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WO1996031051A1 - Emetteur/recepteur passif pour appareil photo graphique electronique - Google Patents

Emetteur/recepteur passif pour appareil photo graphique electronique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996031051A1
WO1996031051A1 PCT/US1996/004150 US9604150W WO9631051A1 WO 1996031051 A1 WO1996031051 A1 WO 1996031051A1 US 9604150 W US9604150 W US 9604150W WO 9631051 A1 WO9631051 A1 WO 9631051A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
carrier signal
electronic
signal
image
camera
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US1996/004150
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Werner Metz
Richard G. Egan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Polaroid Corp
Original Assignee
Polaroid Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Polaroid Corp filed Critical Polaroid Corp
Publication of WO1996031051A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996031051A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/21—Intermediate information storage
    • H04N1/2104—Intermediate information storage for one or a few pictures
    • H04N1/2112—Intermediate information storage for one or a few pictures using still video cameras
    • H04N1/2137—Intermediate information storage for one or a few pictures using still video cameras with temporary storage before final recording, e.g. in a frame buffer
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00095—Systems or arrangements for the transmission of the picture signal
    • H04N1/00103—Systems or arrangements for the transmission of the picture signal specially adapted for radio transmission, e.g. via satellites
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/21—Intermediate information storage
    • H04N1/2104—Intermediate information storage for one or a few pictures
    • H04N1/2112—Intermediate information storage for one or a few pictures using still video cameras
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/21—Intermediate information storage
    • H04N1/2166—Intermediate information storage for mass storage, e.g. in document filing systems
    • H04N1/2179—Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries
    • H04N1/2187—Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries with image input from a plurality of different locations or from a non-central location, e.g. from one or more users
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60—Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H04N23/66—Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2101/00—Still video cameras
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/0077—Types of the still picture apparatus
    • H04N2201/0086—Image transceiver

Definitions

  • the present invention is directed to video communication systems and, more particularly, to an improved communication system for use with electronic still cameras wherein a passive transceiver is mounted in an electronic still camera for communicating with a base unit which is remotely located with respect to the electronic still camera.
  • a video camera connected via a length of cable to a video receiver.
  • a video receiver may be a television receiver or other such video receiving apparatus which displays or transmits a video image captured by the video camera.
  • Such an arrangement allows the video camera to have a reduced physical size and weight since components associated with display and transmission of the video image need not be part of the video camera.
  • the cable presents a mechanical limitation though. The video camera is restricted to movement within a radius of the receiver fixed by the length of the cable.
  • wireless video cameras were developed which allow a video camera to operate remotely from a receiving system without a need for mechanical attachment.
  • an output signal from the video camera which can include both an audio and video signal, is transmitted via radio frequency ("RF") transmission to the receiving system.
  • RF radio frequency
  • An example of such a video camera is found in United States Patent No. 5,264,935 entitled “System for Wireless Transmission and Reception of a Video Signal and Corresponding Audio Signal” issued to Yasuhisa Nakajima on November 23, 1993.
  • the video camera described therein uses an active transmitter to transmit via RF transmission audio and video signals and, therefore, add additional electronics to the video camera including a local oscillator, a phase lock-loop and a power amplifier as well as transmission circuitry associated with a transmission scheme of the camera. These added electronics require circuit board space in the video camera thus increasing the size of the camera as well as increased power demands.
  • Batteries as a source of power for video cameras are common today. These batteries must have a significant lifespan in order to make them useful. Adding the power consumption of an RF transmitter to the video cameras increase power needs thereby requiring higher capacity and, therefore, physically larger and heavier batteries.
  • the aforementioned and other objects are achieved by the invention which provides, an extremely versatile electronic imaging system for bi-directional communication between a base unit and at least one electronic still camera.
  • the electronic still camera comprises an image acquisition means, a camera reception means, an image processing means and camera transmission means.
  • the base unit comprises a base transmission means, base reception means, and a base processor means.
  • the electronic imaging systems allows multiple electronic still cameras to communicate with a single base unit, thereby allowing bi-directional communication between each camera and the base unit.
  • the electronic still camera captures image-bearing light from a scene through the image acquisition means and transform the image-bearing light into an electronic signal. This is often performed by utilizing a charge coupled device ("CCD”) through an analog to digital converter to create a digitized electronic image signal representative of the scene.
  • CCD charge coupled device
  • the camera transmission means then retransmits the remodulated carrier back to the base unit.
  • the base unit also comprises the base transmission means which transmits the carrier signal encoded with base information.
  • the encoding can be performed on the carrier signal which has a fixed frequency by using amplitude modulation
  • the invention provides methods in accord with the apparatus described above.
  • the aforementioned and other aspects of the invention are evident in the drawings and in the description that follows.
  • FIG. 1 shows the block diagram of the electronic imaging system in accordance with the invention
  • Figure 2 shows a more detailed block diagram of the receiver and the transmitters in both the electronic still camera and the base unit of Figure 1 ;
  • Figure 3B is a graph of a sub part of the carrier signal of Figure 3 A magnified to show frequency shift keying used by the camera of the invention.
  • Such an electronic still camera 10 collects image-bearing light 14 reflected off of a subject 12 through an objective lens 16 and shutter 18 in a well known manner.
  • the image-bearing light then impinges upon a two-dimensional photosensitive array 20 such as a high resolution charge coupled device ("CCD"), a charge injected device (“CID”), or other photosensitive semiconductor device.
  • CCD charge coupled device
  • CID charge injected device
  • Charge accumulated on the two-dimensional photosensitive array 20 is then transferred to an analog-to-digital converter 22 which converts the accumulated charge to a digital signal representative of an image represented by the image-bearing light 14.
  • the digital signal is then passed to a digital signal processor (“DSP") 24 which performs image correction.
  • DSP 24 can perform remapping of a tone scale of the image.
  • the DSP 24 then transfers the image to random access memory (“RAM”) 28 for temporary storage.
  • RAM random access memory
  • a microprocessor (OP) 26 retrieves the image from RAM for encoding it into a carrier signal 40.
  • the carrier signal 40 originates from the base unit 38.
  • the base unit 38 transmits the carrier signal 40 at a fixed frequency.
  • the transmission is in the Instrument, Scientific, and Medical ("ISM") band thus having a fixed frequency in the range of 902 - 928 MHz or 2.4 - 2.48 Ghz.
  • ISM Instrument, Scientific, and Medical
  • the base unit 38 generates the carrier signal 40 using a local oscillator, a phase locked loop, a power amplifier and other electronic components well-known in the art.
  • the camera 10 uses a passive transciever to receive and retransmit the carrier signal in a re-modulated form with significantly altering the carrier signal itself.
  • the carrier signal 40 is picked up by an antenna 32 in the electronic still camera 10 and transmits the carrier signal 40 to a receiver 42.
  • the receiver 42 is tuned to a self- generated carrier frequency thereby substantially increasing a signal-to-noise ratio of the electronic still camera 10 at the receiver by performing coherent detection.
  • the carrier frequency is self-generated in the receiver 42 since the receiver 42 accepts a broad band of signals relative to a fixed frequency and modulates any signal having sufficient energy with an image as is later herein described. In this way the electronic still camera 10 does not have to be pre-programmed with a fixed frequency of a carrier signal since it accepts any carrier signal encountered which falls in a predetermined range, or bandwidth.
  • the microprocessor 26 decodes the modulation of the carrier signal and responds accordingly. For example, if an image was transferred the image is displayed on the LCD. If a status is sent such as full capacity, the status is displayed on the electronic still camera 10 and transmission of additional images to the base unit 38 is inhibited such that no additional images will be transferred to the base unit 38.
  • the electronic still camera 10 Upon initiation by user, the electronic still camera 10 captures image-bearing light
  • the microprocessor 26 remodulates the carrier signal 40 to include image data and any other accompanying information which needs to be sent to he base unit.
  • Such accompanying information can include, for example, camera status information, audio annotations, etc.
  • the remodulated signal is then passed to a transmitter 30 which transmits the remodulated signal out via the antenna 32.
  • the remodulated signal 34 is sent back to the base unit 38 where it is received by another antenna 36 on the base unit 38.
  • a single base unit 38 can be used with multiple cameras.
  • a practical example of such a use is for multiple photographers to go to a scene with a single base unit stationed in an automobile. Each photographer would have a separate electronic still camera 10 and would be able to capture images of the scene simultaneously.
  • Each electronic still camera 10 has a unique code number, or personal identification number (“PIN”), which is encoded into the re-modulated signal to identify a source of the re ⁇ modulated signal.
  • PIN personal identification number
  • the base unit 38 initiates communication with each electronic still camera 10 by establishing, through a handshaking exchange well- known in the art, a unique communication protocol that the base unit 38 will maintain with the electronic still camera 10 thereby opening a channel with each electronic still camera 10.
  • the protocol can be a unique frequency, a psuedo-random frequency hopping sequence, or psuedo-random discrete sequence for each electronic still camera 10.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates in more detail the transmission and receiving functions of the base unit 38 and the electronic still camera 10.
  • the base unit 38 encodes on a carrier signal 40 base information which can include status or instructional information from a user interface 66.
  • the carrier signal is then passed to a transmitter 68 which transmits the carrier signal 40 through an antenna 36.
  • the carrier signal 40 is received through the camera antenna 32 after which it is amplified through a signal amplifier 44 and passed onto a demodulator 46.
  • a clipper circuit (not shown) can follow the signal amplifier 44 to separate modulation from the carrier signal 40.
  • the demodulator 46 extracts the modulated base information and passes the base information onto the microprocessor 26.
  • the microprocessor 26 can also be receiving an image signal 48 from the image acquisition portion of the electronic still camera 10 as previously described.
  • the microprocessor 26 Upon initiation by the user to transmit the image signal 48, the microprocessor 26 transfers the image signal 48 and the carrier signal 40 to a modulator 50 which encodes the image signal 48 into the carrier signal.
  • the modulator 50 utilizes a key 52 to encode the carrier signal with the image.
  • frequency shift keying is utilized to encode the image.
  • a frequency shift is used to distinguish between a logical zero and a logical one as is later herein described in detail.
  • phase shift keying can be used as the key 52.
  • phase shift keying a phase of the carrier signal 40 is shifted by 180° to differentiate between a logical zero and a logical one.
  • the electronic still camera 10 can then encode the carrier with image data.
  • keying methods such as amplitude shift keying for example can also be used.
  • the modulator 50 also includes hand shaking protocol, status and other camera information received from an interface 54.
  • the modulator 50 then retransmits the remodulated signal 34 through the antenna 32 where it is picked up by the base unit 38 at its antenna 36.
  • the remodulated signal 34 passes into the base unit 38 to a receiver 60 which differentiates the remodulated signal 34 from other electromagnetic interference by isolating the remodulated signal at the fixed frequency of the carrier signal 40.
  • the receiver 60 then demodulates the remodulated signal and passes the remodulated signal 34 to a microprocessor 62 which decodes the remodulated information from the remodulated signal 34 .
  • the image is then passed onto a storage device 64 such as solid state memory, a hard disk or other such device.
  • the base unit 38 can also be made to manually or automatically retransmit the image date to a distant site such as a newsroom for a newspaper photographer.
  • the base unit 38 would retransmit the image via cellular or conventional telephone communications.
  • Figures 3A and 3B graphically depict the remodulated signal 34 and an magnified section thereof, respectively.
  • the remodulated signal 34 shown in Figure 3A has not had the modulation which was placed in the carrier signal 40 by the base unit 38 subtracted by a clipper circuit as previously herein described. Therefore, the remodulated signal 34 shows how the carrier signal 40 is amplitude modulated to form an envelope 70 which transmits the base information to the electronic still camera 10.
  • the electronic still camera 10 then encodes image information, for example, into the carrier signal 40.
  • a section 74 of the remodulated signal 34 is magnified and is shown in Figure 3B.
  • the ordinate has units of time but also corresponds to the section 74 of the remodulated signal 34 enclosed by dashed lines in Figure 3A.
  • the frequency shift keying of the preferred embodiment is used in this example.
  • the carrier signal 40 is time segmented in intervals of duration T where each duration T designates a single bit of information. Therefore, the duration T is inversely proportional to a data rate to the photographic system.
  • a low frequency, ft can be defined as being a logical zero and a high frequency, f 2( in the interval T can be a logical one.
  • the frequency transition occurs after an end of an interval T thus allowing differentiation of consecutive zeroes or ones.
  • the segment 74 of the remodulated signal 34 would then be decoded as the following logical sequence:

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Library & Information Science (AREA)
  • Studio Devices (AREA)

Abstract

Système d'imagerie électronique bidirectionnel comportant une unité de base communiquant avec au moins un appareil photographique électronique à l'aide d'un système passif. L'unité de base émet à destination de l'appareil un signal porteur codé comprenant l'information de base. L'appareil décode d'information et réagit en conséquence. Lorsqu'une image est prise par l'appareil le signal d'image est modulé dans le signal porteur puis retransmis de la caméra à l'unité de base où l'image peut être décodée et stockée.
PCT/US1996/004150 1995-03-30 1996-03-27 Emetteur/recepteur passif pour appareil photo graphique electronique Ceased WO1996031051A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US41369495A 1995-03-30 1995-03-30
US08/413,694 1995-03-30

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1996031051A1 true WO1996031051A1 (fr) 1996-10-03

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ID=23638246

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1996/004150 Ceased WO1996031051A1 (fr) 1995-03-30 1996-03-27 Emetteur/recepteur passif pour appareil photo graphique electronique

Country Status (1)

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1215893A1 (fr) * 2000-12-12 2002-06-19 Eastman Kodak Company Dispositif d'antenne pour caméras numériques avec émetteur et récepteur des radio fréquences à bande large
US6677904B2 (en) 2002-01-31 2004-01-13 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Integrated wireless antenna for an image capturing device
EP1317138A4 (fr) * 2000-09-07 2008-10-01 Sony Corp Camera sans fil

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2547145A1 (fr) * 1983-05-31 1984-12-07 Thomson Csf Dispositif de transmission pour une liaison entre une camera de television et son centre de controle
WO1989004093A1 (fr) * 1987-10-27 1989-05-05 Nysen Paul A Unite de communication passive universelle
US5079634A (en) * 1990-03-15 1992-01-07 Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Apparatus for wireless-controlling a camera and apparatus for two-direction simultaneous control of electrically-driven equipment

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2547145A1 (fr) * 1983-05-31 1984-12-07 Thomson Csf Dispositif de transmission pour une liaison entre une camera de television et son centre de controle
WO1989004093A1 (fr) * 1987-10-27 1989-05-05 Nysen Paul A Unite de communication passive universelle
US5079634A (en) * 1990-03-15 1992-01-07 Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Apparatus for wireless-controlling a camera and apparatus for two-direction simultaneous control of electrically-driven equipment

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1317138A4 (fr) * 2000-09-07 2008-10-01 Sony Corp Camera sans fil
EP1215893A1 (fr) * 2000-12-12 2002-06-19 Eastman Kodak Company Dispositif d'antenne pour caméras numériques avec émetteur et récepteur des radio fréquences à bande large
US6694151B2 (en) 2000-12-12 2004-02-17 Eastman Kodak Company Antenna apparatus for digital cameras incorporating wideband RF transceivers
US6677904B2 (en) 2002-01-31 2004-01-13 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Integrated wireless antenna for an image capturing device

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