System and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources

• US 20030020671A1
• Filed: 04/30/2002
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Surfcast, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Surfcast, Inc.
• Inventors: Santoro, Ovid, Lagermann, Klaus, Dechaene, Tom
• Granted Patent: US 7,028,264 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/1.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4451 User profiles; Roaming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/027 Arrangements and methods specific for the display of internet documents
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations

Abstract

A computerized method of presenting information from a variety of sources on a display device. Specifically the present invention describes a graphical user interface for organizing the simultaneous display of information from a multitude of information sources. In particular, the present invention comprises a graphical user interface which organizes content from a variety of information sources into a grid of tiles, each of which can refresh its content independently of the others. The grid functionality manages the refresh rates of the multiple information sources. According to one embodiment, the method of the present invention allocates refresh rates to tiles according to priorities that are assigned based on identifiers such as quality of service (QoS) tags associated with one or more of the information sources. The present invention is intended to operate in a platform independent manner.

Claims

1. A method executed by a processor under the control of a program, said method comprising:

partitioning a display into an array of tiles wherein information from a first source is displayed on a first tile in said array of tiles and information from a second source is displayed on a second tile in said array of tiles;

assigning a first refresh rate to said first tile and a second refresh rate to said second tile, wherein information from at least one of said first source and said second source contains an identifier that is used in said assigning;

updating information from said first source presented to said first tile in accordance with said first refresh rate; and

updating information from said second source presented to said second tile in accordance with said second refresh rate.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said partitioning includes arranging said array of tiles in accordance with a user-defined array size.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said partitioning includes arranging said array of tiles into a non-overlapping configuration wherein each tile of said array of tiles is a uniform size and shape

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said assigning said first refresh rate is in accordance with a first priority value of a first information source associated with said first tile and said assigning said second refresh rate is in accordance with a second priority value of a second information source associated with said second tile.

5. The method of claim 4 additionally comprising:

attributing each tile in said array of tiles to a level in a hierarchy of levels according to a priority value associated with each tile.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said identifier is a quality of service tag.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said first refresh rate is different from said second refresh rate.

8. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising, if information from said first source does not contain an identifier, assigning said first refresh rate in accordance with a user-specified refresh rate.

9. A method executed by a processor under the control of a program, said method comprising:

partitioning a display into an array of tiles wherein information from a first source is displayed on a first tile in said array of tiles and information from a second source is displayed on a second tile in said array of tiles;

assigning a first refresh rate to said first tile and a second refresh rate to said second tile, based on a first type of said information from said first source and a second type of said information from said second source;

updating information from said first source presented to said first tile in accordance with said first refresh rate; and

updating information from said second source presented to said second tile in accordance with said second refresh rate.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said first type and said second type are different from one another.

11. An electronic readable memory to direct a device, comprising:

a first set of instructions to control simultaneous communication with a plurality of information sources;

a second set of instructions to partition a display unit of the device into an array of tiles;

a third set of instructions to associate a first information source of said plurality of information sources with a first tile of said array of tiles and a second information source of said plurality of information sources with a second tile of said array of tiles, such that information from said first source is displayed on said first tile and information from said second source is displayed on said second tile, and wherein information from at least one of said first source and said second source contains an identifier;

a fourth set of instructions to retrieve information from said first information source in accordance with a first retrieval rate and to retrieve information from said second information source in accordance with a second retrieval rate wherein at least one of said first and second retrieval rates is allocated based upon said identifier; and

a fifth set of instructions to present information to said first tile in accordance with said first retrieval rate and present information to said second tile in accordance with said second retrieval rate.

12. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to process a network datastream from a network data source.

13. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to process a tuner signal from a tuner device.

14. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 wherein said second set of instructions arrange said array of tiles on a display unit of a device selected from the group consisting of:

cellular or mobile telephone, television, set top box, desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, digital audio player, games player, digital radio, navigation system, and personal digital assistant.

15. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 wherein said second set of instructions produce an array of non-overlapping tiles wherein each tile has a uniform size and shape.

16. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 wherein said fourth set of instructions assign said first retrieval rate and said second retrieval rate in accordance with a predetermined priority scheme.

17. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to selectively assign a selected or unselected state to specified tiles of said array of tiles.

18. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to deliver selected textual content from said first information source to said first tile.

19. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to deliver a video signal to a selected tile of said array of tiles.

20. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instructions to deliver a frame of a broadcast TV signal to a selected tile of said array of tiles.

21. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a set of instruction to deliver a web page to a selected tile of said array of tiles.

22. The electronic readable memory of claim 11 wherein said first retrieval rate is different from said second retrieval rate.

23. A system for facilitating the organization and management of multiple data sources, comprising:

a device that includes a processor configured to execute instructions, a memory connected to said processor to store at least one program that includes a graphical user interface, and an input device, wherein said processor executes instructions to;

control simultaneous communication with a plurality of information sources;

partition a display into an array of tiles;

associate a first information source of said plurality of information sources with a first tile of said array of tiles and a second information source of said plurality of information sources with a second tile of said array of tiles, such that information from said first information source is displayed on said first tile and information from said second information source is displayed on said second tile, wherein information from at least one of said first source and said second source contains an identifier;

retrieve information from said first information source in accordance with a first retrieval rate and retrieve information from said second information source in accordance with a second retrieval rate wherein said first and second retrieval rates are allocated based upon said identifier; and

present information to said first tile in accordance with said first retrieval rate and present information to said second tile in accordance with said second retrieval rate.