Multi-camera synchronization through receiver hub back channel

A video control system, comprising:

• a hub interface circuit comprising:
• a clock generator configured to synchronize a clock signal to a reference clock;
• and
• a plurality of transceivers, each of the transceivers configured to:
• communicate bidirectionally with a serial interface circuit;
• and
• encode the clock signal in control information to be transmitted to a serial interface circuit;
• a plurality of serial interface circuits, each of the serial interface circuits configured to bidirectionally communicate with the hub interface circuit, each of the serial interface circuits comprising:
• a clock recovery circuit configured to extract the clock signal from the control information transmitted by the hub interface circuit;
• and
• a camera interface configured to provide, to a camera, a synchronization signal generated from the clock signal extracted from the control information.

A driver assistance system, comprising:

• a hub interface circuit comprising:
• a clock generator configured to synchronize a clock signal to a reference clock;
• frame sync generation circuitry configured to generate a frame sync signal;
• a plurality of transceivers, each of the transceivers configured to:
• communicate bidirectionally with a serial interface circuit;
• and
• encode the clock signal and the frame sync signal in control information to be transmitted to a serial interface circuit;
• a plurality of serial interface circuits, each of the serial interface circuits configured to bidirectionally communicate with the hub interface circuit, each of the serial interface circuits comprising:
• a clock recovery circuit configured to extract the clock signal from the control information transmitted by the hub interface circuit;
• clock generation circuitry configured to generate a clock based on the clock signal extracted from the control information;
• frame sync recovery circuitry configured to extract the frame sync signal from the control information;
• and
• a camera interface configured to provide the clock and the frame sync signal to a camera;
• and
• a plurality of cameras, each of the cameras coupled to one of the serial interface circuits.