Computer system with multiple terminals

• US 7,882,274 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: FH Innovations Limited
• Original Assignee: Virtual Desktop Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Peterson, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Henry W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nam, Hyun
• Application Number:
  US12/234,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20090083450A1
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 710/10, 715/719
• US Class Current: 710/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45554 Instruction set architectures of guest OS and hypervisor or native processor differ, e.g. Bochs or VirtualPC on PowerPC MacOS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

A computer system having a host computer and multiple terminals. The host computer (including any peripheral hubs or the like) has groups of at least three I/O ports (preferably USB ports) where the I/O ports of a single group are supposed to be used to connect I/O devices associated with a single terminal. When connecting up a new terminal, after a user connects two I/O devices into a group and affirmatively indicates, by user input, that these belong to the same terminal, then further devices subsequently connected into the same group of I/O ports will be automatically assigned to the terminal previously indicated by the user. Also, a computer system where multiple operating systems are respectively used to control multiple displays. A video output module creates a master frame display including display data for (at least) the displays of all of the operating systems. The master frame display is split into portions respectively corresponding to each operating system.

Claims

1. A method of connecting a terminal to a computer, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a computer having a plurality of I/O ports, with the I/O ports having a hierarchical organization having at least a root level with a single logical I/O port, and a terminal connection level hierarchically below the root level having a plurality of physical I/O ports;

(b) logically grouping, by the computer, the terminal connection level I/O ports into a plurality of groupings, with each grouping including at least three terminal connection level I/O ports;

(c) subsequent to step (b), connecting an I/O device into a first terminal level I/O port that is in a first grouping of the plurality of groupings;

(d) subsequent to step (c), indicating by user input that the I/O device connected at the first terminal level I/O port corresponds to a first terminal;

(e) subsequent to step (b), connecting a second I/O device into a second terminal level I/O port that is in a first grouping of the plurality of groupings;

(f) subsequent to step (e), indicating by user input that the I/O device connected at the second terminal level I/O port corresponds to the first terminal;

(g) subsequent to step (b), connecting a third I/O device into a third terminal level I/O port that is in a first grouping of the plurality of groupings; and

(h) subsequent to step (f), automatically assigning, by the computer, the third device as belonging to the first terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of physical I/O ports are all USB ports organized according to a USB hierarchy.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the first I/O device is a keyboard;

the second I/O device is a mouse; and

the third I/O device is an audio output device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer comprises a first guest operating system and a second guest operating system, the method further comprising the steps of:

assigning the first guest operating system to the first terminal.

5. A computer system for use with a first I/O device, a second I/O device and a third I/O device, the system comprising:

a plurality of containerized operating systems;

a plurality of physical I/O ports; and

a terminal assignment module structured and/or programmed to;

logically grouping the physical I/O ports into a plurality of groupings, including a first grouping, with each grouping including at least three physical I/O ports,

receive a first user input indicating that the first I/O device connected at a first physical I/O port in a selected grouping corresponds to a first operating system of the plurality of containerized operating systems,

receive a second user input indicating that the second I/O device connected at a second physical I/O port in the selected grouping corresponds to the first operating system, and

automatically assign the third I/O device connected at a third physical I/O port in the selected grouping to the first operating system.

6. A computer system comprising:

a processing module structured and/or programmed to create a master display frame data;

a first operating system;

a second operating system; and

a video output module comprising a plurality of video outputs with each video output being structured and electrically connected to output a respective video signal suitable for generating a display on a display device, the video output module being electrically connected and/or programmed to receive the master display frame data from the processing module, to identify a first portion of the master display frame data as corresponding to the first operating system, to identify a second portion of the master display frame data as corresponding to the second operating system, to output the first portion on a first video output of the plurality of video outputs and to output the second portion on a second video output of the plurality of video outputs;

wherein;

the first video output is different than the second video output; and

the first portion is different from and not substantially overlapping with the second portion.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein:

the first operating system comprises a first windows manager module;

the second operating system comprises a first windows manager module;

the first windows manager module is programmed to manage the first portion as a window; and

the second windows manager module is programmed to manage the second portion as a window.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein:

the first windows manager module is further programmed to generate a first software cursor in the first portion; and

the second windows manager module is further programmed to generate a second software cursor in the second portion.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein:

the first windows manager module is programmed to manage the first portion in a manner so that it hides a hardware cursor; and

the second windows manager module is programmed to manage the second portion in a manner so that it hides a hardware cursor.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the first operating system is containerized with respect to the second operating system.