Method and system providing compatibility between two different controllers

• US 8,795,078 B1
• Filed: 10/24/2010
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wei Yen
• Original Assignee: AiLive, Inc.
• Inventors: Powers, III, William Robert, Wilkinson, Dana, Zhu, Youding, Musick, JR., Charles, Kay, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): HOANG, BACH V
• Application Number:
  US12/910,818
• Time in Patent Office: 1,381 Days
• Field of Search: 463 36- 27, 463 36-273, 710/73, 715/700, 715/863, 345156-184
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/22 Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/40 Processing input control signals of video game devices, e.g. signals generated by the player or derived from the environment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1043 being characterized by constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0325 using a plurality of light emitters or reflectors or a plurality of detectors forming a reference frame from which to derive the orientation of the object, e.g. by triangulation or on the basis of reference deformation in the picked up image
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors

Abstract

Techniques for providing compatibility between two different game controllers are disclosed. When a new or more advanced controller is introduced, it is important that such a new controller works with a system originally configured for an existing or old controller. The new controller may provide more functionalities than the old one does. In some cases, the new controller provides more sensing signals than the old one does. The new controller is configured to work with the system to transform the sensing signals therefrom to masquerade as though they were coming from the old controller. The transforming of the sensing signals comprises: replicating operational characteristics of the old controller, and relocating virtually the sensing signals to appear as though the sensing signals were generated from inertial sensors located in a certain location in the new controller responsive to a certain location of the inertial sensors in the old controller.

Claims

1. A method for providing compatibility of a first controller to a computing device already configured for a second controller, the method comprising:

receiving in the computing device a first set of inertial sensor data from the first controller; and

transforming the first set of inertial sensor data in the computing device to masquerade as though the first set of inertial sensor data were coming from a second set of inertial sensors in the second controller, wherein said transforming the first set of inertial sensor data comprises;

replicating operational characteristics of a second set of inertial sensor data of the second controller, and

relocating virtually the first set of inertial sensor data from a set of inertial sensors at physical locations in the first controller to appear as though the first set of inertial sensor data were generated from a set of inertial sensors at virtual locations in the first controller in reference to certain physical locations of the set of inertial sensors in the second controller, wherein the physical locations are different from the certain physical locations, and

wherein said transforming is executed in a driver for the first controller or a software module running on a processing unit configured to work with the second controller, and the transformed first set of inertial sensor data works with motion recognizers and motion trackers built for the second controller.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said transforming succeeds when maximum sensitivities and a range of the second controller are known, and respective locations of the second set of inertial sensors within the second controller are known.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the first set of inertial sensor data includes translational sensor data and angular sensor data, and the angular sensor data is ignored when the second controller is not equipped with angular sensors.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the translational sensor data is from a plurality of accelerometers, and the angular sensor data is from a plurality of gyroscopes in the first controller.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first set of inertial sensor data is received in the processing unit that is configured to discard the angular sensor data.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

treating the transformed first set of inertial sensor data to act as though the first set of inertial sensor data is being generated from the second controller; and

accounting for sensor noise to allow device independent recognition of the first controller using the motion recognizers provided for the second controller through a standard motion data library.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the standard motion data library is an application programming interface (API) including subtracting out tangential effects of rotation of accelerometers around center of mass, moving back to acceleration at center of mass, and compensating for gyroscopic effects.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first controller includes a housing having at least a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface including a number of buttons and a joystick operable by a finger of one hand, the bottom surface including a trigger operable by another finger of the hand, the housing sized to fit into a hand and having a holding portion having the buttons and the joystick reachable by the finger when the holding portion is being held in the hand of a user, and wherein the second controller is different from the first controller.

9. An apparatus for providing compatibility of a first controller and the apparatus being already configured for a second controller, the apparatus comprising:

a wireless interface to receive a first set of inertial sensor data from the first controller;

a processor;

a memory space for storing code executed by the processor to perform operations of;

transforming the first set of inertial sensor data to masquerade as though the first set of inertial sensor data were coming from a set of inertial sensors in the second controller, wherein said transforming the first set of inertial sensor data comprises;

replicating operational characteristics of a second set of inertial sensor data of the second controller, and

relocating virtually the first set of inertial sensor data from a set of inertial sensors at physical locations in the first controller to appear as though the first set of inertial sensor data were generated from a set of inertial sensors at virtual locations in the first controller in reference to certain physical locations of the inertial sensors in the second controller, wherein the physical locations are different from the certain physical location, and

wherein the transformed first set of inertial sensor data from the first controller works with motion recognizers and motion trackers in the apparatus built for the second controller.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein said transforming succeeds when maximum sensitivities and a range of the second controller are known, and respective locations of the second set of inertial sensors within the second controller are known.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the inertial sensor data from the first controller includes translational sensor data and angular sensor data, the angular sensor data is ignored when the second controller is not equipped with angular sensors.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the translational sensor data is from a plurality of accelerometers, and the angular sensor data is from a plurality of gyroscopes in the first controller.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to perform further operations of:

treating the transformed first set of inertial sensor data to act as though the first set of inertial sensor data is being generated from the second controller; and

accounting for sensor noise to allow device independent recognition of the first controller using the motion recognizers provided for the second controller through a standard motion data library.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the standard motion data library is an application programming interface (API) including subtracting out tangential effects of rotation of accelerometers around center of mass, moving back to acceleration at center of mass, and compensating for gyroscopic effects.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the first controller includes a housing having at least a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface including a number of buttons and a joystick operable by a finger of one hand, the bottom surface including a trigger operable by another finger of the hand, the housing sized to fit into a hand and having a holding portion having the buttons and the joystick reachable by the finger when the holding portion is being held in the hand of a user, and wherein the second controller is different from the first controller.