System and method for a graphics terminal multiplier
First Claim
1. A terminal multiplier apparatus, said terminal multiplier apparatus comprising:
- an interface component configured to bi-directionally communicate data between a thin-client terminal and a thin-client server system;
a control system connected to the interface component and configured to;
receive output data that includes an address of a terminal interface circuit among a plurality of terminal interface circuits at the terminal multiplier apparatus from the thin-client server system, anddistribute the output data from the thin-client server system to the thin-client terminal via the terminal interface circuit identified by the address included with the output data, the terminal interface circuit configured to process and distribute the output data to the corresponding thin-client terminal, the terminal interface circuit comprising;
a screen buffer to store a digital representation of a video display of the thin-client terminal, andan input interface to receive input information from the thin-client terminal,at least one terminal interface circuit of the plurality of terminal interface circuits further comprising at least one input/output device port configured to directly connect with a user input/output device of a thin-client terminal corresponding to the at least one terminal interface circuit, the terminal interface circuit comprising a video adapter to read the screen buffer and generate an analog video signal for the corresponding terminal system,the control system being further configured to aggregate the input information received by the plurality of terminal interface circuits, andthe interface component being further configured to receive the aggregated input information from the control system and transmit the aggregated input information to the server.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Thin-client terminal systems allow server computer systems to be shared by multiple computer users. However, thin-client terminal systems that use analog signals can only be placed a limited distance from the main server computer system. On the other hand, thin-client terminal systems that rely purely on digital signals can be expensive to produce. A thin-client multiplier that combines the two different approaches communicates digitally with main server computer system such that it can be placed any distance from the main server computer system. The thin-client multiplier also provides output information received from the server system and electrical power to analog thin-client terminal systems and receives input information from the analog thin-client terminal systems. The received input information is provided to the server system for processing.
18 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A terminal multiplier apparatus, said terminal multiplier apparatus comprising:
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an interface component configured to bi-directionally communicate data between a thin-client terminal and a thin-client server system; a control system connected to the interface component and configured to; receive output data that includes an address of a terminal interface circuit among a plurality of terminal interface circuits at the terminal multiplier apparatus from the thin-client server system, and distribute the output data from the thin-client server system to the thin-client terminal via the terminal interface circuit identified by the address included with the output data, the terminal interface circuit configured to process and distribute the output data to the corresponding thin-client terminal, the terminal interface circuit comprising; a screen buffer to store a digital representation of a video display of the thin-client terminal, and an input interface to receive input information from the thin-client terminal, at least one terminal interface circuit of the plurality of terminal interface circuits further comprising at least one input/output device port configured to directly connect with a user input/output device of a thin-client terminal corresponding to the at least one terminal interface circuit, the terminal interface circuit comprising a video adapter to read the screen buffer and generate an analog video signal for the corresponding terminal system, the control system being further configured to aggregate the input information received by the plurality of terminal interface circuits, and the interface component being further configured to receive the aggregated input information from the control system and transmit the aggregated input information to the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of interacting with a server system, said method comprising:
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receiving output data that includes an address of a terminal interface circuit among a plurality of terminal interface circuits located at the terminal multiplier apparatus from the server system on a bi-directional digital interface, the output data associated with one of a plurality of thin-client terminals; processing the output data with a control system; passing the output data to the terminal interface circuit from among the plurality of terminal interface circuits housed in a graphics terminal multiplier device, based on the address, each terminal interface circuit for processing the output data and providing processed output data to a corresponding thin-client terminal of the plurality of thin-client terminal systems, the each terminal interface circuit of the graphics terminal multiplier device comprising a screen buffer for storing a digital representation of a video display for the corresponding thin-client terminal, at least one terminal interface circuit of the plurality of terminal interface circuits further comprising at least one input/output device port configured to directly connect with a user input/output device of a thin-client terminal corresponding to the at least one terminal interface circuit; reading the screen buffer; and generating an analog video signal for the corresponding thin-client terminal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A terminal multiplier apparatus, comprising:
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a control system configured to receive output data for a plurality of thin-client terminals from a server system; a plurality of terminal interface circuits, each terminal interface circuit configured to; receive output data that includes an address of a terminal interface circuit among a plurality of terminal interface circuits at the terminal multiplier apparatus, from the control system; and provide processed output data to a thin-client terminal among the plurality of thin client terminals based on the address, each terminal interface circuit comprising an input interface to receive input information from the thin-client terminal, and at least one terminal interface circuit of the plurality of terminal interface circuits further comprising at least one input/output device port configured to directly connect with a user input/output device of a thin-client terminal corresponding to the at least one terminal interface circuit, the terminal interface circuit comprising a video adapter to read the screen buffer and generate an analog video signal for the corresponding terminal system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification