Operating System Providing Multi-Touch Support For Applications In A Mobile Device

• US 20100146458A1
• Filed: 12/04/2008
• Published: 06/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Inventors: Wadekar, Varun Vishwas
• Granted Patent: US 8,732,576 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers

Abstract

An operating system providing multi-touch support for (user) applications in a mobile device. In one embodiment, a check of whether the touch screen (in the mobile device) has multi-touch capability is performed. A first interface with multi-touch capability is provided to the (user) applications if the touch screen has multi-touch capability and a second interface with single touch capability being provided if the touch screen does not have multi-touch capability. The first and second interfaces may be provided by corresponding device drivers loaded when the mobile device is initialized with the operating system. A device driver (providing the second interface) is also designed to perform the check and execute another device driver (providing the first interface) if the touch screen has multi-touch capability.

Claims

1. A method of supporting an user application executing in the context of an operating system, both of said user application and said operating system being provided in a mobile device with a touch screen, said method comprising:

checking whether said touch screen has multi-touch capability; and

providing a first interface with multi-touch capability to said user application if said touch screen has multi-touch capability and a second interface with single touch capability if said touch screen does not have multi-touch capability.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

loading a first device driver and a second device driver when said mobile device is initialized with said operating system; and

executing said first device driver when said mobile device is initialized, wherein said first device driver is designed to provide said second interface,

said first device driver being designed to perform said checking and to execute said second device driver for multi-touch support if said touch screen has multi-touch capability, wherein said second device driver is designed to provide said first interface.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said first device driver is designed to retrieve an information representing multi-touches from said touch screen and pass said information to said second device driver.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said information is provided for each of a sequence of time instances, and

wherein said information indicates, for each time instance, a number of touches present on said touch screen at the time instance and the coordinates of the locations at which the touches are present.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

placing said information in a queue; and

indicating to said user application that said information is being placed in said queue, wherein said user application retrieves said information from said queue.

6. A machine readable medium storing software instructions which can be executed by one or more processors of a mobile device to provide support to an user application, said software instructions comprising:

a first set of instructions constituting a first device driver designed to interface with a touch screen if having a multi-touch capability;

a second set of instructions constituting a second device driver designed to interface with said touch screen if having a single touch capability,

wherein said second set of instructions is further designed to check whether said touch screen has said multi-touch capability and to execute said first device driver to provide support to said user application with said multi-touch capability.

7. The machine readable medium of claim 6, further comprising loading said second device driver by default when said mobile device is initialized with an operating system.

8. The machine readable medium of claim 7, wherein said second device driver is designed to retrieve an information representing multi-touches from said touch screen and pass said information to said first device driver.

9. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein said touch screen provides information for each of a sequence of time instances, and

wherein said information indicates, for each time instance, a number of touches present on said touch screen at the time instance and the coordinates of the locations at which the touches are present.

10. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein said first device driver comprises instructions for:

placing said information in a queue; and

indicating to said user application that said information is being placed in said queue, wherein said user application is designed to retrieve said information from said queue.

11. A mobile device comprising:

a touch screen; and

a processor upon execution of instructions is operable to;

check whether said touch screen has multi-touch capability; and

provide a first interface with multi-touch capability to an user application if said touch screen has multi-touch capability and a second interface with single touch capability if said touch screen does not have multi-touch capability.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein said processor is further operable to:

load a first device driver and a second device driver when said mobile device is initialized with an operating system; and

execute said first device driver when said mobile device is initialized, wherein said first device driver is designed to provide said second interface,

said first device driver being designed to perform said checking and to execute said second device driver for multi-touch support if said touch screen has multi-touch capability, wherein said second device driver is designed to provide said first interface.

13. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein said first device driver is designed to retrieve an information representing multi-touches from said touch screen and pass said information to said second device driver.

14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein said touch screen provides information for each of a sequence of time instances, and

wherein said information indicates, for each time instance, a number of touches present on said touch screen at the time instance and the coordinates of the locations at which the touches are present.

15. The mobile device of claim 14, wherein said second device driver is designed to:

place said information in a queue; and

indicate to said user application that said information is being placed in said queue, wherein said user application retrieves said information from said queue.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein said operating system is one of Windows CE and Windows Mobile operating systems.