Multi-Host Docking Device

• US 20150356045A1
• Filed: 06/09/2014
• Published: 12/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: High Sec Labs Ltd
• Original Assignee: High Sec Labs Ltd
• Inventors: SOFFER, Aviv
• Granted Patent: US 9,665,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/203 for portable computers, e.g. for laptops
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4221 being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/023 Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
• 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: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/20 Details of the management of multiple sources of image data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/24 Keyboard-Video-Mouse [KVM] switch
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0058 Docking-station, cradle or the like

Abstract

A serial protocol based Docking device having a single set of user peripherals supports multiple removable host computers having different video output types and different operating systems. The device provides mouse tracking function that switches the keyboard and mouse to the different host computers when the cursor is moved by the user across the respective display boundary. The docking device provides file-sharing and cut-and-paste functions across the different docked host computers. Laptops, tabletops as well as Smartphones, tablets and other forms of portable platforms are supported. Dragging an item from a display designated to a first host computer to a display designated to a second host computer performs moving or copying the item from the first host to the second host.

Claims

1. A Multi-Host Docking Device comprising:

at least one user peripheral interface to interface with user keyboard and user pointing device;

at least one Host Emulator connected to said at least one user peripheral interface to emulate computer host stack so as to interact with said user keyboard and user pointing device;

at least one first Device Emulator and at least one second Device Emulator to emulate a keyboard and a mouse;

at least one multiplexer to switch signals from said at least one Host Emulator to said at least one first Device Emulator and at least a second Device Emulator;

at least one first host interface and at least a second host interface to connect at least one first host computer and at least one second host computer, respectively, wherein said at least one first host interface and at least one second host interface are capable of interfacing said at least one first Device Emulator and at least one second Device Emulator with said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer, respectively, and wherein said at least one first host interface and at least one second host interface are capable of receiving display data from said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer, respectively;

at least one video multiplexer to multiplex display data of said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer to at least one display output;

a selector to enable user selection between one of said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer; and

an Arbiter connected to said at least one first Device Emulator and said at least one second Device Emulators, said Arbiter is configured to enable clipboard and file transfer between said at least one first host computer and at least one second host computers.

2. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein at least one of said at least one first host interfaces and at least a second host interface is a USB interface.

3. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, further comprising a memory coupled to said arbiter so as to enable temporary data storage.

4. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, further comprising a System Controller capable of performing cursor tracking.

5. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 4, wherein said System Controller is capable of managing the Multi-Host Docking Device.

6. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein at least one of said at least a first host interface and at least a second host interface is a Docking cradle having physical form factor to support a specific class of mobile computing devices.

7. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 6, wherein said Docking cradle is a modular cradle external to the Multi-Host Docking Device.

8. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 7, wherein said Docking cradle comprises a video conversion function to convert the native video output format of the corresponding host computer into another format to be used inside the docking device.

9. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein said at least one video multiplexer is capable of interfacing with at least one primary display and at least one secondary display.

10. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 9, wherein said at least one video multiplexer is capable of displaying video signals from said first host computer on said at least one primary display capable of switching said at least one secondary display to display video signals from either one of said at least one first host computer or said at least one second host computer.

11. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein said at least one video multiplexer is a video processor capable of combining video signals from said at least one first host computer with video signals of said at least one second host computer.

12. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, further comprising at least one video converter to convert the native video output format of at least one of said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer into another format to be used within the docking device.

13. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, further comprising an audio multiplexer capable of receiving audio signals from the first and the second host computers, and transmitting output audio signals to an external audio connector.

14. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 13, wherein output audio signals are audio mixture of audio signals received from the first and the second host computers.

15. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 13, wherein said audio multiplexer is capable of receiving input audio signals from said external audio connector and switch said input audio signals between said at least one first host computer and said at least one second host computer.

16. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and the second host interfaces is a wireless interface.

17. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 16, wherein said wireless interface is capable of communicating video signals.

18. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 16, wherein said wireless interface is capable of communicating audio signals.

19. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, wherein at least one of said at least one first host interface and at least one second host interface is capable of charging a corresponding host computer.

20. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 1, further comprising at least one physical lock configures to lock at least one of the host computers to the Multi-Host Docking Device.

21. The Multi-Host Docking Device of claim 20, further comprising at least one physical lock configured to lock the Multi-Host Docking Device to a bulk object.