Connection of more than three playback devices to HDMI CEC link

摘要

A method of operating HDMI ports. An HDMI port controller assigns virtual addresses when the maximum number of HDMI CEC addresses is exceeded and CEC logical addresses are duplicated with only one HDMI port corresponding to device having a CEC logical address having its port enabled at any given time. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

主权项

1. A method of operation of High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) ports, comprising:
at an HDMI port controller: assigning first, second and third HDMI consumer electronics command (CEC) logical addresses to first, second and third devices connected to first, second and third HDMI ports respectively, where the first, second and third logical addresses represent a maximum number of logical addresses permitted for standard HDMI CEC operation; receiving a polling message from a fourth device connected to a fourth HDMI port requesting the use of the third HDMI device's logical address; disabling a CEC line for the third HDMI port connected to the third HDMI device to prevent the third device from receiving the polling message; assigning the third HDMI CEC device logical address to the fourth device while the third device is still assigned the third HDMI CEC device logical address so that both the third and fourth devices share the same HDMI CEC device logical address; assigning virtual addresses to the third and fourth HDMI ports connected to the third device and the fourth device respectively; and directing HDMI messages to and from the third and fourth devices using the virtual addresses.