Dual-touch-screen mobile computer

• US 20040021681A1
• Filed: 09/24/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Chin-Hua Arthur Liao
• Original Assignee: Chin-Hua Arthur Liao
• Inventors: Liao, Chin-Hua Arthur
• Application Number:
  US10/253,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20040021681A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/702
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A dual-touch-screen mobile computer adapted to receive input information by touching a surface of a main screen or a surface of a sub-screen of such mobile computer is provided. The dual-touch-screen mobile computer is essentially a system with a computer module for performing various computer data processing tasks and an embedded system module for performing various embedded system tasks. The dual-touch-screen mobile computer comprises a main screen portion having a main screen mounted on the surface thereof and the computer module mounted within the main screen portion. The dual-touch-screen mobile computer also comprises a sub-screen portion pivotally coupled to the main screen portion and having a sub-screen mounted on the surface thereof and the embedded system module mounted within the sub-screen portion. Both the main screen and the sub-screen are touch-screen type flat panel display screens, thereby allowing a user to input data or commands into the dual-touch-screen mobile computer by physically touching the surface of the main screen or the surface of the sub-screen. The embedded system module is adapted to display a computer input user interface, such as a virtual keyboard, a virtual handwriting board, or a virtual notepad, and an embedded system user interface, such as a PDA interface, a smart phone interface, or a pager interface, on the sub-screen. The dual-touch-screen mobile computer further comprises a mobile phone telecommunication module, an IEEE 802.11 wireless network module, a pager module, a Bluetooth wireless network module, a 10/100 Ethernet module, and a memory card reader. The embedded system module and the computer module have separate battery sets to allow the embedded system module and the computer module to be operated independently.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a main screen portion, said main screen portion comprising a computer module and a main screen capable of displaying a computer user interface thereon; and

a sub-screen portion pivotally coupled to said main screen portion, said sub-screen portion comprising an embedded system module and a sub-screen capable of displaying an embedded system user interface or a computer input user interface thereon,

wherein both the main screen and the sub-screen are touch-screen type flat panel display screens capable of receiving input information by physically touching a surface of the main screen or a surface of the sub-screen.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the computer module has a computer operating system installed therein and the embedded system module has an embedded system operating system installed therein.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the computer operating system is a Microsoft Window operating system and the embedded system operating system is a Microsoft Window CE NET operating system.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the computer operating system is a Linux operating system and the embedded system operating system is an embedded Linux operating system.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the computer input user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of input methods including a virtual keyboard and a virtual handwriting board, and the embedded system user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of embedded system selections including a PDA user interface, a virtual notepad, a mobile phone user interface, and a pager user interface.

6. The portable electronic device of claim 5, wherein

each of the plurality of input methods includes at least one switch key for switching from an input method displayed on the sub-screen to another input method by clicking a corresponding switch key of the displayed input method, and

each of the plurality of embedded system selections includes at least one switch key for switching from an embedded system selection displayed on the sub-screen to another embedded system selection by clicking a corresponding switch key of the displayed embedded system selection.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 5, wherein

the virtual keyboard of the computer input user interface further includes a plurality of embedded system switch keys for switching to an embedded system selection by clicking a corresponding embedded system switch key, and

each of the embedded system selections respectively further includes a keyboard switch key for switching to the virtual keyboard by clicking the keyboard switch key.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein said computer module further comprises a computer main-board having a socket for mounting a computer central processor unit thereon and said embedded system module comprises an embedded system main-board having a socket for mounting an embedded system central processor unit thereon.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 8, wherein said computer central processor unit is an Intel Pentium series microprocessor.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 8, wherein said embedded system central processor unit is an Intel PXA series microprocessor.

11. The portable electronic device of claim 8, wherein said computer central processor unit is an AMD Athlon series microprocessor.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 8, wherein said embedded system central processor unit is an ARM RISC series microprocessor.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 8, wherein said computer central processor unit is a Transmeta Crusoe series microprocessor.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein said sub-screen portion further comprises:

a mobile phone communication module, said mobile phone communication module supporting at least one of GSM, GPRS, CDMA, or 3G wireless phone communication protocols;

a pager module, said pager module being capable of receiving and sending pager messages;

a wireless local area network portion, said wireless local area network portion being capable of providing a wireless local area network connection for the portable electronic device; and

a wired network module, said wired network module being capable of providing a wired local area network connection for the portable electronic device.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 14, wherein said wireless local area network portion comprises at least one of:

an IEEE 802.11 communication module, said IEEE 802.11 communication module supporting at least one of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network protocols; and

a Bluetooth module, said Bluetooth module supporting a Bluetooth wireless local area protocol.

16. The portable electronic device of claim 14, wherein said wired network module supports a 10/100 Ethernet local area network protocol.

17. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein said sub-screen portion further comprises:

a computer battery set for providing electricity to said main screen portion;

an embedded system battery set for providing electricity to said sub-screen portion; and

a memory card reader, said memory card reader being capable of reading data from and writing data to a memory medium.

18. The portable electronic device of claim 17, wherein said memory card reader is a multi-card reader adapted to read data from and write data to at least one of a plurality of memory medium formats including a compact flash memory card, an IBM Microdrive memory card, a SmartMedia memory card, a Memory Stick memory card, a MultiMedia memory card, and a Secure Digital memory card.

19. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein

the computer module further comprises:

a hard disk for storing data;

a computer serial port;

a computer card port, said computer card port being adapted to support both types I and II PCMCIA cards; and

a computer RAM memory bank, and

the embedded system module further comprises;

an embedded system RAM memory bank;

an embedded system ROM memory bank; and

an embedded system serial port.

20. A portable computer, comprising:

a main screen portion, said main screen portion comprising a computer module and a main screen capable of displaying a computer user interface thereon; and

a sub-screen portion pivotally coupled to said main screen portion, said sub-screen portion comprising an embedded system module and a sub-screen capable of displaying an embedded system user interface or a computer input user interface thereon,

wherein said computer module includes

a computer main-board with a socket for mounting a computer central processor unit thereon,

a hard disk for storing data,

a computer card port supporting both types I and II PCMCIA cards,

a computer RAM memory bank, and

a computer serial port, and

said embedded system module includes

an embedded system main-board with a socket for mounting an embedded system central processor unit thereon,

an embedded system RAM memory bank,

an embedded system ROM memory bank, and

an embedded system serial port,

both the main screen and the sub-screen being touch-screen type flat panel display screens capable of receiving input information by physically touching a surface of the main screen or a surface of the sub-screen.

21. The portable computer of claim 20, wherein said sub-screen portion further comprises:

a mobile phone communication module, said mobile phone communication module supporting at least one of GSM, GPRS, CDMA, or 3G wireless communication protocols;

a pager module, said pager module being capable of receiving and sending pager messages;

a wireless local area network portion, said wireless local area network portion being capable of providing a wireless local area network connection for the portable computer;

a wired network module, said wired network module being capable of providing a wired local area network connection for the portable computer;

a computer battery set for providing electricity to said main screen portion;

an embedded system battery set for providing electricity to said sub-screen portion; and

a memory card reader, said memory card reader being capable of reading data from and writing data to a memory medium.

22. The portable computer of claim 21, wherein said memory card reader is a multi-card reader adapted to read data from and write data to at least one of a plurality of memory medium formats including a compact flash memory card, an IBM Microdrive memory card, a SmartMedia memory card, a Memory Stick memory card, a MultiMedia memory card, and a Secure Digital memory card.

23. The portable computer of claim 21, wherein said wireless local area network portion comprises at least one of:

an IEEE 802.11 communication module, said IEEE 802.11 communication module supporting at least one of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network protocols; and

a Bluetooth module, said Bluetooth module supporting a Bluetooth wireless local area protocol.

24. An electronic device, comprising:

main screen means for displaying a computer main user interface;

sub-screen means for displaying an embedded system user interface or a computer input user interface;

computer means for performing essential computer data processing tasks, said computer means being coupled to said main screen means to cause said main screen means to display the computer main user interface;

embedded system means for performing a plurality of embedded system tasks, said embedded system means being coupled to said sub-screen means to cause said sub-screen means to display a selected embedded system user interface or a selected computer input user interface in response to an embedded system task performed.

25. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the computer input user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of input methods including a virtual keyboard, a virtual handwriting board, and a virtual notepad, and the embedded system user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of embedded system selections including a PDA user interface, a mobile phone user interface, and a pager user interface.

26. The electronic device of claim 24, further comprising:

means for providing telecommunication and wired and wireless local area network communication;

means for providing a serial port connection;

means for providing electricity to said main screen means and said computer means; and

means for providing electricity to said sub-screen means and said embedded system means.

27. The electronic device of claim 26, wherein said means for providing telecommunication and wired and wireless local area network communication comprises:

a mobile phone communication module, said mobile phone communication module supporting at least one of GSM, GPRS, CDMA, or 3G wireless communication protocols;

a pager module, said pager module being capable of receiving and sending pager messages;

a wireless local area network portion, said wireless local area network portion being capable of providing a wireless local area network connection for the electronic device; and

a wired network module, said wired network module being capable of providing a wired local area network connection for the electronic device.

28. The electronic device of claim 27, wherein said wireless local area network portion comprises at least one of:

an IEEE 802.11 communication module, said IEEE 802.11 communication module supporting at least one of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network protocols; and

a Bluetooth module, said Bluetooth module supporting a Bluetooth wireless local area protocol.

29. The electronic device of claim 24, further comprising means for reading data from and writing data to a memory medium.

30. The electronic device of claim 29, wherein said memory reading/writing means is adapted to read data from and write data to at least one of a plurality of memory medium formats including a compact flash memory card, an IBM Microdrive memory card, a SmartMedia memory card, a Memory Stick memory card, a MultiMedia memory card, and a Secure Digital memory card.

31. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein both said main screen means and said sub-screen means are touch-screen type flat panel display screens capable of receiving input information by physically touching a surface of said main screen means or a surface of said sub-screen means.

32. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a computer module adapted to perform computer data processing tasks, said computer module having a main screen for displaying a computer main user interface; and

an embedded system module coupled to said computer module, said embedded system module being adapted to perform embedded system tasks and to cause to display an embedded system user interface or a computer input user interface in the portable electronic device, wherein

the computer main user interface is supported by a computer operating system and the embedded system user interface and the computer input user interface are supported by an embedded system operating system, and

the main screen is a touch-screen type flat panel display screen.

33. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein the embedded system user interface and the computer input user interface are displayed on the main screen.

34. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said embedded system module further comprises a sub-screen adapted to display the embedded system user interface and the computer input user interface, said sub-screen being a touch-screen type flat panel display screen.

35. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein the computer input user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of input methods including a virtual keyboard and a virtual handwriting board, and the embedded system user interface is user determinably selected from a plurality of embedded system selections including a PDA user interface, a virtual notepad, a mobile phone user interface, and a pager user interface.

36. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said embedded system module further comprises:

a mobile phone communication module, said mobile phone communication module supporting at least one of GSM, GPRS, CDMA, or 3G wireless phone communication protocols;

a pager module, said pager module being capable of receiving and sending pager messages;

a wireless local area network portion, said wireless local area network portion being capable of providing a wireless local area network connection for the portable electronic device; and

a wired network module, said wired network module being capable of providing a wired local area network connection for the portable electronic device.

37. The portable electronic device of claim 36, wherein

said wireless local area network portion comprises at least one of:

an IEEE 802.11 communication module, said IEEE 802.11 communication module supporting at least one of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network protocols; and

a Bluetooth module, said Bluetooth module supporting a Bluetooth wireless local area protocol, and

said wired network module supports a 10/100 Ethernet local area network protocol.

38. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein

said computer module further comprises a computer battery set for providing electricity to said computer module, and

said embedded system module further comprises:

an embedded system battery set for providing electricity to said embedded system module; and

a memory card reader, said memory card reader being capable of reading data from and writing data to a memory medium.