Networked keyboard and mouse drivers

• US 20060015598A1
• Filed: 07/13/2004
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Martin, Terry, Olsen, Jesse D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,911,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method of controlling a computer in a network, includes: moving a cursor to a designated area of a screen of a first computer; receiving an input in a peripheral device associated with the first computer; transmitting the input as a packet across a network to a second computer; and receiving and processing the packet on the second computer so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the second computer.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a computer in a network, the method comprising:

moving a cursor to a designated area of a screen of a first computer;

receiving an input in a peripheral device associated with the first computer;

transmitting the input as a packet across a network to a second computer; and

receiving and processing the packet on the second computer so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the second computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input is processed by a peripheral device driver in the first computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet is processed by a peripheral device driver in the second computer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet includes a header with an Internet Protocol address of the second computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the designated area is an edge of the screen.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

moving the cursor to another designated area of the screen of the first computer;

receiving another input in the peripheral device associated with the first computer;

transmitting the input as a packet across the network to a third computer; and

receiving and processing the packet on the third computer so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the third computer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the another designated area is another edge of the screen.

8. An apparatus for controlling a computer in a network, the apparatus comprising:

a first computer including a screen with a designated area for receiving a cursor and a peripheral device associated with the first computer;

a network configured to transmit an input to the peripheral device as a packet; and

a second computer configured to receive and process the packet so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the second computer.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first computer includes a peripheral device driver for processing the input.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second computer includes a peripheral device driver for processing the packet.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the packet includes a header with an Internet Protocol address of the second computer.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the designated area is an edge of the screen.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a third computer;

wherein if the cursor is moved to another designated area of the screen of the first computer, then the third computer receives and processes a packet associated with an input into the peripheral device.

14. A method of copying a file in a computer in a network, the method comprising:

moving a file to a designated area of a screen of a first computer;

transmitting the file as a packet across a network to a second computer; and

receiving and processing the packet on the second computer so that the file is copied in the second computer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the packet includes a header with an Internet Protocol address of the second computer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the designated area is an edge of the screen.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

moving the file to another designated area of the screen of the first computer;

transmitting the file as a packet across the network to a third computer; and

receiving and processing the packet on the third computer so that the file is copied in the third computer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the another designated area is another edge of the screen.

19. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions to;

move a cursor to a designated area of a screen of a first computer;

receive an input in a peripheral device associated with the first computer;

transmit the input as a packet across a network to a second computer; and

receive and process the packet on the second computer so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the second computer.

20. An apparatus for controlling a computer in a network, the apparatus comprising:

means for moving a cursor to a designated area of a screen of a first computer;

means for receiving an input in a peripheral device associated with the first computer;

means for transmitting the input as a packet across a network to a second computer; and

means for receiving and for processing the packet on the second computer so that the input in the peripheral device is used to control the second computer.

21. A method of using a shared clipboard between computers in a network, the method comprising:

copying content of a clipboard into a file in a first computer;

transmitting the file as a packet across a network to a second computer, the file containing the content of the clipboard; and

receiving and processing the packet on the second computer so that the content is copied in a second clipboard in the second computer.