Method of operating multiple input and output devices through a single computer

• US 8,407,347 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2005
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Banji Li, Stephen Deasey, Timothy Elwood Griffin, Xiao Qian Zhang, Yung Chul Kim
• Original Assignee: Banji Li, Stephen Deasey, Timothy Elwood Griffin, Xiao Qian Zhang, Yung Chul Kim
• Inventors: Griffin, Timothy Elwood, Deasey, Stephen, Zhang, Xiao Qian, Kim, Yung Chul, Li, Banji
• Primary Examiner(s): SHINGLES, KRISTIE D
• Application Number:
  US11/164,363
• Publication Number:
  US 20060267857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,682 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/225, 709/219, 709/226, 710/2, 710/5
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• 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

Abstract

A system for operating multiple independent terminals of grouped, locally connected input and output devices through a single graphical user interface layer running on a computer comprising an event queue module for receiving each input command from each input device; an event handler module for receiving the input commands from the event queue module and directing input commands from specific input devices via corresponding socket/listeners of the single graphical user interface layer to corresponding ones of multiple pointers, focuses and client applications based on predetermined associations between grouped devices and respective ones of the socket/listeners; and an output module for directing output commands from each socket/listener to respective ones of the output devices based on the predetermined associations. A system for creating multiple independent terminals of grouped input and output devices connected to and for operation by a single computer comprising a configuration module for simultaneously providing unique output commands to ungrouped output devices to cause the output devices to respectively provide a unique input directive to a user; the configuration module also for receiving unique input commands from individual ungrouped input devices, each unique input command corresponding to a respective one of the unique output directives; and an association module for, in response to the receiving, commonly associating with a unique group identifier each of corresponding input and output devices and respective ones of multiple pointers and focuses.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to use a single graphical interface layer on the computer to simultaneously support the independent operation of multiple terminals consisting of Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals) from a single computer wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping comprised of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

wherein the computer program causes the computer to invoke both a pointer and a focus for each terminal so as to be accessible only via the particular input and output devices associated with that GLCD-terminal;

wherein the computer program comprises computer executable program code for invoking;

an event queue and/or handler modules for receiving input commands from each input device and automatically directing input commands from specific input devices via corresponding socket/listeners to corresponding ones of multiple pointers, focuses and client applications based on predetermined associations between the GLCD-terminals and respective ones of the socket/listeners;

an output module for directing output commands from each of the independent client applications in use by a user of a particular GLCD-terminal from the corresponding socket/listener only to the output device of the corresponding GLCD-terminal that originated the initial input command.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined associations between GLCD-terminals and respective ones of the socket/listeners are based on unique group identifiers.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program comprises an event queue module which comprises a single event queue, and the computer program further comprises:

an assignment module for, prior to the single event queue receiving each input command, assigning each input command from each input device a unique group identifier that is unique to its group to create a tagged input command for use during the directing.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the single graphical interface layer is the X windows system.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the output devices comprise Monitors and the computer program allocates to each GLCD-terminal an independent portion of a large display monitor supported by the single graphical interface layer of the operating system, each independent portion of the monitor inaccessible by devices not associated with that specific GLCD-terminal.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to arrange multiple locally connected input devices and multiple locally connected output devices into multiple terminals consisting of Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals), to be supported in operation by the computer, wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own running CPU and operating system;

wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

the computer program comprising computer executable program code for;

simultaneously providing respective unique output commands to locally connected output devices associated with an incomplete GLCD-terminal, each of the unique output commands causing the respective output devices to provide a user with a unique input directive;

receiving at least one input command including a unique input directive; and

for each received input command, identifying the input device from which the input command was received and associating the identified input device with the same GLCD-terminal as that with which the output device providing the corresponding unique input directive is associated;

wherein once exclusively associated with a GLCD-terminal, input commands received from each input device are automatically directed to a pointer focus and/or client application of that GLCD-terminal with which the input device is associated, and output commands received from client application instances are automatically directed to an output device of that GLCD-terminal with which the client application instance is associated.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the output device is a visual display apparatus and the input device is a pointing device and the exclusively associating associates the visual display apparatus and the pointing device to enable the pointing device to be used.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein multiple input devices are associated with a unique group identifier in stages following the association of a first of the input devices by the computer program providing output commands requesting input directives from the user in stages, each stage for adding a particular type of device to the grouping.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein during a first stage the unique input directive for an output device being a Monitor is a message for display on the Monitor prompting a user to press a particular key combination on an input device, being a keyboard, to thereby associate the keyboard with the Monitor;

and

during a subsequent stage, sends a subsequent unique input directive to the output device with which the first device has been associated and the message for display on the Monitor prompts a user to press one or more buttons on a desired input device being a pointing device to thereby associate the pointing device with the Monitor and the keyboard.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein during a first stage the unique input directive for an output device being a Monitor is a message for display on the Monitor prompting a user to press a particular key combination on an input device, being a keyboard, to thereby associate the keyboard with the Monitor creating a GLCD-terminal;

and

during a subsequent stage, one or more additional devices including a pointing device sharing the same USB parent huh as the keyboard device are automatically associated with the GLCD-terminal.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the computer program allows multiple input devices to be associated with the same unique group identifier by executing input commands on the additional input device(s) in conjunction with, or immediately subsequent to, a previously uniquely identifying input command on an initial input device.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein multiple input devices can be associated virtually simultaneously with a single group identifier by the computer program providing input directives that require input commands to be provided from multiple input devices virtually simultaneously.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the unique input directive supplied by the computer program for an output device being a Monitor is a message displayed on the Monitor prompting a user to press a particular pattern of key-presses on an input device being a keyboard to thereby associate the keyboard with the Monitor.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the particular pattern of key-presses prompted by the computer program includes an integer number or integer function key.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the particular pattern of key-presses in a unique input directive includes a key corresponding to the monitor'"'"'s unique group identifier.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the particular pattern of key-presses prompted by the computer program is a letter of the alphabet or a specific key on the keyboard.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the output commands provided by the computer program include summary data on the number of ungrouped input and output devices available for grouping and/or the number of complete GLCD-terminal and/or the total numbers of Locally Connected devices.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the unique input directive for an output device being a Monitor is a message, provided by the computer program, for display on the Monitor prompting a user to selector drag a particular location on the Monitor using an input device being a pointing device to thereby associate the pointing device with the Monitor.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the computer program automatically associates child devices in a device tree structure with a same GLCD-terminal of grouped devices as siblings or parents of the child.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 6, where the computer program is configured for use with an output device that is a Monitor Portion, thereby enabling the output of multiple GLCD-terminals to be displayed on a single monitor.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein input devices not associated with a GLCD-terminal are controlled by the computer program to output a status indicator signal indicating that they are ungrouped and available for association by illuminating LEDs in a pattern.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein output devices not associated with a GLCD-terminal are controlled by the computer program to output ones of status indicator signals indicating that these output devices are ungrouped and available for association, this status indicator signals selected from the group consisting of:

a. displaying the number of devices remaining for assignment;

b. indicating that there are no remaining devices available for assignment;

c. displaying a diagram showing the GLCD-terminals and their assignment status;

d. prompting the user to undertake a specific input directive;

e. indicating that an input device has been disconnected;

f. displaying the GLCD-terminal is not available for use;

g. displaying that there are no further GLCD-terminals for assignment; and

h. displaying the GLCD-terminals unique group identifier.

23. A computer implemented method of enabling a single computer to simultaneously support the operation of multiple terminals consisting of Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD terminals) all locally connected to that same computer, wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system;

and wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

the method comprising;

assigning each GLCD-terminal a unique group identifier;

automatically assigning to each input command received from each input device the unique group identifier of the GLCD-terminal with which it is exclusively associated, thereby to create a flagged input command;

automatically adding each flagged input command to an event queue;

automatically passing each flagged input command in the event queue to an appropriate client application instance that is associated with the respective GLCD-terminal, wherein in response the client application instance creates an output command

automatically passing the output command to an output device that is exclusively associated with the corresponding GLCD-terminal.

24. A computer implemented method of causing the computer to simultaneously support the operation of multiple Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals) all connected to that same computer;

wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s, operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system;

wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

the method comprising;

assigning each GLCD-terminal a unique group identifier;

for each GLCD-terminal, associating a unique group identifier with at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal and with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal,

automatically adding entries to, and removing entries from, group configuration files accessible by the computer in response to input and output devices being added to or removed from GLCD-terminals, wherein input and output devices are added to or removed from GLCD-terminals as a result of one or more of;

locally connecting or disconnecting input and output devices, a user logging on or logging off of a GLCD-terminal, or a user establishing or relinquishing control of one or more shared devices to which the computer has access; and

automatically changing ownership and/or access permissions of input and output devices, socket/listeners, and/or ports associated with the unique group identifier in response to one or more of;

user login and/or user logout on the corresponding GLCD-terminal, the claiming or relinquishing of rights to one or more shared devices to which the computer has access, and/or the inheritance of devices plugged into a USB port or other port associated with a GLCD-terminal.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein shared devices are also locally connected to the single computer, the shared devices each having changeable access permissions to permit a logged in user to elect exclusive use of the device while logged in, the shared device being removed from exclusive use upon one of user logout and/or user release of the device.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the GLCD-terminals comprises multiple Monitors, either operable as a single output device or multiple output devices.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein a proxy server associates the unique group identifier of logged in users with respective virtual network interfaces of a single physical network interface of the computer, each virtual network interface having a unique IP address, whereby outbound traffic from a logged in user on a respective GLCD-terminal is directed to a specific port on the proxy server.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein devices disassociated from an output device, being a monitor, are thereby removed from the GLCD-terminal by removal of the association from the group configuration file.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein removal of the association from the group configuration file is triggered upon receipt of a predetermined dissociation input command from one or more devices within the corresponding GLCD-terminal.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein a child device in a device tree structure is automatically associated with the same GLCD-terminal as is the parent of the child.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the unique group identifier associated with devices is stored with device position within the device tree structure in a group configuration file in the computer.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein devices not associated with a group are controlled to output a status indicator signal indicating that they are ungrouped and available for association wherein the device and respective status indicator is selected from the group consisting of:

a. keyboard LEDs illuminating in a pattern;

b. removable storage drive opening/closing drive trays;

c. removable storage drive ejecting media;

d. floppy drive illuminating LED;

e. Monitor displaying an input directive and/or the number of devices remaining for assignment;

f. audio device outputting a particular sound pattern; and

h. printer illuminating LEDs in a pattern.

33. A non transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to simultaneously support the operation of multiple Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals) all connected to that same computer wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system;

wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

the computer program comprising code for

for each GLCD-terminal, associating a unique group identifier that is stored in at least one group configuration file accessible by the computer with at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal and with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal,

automatically adding entries to, and removing entries from, at least one group configuration file in response to input and output devices being added to or removed from GLCD-terminals respectively.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein shared devices are also Locally Connected to the single computer, the shared devices each having changeable access permissions wherein, the computer program permits a logged in user to elect exclusive use of the device while logged in, the shared device being removed from exclusive use upon one of user logout and user release of the device.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein at least one of the GLCD-terminals comprising multiple Monitors, the computer program operates to permit operation of the multiple Monitors each either as a single output device or as multiple output devices and consequently available for grouping into different GLCD-terminals.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program provides a proxy server which associates the group identifier of logged in users with respective virtual network interfaces of a single physical network interface of the computer, each virtual network interface having a unique IP address, whereby outbound traffic from a logged in user on a respective GLCD-terminal is directed to a specific port on the proxy server.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the unique group identifiers provided by the computer program are integers.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein devices disassociated from an output device being a monitor are thereby ungrouped and removed from the GLCD-terminal by the computer program removing the association from the group configuration file.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 38, wherein removal of the association from the group configuration file is triggered by receipt by the computer program of a predetermined dissociation input command from one or more devices within the corresponding GLCD-terminal.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein one or more dependent devices connected to the single computer via a device tree structure are automatically associated with a same GLCD-terminal as is the parent or a sibling of the dependent device(s).

41. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program stores the unique group identifier associated with devices together with the device position within the device tree structure in a group configuration file in the computer.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein prior to or subsequent to removal of the association from the group configuration file, the computer program provides an output signal to an output device GLCD-terminal to display a connection status message.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein devices not associated with a GLCD-terminal are controlled by the computer program to output a status indicator signal indicating that they are ungrouped and available for association.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 34, wherein the device and respective status indicator is selected from the group consisting of:

keyboard LEDs illuminating in a pattern;

removable storage drive opening/closing drive trays;

removable storage drive ejecting media;

floppy drive illuminating LED;

monitor displaying an input directive and/or the number of devices remaining for assignment;

audio device outputting a particular sound pattern; and

printer illuminating LEDs in a pattern.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein group configuration files store at least one of:

a. the unique group identifier;

b. USB bus number;

c. event device number;

d. screen number;

e. device protocol;

f. mouse device number;

h. USB level;

i. USE path;

j. device type;

k. USB device ID;

l. USB device vendor ID;

m. uniquely identifying device identifier;

n. position of the device within the device tree structure and a selection from;

audio device number

device permissions

device path

bus and hub number.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program initiates changes to ownership and/or access permissions of devices, socket/listeners, and/or ports associated with the unique group identifier by user login and/or user logout on the GLCD-terminal associated with the group.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program receives keystrokes corresponding to the group identifier as a unique input command to group keyboards with monitors.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program automatically infers relationships between devices based on device tree structure and groups the devices into groups based on a device tree structure.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 48 wherein the computer program modifies the group configuration file in response to the addition or removal of devices from the GLCD-terminal.

50. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program comprises at least one module to map, pass, direct, or read input commands from Locally Connected input devices into a corresponding GLCD-terminal based on the group associations of these input devices stored within the group configuration file.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program specifies to a graphical display layer which ones of the multiple input and output devices connected to the computer should be used as a GLCD-terminal.

52. The computer readable medium of claim 51, wherein the display layer(s) employed by the computer program comprise one or more independently running x-servers that support, nest, or redisplay the X protocol.

53. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program provides for multiple independent display layers receiving input from GLCD-terminals to be displayed within a single display layer.

54. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program compares a device-type and location of a newly added device within a device tree structure with previous versions of the group configuration file and determines whether the newly added device is being re-connected to the single computer, and if so, restores the device'"'"'s previously stored grouping.

55. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program maps specific nodes within a USB device and hub tree structure to specific group identifiers and permanently assigns physical ports or groups thereof on the hub to a specific GLCD-terminal based on their physical location within the USB hub.

56. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program uses ownership and/or access permission changes to a socket, port, or device upon login and/or logout of a user, on a GLCD-terminal to dictate access to that respective socket, port, or device by users of the system.

57. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the computer program contains a login manager configured to interact with a pseudo graphical interface layer to allow each GLCD-terminal to run a respective graphical login manager so as to permit independent user login and logout for each GLCD-terminal.

58. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the graphical interface layers of the operating system is an Xserver or the X windows system.

59. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein one or more single instance of the Xserver has each been configured to support multiple pointers, multiple focuses, and multiple sockets.

60. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program assigns input devices to output devices by prompting via multiple unassigned output devices for a different unique input sequence, while listening to all unassigned input devices to detect the prompted-for input event and thereby determine the desired pairings of output and input devices into GLCD-terminals.

61. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program associates each pointer controlled by an input device with the unique group identifier and confines it to the monitor of the associated GLCD-terminal by selectively restricting pointer activity to within a the single Xserver display to enable individual Monitor Portions to operate as separate GLCD-terminals.

62. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program based on a device tree structure, causes a child device to automatically inherit the unique group identifier of its parent hub or of a sibling device with a shared parent hub.

63. The computer readable medium of claim 33 wherein the computer program is capable of sub-dividing an individual monitor into multiple Monitor Portions thereby creating multiple independently operable workspaces within a single monitor, wherein each monitor provides two or more workspaces each of which can be associated with respective different groups of devices, and operated independently.

64. A non transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to simultaneously support the operation of multiple Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals) all from a single computer, wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system, wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

and further wherein the locally connected input devices and/or the locally connected output devices have a predetermined relationship based on a hierarchical tree structure for the computer;

the computer program comprising computer executable code for,

using parent child relationships of assigned devices within the hierarchical tree structure, to calculate if a logical automated grouping of the new devices is possible; and

automatically creating group associations between respective ones of both input and output devices based on the shared parent relationships within the hierarchical tree structure of devices, thereby forming one or more independently operable GLCD-terminals.

65. The computer readable medium of claim 64, where the devices are USB devices and the device tree structure is a USB device tree structure.

66. The computer readable medium of claim 64 wherein the input and output devices in a GLCD-terminal are commonly associated in a group configuration file that is accessible to, and modifiable by, the computer program.

67. The computer readable medium of claim 64 wherein the devices in a GLCD-terminal are associated by a unique group identifier.

68. The computer readable medium of claim 67 wherein the unique group identifier used by the computer program is an integer.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 64 wherein the computer program automatically associates in the same GLCD-terminal as a parent USB hub of a device, one or more additional devices or downstream ports connected through the parent USB hub within the device tree structure.

70. The computer readable medium of claim 64 wherein the USB video adapter used by the computer program is housed within the same physical enclosure as one or more child or sibling USB devices and/or downstream USB ports;

the computer program automatically associates and groups these USB devices/ports with the USB video adapter in the same GLCD-terminal.

71. A computer implemented method of causing the computer to arrange multiple locally connected input devices and multiple locally connected output devices into multiple terminals consisting of Groupings of Locally Connected Devices (GLCD-terminals), to be supported in operation by the computer, wherein a device is Locally Connected to a computer when the device'"'"'s operation is fully supported by that computer without the device requiring its own CPU and operating system;

wherein each GLCD-terminal is defined in part as a grouping of at least one locally connected input device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal with at least one locally connected output device exclusive of any other GLCD-terminal;

the method comprising;

simultaneously providing respective unique output commands to any locally connected output devices associated with an incomplete GLCD-terminal, each of the unique output commands causing the respective output devices to provide a user with a unique input directive;

receiving at least one input command including a unique input directive; and

for each received input command, identifying the input device from which the input command was received and associating the identified input device with the same GLCD-terminal as that with which the output device providing the corresponding unique input directive is associated;

wherein once exclusively associated with a GLCD-terminal, input commands received from each input device are automatically directed to a pointer, focus and/or client application of that GLCD-terminal with which the input device is associated, and output commands received from client application instances are automatically directed only to an output device of that GLCD-terminal with which the client application instance is associated.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the unique input directive supplied by the computer program for an output device being a Monitor is a message displayed on the Monitor prompting a user to press a particular pattern of key-presses on an input device being a keyboard to thereby associate the keyboard with the Monitor.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein the particular pattern of key-presses prompted by the computer program is a letter of the alphabet or a specific key on the keyboard.

74. The method of claim 71, wherein the particular pattern of key-presses prompted by the computer program includes an integer number or integer function key.