System and method to uniformly access devices
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving from multiple application programs executing within one or more computer environments, instructions intended for one or more target computer-based devices, said instructions being issued by the application programs in high-level, non-target device specific formats interpretable by a software communication portal receiving said instructions;
translating, at the software communication portal, said instructions from the high-level, non-target device specific formats to target device specific formats appropriate for software drivers associated with respective ones of the target computer-based devices for which said instructions were intended and according to target computer-based device information specified in the instructions; and
communicating the instructions as formatted in the target device specific formats from the software communication portal to each of the software drivers as appropriate according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
System and method to uniformly access devices. The method may include receiving at least one high-level request regarding at least one designated device of a plurality of devices from an application program, translating the high-level request to one or more low-level requests, and communicating the low-level request(s) to a device driver associated with one or more devices. The method may further include receiving a low-level message from a device, translating the low-level message to a high-level message, and forwarding the high-level message to the application program that sent the high-level request. The system may include a processor and a memory coupled to a bus, an application program, and a multiplexor to forward requests from the application program to a plurality of device drivers for corresponding devices, and to forward information received from the device drivers regarding the devices to the application program.
27 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving from multiple application programs executing within one or more computer environments, instructions intended for one or more target computer-based devices, said instructions being issued by the application programs in high-level, non-target device specific formats interpretable by a software communication portal receiving said instructions;
translating, at the software communication portal, said instructions from the high-level, non-target device specific formats to target device specific formats appropriate for software drivers associated with respective ones of the target computer-based devices for which said instructions were intended and according to target computer-based device information specified in the instructions; and
communicating the instructions as formatted in the target device specific formats from the software communication portal to each of the software drivers as appropriate according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A tangible machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions which when executed by a processor cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
-
receiving from multiple application programs executing within one or more computer environments, instructions intended for one or more target computer-based devices, said instructions being issued by the application programs in high-level, non-target device specific formats interpretable by a software communication portal receiving said instructions;
translating, at the software communication portal, said instructions from the high-level, non-target device specific formats to target device specific formats appropriate for software drivers associated with respective ones of the target computer-based devices for which said instructions were intended and according to target computer-based device information specified in the instructions; and
communicating the instructions as formatted in the target device specific formats from the software communication portal to each of the software drivers as appropriate according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method comprising:
-
receiving from multiple application programs executing within one or more computer environments, instructions intended for one or more class of target computer-based devices, said instructions being issued by the application programs in high-level, non-target device specific formats interpretable by a software communication portal receiving said instructions;
translating, at the software communication portal, said instructions from the high-level, non-target device specific formats to target device specific formats appropriate for software drivers associated with respective ones of the class of target computer-based devices for which said instructions were intended and according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions; and
communicating the instructions as formatted in target device specific formats from the software communication portal to each of the software drivers as appropriate according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method comprising:
-
providing a multiplexor, including a high-level interface to receive from multiple application programs executing within one or more computer environments, instructions intended for one or more target computer-based devices, said instructions being issued by the application programs in high-level, non-target device specific formats, and a low-level interface to receive a plurality of low-level messages from software drives associated with one or more target computer-based devices;
the multiplexor configured to translate said instructions from the high level, non-target device specific formats to a first group of instructions in target device specific formats appropriate for the software drivers associated with respective ones of the target computer-based devices for which said instructions were intended and according to target computer-based device information specified in the instructions;
communicate the instructions as formatted in the target device specific formats to each of the device drivers as appropriate according to the target computer-based device information specified in the instructions;
translate the low-level messages to at least one high-level message; and
forward the high-level message to at least one application program. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
Specification