1. A system, comprising:
first and second camera apparatuses (102) coupled to an internet protocol (IP) network;
a bridging apparatus (404) located remotely from the first and second camera apparatuses
(102), the bridging apparatus (404) having a first connection coupled to the IP network and a second
connection with a peripheral bus, wherein the bridging apparatus transcodes multimedia data between
the IP network and the peripheral bus, the bridging apparatus transmitting first control messages in a
uniform, single control protocol to control the first and second camera apparatuses (102), the bridging
apparatus (404) outputting the multimedia data on the peripheral bus in one or more peripheral bus
protocols, wherein the bridging apparatus (404) is configured to receive second control messages
from a user device (122) in a peripheral bus protocol associated with the user device (122) for
controlling the first and second camera apparatuses (102), the user device (122) located remote from
the bridging apparatus (404); and
a switch located remotely from the first and second camera apparatuses (102) and the bridging
apparatus (404), the switch configured to convey the multimedia data and the control messages
between the bridging apparatus (404) and the first and second camera apparatuses (102).
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridging apparatus (404) transcodes the second
control messages into the uniform, single control protocol.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridging apparatus (404) transcodes the
multimedia data into the peripheral bus protocol associated with the user device (122).
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridging apparatus (404) is further configured
to transcode the multimedia data into a second peripheral bus protocol associated with a second user
device (122).
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridging apparatus receives the multimedia
data from the first and second camera apparatuses (102) in the uniform, single control protocol and
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outputs the multimedia data from the first and second camera apparatuses (102) in the peripheral bus
protocol associated with the user device (122).
6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the bridging apparatus outputs the multimedia data
on the peripheral bus in a second peripheral bus protocol associated with a second user device.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridging apparatus (404) is configured to
transcode the multimedia data that includes audio data and the video data, and wherein the bridging
apparatus (404) includes a buffer for temporarily storing the audio data for alignment with the video
data.
8. An apparatus for facilitating exchange of multimedia information between at least two camera
devices (102) and a user device (122), comprising:
an internet protocol (IP) interface communicatively coupling the apparatus to the camera
devices (102);
a peripheral bus interface communicatively coupling the apparatus to the user device (122);
a module that receives multimedia data via the IP interface in an internet video format and
extracts digital compressed video;
a module that reformats the extracted digital compressed video into a peripheral bus format
associated with the user device (122);
a module that outputs video in the peripheral bus format to the peripheral bus interface;
a module that, for a first command received at the peripheral bus interface from the user device
(122) in the peripheral bus format, transcodes the first command into an internet format; and for a
second command received from the IP interface in the internet format, transcodes the second
command into the peripheral bus format associated with the user device (122); and
a module that operates to provide connectivity between the user device (122) and the camera
devices (102), wherein the IP interface outputs commands in the internet format that correspond to
commands received from the user device (122) in the peripheral bus format associated with the user
device (122) to control video streams received from the camera devices (102) on the IP interface.
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9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the multimedia data is conveyed between the
bridging apparatus and the first and second camera apparatuses through a switch.
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first command comprises a device discovery
message.