Portable user interface

• US 6,897,833 B1
• Filed: 09/10/1999
• Issued: 05/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Robinson, Ian Nevill, Sasaki, Gary David
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Dennis-Doon
• Application Number:
  US09/394,199
• Time in Patent Office: 2,083 Days
• Field of Search: 345/329, 345/1, 345/2, 345/3, 345/156, 345/522, 345/332, 345/326, 345/169, 345/173, 345/1.1, 345/2.1, 345/2.2, 345/2.3, 345/87, 715/717, 715/733, 715/734, 715/738, 715/740
• US Class Current: 345/2.3
• 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 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• 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: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A portable user interface that provides remote access to the capabilities of a desktop computer system. The portable user interface includes a base station that obtains image and/or other data from the computer system. The image and/or other data may be generated by any of the wide variety of available applications for the computer system using the powerful resources of the computer system. The base station compresses the data, and transmits the data via a communication link. The portable user interface includes a screen-pad that receives the data via the communication link, decompresses the data, and displays an image defined by the image data and renders other data as appropriate. The screen-pad relays keyboard, mouse, and other data back to the base station via the communication link and the base station provides the data to the computer system as if from a local keyboard and mouse, etc.

Claims

1. A portable user interface to a computer system, comprising:

base station that connects to a display port of the computer system wherein the display port is adapted to provide a set of raw picture information to a local display of the computer system, the base station compressing the raw picture information that would normally go to the local display and transmitting the raw picture information via a communication link;

screen-pad receiving the raw picture information via the communication link and decompressing the raw picture information, and displaying an image defined by the raw picture information.

2. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the raw picture information is carried by a set of analog signals and the base station includes an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the analog signals.

3. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the raw picture information is carried by a set of digital signals and the base station includes a digital receiver for receiving the digital signals.

4. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the base station also connects to an audio port of the computer system and compresses a set of audio data carried via the audio port, and transmits the audio data via the communication link.

5. The portable user interface of claim 4, wherein the screen-pad receives the audio data via the communication link, decompresses the audio data, and plays audio defined by the audio data.

6. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the screen-pad obtains a set of keyboard data and transmits the keyboard data via the communication link.

7. The portable user interface of claim 6, wherein the screen-pad includes a touch panel for obtaining the keyboard data.

8. The portable user interface of claim 6, wherein the base station receives the keyboard data via the communication link and provides the keyboard data to the computer system.

9. The portable user interface of claim 8, wherein the base station provides the keyboard data to the computer system via a standard keyboard port of the computer system.

10. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the screen-pad obtains a set of mouse data and transmits the mouse data via the communication link.

11. The portable user interface of claim 10, wherein the screen-pad obtains the mouse data using a touch panel.

12. The portable user interface of claim 10, wherein the base station receives the mouse data via the communication link and provides the mouse data to the computer system.

13. The portable user interface of claim 12, wherein the base station provides the mouse data to the computer system via a standard mouse port of the computer system.

14. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the screen-pad obtains a set of screen-pad control data and transmits the screen-pad control data via the communication link.

15. The portable user interface of claim 14, wherein the base station receives the screen-pad control data via the communication link and provides the screen-pad control data to the computer system.

16. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the raw picture information is compressed and decompressed using an encoding method which can vary between a relatively high frame rate at a relatively low resolution of the image and a relatively low frame rate at a relatively high resolution of the image.

17. The portable user interface of claim 1, further comprising a screen-pad station that includes a keyboard and a mouse for use by the screen-pad when docked at the screen-pad station.

18. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the base station down samples the raw picture information from a resolution associated with the local display to a resolution associated with a display in the screen-pad.

19. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the communication link is a wireless communication link.

20. The portable user interface of claim 1, wherein the communication link is a wire-based communication link.