Variable refresh rates for portions of shared screens

• US 9,134,889 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhogal, Kulvir S., Boss, Gregory J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Sand, Anne R.
• Primary Examiner(s): ALVESTEFFER, STEPHEN D
• Application Number:
  US14/082,123
• Publication Number:
  US 20140082518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 668 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/025 LAN communication management
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

Illustrative embodiments disclose setting refresh rates for different portions of a shared screen in a sharing session. A processor sets an initial refresh rate for the sharing session. The processor selects a portion of the shared screen. The processor selects a refresh rate for the selected portion of the shared screen that is different from the initial refresh rate for the sharing session. The processor refreshes the selected portion based on the selected refresh rate and a portion not selected based on the initial refresh rate.

Claims

1. A computer program product for setting refresh rates for different portions of a shared screen in a sharing session, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, the program code comprising;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for setting an initial refresh rate for the sharing session, wherein the sharing session is between a display device that displays the shared screen and a remote client device that displays the shared screen;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for selecting a portion of the shared screen;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for selecting a refresh rate for the selected portion of the shared screen that is different from the initial refresh rate for the sharing session, wherein the selected refresh rate is a real number for how often the selected portion of the shared screen is refreshed each second, and wherein the selected refresh rate is selected from one of a first range including a high refresh rate, a medium refresh rate, and a low refresh rate, and wherein the low refresh rate is approximately 0.1 Hz, the high refresh rate is approximately 2 Hz, and medium refresh rate is one of approximately 0.5 Hz and approximately 0.9 Hz.; and

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for refreshing the selected portion based on the selected refresh rate and a portion not selected based on the initial refresh rate.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the selected portion comprises an area surrounding a pointer on the screen, wherein the area moves as the pointer moves on the screen.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the area surrounding the pointer on the screen is a circle having a radius around a location of the pointer.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the selected portion comprises a window and further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for selecting a high priority rate for a window that is currently in use, wherein the window is currently selected and on top of any other window.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for receiving an input from a pointer in a set of portions indicating a location of the pointer;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for tracking the location of the pointer in the set of portions over an interval of time;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for determining the location of the pointer in each portion of the set of portions over the interval of time;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for selecting the portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located most frequently; and

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for selecting a highest refresh rate for the portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located most frequently and a lowest refresh rate for a portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located least frequently.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the refresh rate selected for the portions not selected is based on a type of application running in each portion.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first range further comprises a set of second ranges, each second range comprising a set of values for the high refresh rate, the medium refresh rate, and the low refresh rate respectively.

8. A data processing system for setting refresh rates for different portions of a shared screen in a sharing session, the system comprising:

a bus system;

a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device includes program code;

a processor unit configured to execute the program code;

to set an initial refresh rate for the sharing session, wherein the sharing session is between a display device that displays the shared screen and a remote client device that displays the shared screen;

to select a portion of the shared screen;

to select a refresh rate for the selected portion of the shared screen that is different from the initial refresh rate for the sharing session, wherein the selected refresh rate is a real number for how often the selected portion of the shared screen is refreshed each second, and wherein the selected refresh rate is selected from one of a first range including a high refresh rate, a medium refresh rate, and a low refresh rate, and wherein the low refresh rate is approximately 0.1 Hz, the high refresh rate is approximately 2 Hz, and the medium refresh rate is one of approximately 0.5 Hz and approximately 0.9 Hz; and

to refresh the selected portion based on the selected refresh rate and a portion not selected based on the initial refresh rate.

9. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the selected portion comprises an area surrounding a pointer on the screen, wherein the area moves as the pointer moves on the screen.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the area surrounding the pointer on the screen is a circle having a radius around a location of the pointer.

11. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the selected portion comprises a window and further comprising:

the processor unit configured to automatically select a high priority rate for a window that is currently in use, wherein the window is currently selected and on top of any other window.

12. The data processing system of claim 8, further comprising:

the processor unit configured to receive an input from a pointer in the portion; and

to select the portion receiving the input from the pointer.

13. The data processing system of claim 8, further comprising:

the processor unit configured to receive an input from a pointer in a set of portions indicating a location of the pointer;

to track the location of the pointer in the set of portions over an interval of time;

to determine the location of the pointer in each portion of the set of portions over the interval of time;

to select the portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located most frequently; and

to select a highest refresh rate for the portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located most frequently and a lowest refresh rate for a portion of the set of portions where the pointer is located least frequently.

14. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the first range further comprises a set of second ranges, each second range comprising a set of values for the high refresh rate, the medium refresh rate, and the low refresh rate respectively.