Virtual touch pad method and apparatus for controlling an external display

• US 10,297,002 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2015
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Khuong, Tri T., Sakthivel, Chandrasekaran, Pawar, Kamalakar V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sitta, Grant
• Application Number:
  US14/643,813
• Publication Number:
  US 20160266669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,533 Days
• Field of Search: 345 11, 345173, 345156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0384 Wireless input, i.e. hardware and software details of wireless interface arrangements for pointing devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/08 Power processing, i.e. workload management for processors involved in display operations, such as CPUs or GPUs
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/121 using a cache memory
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/125 using unified memory architecture [UMA]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/126 The frame memory having additional data ports, not inclusive of standard details of the output serial port of a VRAM
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/10 Use of a protocol of communication by packets in interfaces along the display data pipeline
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/16 Use of wireless transmission of display information
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/397 Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of two or more bit-mapped memories to the screen simultaneously, e.g. for mixing or overlay G09G5/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42224 Touch pad or touch panel provided on the remote control

Abstract

An apparatus and method are described for using a touch screen device to control an external display. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus comprises a touch screen to receive user touch input and display images; a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen; a wireless session management module to establish and maintain a wireless display connection with an extended screen responsive to commands from the processor; and the processor to execute a process responsive to the user touch input to transform the touch screen or a portion thereof to a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch screen to receive user touch input from a user and display images;

a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen;

wireless session management circuitry to establish and maintain a wireless display connection with an extended screen responsive to commands from the processor;

the processor to execute a process responsive to the user touch input to transform the touch screen or a portion thereof to a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen, wherein prior to the user touch input, the touch screen or the portion thereof was not being used as the remote control touchpad device for providing control functions for content displayed on the extended screen; and

wherein responsive to a specified user input gesture, the processor is to flip between using the touch screen or a portion thereof as a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen and using the touch screen as a primary screen control for content being displayed on the touch screen but not being displayed on the extended screen, the specified user input gesture comprising multiple taps on the touch screen by the user within a specific amount of time.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a graphics processing unit (GPU).

3. The apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the GPU is to generate the graphical and/or video content and wherein the wireless session management circuitry is to transmit the generated graphical and/or video content for display on the extended display.

4. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein a specified region of the touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a first specified gesture received via the user touch input.

5. The apparatus as in claim 4 wherein the GPU is to overlay the graphical and/or video content displayed on the extended display on the specified region of the remote control touchpad device.

6. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the specified region comprises the entire surface of the touch screen.

7. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the entire touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a first specified gesture received via the user touch input and wherein a specified region of the touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a second specified gesture received via the user touch input.

8. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the GPU is to display a virtual touchpad control panel responsive to a first specified gesture received via the user touch input and wherein, in response to receiving one or more additional user touch inputs, the GPU is to select between a plurality of modes of operation, a first of the modes comprising mapping a specified region of the touch screen to be used as the remote control touchpad device for the extended screen and a second of the modes comprising mapping the entire touch screen to be used as the remote control touchpad device for the extended screen.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein the GPU is to select between one or more additional modes of operation in which an overlay of the extended screen is projected into the specified region of the touch screen.

10. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the specified user input gesture comprises 3 taps on the touch screen by the user within 200 milliseconds.

11. A method comprising:

establishing and maintaining a wireless display connection with an extended screen from a touch screen device;

detecting specific user input on the touch screen device to select between a plurality of modes of operation for controlling the extended screen, a first of the modes comprising mapping a specified region of the touch screen to be used as the remote control touchpad device for the extended screen and a second of the modes comprising mapping the entire touch screen to be used as the remote control touchpad device for the extended screen, wherein prior to the specific user input on the touch screen device, the touch screen or the specific region thereof was not being used as the remote control touchpad device for the extended screen;

wherein the specific user input comprises a plurality of different user gestures detectable on the touch screen, each of the user gestures corresponding to one of the plurality of modes of operation; and

wherein responsive to a specified user input gesture, flipping between using the touch screen or a portion thereof as a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen and using the touch screen as a primary screen control for content being displayed on the touch screen but not being displayed on the extended screen, the specified user input gesture comprising multiple taps on the touch screen by the user within a specific amount of time.

12. The method as in claim 11 further comprising:

selecting between one or more additional modes of operation in which an overlay of the extended screen is projected into the specified region of the touch screen.

13. The method as in claim 11 wherein the touch screen device comprises a processor to interpret the user input on the touch screen device and to responsively select between the plurality of modes of operation.

14. The method as in claim 13 wherein the processor comprises a graphics processing unit (GPU).

15. The method as in claim 14 wherein the GPU is to generate graphical and/or video content to be transmitted over the wireless display connection to the extended screen.

16. The method as in claim 12 wherein the entire touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a first user gesture detected on the touch screen and a specified region of the touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a second user gesture detected on the touch screen.

17. The method as in claim 12 further comprising:

displaying a virtual touchpad control panel responsive to a first specified gesture received via the user touch input and wherein, in response to receiving one or more additional user gestures, selecting between the plurality of modes of operation.

18. A system comprising:

an extended screen to receive and display content transmitted over a wireless display connection;

a touch screen apparatus comprising;

a touch screen to receive user touch input from a user and display images;

a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen;

wireless session management circuitry to establish and maintain the wireless display connection with the extended screen responsive to commands from the processor;

the processor to execute a process responsive to the user touch input to transform the touch screen or a portion thereof to a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen, wherein prior to the user touch input, the touch screen or the portion thereof was not being used as the remote control touchpad device for providing control functions for content displayed on the extended screen; and

wherein responsive to a specified user input gesture, the processor is to flip between using the touch screen or a portion thereof as a remote control touchpad device usable to provide control functions for content displayed on the extended screen and using the touch screen as a primary screen control for content being displayed on the touch screen but not being displayed on the extended screen, the specified user input gesture comprising multiple taps on the touch screen from a user by the user within a specific amount of time.

19. The system as in claim 18 wherein the processor comprises a graphics processing unit (GPU).

20. The system as in claim 19 wherein the GPU is to generate the graphical and/or video content and wherein the wireless session management circuitry is to transmit the generated graphical and/or video content for display on the extended display.

21. The system as in claim 20 wherein a specified region of the touch screen is to be used as the remote control touchpad device responsive a first specified gesture received via the user touch input.

22. The system as in claim 21 wherein the GPU is to overlay the graphical and/or video content displayed on the extended display on the specified region of the remote control touchpad device.