MXPA98004095A - Architecture of multimedia network for ho - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network architecture for the home has an internal digital network interconnection device in the home. Entertainment services are introduced into the network through network interface units that are coupled to an external network and to the internal network. The network interface units perform the necessary interconnection between the external and internal networks, and make the entertainment services available to all terminals connected to the internal network. A plurality of mountable electronics that do not have network interface units, connect to the internal network, and prepare the information in the digital data stream to be displayed, for example, by a television

Description

ARCHITECTURE OF MULTIMEDIA NETWORK FOR THE HOME Field of the Invention The present invention relates to digital networks, and more particularly, to digital networks for use in the home, which provide interconnectivity of products within the home, and to external networks outside the home. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The rapid gains in digital technology and telecommunications have increased the desirability of having a network in the home to interconnect a multitude of products at home with each other, and with the outside world. The range of available external services includes interactive services, video and audio cable services, satellite networks, telephone company services, video on demand, and other types of information services. However, personal computer penetration in homes in the United States is about 33 percent, and it is only growing slowly, although governments want more penetration to encourage "telecommuting," and reduce traffic. of roads and pollution. An additional penetration of computers in the home will originate from the purchase of entertainment and information products for the consumer that has a built-in computer and an operating system hidden by an opaque user interface. This product is a conventional mountable box. Mountable boxes are multimedia computers that increase the use of televisions. A conventional mountable box has an external network interface module that connects the mountable box to the external network and to the data provider. The network interface module has to perform a number of simple functions, such as interconnecting with a specific external network, tuning, demodulating, correcting errors, demixing video, retrieving the MPEG clock, and encoding and decoding cryptically in a specific way to the external network. Consequently, the network interface module is a relatively expensive component of mountable boxes. This expense would be necessary when a single television is present in the house. However, most homes contain multiple televisions, and the provision of each with its own mountable box and the associated network interface module, is a duplication of costly components. Another concern for homeowners is the issue of service providers. The limitation to a service provider for all services introduced into the home through a mountable box, such as by a provider over the telephone, restricts the choices of a homeowner, and possibly prevents the home owner from obtaining services at home. a lower competitive price. Trying to overcome this problem with multiple service providers, using a stack of multiple mountable boxes in each TV in a home, is not a viable solution. TCP Application Number WO 95/19070 discloses a communication network that uses existing lines, for example, AC power lines, to provide information signals, such as video signals, throughout an entire house . This communication network provides a limited number of channels to be transmitted over existing lines using modems. In order to select a video signal from an external network, for each television, a dedicated video signal tuner (eg, a network interface unit), and a dedicated modem are required. To receive and display the video signal, it is required that each television (or mountable box) have a dedicated modem and a video signal tuner. Accordingly, the communication network of the TCP request number WO 95/19070 not only has limited capabilities, but also requires expensive equipment and duplication of costly components (eg, network interface units, modems, and tuners). Digital networks, such as Ethernet networks, have been considered to be used as home networks, for example, as presented by Shuang Deng in "Capture Effect in Residential Ethernet LAN", published by IEEE, in 1995 (Publication No. 0-7803-2509-5 / 95). This local area network (RAL) Residential Ethernet requires a gateway or a personal computer to function as a director for signals received from an external network. The gateway or personal computer examines the input data packets, and sends them to the appropriate receiving node, for example, a mountable box that connects to a television. As the article describes, and as the title implies, there is a potential for inducing jumps in a video signal due to the capture effect related to digital communications over the residential Ethernet local area network. The article suggests that a potential solution is to include additional buffering capabilities to overcome the highs, if these exist. The residential Ethernet network model of the article assumes that there is only one active data stream at a time, and therefore, requires that any potential contention / selection among other data streams that have been resolved before the signal is provided to the residential Ethernet network. Therefore, for example, channel selection occurs outside the home or occurs in the mountable / TV box. Accordingly, the residential Ethernet network described in "Capture Effect in Residential Ethernet LAN" requires additional services and / or duplicate components provided for each separately controlled television, and may also require buffering capabilities to avoid highs induced by the capture effect. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is a need for a home network that provides interconnectivity with products in a home, and with external networks in a relatively inexpensive manner, and that also provides the home owner with the opportunity to select from a variety of different services. These and other needs are met by the present invention, which provides a home network having multiple mountable boxes and separate network interface units coupled together, by a relatively inexpensive digital network installed in the home, such as Ethernet. The separation of the functions of the network interface unit from the mountable electronics allows a single network interface unit to be used to interconnect with an external network and selectively provide programming to a multitude of mountable electronics and televisions within the home. This reduces the need to duplicate the network interface functions in each television or other final product, and in this way, reduces the costs of the home network. In addition, having multiple network interface units separated over the network allows the consumer to collect and select among the available services, and is not limited to a single service provider. Changing a service can be done simply by exchanging or adding a different network interface unit configured to interconnect with the new external network. The use of Ethernet in certain preferred embodiments also makes the network relatively inexpensive, since twisted pair cable can be installed at a low cost in a home. The foregoing and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a home network constructed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an illustration of an example installation of the home network of the present invention, inside a house. Figure 3 is a logic diagram of the home network of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of a network interface unit and a unit of mountable electronics constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Figure 5 is a block diagram of a network interface of mountable electronics constructed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a block diagram of the network interface of the network interface unit constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a block diagram of a central hub and a crossbar of direct circuit, constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, coupled with a network interface unit and a mountable electronic unit. Figure 8 is a logic diagram of an exemplary user interface for the home network of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Modes Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a home multimedia network 10 constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. This mode is for example only; however, the network 10 can be configured in any of a number of different ways within the scope of the invention, and include different devices coupled with the network 10. Additionally, the invention is not limited to networks located in homes, but rather it is applicable to networks installed in other types of structures, such as offices, apartment buildings, and so on. For purposes of illustration, however, the example mode will be described in the context of a home installation. Network 10 is a digital network that provides connectivity of different types of equipment to the outside world at home. This equipment can be, for example, an analog television 12, a digital television 14, a digital cartridge 16 video recorder, a digital camera recorder 18, personal computers 20, audio equipment 22, printers 24, facsimile machines 26, and phones 28, among others. In addition to connecting this equipment to the outside world, network 10 also connects digital video, digital audio, computer, and telephone equipment, together internally in the home. This unifies the communication and control inside the home, making available all the power of the connections of the external network or of the internal data sources of any terminal of the network 10. The communication with the outside world is made through a number of separate network interface units (UIR) 32, and can be physically combined in an input unit 30, each network interface unit 32 allowing a connection between a different external network and the home network 10. The different External networks can carry different types of signals. This may be, for example, transmission signals (digital or analog / digital mixed) carried over hybrid coaxial fiber or cable. Other types of signals are ISDN, broadcast / digital satellite service, FTTC, FTTH, ADSL, and others. At least the following types of data can be carried; compressed video, compressed audio, graphics and Internet data WWW compressed, Internet e-mail and other data, computer file data, and control message data. Logically, all the terminals of the home network receive equal access to network interface units 32, and a user would not be aware of their physical vision. The number of network interface units 32 that are required, is determined by the number of currents required per household, for example, the number of channels of different programs (ie, video, audio, and others) required simultaneously, and not by the number of terminal units in a home. In certain preferred embodiments, the cable or antenna television remains unchanged, with the distribution by the coaxial cable in the regular home (plain old television, or POTV). The POTS (plain old telephone service) is also carried on the digital network at home 10. The digital signals are distributed throughout the home on an internal network 34. In certain preferred embodiments, the internal network 34 is essentially twisted pair Ethernet of lObase-T or lOObase-T type, but a special central switching cube is used to make the network scalable to any number of terminal units, each of which can receive high-speed bit-rate video. The home network 10 connects computers, or products with embedded computers, that can support bandwidth, protocols, routing, buffering, and network management. Other high-bandwidth products that do not support this complex functionality must be joined to this central unit, either directly or through a local peripheral network to achieve interoperability. Examples of computers or products with embedded computers located in the home network 10, which function as end-user devices, include: the input / output computers of the network interface units that perform the conversion of the external network to the home network and its conditioning; computers, such as mountable electronics (EST); work stations of personal computers; high end printers; and special computers that provide gate / control functions. Other end-user devices that can be coupled with network 10 include video products: compressed digital video (MPEG) equipment and uncompressed; camera products digital video recorder; products of digital video recorder tape, and products of digital visual display on television, and products of visual display recording and analogue recording on television. Audio products that can be coupled with network 10 include: compressed digital audio (MPEG) and non-compressed audio equipment; stereo HIFI; digital audio tape recorder products. Other types of products that can be connected to the network 10 are data products, such as printers and other peripherals. Still other products that can be controlled through the network 10 include automation and home appliances: central heating / air conditioning; safety controller, microwave oven and other kitchen equipment, lighting, sprinklers, and other energy controls. Certain embodiments of the home network 10 include one or more local peripheral networks 15 that provide local connection for a future very high bit rate, motion video devices-JPEG or MPEG within the frame only, audio devices, printers, and your peripherals These devices need a continuous local digital connection at a high bandwidth, where the data transfer is continuous from, for example, the digital camera to the digital cartridge video recorder. Accommodating these devices directly in the internal network 34 would require a greater network bandwidth over the entire network 34 than is normally needed. Instead, the local peripheral network 15 is normally connected via the gate to the internal network 34 to have interoperability. However, in certain other embodiments of the invention, the home network 10 is provided with hardware and software that accommodates the high-speed devices, so that a local peripheral network 15 is not needed. A home automation network 17 is provided for home automation. This home automation network 17 can run on the power line or on another low bit rate network to control appliances, home security systems, lighting, and so on. This distribution originates from a control computer 20 located inside the home. An exemplary model of the home network installation 10 of the present invention inside a house 36 is illustrated in Figure 2. The home network 10 is a long-range base structure with cable run capacity up to 100 meters, for example, from a switched central hub 38 that is part of the internal network 34. In the example installation illustrated in Figure 2, the input unit 30, with its multiple network interface units 32, is located in a service area of the house, together with the switched central hub 38. The twisted pair cable is run towards each room of the house 36, and ends in a wall socket. You can use, for example, twisted pair Cat-5 (for 100 Mbits / second) when an installation is made, since most of the cost is labor. For temporary reinstallation, the twisted pair cable is small enough so that it can be adjusted to fit under the edge of a carpet. A home user will connect a computing product to a room, plugging the Ethernet port of the computing product into the Ethernet wall jack. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the central hub 38 is illustrated as a separate device, but in other embodiments, the central hub 38 is integrated into one or more network interface units 32. The central hub 38 provides connectivity to all the areas of the house, and one or more network interface units 32. In the improvement, the expansion of both the cumulative bandwidth and the connectivity of the internal network 34, is done by means of additional plugs or changing to a central hub larger. The central hub will be described in greater detail later. The present invention, as shown in the Figures 1 and 2, separates the functionality of the network interface units 32 from the mountable electronics 40. Conventionally, a mountable box contains a network interface unit whose components are connected internally via a bus bar to the components of the mountable electronics. However, in contrast, the present invention provides a separation of the network interface units 32 and the mountable electronics 40, with the internal network 34 interposed therebetween. This configuration allows multiple mountable electronics to be distributed throughout the home 36 in a less costly manner, since the electronics of a network interface unit do not have to be duplicated by each mountable electronic. Additionally, having separate network interface units 32 coupled with different external networks and with a common internal network 34, frees the homeowner from being forced to receive all programming from a single source, such as the telephone company or telephone company. cable. The separation also allows the home owner to add, discard, or change services by simply changing one of the network interface units 32, without the need to replace all mountable electronics 40 of the entire house 36. In certain embodiments, a "master" mountable box with multiple network interface units. However, this mode is logically similar to that described above, since the network interface units are connected in this mode to the internal network, and not via a busbar to the mountable electronics. Figure 3 is a logical view of the home network 10 of the present invention. As can be seen in the diagram, the central hub of multiple ports 38 forms the center of the network connections. In certain modalities, where the inter-pack jump is suitably controlled, a traditional and commercially available packet-switched central hub is employed. In other preferred embodiments, such as that illustrated in Figure 3, the switched central hub 38 is a combination of network ports and ports that are switched directly (in circuit) for the duration of a session. Directly connected ports (and systems) can be placed in secured phase by means of the network clock (coded). To provide this functionality, therefore, the switched central hub 38 comprises a relatively simple and inexpensive central hub 48., and a direct circuit cross bar 44. The central hub 42, in certain preferred embodiments, may be a commercially available device, such as Am79C981 manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, of Sunnyvale, California. The details of the crossbar of direct circuit 44 will be described later with respect to Figure 7. A star topology is used, as defined by Ethernet 10 / 100base-T in conjunction with the central switching tube 38. The central hub switch 38 provides a fan extension to most rooms in house 36. The maximum bandwidth of the system is a multiple of the bit rate of the wire ((bit rate per port number) / 2), for example, 20 ports and 100 Mbits / second of bit rate = 1 Gb / second of maximum cumulative bandwidth. The switched central hub 38 makes it possible to give special treatment for densely asymmetric traffic, for example, compressed digital video and Internet data, by direct routing of these cases from the transmitter to the receiver. This traffic, therefore, is separated from the internal network 34, and allows the overall cumulative bandwidth to be limited only by the possibility of expansion of the central hub 38, although it will remain limited by 10 Mbits / second per branch. The use of lOObase-T technology instead of lObase-T technology will perfect the network if required. Direct synchronous connections of the central switching cube (Manchester or coded in block) are used, primarily for MPEG video transmission, where a continuous, high-bitrate, and long-term connection is required. The high-speed bit video in compressed form can be as high as 8 Mbits / second, and is needed for live video and for high-action movies and sports. The low bit rate video is 1.5 Mbits / second. In accordance with the present invention, digital MPEG video is retained throughout the entire network 10. Actual video conversion takes place only in the visual display device (e.g., TV 12), or mountable electronics 40. In Figure 3, two separate direct circuits are illustrated as examples. For example, the network interface unit 32 that is coupled with an ISDN network is connected directly through the crossbar of direct circuit 44, with the personal computer 20 of the local peripheral network 15. A separate direct circuit is provided. through the cross-bar of direct circuit 44, between a different network interface unit 32 (coupled with hybrid coaxial fiber, for example), and the mountable electronics 40 coupled with the television 12. Those devices that are not directly connected through the crossbar of direct circuit 44, remain attached to the central hub 42, and in this way are networked. With respect to the architecture of the central switching hub, where a direct line is configured from point to point, all the data that travels through this line is provided directly to the terminal of the end point of the line, including the data intended for one or more different terminals. Accordingly, in certain preferred embodiments, a rule is followed that the data multiplexed with the high-speed data (typically messages) must be output to the network terminals by the end point of the direct line, returning these packets to the central hub 38 For example, messages sent over the ISDN network that are not intended for a device on the local peripheral network 15, will be returned via the local peripheral network exchange 20 to the central hub 38 for distribution. This rule saves the expense and hassle of having a packet router type switched central hub, distributing the demultiplexing at the endpoints instead of the central one, and works well for the asymmetric data flow, and the local destination, that is, is not subject to the layers of the switches. An advantage of the directly switched lines is that potential delays to gain access to the network 34 (and possibly alter the delicate clock reference timing carried in the MPEG stream) are completely eliminated. In certain preferred embodiments, the central hub 38 is required to be of "full duplex consciousness", meaning that a directly directed line connects only one line of the transmitting terminal "up" only to a receiving "down" terminal line. In contrast, the line that goes down to the transmitter, and the line that goes up to the receiver, are not affected by the direct circuit, and would normally be connected to the network, that is, they would connect to all the remaining terminal lines connected to each other. . The specific address is presented in response to the user's service requests. The messages are collected by the control of the central hub, and any changes of address are implemented directly. The devices are not switched from the network connection, and no address is required. The recovery of the MPEG clock is performed in the network interface units 32, as described below. With the MPEG clock recovery in the network interface units 32, and the establishment of a direct circuit to the destination of the home network, the highs in the signal received at the destination are substantially eliminated (such as in the TV 12). ). The direct circuit capability works well for the densely asymmetric point-to-point traffic expected in the home entertainment (video) scenario. For analog services only, for example, transitional cable television, this is not considered part of the digital network. For mixed digital / analog services, such as hybrid coaxial fiber (FCH), and the newer forms of mixed cable television, this is considered a transition state, and is plotted as a system temporarily added to the entire digital system of the present invention. The signal from the hybrid coaxial fiber is provided directly to mountable electronics 40, or to a combination of network interface unit 32 / mountable electronics 40. Two ports are required to connect to the home network 10, one for the interface unit 32, and one for the mountable electronics 40. A derivation is provided in certain preferred embodiments, for linking the analog signals through the audio / video circuits of the mountable electronics 40. The home network 10 is controlled by from a manual controller or a computer keyboard to run the software at local terminals, such as personal computers 20, or mountable electronics 40 .. Local control software for each household terminal manages the availability of the source, the source selection, line management through communication with network interface units 32, and external gateways. The external network protocols are in the buffer in the network interface units 32, to provide a standard interface with the terminals in the home network 10. Figure 8 illustrates an example of a user interface. In this mode, the home network 10 is transparent, and the user is only aware of it indirectly, from the number of connected services. Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a single network interface unit 32 coupled via the internal network 34 with a single mountable electronic unit 40. The reecting portions of the home network 10, including the central switching hub 38 , are not shown in Figure 4 for purposes of illustration and explanation. The network interface unit 32 has one or more network interface modules 50, which interconnect the network interface unit 32 with a particular external network. In the example of Figure 4, the network interface module 50 provides an interconnection with an external network carrying MPEG video data. The MPEG video data is provided to an internal network interface device 52, which prepares the data for transport over the internal network 34. In certain preferred embodiments, the internal network 34 is an Ethernet network, such that the device of internal network interface 52 is an Ethernet interface device. The architecture of the present invention assumes that, for some networks, a first demultiplexing step is required in the network interface unit 32, to stay within a definable bandwidth limit (a current), rather than an amplitude of arbitrary band established by the construction of the input current (multiple currents). Making the assumption that MPEG-2 video is being used, there is a demultiplexing from a transport stream of multiple programs to a transport of a single program, as defined in the MPEG-2 specification. This is done by an MPEG 54 transport chip, such as the 9110B chip commercially available in C-Cube. (A second demultiplexing stage is still present, to separate the video, audio, and other data in the mountable electronics, while the decoding is preferably done only on the visual display terminal or on the computer). With this approach, it is not necessary to send high bandwidth currents through the entire house and the terminals of the house 36 need only see the interface of a single standardized program. Compression is required for the video generated in the home, for example, the security front door camera, or the video conference camera. All the external network interconnection, the cryptic decoding, the access control, the demultiplexing to a single program stream, etc., are made by the network interface module 50. Accordingly, the network interface module 50 sets in buffer zone the hardware and software of the home network, from the peculiarities of the connected external network. Multiple different programs require multiple cross-network interface connections, either from one or multiple providers. In certain modalities, a double module with two connections to the crossbar is provided, which provides two programs received from the same external network. The MPEG 54 transport chip performs the MPEG clock recovery, and provides the recovered 27 MHz clock, and the selected program, to an internal network connection 56. The 27 MHz clock is received by an MPEG up to the synthesizer. network 58, and converted to a 10 MHz clock, for example, when the internal network 34 is an Ethernet lObase-T network. The 10 MHz clock, as well as the selected program, are provided to a conventional transceiver 60 (such as an Ethernet transceiver), connected to the internal network 34. The synthesizer 58 acts to secure the Ethernet clock in the clock MPEG recovered. When transmitted from the data packet from the network interface unit 32 to the mountable electronics 40, the mountable electronics 40 are secured in the MPEG data retrieved at 27 MHz. In the mountable electronics 40, the 27 MHz clock is regenerated from the 10 MHz Ethernet clock, through another synthesizer. The data is received in the mountable electronics 40, by a network interface device 62 that includes a network interface 64. The 10 MHz clock recovered by the network interface 64 from the data stream from the network 34, it passes through gate 66 to a network and to the MPEG 68 synthesizer. The gate is needed to perform the insurance function only when there is a data packet present. The 10 MHz clock is converted to a 27 MHz clock, which is provided to an MPEG 70 decoder, and a video decoder / encoder 72. The selected program is provided via the network interface 64 to the MPEG decoder 70, which decodes the MPEG data, and supplies them to the decoder / video encoder 72. The data stream it is converted by the video encoder 72 into a format (e.g., NTSC or SVideo) suitable for use by a visual display device, such as a television. The video decoder is for that matter (HFC) where there may be an analog NTSC signal to be digitized and merged with the onboard graphics hardware. The network 34 of Figure 4 is illustrated schematically, and it should be understood, from the above description, that the video data can be placed on the network 34 through the central hub 42, but that a direct circuit of the network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40 through the direct circuit crossbar 44 of the network 34, to provide a seamless transfer of the video data. Figure 5 is a more detailed diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the network interface device 62 of the mountable electronics 40 illustrated in Figure 4. The network interface device 62 includes the network synthesizer 68 coupled with a wireless logic device. program, which operates as the gate device 66. The network synthesizer 68 can be implemented by a commercially available chip, such as MC145151 manufactured by Motorola. The program logic device 66 can be implemented by a commercially available chip, such as MC7958, also manufactured by Motorola. A controlled voltage crystal oscillator 80 operates at 27 MHz, and provides its signal to the program logic device 62, which outputs the 10 MHz signal to the synthesizer 68, when there is a received data packet. The synthesizer divides the 10 MHz and 27 MHz frequencies to a common frequency that is fed to the phase detector of the synthesizer 68. The output of the phase detector of the synthesizer 68 is provided as a control signal to the controlled voltage crystal oscillator. 80, to adjust the local frequency up or down, in order to be secure to the input Ethernet frequency. The signal that informs the logical device of programs 66 on the reception of a data packet, and the 10 MHz clock, are provided by a serial interface adapter 82, which serves as a reception enable. A commercially available product suitable for the serial interface adapter is the Am7992B manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices. The data stream is received through a transformer / filter 84, such as one commercially available from Pulse Engineering, PE68026. The collision information is also received through another transformer / filter 86, which may be of the same type as the transformer / filter 84. The data received are provided to a first 88 transceiver, such as an Ethernet transceiver. twisted pair plus (Am79C100). The output of the first network transceiver 88 (the received data) is made available, of the reception enable 82 and of a controller 90. The controller 90 may be a commercially available product, such as the single-Ethernet controller. Am79C970 chip (manufactured by Advanced Micro Devicee). The controller 90 is coupled with a busbar 92, such as a peripheral component interconnecting bus (ICP), to provide the data received from the network 34 to the MPEG decoder 70 of the mountable electronics 40. A second transmitter can be used. network receiver 92, is coupled to controller 90, and can be implemented by the same type of transceiver as 88. The second network transceiver-receiver 92 provides the transmission line for data from controller 90 to the controller. network 34, through the transformer / filter 84. The collision information is routed through the transformer / filter 86, and the second transmitter-receiver 92, up to the controller 90. Figure 6 is a more detailed diagram of the connection of internal network 56, having an MPEG synthesizer to network 58, which synthesizes the 10 MHz clock from the 27 MHz MPEG clock recovered by the MPEG 54 transport chip (see Figure 4). A crystal oscillator 96 is coupled to the synthesizer 58, to provide a 10 MHz signal. In certain embodiments, the crystal oscillator 96 is an oscillator of 20 MHz, and the frequency generated by the synthesizer ee of 20 MHz, which then it is simply divided at 10 MHz into the receiver (40 mountable electronic devices). A commercially available synthesizer is MC145145-2, manufactured by Motorola. The 10 MHz clock is provided to a microprocessor interface 98, which serves as the interface for a microprocessor 100. The interface of the microprocessor 98, with the microprocessor 100, forms the transceiver 60, which is connected to the internal network 34. through a transformer / filter 102. The interface of the microprocessor 98 can be, for example, an MC68160 chip manufactured by Motorola, and the microprocessor can be an MC68EN360, also manufactured by Motorola. The transformer / filter 102 may be of the same type as the transducers / filters 84, 86 of Figure 5. The separation of the network interface unit 32 from the mountable electronics 40 provides a number of advantages, as described above. previously. The functions (responsibilities) of conventional mountable boxes with integrated network interface units are divided into the embodiments of the present invention. For example, in the preferred embodiments, the network interface unit 32 is responsible for performing the specific interconnection of the external network, the tuning demodulation, and the error correction. It provides the demixing of specific video from the external network, and cryptic encoding / cryptic decoding (credit card number, user password, etc.). The network interface unit 32 also provides a program guide specific to the external network. Additionally, it performs MPG transport demultiplexing to a single stream, and retrieves the MPEG reference clock. In the preferred embodiments of the invention, the network interface unit provides the Ethernet interconnection of the home network, and the MPEG / Ethernet clock setting. The mountable electronics 40 essentially act as an application computer with audio, video, graphics, and analog television interface, in the preferred embodiments. For example, mountable electronics provide the specific interconnection of the home network, and the buffering of the data, as necessary. Provides the Ethernet watch / MPEG clock insurance in the preferred modes. The mountable electronics 40 decode the MPEG video and audio, to recover the digital audio / video. It performs the conversion from digital to analog for audio and video, and supports commands from an infrared remote control. The mountable electronics 40 provide support for analog video input (NTSC). It interconnects printers, game ports, etc., and supports the operating system at the bounce level, and can download an entire system from an external network. The mountable electronics 40 support application programs and communications through the network interface units to a network provider and a program video server. Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail an exemy embodiment of the central hub 42, and the cross-circuit configuration of the direct circuit 44 of the present invention, and its connection to a network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40. The direct-circuit crossbar 44 and 42 selectively provides a direct circuit between a particular network interface unit 32, and mountable electronics 40, or a simple network connection through the central hub 42 for these units. . In Figure 7, only portions of the network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40 are illustrated for purposes of illustration and exation. In the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the central hub 42 is a relatively simple and inexpensive central hub, since it does not include any kind of packet address switch, or storage and forwarding switch. There is no intelligence to examine the traffic and dynamically commute the central hub according to the tranemission, and receive the addresses as in the central hubs that have packet address switches. Although only one network interface unit 32 and mountable electronics 40 directly connected in FIG. 7 are shown, any number of directly connected pairs can be connected by the direct circuit crossbar 44, depending on the size of the crossbar 44. The network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40 are each shown with 5 compositions or peak connections, each of the connections being a pair. This matches a conventional telephone jack, the RJ45 telephone, which has 10 picoe positions. The internal network 34 provides the connection between the network interface units 32, the mountable electronics 40, and the direct circuit cross bar 44. In the preferred embodiments, the internal network 34 is Ethernet 10 or 100B-T. The selection of a network connection or a direct circuit between the network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40 is established by a number of switches 108, which are illustrated in Figure 7 with suffixes of letters to distinguish one from the other. another in the next decree. In the example of Figure 7, the network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40 are to be connected directly to each other, the network interface unit 32 transmitting the data to the mountable electronics 40. A microprocessor 110 serves as the controller for the direct circuit crossbar 44, and controls the positions of the switches 108 in response to user commands, which require a direct circuit to operate. For example, a user can choose to watch a movie from a video service on demand, and therefore, he selects this in the manual remote control. The microprocessor 110, in response to this selection, will then change the positions of the switches 108 to establish a direct circuit between the network interface unit 32 which is connected to the external network carrying the video on demand service, and the electronic ones. mountable 40 that are coupled to the television receiver where the user wants to see the movie. In this case, the switch 108a moves to its illustrated position to connect the transmission lines of the transceiver 88 of the network interface unit 32 to the line 112 of the direct circuit crossbar 44. The transmission lines of the transmitter-receiver 88 are no longer connected to the network in the Txl port of the central hub 42. In a similar manner, the reception lines of the transceiver 92 of the mountable electronics 40 are connected through the switch 108g with the same line 112 of the direct circuit cross bar 44. With this direct circuit now established, the data entering the home through the network interface unit 32 is not transmitted over the network via the central hub 42, but instead of that, they are provided directly to the mountable electronics 40 in a location where the data will be used. Although the direct circuit established by the cross-bar of direct circuit 44 provides an excellent line for data from the network interface unit 32 to the mountable electronics 40, it may happen that not all data entering the interface unit of network 32 are for mountable electronics 40. For example, e-mail may be received on this particular network interface unit 32, and the home owner wants the e-mail to be directed to a personal computer, and not to a personal computer. TV. However, there is no connection with the network 34, due to the direct circuit, once a direct circuit is established. To solve this problem, the mountable electronics 40 examine the addresses of the data packets it receives, and perform a steering function for the data other than for these mountable electronics 40. The data is redirected by the mountable electronics 40 on the network 34 through the central hub 42. This re-direction by connecting the end point (the mountable electronics 40 in this example), avoids the need for the system to use an expensive and complicated director. The mountable electronics 40 has a microprocessor 120 and the associated memory 122 to identify and direct the data packets back to the network 34. The direct circuit between the network interface unit 32 and the mountable electronics 40, provides a seamless connection for the video data, but redirecting the other data to the network 34 through the central hub, allows more than one type of data to be carried to the home by the network interface unit 32. Once the direct circuit is established between a network interface unit 32 and a mountable electronic unit 40, a collision detection is required by the mountable electronics 40, to enable it to transmit to the central hub 42. The mountable electronics 40 need to learn from collision, and retransmit the data to the network 34 if such collisions occur. The network interface unit 32 can be established, in certain embodiments, to disable the colieion, because they can not be presented in the direct circuit. However, in certain embodiments, both in the port of the network interface unit and in the port of the mountable electronics (with the network 34 through the crossbar 44), the same pair of collisions is included for greater convenience . In certain preferred embodiments, one of the five pairs of wires is available to provide the image-in-picture capability for the seventh. For example, the network interface unit 32 can provide a second data stream through another transceiver-receiver 88a on a second pair of transmission wires, on a separate cross-bar connection line 114. The mountable electronics 40, Having another transceiver 88a also connected to line 114, it receives this second data stream through the direct circuit, to provide an image in image on a television screen. Accordingly, both images can be provided without breaks by separate direct circuits. In certain preferred embodiments of the present invention, the crossbar switches 108 are implemented by a set of analog MOS transistors, controlled in response to the signals from the controller 110. This is exemplary only; however, like other modalities, they use switches of different designs, as will be appreciated by an ordinary expert in this field. Although the description of the invention illustrates the configuration with certain logical distinctions of the functionality of the different elements, these distinctions may be different in other modalities. For example, the central hub 42 is described connected to the internal network. However, the hub 42 can also logically be considered as part of the internal network, including forming the network, the remaining wiring forming element being for connecting the end terminals with the central hub 42. One of ordinary skill in the art, therefore , will appreciate that the logical distinctions illustrated and described in the present specification, are exemplary only. The separation of the network interface unit and the mountable electronics in accordance with the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive connection of a multitude of devices to each other within the home, and to the outside world. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that it is by way of illustration and example only, and should not be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the attached claims.

Claims (9)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the above invention, it is considered as a novelty, and therefore, the content of the following is claimed as property:
2. CLAIMS 1. A multimedia network architecture for a structure, which comprises: an external network port having at least one network interface unit that couples with one of a plurality of networks located external to the structure; an internal network inside the structure, which has a central cube, and a cross bar of direct circuit, the internal network being a digital network that is configured to carry data at a known frequency, and is coupled with the external network port; and at least one mountable box coupled with the internal network, and configured to receive the data from the internal network; wherein, the central hub and the direct circuit crossbar are configured to provide a network connection between the network interface unit and the mountable case, and furthermore they can be configured to selectively provide a direct circuit connection between the network unit. network interface and the mountable box. 2. The architecture according to claim 1, characterized in that the external network port has a plurality of network interface units, each of the network interface units being coupled with different external networks.
3. 3. The architecture according to claim 2, characterized in that the internal network is an Ethernet network.
4. 4. The architecture according to claim 2, characterized in that a plurality of mountable boxes are coupled to the internal network.
5. 5. The architecture according to claim 3, characterized in that at least one of a plurality of processing devices is coupled with the Ethernet network.
6. 6. The architecture according to claim 5, characterized in that at least one of a plurality of peripheral devices is coupled with the Ethernet network.
7. 7. The architecture according to claim 6, characterized in that the Ethernet network is Ethernet lObase-T.
8. 8. The architecture according to claim 6, characterized in that Ethernet Ethernet network lOObaee-T.
9. 9. The architecture according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a coaxial cable inside the structure, and coupled with external coaxial cable to the structure, which carries the audiovisual information.