Method and system for transmitting N-bit video data over a serial link

A transmitter for transmitting N-bit video over a serial link configured to transmit encoded K-bit words of video data, said transmitter comprising:

• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having at least one output configured to be coupled to the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding each fragment in the sequence of fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output, whereby the encoded fragments can be transmitted over the link when said link is coupled to the at least one output,
• wherein the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups of M encoded fragments, where M=N/D, D is the greatest common divisor of N and K, the N-bit words of video data are asserted to the subsystem at a first rate equal to P of the N-bit words per unit time, and the circuitry is configured to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output at a second rate that is at least substantially equal to (N/K)P of the encoded fragments per unit time, and wherein the transmitter is configured to execute state sequences, each consisting of M states, during operation in each said N-bit mode, said state sequences including:
• active video interval sequences, wherein M of the encoded fragments are asserted to the at least one output during each of the active video interval sequences;
• blanking interval sequences, wherein M blanking characters is asserted to the at least one output during each of the blanking interval sequences, and one of said M blanking characters is identical to another one of said M blanking characters;
• active video to blanking transitional sequences, wherein one of the encoded fragments is asserted to the at least one output during a first state of each of the active video to blanking transitional sequences and a last state of each of the active video to blanking transitional sequences occurs in a blanking interval;
• and
• blanking to active video transitional sequences, wherein one of the encoded fragments is asserted to the at least one output during a last state of each of the blanking to active video transitional sequences and a first state of each of the blanking to active video transitional sequences occurs in a blanking interval,
• wherein the transmitter is configured to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output without omitting assertion of any encoded fragment thereof by executing, completely or partially, a sufficient number of state sequence cycles, each of the state sequence cycles including any number of the active video interval sequences, followed by one of the active video to blanking transitional sequences, followed by a number of the blanking interval sequences, followed by one of the blanking to active video transitional sequences.

A transmitter for transmitting N-bit video over a serial link configured to transmit encoded K-bit words of video data, said transmitter comprising:

• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to rack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having at least one output configured to be coupled to the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding each fragment in the sequence of fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output, whereby the encoded fragments can be transmitted over the link when said link is coupled to the at least one output, wherein K=8, the transmitter is also operable in an 8-bit mode in which the circuitry asserts Q-bit code words indicative of 8-bit words of the video data to the at least one output during active video intervals at a rate of one Q-bit word per cycle of a link clock having frequency P, each of the encoded fragments is a Q-bit code word, the transmitter is also operable in each said N-bit mode to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output during active video intervals at a rate of one encoded fragment per cycle of a second link clock having frequency at least substantially equal to (N/8)P, and the transmitter is operable in a 10-bit mode in which N=10, the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups, each said group consists of five of the encoded fragments, and each encoded fragment in each said group has a different phase within the group.

A transmitter for transmitting N-bit video over a serial link configured to transmit encoded K-bit words of video data, said transmitter comprising:

• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having at least one output configured to be coupled to the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding each fragment in the sequence of fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output, whereby the encoded fragments can be transmitted over the link when said link is coupled to the at least one output, wherein K=8, the transmitter is also operable in an 8-bit mode in which the circuitry asserts Q-bit code words indicative of 8-bit words of the video data to the at least one output during active video intervals at a rate of one Q-bit word per cycle of a link clock having frequency P, each of the encoded fragments is a Q-bit code word, the transmitter is also operable in each said N-bit mode to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output during active video intervals at a rate of one encoded fragment per cycle of a second link clock having frequency at least substantially equal to (N/8)P, and the transmitter is operable in a 12-bit mode in which N=12, the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups, each said group consists of three of the encoded fragments, and each encoded fragment in each said group has a different phase within the group.

A transmitter for transmitting N-bit video over a serial link configured to transmit encoded K-bit words of video data, said transmitter comprising:

• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having at least one output configured to be coupled to the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding each fragment in the sequence of fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output, whereby the encoded fragments can be transmitted over the link when said link is coupled to the at least one output, wherein the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups of M encoded fragments, each of the M encoded fragments in each of the groups has a different phase within the group, the circuitry is configured to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the at least one output during active video intervals and to assert blanking characters to the at least one output during blanking intervals, and the transmitter is configured to execute state machine sequences, each consisting of M states, that implement transitions between the active video intervals and the blanking intervals at boundaries between assertion of different encoded fragments of a single group, and between boundaries that occur between assertion of different groups, without omitting assertion of any encoded fragment in the sequence of encoded fragments.

A transmitter, including:

• a subsystem operable in any selected one of a number of different 3N-bit pixel modes to pack sequences of N-bit color components of video data into sequences of fragments, where N≠8, each of the fragments consists of 8 bits of the video data, and the 3N-bit pixel modes include a 30-bit pixel mode, a 36-bit pixel mode, and a 48-bit pixel mode;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having outputs configured to be coupled to a transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS) link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate sequences of encoded fragments by performing TMDS encoding on the sequences of fragments and to assert the sequences of encoded fragments to the outputs during active video intervals, whereby the encoded fragments can be transmitted over the TMDS link when said TMDS link is coupled to the outputs,
• wherein the transmitter is operable in a 24-bit pixel mode in which the subsystem asserts 8-bit components of 24-bit pixels to the circuitry, the circuitry performs TMDS encoding on the 8-bit components to generate a 10-bit TMDS code word in response to each of the 8-bit components, and the circuitry asserts each said TMDS code word to the outputs, and
• wherein each of the sequences of fragments is a sequence of MN-fragment groups, where MN is an integer whose value depends on which of the 3N-bit pixel modes is the selected one of the 3N-bit pixel modes, each of the fragments in each of the groups has a different phase within the group, the circuitry is configured to assert blanking characters to the outputs during blanking intervals, and the transmitter is configured to implement state machine sequences that implement transitions between the active video intervals and the blanking intervals at boundaries between assertion of different encoded fragments of a single one of the groups, and between boundaries that occur between assertion of different ones of the groups, without omitting assertion of any encoded fragment in any of the sequences of encoded fragments.

A system, including:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver;
• and
• a serial link coupled between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the transmitter comprises:
• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having outputs configured to be coupled to data channels of the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding the fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs to transmit the encoded fragments to the receiver over the link, wherein the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups of the encoded fragments, each of the groups determines a different one of the N-bit words of video data, and the circuitry of the transmitter is configured to assert the groups sequentially to the outputs, and wherein the N-bit words of video data are asserted to the subsystem at a first rate equal to P of the N-bit words per unit time and the circuitry of the transmitter is configured to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs at a second rate that is at least substantially equal to (N/K)P of the encoded fragments per unit time.

A system, including:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver;
• and
• a serial link coupled between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the transmitter comprises:
• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having outputs configured to be coupled to data channels of the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding the fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs to transmit the encoded fragments to the receiver over the link, wherein the transmitter is configured to execute state sequences, each consisting of M states, during operation in each said N-bit mode, said state sequences including:
• active video interval sequences, wherein M of the encoded fragments are asserted to the outputs during each of the active video interval sequences;
• blanking interval sequences, wherein M blanking characters is asserted to the outputs during each of the blanking interval sequences, and one of said M blanking characters is identical to another one of said M blanking characters;
• active video to blanking transitional sequences, wherein one of the encoded fragments is asserted to the outputs during a first state of each of the active video to blanking transitional sequences and a last state of each of the active video to blanking transitional sequences occurs in a blanking interval;
• and
• blanking to active video transitional sequences, wherein one of the encoded fragments is asserted to the outputs during a last state of each of the blanking to active video transitional sequences and a first state of each of the blanking to active video transitional sequences occurs in a blanking interval,
• wherein the transmitter is configured to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs without omitting assertion of any encoded fragment thereof by executing, completely or partially, a sufficient number of state sequence cycles, each of the state sequence cycles including any number of the active video interval sequences, followed by one of the active video to blanking transitional sequences, followed by a number of the blanking interval sequences, followed by one of the blanking to active video transitional sequences.

A system, including:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver;
• and
• a serial link coupled between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the transmitter comprises:
• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having outputs configured to be coupled to data channels of the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding the fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs to transmit the encoded fragments to the receiver over the link, wherein the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups of M encoded fragments, each of the M encoded fragments in each of the groups has a different phase within the group, and the transmitter is configured to assert the encoded fragments to the outputs during active video intervals and to assert packing phase data to at least one of the outputs during at least some blanking intervals between the active video intervals, wherein the packing phase data asserted during a blanking interval indicate the phase of the last one of the encoded fragments asserted to the outputs before said blanking interval.

A system, including:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver;
• and
• a serial link coupled between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the transmitter comprises:
• a subsystem operable in at least one N-bit mode to pack a sequence of N-bit words of video data into a sequence of fragments, where N≠K and each of the fragments consists of K bits of the video data;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the subsystem and having outputs configured to be coupled to data channels of the serial link, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate a sequence of encoded fragments by encoding the fragments and to assert the sequence of encoded fragments to the outputs to transmit the encoded fragments to the receiver over the link, wherein the sequence of encoded fragments is a sequence of groups of M encoded fragments, each of the M encoded fragments in each of the groups has a different phase within the group, and the transmitter is configured to assert the encoded fragments to the outputs during active video intervals, and to assert blanking data to the outputs during blanking intervals between the active video intervals, so as to indicate implicitly the phase of each of the encoded fragments that is asserted to the outputs at each occurrence of a known checkpoint.