Methods and apparatus for enabling multiple remote displays
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A host computer comprising:
- at least one processing unit comprising a processor memory having instructions executed by the at least one processing unit;
a display encoder memory independent of the at least one processing unit;
an Ethernet network connection independent of the at least one processing unit; and
a multi-method display encoder module comprising a lossless image encoder and a lossy image encoder, the multi-method display encoder module independent of the at least one processing unit and in communication with the display encoder memory and the at least one processing unit, the display encoder module in communication with clients over a standard corporate Ethernet network via the Ethernet network connection,wherein the multi-method display encoder module is enabled to obtain visual data from the at least one processing unit,wherein the display encoder memory comprises a plurality of encoder frame buffers configured to store the visual data obtained from the at least one processing unit, each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers associated with a different client display in a plurality of client displays connected to the host computer via the standard corporate network, each client display associated with one of the clients,wherein the multi-method display encoder module compresses the visual data stored in each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers using at least one of a set comprising the lossless image encoder and the lossy image encoder to form a plurality of encoded images, and sends each in the plurality of encoded image across the standard corporate Ethernet network to the associated client display, andwherein the at least one processing unit executes the instructions stored in the processor memory to render at least one different image for each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers, each rendered image placed in at least one of the plurality of encoder frame buffers at a pixel resolution and size for which the image is to be displayed on the encoder frame buffer'"'"'s associated client display, the size accommodating the rectangular dimension of an associated client'"'"'s display'"'"'s display area.
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Abstract
A method of transmitting visual data from a host computer to multiple displays across a computer network is disclosed. Visual data is stored in a plurality of frame buffers, each frame buffer associated with a separate display. A frame buffer update sequence is determined, with operations to be performed on frame buffers in the plurality. The data stored in the plurality of frame buffers is encoded as specified by the buffer update sequence to yield encoded images and each encoded image is sent across a computer network to the separate display associated with the frame buffer from which the encoded image was derived.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A host computer comprising:
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at least one processing unit comprising a processor memory having instructions executed by the at least one processing unit; a display encoder memory independent of the at least one processing unit; an Ethernet network connection independent of the at least one processing unit; and a multi-method display encoder module comprising a lossless image encoder and a lossy image encoder, the multi-method display encoder module independent of the at least one processing unit and in communication with the display encoder memory and the at least one processing unit, the display encoder module in communication with clients over a standard corporate Ethernet network via the Ethernet network connection, wherein the multi-method display encoder module is enabled to obtain visual data from the at least one processing unit, wherein the display encoder memory comprises a plurality of encoder frame buffers configured to store the visual data obtained from the at least one processing unit, each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers associated with a different client display in a plurality of client displays connected to the host computer via the standard corporate network, each client display associated with one of the clients, wherein the multi-method display encoder module compresses the visual data stored in each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers using at least one of a set comprising the lossless image encoder and the lossy image encoder to form a plurality of encoded images, and sends each in the plurality of encoded image across the standard corporate Ethernet network to the associated client display, and wherein the at least one processing unit executes the instructions stored in the processor memory to render at least one different image for each encoder frame buffer in the plurality of encoder frame buffers, each rendered image placed in at least one of the plurality of encoder frame buffers at a pixel resolution and size for which the image is to be displayed on the encoder frame buffer'"'"'s associated client display, the size accommodating the rectangular dimension of an associated client'"'"'s display'"'"'s display area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of transmitting visual data from a host computer to a plurality of displays across a standard corporate Ethernet network, comprising:
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storing visual data in a plurality of frame buffers, each frame buffer of the plurality of frame buffers associated with one from the plurality of displays; determining a frame buffer update sequence, the frame buffer update sequence comprising compression operations for the stored visual data in the each frame buffer in the plurality of frame buffers; reading the stored visual data in the plurality of frame buffers in accordance with the determined frame buffer update sequence; compressing the read visual data to yield a plurality of packetized encoded images; and sending each of the plurality of packetized encoded images across the standard corporate Ethernet network to the one from the plurality of displays associated with the frame buffer from which the compressed image was derived. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A host computer comprising:
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at least one local processing unit comprising a plurality of rendering frame buffers; and a local encoder comprising; an interface to the at least one local processing unit; a plurality of display controller register sets presented to the processing unit, via the interface to the at least one local processing unit, as a plurality of independent display controller register sets when activated, each of the plurality of rendering frame buffers associated with one from the plurality of display controller register sets; and a processor interface controller enabled to read the plurality of rendering frame buffers based on contents of the plurality of display controller register sets; wherein the local encoder is enabled to read one from the plurality of rendering frame buffers to obtain a display image, compress the image and transmit the compressed image over a standard corporate Ethernet network to a remote display system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A host computer configured for displaying a plurality of images on a plurality of remote displays, said host computer comprising:
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a processing system comprising a plurality of frame buffers, the plurality of images rendered into the plurality of frame buffers by the processing system; and an encoder, independent of the processing system, said encoder comprising; a processor expansion interface communicatively coupled to the processing system, the processor expansion interface enabled to support Direct Memory Access (DMA) to the plurality of frame buffers; an encoder control enabled to read a selective plurality of image frame portions of the plurality of images via the processor expansion interface; a digital image decomposition module comprising a digital image filter, the digital image filter enabled to classify each of the selective plurality of image frame portions into at least one image layer based on determining image types of each of the selective plurality of image frame portions; a multi-method encoder comprising a lossy image encoder and a lossless image encoder, the multi-method encoder enabled to compress the selective plurality of image frame portions by selecting at least one of a set comprising the lossy image encoder and the lossless image encoder based on the at least one image layer of each selective plurality of image frame portions to generate encoded image frame portions; and an IP Ethernet network interface communicatively coupled to the plurality of remote displays, the IP Ethernet network interface enable to transmit the encoded image frame portions to associated remote displays of the plurality of remote displays. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification