JPH1188459A - Serial bus connection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer information by means of the signal of any specification even if it is a serial bus signal by providing a format conversion means provided with a buffer memory and transferring data between serial buses. SOLUTION: A module 1 is provided with serial bus connectors 2 and 18 and a format conversion means 19. The serial bus signal 11 inputted from the serial bus connector 2 passes through a driver IC3 and becomes a regular data signal 6. Then, it is stored in the buffer memory 5. A storage address at that time is an address signal 16 generated by an address counter 15 from the data signal 6. Then, a data signal 7 which is read from the buffer memory 5 that an address signal 17 generated from the address counter 15 by using an inner clock 31 indicates passes through a driver IC4 and is outputted as a serial bus signal 13 through a serial bus connector 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer, and more particularly to a system called a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) and a system using a serial bus between the inside of the PC and externally connected devices. Also, the present invention relates to a control bus for home electric appliances and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been considered that a serial bus has a lower data transfer rate than a parallel bus. But a few Mb
A high-speed serial bus standard capable of data transfer rates from ps to several hundred Mbps has been established and is being used in systems such as PCs.

[0003]

Conventionally, the standards of a plurality of serial buses are competing with each other, and it has not been considered that they are connected to each other. In addition, there are merits and demerits of multiple specifications when mounting on home appliances etc.,
It was very difficult to select a bus of which specification as a device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a module having a serial bus connector and format conversion means for connecting serial buses of two specifications. Further, it may be a module including a system bus and each serial bus.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings from FIG. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, wherein 1 is a module, 2 and 18 are serial bus connectors, 3 and 4 are driver ICs, 5 is a buffer memory, and 6, 7, 8, and 9 are data signals. , 11,1
3 is a serial bus signal, 14 and 15 are address counters, and 16 and 17 are address signals.

In FIG. 1, a module 1 is provided with serial bus connectors 2 and 18 and format conversion means 19. Further, inside the format conversion means 19, the buffer memory 5 and the driver IC 3,
4 and address counters 15 and 16 are incorporated. The serial bus signal 11 input from the serial bus connector 2 passes through the driver IC 3, becomes a normal data signal 6, and is stored in the buffer memory 5. The storage address at that time is the address signal 16 generated from the data signal 6 by the address counter 16. Thereafter, the data signal 7 read from the buffer memory 5 indicated by the address signal 17 generated from the address counter 15 using the internal clock 31 is output as the serial bus signal 13 through the driver IC 4 and the serial bus connector 12. You.

As a result of the above operation, the serial bus signal 11
Is output as a serial bus signal 13 via the buffer memory 5. At this time, differences in the data transfer rate and the signal level between the serial bus signal 11 and the serial bus signal 13 are absorbed by the format converter 19, and the data transfer can be performed reliably. Also, the function of the format conversion means 19 is expanded. Or, by upgrading the version, information can be exchanged even if the signal has any specification as long as it is a serial bus signal. Note that the information transmission from the serial bus signal 13 to the serial bus signal 11 in the opposite direction is the same as the target system, and the description is omitted.

FIG. 2 shows the first embodiment of the present invention described in FIG. 1 mounted on an adapter board, 21 is a system bus interface, 25 is an adapter board, and 22 and 23 are serial buses. Connector. With the configuration on the adapter board 25 as shown in FIG. 2, data transfer between the two serial buses can be performed via the format conversion means 24, and the system bus interface 21 is not involved at that time. It can be minimized.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the embodiment of FIG. 2 is applied to a PC system. 21 is a system bus interface, 22 and 23 are serial bus connectors, 24 is a format converter, 25 is an adapter board, and 26 is a digital board. A video camera 27 is a hard disk drive.

As shown in FIG. 3, the serial bus of the digital video camera 26 is connected to the serial bus connector 23, and the hard disk drive 27 is connected to the serial bus connector 22. Such digital signals as are output from the serial bus connector 22 via the serial bus connector 23 and the format conversion means 24 and stored in the hard disk drive 27. At this time, since the signal does not pass through the system bus interface 21, recording on the hard disk drive or the like can be performed at high speed without imposing a load on the system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the embodiment of FIG.
Is a serial bus connector, 26 is a digital video camera, and 28 is a PC. The PC 28 incorporates the adapter board 25 shown in FIG.
Is visible on the drawing. The serial bus connector 23 and the digital video camera 26 are connected by a cable. The PC 28 has a hard disk drive 27 shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the high performance cannot be expressed well, but since the embodiment of FIG. 3 is mounted as it is, no load is applied to the system bus interface even while recording with the digital video camera 26. The performance of the PC 28 does not deteriorate.

FIG. 5 shows an application of the embodiment of FIG.
1 is a system bus interface, 63 is a USB serial connector, 64 is a 1394 serial connector, 62
Is a format conversion means, 61 is an adapter board, 65
Is a USB digital camera, and 66 is a 1394 hard disk drive. As shown in FIG. 5, USB and 1394 bus devices, which are standards of a high-speed serial bus, are connected to an adapter board 61. 66.

FIG. 6 is also an application example of the embodiment of FIG.
1 is a system bus interface, 73 and 74 are 1394 serial connectors, 72 is a format conversion means, 71 is an adapter board, 75 is a 1394 digital camera, and 76 is a 1394 hard disk drive. As shown in FIG. 6, the high-speed serial bus standard 13
94 bus devices are connected to the adapter board 71,
Digital data such as still images, moving images, and audio from the 1394 digital camera 75 can be stored in the 1394 hard disk drive 76.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a converter, 52 is an adapter module, 53, 55
Is a serial bus connector, 54 is a format conversion means, 56 is a 1394 bus, and 57 is a USB.

The conversion device 51 includes an adapter module 52
Is mounted, and a format converter 54 is provided between the serial bus connectors 53 and 55 inside the adapter module. As a result, information can be mutually exchanged by inserting the converter 51 between the 1394 bus 56 and the USB 57, which is a high-speed serial bus standard. The differences from the embodiment described with reference to FIGS.
Conversion device 51 is one system, and USB
And the 1394 bus device, it is very easy for the user to use. For example, the conversion device 51 can be used to connect to and exchange data with a PC system having a 1394 bus camera at hand and having only a USB.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention in which an adapter module is extracted from the embodiment of FIG.
81 and 91 are adapter modules, 83 and 93 are format conversion means, 82 and 92 are system bus connectors,
84 is a USB connector, and 94 is a 1394 bus connector.

In FIG. 8, a USB connector is connected to a system bus connector 82 of the adapter module 81 via a format converter 83. As a result, by using this adapter module 81, it is possible to add a function of connecting to a USB device to a system (not shown). In FIG. 9, a 1394 bus connector 94 is connected to a system bus connector 92 via a format conversion means 93, so that a function of connecting to a 1394 bus device can be added to a system (not shown). . Here, the adapter modules in the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9 have the same size and can be easily replaced.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9, where the 1394 bus connector 94 of FIG. 9 is visible. Although not shown, the USB connector 84 is provided in the embodiment of FIG. Thus, even high-speed serial buses having different specifications can be realized by adapter modules of the same size.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which the adapter module shown in FIG. 10 is mounted on a TV set 100, and an adapter module 91 is inserted into the TV set 100.
The 394 bus connector 94 is visible. In this form,
The control of the TV set 100 is performed using the 1394 bus.
It becomes possible to correspond to SB. Here, a home appliance such as a TV set is assumed, but this adapter module is effective for any device, and all system devices in a home or office can be connected with this adapter module. In addition, since many adapter modules are used, cost reduction due to mass production effect can be expected.

[0020]

As a result of the above operation, information on the serial bus signal on the sending side is output as a serial bus signal on the receiving side via the buffer memory. Since the format means with buffer memory is modularized, information can be exchanged for any kind of serial bus signal by exchanging it for functional improvement, even if it is a signal of any specification. .

Further, by replacing the adapter module connected to the system bus, the system can select a corresponding serial bus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing an overall configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment in which FIG. 2 is applied to a PC system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an application example of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a second applied example of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an application example of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an application example of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Module, 2,18 ... Serial bus connector,
3, 4 ... driver IC, 5 ... buffer memory, 6,
7, 8, 9 ... data signal, 11, 13 ... serial bus signal, 14, 15 ... address counter, 19 ... format conversion means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 2. A serial bus connection system comprising: a module having a serial bus connector conforming to two specifications, wherein a format conversion means having a buffer memory is provided to transfer data between the serial buses. . 2. The serial bus connection system according to claim 1, wherein said module is provided on an adapter board. 3. An adapter board having a module for transferring data between serial buses provided with a serial bus connector conforming to two specifications and a format conversion means provided with a buffer memory, and a built-in serial bus device. A system wherein data transfer with an external serial bus device is performed by the adapter board. 4. A module connected to two serial buses having different specifications, comprising a serial bus connector adapted to the two specifications, and a module comprising format conversion means having a buffer memory, wherein data between the serial buses is provided. A conversion device for performing conversion.