Small form factor pluggable unit used as a video signal conversion device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to devices comprising small form factor pluggable units (SFP) having connectors for receiving and sending signals and a processor for converting the received signals prior to sending the converted signals. Received or sent signals may comprise video signals in various analog or digital formats. Conversion of the received signals may comprise analog to digital or digital to analog conversion, serializing or deserializing a digital signal, frame synchronization of a video signal, and/or cross conversion of a video signal from a first format to a second format.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A small form-factor pluggable (SFP) unit comprising:
 a housing having specific standardized SFP dimensions and adapted to being inserted into a chassis of a hosting unit;   a first connector for receiving a first video signal according to a first format;   a processor in the housing for converting the first video signal from the first format to a second format; and   a second connector for outputting a second video signal according to the second format.   
     
     
         2 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , comprising a cable equalizer operably connected to the first connector to equalize the first video signal. 
     
     
         3 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , comprising a cable driver operably connected to the second connector to provide a gain to the second video signal. 
     
     
         4 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , comprising:
 an analog to digital convertor (ADC) in the housing for digitizing the first video signal before application of conversion by the processor.   
     
     
         5 . The SFP unit of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a digital to analog convertor (DAC) in the housing for converting the second video signal from a digital format to an analog format after application of the conversion by the processor.   
     
     
         6 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , comprising:
 a digital to analog convertor (DAC) in the housing for converting the second video signal from a digital format to an analog format after application of the conversion by the processor.   
     
     
         7 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the first format is one of the following:
 a National Television System Committee (NTSC) signal, a Phase Alternating Line (PAL) signal, a Sequential Color with Memory (SECAM) signal, and an analog signal of a Red Green Blue (RGB) format.   
     
     
         8 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the second format is one of the following: a National Television System Committee (NTSC) signal, a Phase Alternating Line (PAL) signal, a Sequential Color with Memory (SECAM) signal, and an analog signal of a Red Green Blue (RGB) format. 
     
     
         9 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the first format is one of the following: a standard definition television (SDTV), enhanced definition television (EDTV) and high definition television (HDTV), and the second format is another one of SDTV, EDTV and HDTV. 
     
     
         10 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the second format is one of the following: a standard definition television (SDTV), enhanced definition television (EDTV) and high definition television (HDTV), and the second format is another one of SDTV, EDTV and HDTV. 
     
     
         11 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the first connector and the second connector are mounted on a front panel of the housing. 
     
     
         12 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein:
 one of the first and second connectors is a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connector; and   the other one of the first and second connectors is a Serial Digital Interface (SDI) connector.   
     
     
         13 . A small form-factor pluggable (SFP) unit comprising:
 a housing having specific standardized SFP dimensions and adapted to being inserted into a chassis of a hosting unit;   a first connector for receiving an analog or digital video signal;   a timing source;   a processor in the housing for applying frame synchronization to frames of the video signal based on the timing source; and   a second connector for outputting the video signal.   
     
     
         14 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , wherein the timing source comprises an internal clock. 
     
     
         15 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , wherein the timing source comprises a third connector for connecting the SFP unit to a timing reference of the chassis. 
     
     
         16 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , wherein the timing source comprises a third connector for connecting the SFP unit to an external timing reference. 
     
     
         17 . The SFP unit of  claim 1 , wherein the first connector and the second connector are mounted on a front panel of the housing. 
     
     
         18 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , wherein the first and second connectors are Serial Digital Interface (SDI) connectors. 
     
     
         19 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , wherein:
 one of the first and second connectors is a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connector; and   the other one of the first and second connectors is a Serial Digital Interface (SDI) connector.   
     
     
         20 . The SFP unit of  claim 13 , comprising:
 an analog to digital convertor (ADC) in the housing operably connected to the first connector;   wherein the received video signal is an analog video signal and the ADC converts the analog video signal to a digital video signal before application of frame synchronization by the processor.