Parallel interface

• US 6,590,592 B1
• Filed: 04/21/2000
• Issued: 07/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ostendo Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: xSides Corporation
• Inventors: Campbell, J. Scott, OʼRourke, Thomas C., Nason, D. David
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/557,632
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• Field of Search: 345/778, 345/779, 345/764, 345/781, 345/788, 345/792, 345/800, 345/810, 345/835, 345/531, 345/543, 345/541, 345/544, 345/545, 345/548, 345/503, 345/698, 345/694, 345/699, 709/328, 709/321, 709/323, 709/327, 709/319
• US Class Current: 715/778
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 1/16 the pattern of rectangular co-ordinates extending over the whole area of the screen, i.e. television type raster
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 1/165 Details of a display terminal using a CRT, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto details suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/003; specific for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

An alternate display content controller provides a technique for controlling a video display separately from and potentially in addition to the content displayed on the operating system monitor. Where the display is a computer monitor, the alternate display content controller interacts with the computer utility operating system and hardware drivers to control allocation of display space and create and control one or more parallel graphical user interfaces separate from the operating system desktop. An alternate display content controller may be incorporated in either hardware or software. As software, an alternate display content controller may be an application running on the computer operating system, or may include an operating system kernel of varying complexity ranging from dependent on the utility operating system for hardware system services to a parallel system independent of the utility operating system and capable of supporting dedicated applications. The alternate display content controller may also include content and operating software delivered over the internet or any other LAN. The alternate display content controller may also be included in a television decoder/settop box to permit two or more parallel graphical user interfaces to be displayed simultaneously.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system for displaying a user interface on a video display system in an area outside of a display area controlled by and occupied by an operating system user interface, comprising:

modifying the size of the display area allocated to the operating system user interface in a manner that is transparent to the operating system user interface, thereby modifying the size of the area outside of the display area; and

displaying the user interface that is not under the control of the operating system in the area outside of the display area.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying of the size of the display area decreases the amount of display area allocated to the operating system user interface, thereby increasing the size of the area outside of the display area.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying of the size of the display area increases the amount of display area allocated to the operating system user interface.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the size of the area outside of the display area is larger than the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying of the size of the display area further comprises:

communicating with the video display system to increase the total number of pixels available for display in a manner transparent to the operating system; and

modifying the size of the display area allocated to the operating system user interface so that the operating system user interface occupies a smaller area than that occupied prior to the modification.

6. The method of claim 5, the video display system enabling display of images to a current resolution, wherein the communicating with the video display system and modifying the display area allocated to the operating system user interface further comprises:

requesting and receiving from the video display system a higher resolution than the current resolution;

requesting and receiving from the video display system a lower resolution than the current resolution;

returning to the operating system the received lower resolution; and

utilizing the difference between the received higher and lower resolutions to increase the size of the area outside of the display area.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising increasing the total number of pixels available for display, in a manner transparent to the operating system, by adjusting the parameters of the video display system to include pixels previously not addressable.

8. The method of claim 8 further comprising increasing the size of the area outside of the display area.

9. A computer system comprising:

a video display system having a display area that is controlled and occupied by an operating system user interface and having a secondary display area that is located outside of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface;

an image that is not produced by and that is not controlled by the operating system user interface; and

a display controller that

communicates with the video display system to modify the size of the display area in a manner that is transparent to the operating system user interface; and

causes the video display system to display the image in the secondary display area.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the display controller further communicates with the video display system to increase the total number of pixels available for display and allocates a portion of the increased total number of pixels to the secondary display area to increase the size of the secondary display area.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the display controller decreases the size of the display area controlled and occupied by the operating system user interface thereby further increasing the size of the secondary display area.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the display controller increases the size of the display area controlled and occupied by the operating system user interface.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the display controller decreases the size of the display area controlled and occupied by the operating system user interface thereby increasing the size of the secondary display area.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the display controller increases the size of the display area controlled and occupied by the operating system user interface.

15. The system of claim 9 the video display system having a current resolution and a resolution modification subsystem, wherein the display controller

utilizes the resolution modification subsystem to receive from the video display system an indication of a higher resolution than the current resolution and an indication of a lower resolution than the current resolution; and

causes the operating system user interface to operate within the size indicated by the received indication of the lower resolution.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the display controller further increases the size of the secondary display area by the difference between the size of the received indication of the higher resolution and the size of the received indication of the lower resolution.

17. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to display an image on a video display system in a secondary display area outside of a display area controlled by an operating system user interface, by performing:

modifying the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface, thereby modifying the size of the secondary area; and

displaying the image, the image not generated by or controlled by the operating system, in the secondary display area.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions control the computer system to increase the total number of pixels available for display and to allocate a portion of the increased total number of pixels to the secondary display area to increase the size of the secondary display area.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the instructions control the computer system to decrease the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the instructions control the computer system to increase the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions control the computer system to decrease the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions control the computer system to increase the size of the display area controlled by the operating system user interface.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions control the computer system to

retrieve from the video display system an indication of a next higher resolution and an indication of a next lower resolution; and

cause the operating system user interface to function within the size indicated by the retrieved indication of the next lower resolution.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions control the computer system to increase the size of the secondary display area by the difference between the sizes indicated by the retrieved indications of the next higher resolution and the next lower resolution.