invention. The data
processing system 500 includes a channel detector 502, a channel
controller 504, and a plurality of data processing apparatuses such
as the aforementioned camera module 102 and ISP 104 shown in FIG.
1. The output stream generated from the camera module 102 may be
composed of interleaved data streams with different data formats.
For example, the camera module 102 may have multiple camera sensors
and support different compression algorithms. Hence, a first data
stream included in the output stream is generated based on a first
compression algorithm and an input multimedia data obtained by a
first camera sensor using a first color format (e.g., Bayer); and a
second data stream included in the output stream is generated based
on a second compression algorithm and an input multimedia data
obtained by a second camera sensor using a second color format
(e.g., RGBW). To make a receiving end able to distinguish between
the first data stream and the second stream interleaved in the
output stream, the camera module 102 assigns different channel
identification (ID) numbers to the first stream and the second
stream.
[0039] The virtual channel is to provide separate channels (e.g.,
506_1 and 506_2) for different data flows that are interleaved in
the data stream transmitted over the camera interface 103. Thus,
the receiving end will monitor the channel ID numbers and
de-multiplex the interleaved data streams (e.g., the aforementioned
first data stream and second data stream) to their appropriate
channels 506_1, 506_2. More specifically, the channel controller
504 is arranged to direct data streams to individual channels
506_1, 506_2 under the control of the channel detector 502. In this
embodiment, the output interface 114 of the camera module 102 is
further arranged for recording a channel ID number ID.sub.CH in a
header portion of the output bitstream to indicate which one of the
channels 506_1, 506_2 should be connected for receiving the output
bitstream. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the
output bitstream generated from the camera module 102 to the ISP
104 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As
mentioned above, the information handshaking between the camera
module 102 and the ISP 104 is realized by defining a set of
commands in the transmitted payload. In this embodiment, the
virtual channel capability of the data processing system 500 is
realized by defining the channel ID number in the transmitted
header. For example, the channel 506_1 is connected for data
transmission/reception when ID.sub.CH=#1, and the channel 506_2 is
connected for data transmission/reception when ID.sub.CH=#2.
[0040] The channel detector 502 is implemented for receiving an
input bitstream from the camera interface 103, and identifying the
channel ID number ID.sub.CH from the header portion of the input
bitstream. Next, the channel controller 504 dispatches the input
bitstream, including the header portion and the payload portion
shown in FIG. 6, to a selected channel with the channel ID number
ID.sub.CH. The information handshaking as illustrated in FIG. 3 for
configuring the compression and de-compression algorithms is also
performed between the camera module 102 and the ISP 104. Further
description is omitted here for brevity.
[0041] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control and data flow
of the data processing system 500 shown in FIG. 5 when interface
compression is enabled. Provided that the result is substantially
the same, the steps are not required to be executed in the exact
order shown in FIG. 7. The exemplary control and data flow may be
briefly summarized by following steps.
[0042] Step 700: Start.
[0043] Step 702: Configure the compressor 117 to employ a
compression algorithm.
[0044] Step 704: Set the indication information INFO in response to
the compression algorithm employed by the compressor 117.
[0045] Step 706: Set the channel ID number ID.sub.CH indicative of
which channel should be connected for data transmission.
[0046] Step 708: Record the channel ID number ID.sub.CH and the
indication information INFO in an output bitstream. For example,
the indication information INFO is recorded by setting a command
set in a payload portion of the output bitstream, and the channel
ID number ID.sub.CH is recorded by setting a header portion of the
output bitstream.
[0047] Step 710: Transmit the output bitstream over the camera
interface 103.
[0048] Step 712: Get the channel ID number ID.sub.CH from an input
bitstream. For example, the channel ID number ID.sub.CH is obtained
by parsing a header portion of the input bitstream.
[0049] Step 714: Dispatch the input bitstream to a selected channel
with the channel ID number ID.sub.CH.
[0050] Step 716: Receive the input bitstream dispatched from the
channel controller 504.
[0051] Step 718: Parse the indication information INFO included in
the input bitstream. For example, the indication information INFO
is obtained by parsing a command set in a payload portion of the
input bitstream.
[0052] Step 720: Configure the de-compressor 127 to employ a
de-compression algorithm as indicated by the indication information
INFO.
[0053] Step 722: End.
[0054] It should be noted that steps 702-710 are performed by the
camera module 102, step 712 is performed by the channel detector
502, step 714 is performed by the channel controller 504, and steps
716-720 are performed by the ISP 104. As a person skilled in the
art can readily understand details of each step shown in FIG. 7
after reading above paragraphs, further description is omitted here
for brevity.
[0055] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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