Sony United Kingdom Limited

Ericsson Ab

Sony Europe B.v.

Matthew Compton

Clive Henry Gillard

Nicholas Ian Saunders

Stephen Charles Olday

Philip Graham White

Kismat Singh

A method of synchronizing the phase of a local image synchronization signal generator of a local video data processor in communication with an asynchronous switched packet network to the phase of a reference image synchronization signal generator of a reference video data processor also coupled to the network, the local and reference processors having respective clocks, the reference and local image synchronization signal generators generating periodic image synchronization signals in synchronism with the reference and local clocks respectively including: frequency synchronizing the local and reference clocks; sending an image timing packet providing reference image synchronization data indicating the difference in timing, measured with respect to the reference processor's clock, between the time at which the image timing packet is launched onto the network and the time of production of a reference image synchronization signal; and controlling the timing of the production of the local image synchronization signal.

Video synchronization

A method of obtaining a quantization value for macroblocks of a picture for video compression includes estimating, for a plurality of quantization values, a size of the picture in terms of a sum of all quantized coded coefficients. A linear relationship between a size of a macroblock and Activity of the macroblocks is assumed, where the Activity of the macroblock is the number of coded coefficients in the macroblock before discarding any coefficients or quantizing the remaining coefficients. The macroblocks are dividedinto groups by their Activity level such that substantially a same number of pre-quantization coefficients are in each group. An average Activity of each group is determined. A quantization value for each group is determinedfrom the assumed linear relationship between a number of bits per macroblock and Activity of the macroblocks and the average Activity of the group, as imposed by a predetermined bit rate.

Method of selecting quantizer values in video compression systems

A method of synchronizing the phase of a local image synchronization signal generator of a local video data processor in communication with an asynchronous switched packet network to the phase of a reference image synchronization signal generator of a reference video data processor also coupled to the network, the local and reference processors having respective clocks, the reference and local image synchronization signal generators generating periodic image synchronization signals in synchronism with the reference and local clocks respectively comprises the steps of:

A video data network device arranged to receive a video signal and an associated synchronisation signal and to launch video data packets representing the video signal onto a packet-based data network comprises means for detecting whether the video signal is synchronised with the synchronisation signal; and means for launching data onto the network indicating whether the video signal is synchronised with the synchronisation signal.

Packet-based video network indicating video signal synchronization and methodology thereof

A network interface device connectable to a network, the device being arranged to receive digital audio data representing an audio signal and, substantially in real time, to launch data packets representing the digital audio data onto the network, the device comprising: an attribute detector arranged to generate attribute data representing an attribute of the audio signal; and a packetiser operable: to format the digital audio data into audio data packets to be launched onto the network; and to format the attribute data into attribute data packets, separate from the audio data packets, to be launched onto the network.

Audio processing

The frequency of a local clock of a local data processor in communication with an asynchronous switched packet network is synchronized to the frequency of a reference clock of a source data processor also coupled to the network. Timing packets each including a field containing the destination address of the local processor and a field containing reference clock data indicating the time at which the packet is launched onto the network are sent to the local data processor from the source data processor across the network. The frequency of the local clock is controlled in dependence on the reference clock data and the times of arrival of the packets.

Frequency synchronisation of clocks

A network interface connectable to a packet-based data network on which a plurality of different types of payload data are distinguished by network-based packet header data; comprises:

Routing data

An image processor arranged in operation to generate an interpolated video signal from a received video signal representative of an image. The image processor comprises an adaptable register store comprising a plurality of register elements and is coupled to a control processor which is operable to receive the video signal and to provide pixels of the received video signal, under control of the control processor to an interpolator, selected regester elements being connected to the interpolator to provide the pixels of the received video signal for interpolation, each of the register elements being arranged to store a pixel of the received video signal and each is connected to a plurality of other register elements and is configurable under control of the control processor to feed the pixel stored in the register element to one of the plurality of other register elements in accordance with a temporal reference and the interpolator being coupled to the adaptable register store.

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Winchester, United Kingdom

Matthew Compton