Method of information transfer using optical zones

• US 6,766,382 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2000
• Issued: 07/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Madden, Karen P., Madden, Robert B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mauro, Jr., Thomas J
• Application Number:
  US09/605,731
• Time in Patent Office: 1,483 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/246, 345/87, 345/99, 345/744, 345/864, 341/137, 348/441, 348/525, 708/111, 710/72
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

A method of transmitting data from a host computer to a portable information device is disclosed. Optical pulses are displayed by illuminating an area of pixels, or optical zone, on a display monitor. Time series of optical pulses are displayed, including a bit stream that provides clocking information displayed within an optical zone concurrently with a data bit stream encoded using a standard encoding scheme (such as a serial or parallel transmission scheme or a combination thereof), and then detecting and downloading the bit stream data by using a suitably configured sensing device connected to a portable information device. If the display monitor is a color display monitor, brightness of each primary color may be used as an independent transmission channel. In addition, multiple optical zones may be used to transmit data, which allows the present invention to be used with monochrome display monitors. The use of a plurality of optical zones has the additional advantage of increasing the effective bandwidth of the data transmission. This method is portable and suitable for use on both CRT and LCD display devices.

Claims

1. A method for transferring information from a host computer system having a storage device for storing data, the host computer system having a connection to a display monitor having a screen, said method comprising the steps of:

generating a clocking bit stream of optical pulses at approximately regularly spaced time intervals;

converting a source data set residing on the storage device into a data bit stream of optical pulses;

forming a predefined area on the screen of the display monitor, said redefined area comprising a plurality of regions;

displaying said clocking bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating one of said plurality of regions in accordance with said approximately regularly spaced time intervals;

displaying said data bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating another of said plurality of regions different from the one displaying said clocking hit stream so that a bit of said data bit stream is displayed approximately synchronously with illumination of said clocking bit stream;

detecting said optical pulses using a sensing device, said sensing device being connected to a portable information device and said sensing device configured so as to detect said clocking bit stream and said data bit stream separately and concurrently;

converting said optical pulses of said data bit stream into a target data set in accordance with said clocking bit stream; and

storing the target data set within the portable information device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said predefined area is defined by a parallelogram wherein a first of said plurality of regions is defined by a smaller parallelogram having one corner coincident with a corner of said predefined area and having two sides extending from the coincident corner that are co-linear with two sides of said predefined area, and each remaining region of said plurality of regions is has the shape of a gnomon, and said sensing device is configured as a linear array of detectors so that when one end of said line array is aligned with said first of said plurality of regions in the shape of said smaller parallelogram and the remaining detectors of said linear aa are aligned with said remaining regions that have the shape of a gnomon, said clocking bit stream and said data bit stream displayed within each of said plurality of regions are detected separately and concurrently during said step of detecting.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the display monitor is a monochromatic display device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein

said step of converting a source data set is performed using a serial transmission scheme so that said data bit stream comprises a single data time series of optical pulses; and

said step of displaying further includes

displaying said clocking bit stream within said first region; and

displaying said data bit stream within said remaining region,

wherein the sensing device is configured such that said clocking bit stream and said data bit stream are each detected separately and concurrently.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein

said step of converting a source data set is performed using a parallel transmission scheme so that said data bit stream comprises a plurality of data time series of optical pulses;

and

said step of displaying further includes

displaying said clocking bit stream within said first region; and

displaying each of said plurality of data time series separately and concurrently within separate remaining regions,

wherein said sensing device is configured such that said clocking bit stream and said plurality of data time series are each detected separately and concurrently.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the display monitor is a color display device capable of displaying three primary colors separately and concurrently, wherein within said clocking bit stream is displayed by illuminating one primary color in said step of displaying said clocking bit stream, said displaying said data bit stream further comprises illuminatng a remaining primary color within said one of said plurality of regions displaying said clocking bit stream, and said sensing device is configured so that said bit streams comprising separate primary colors are detected separately and concurrently.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of converting a source data set is performed using a serial transmission scheme so that said data bit stream comprises a single data time series of optical pulses.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of converting a source data set is performed using a parallel transmission scheme so that said data bit stream comprises a plurality of data time series of optical pulses.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the display monitor is a color display device capable of displaying three primary colors separately and concurrently, wherein within said clocking bit stream is displayed by illuminating one primary color in said step of displaying said clocking bit stream, said displaying said data bit stream further comprises illuminating a remaining primary color within said one of said plurality of regions displaying said clocking bit stream, and said sensing device is configured so that sad bit streams comprising separate primary colors are detected separately and concurrently.

10. A computer program product having

instructions for performing a method for transmitting bit stream data, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a clocking bit stream of optical pulses that represent approximately regularly spaced time intervals;

converting a source data set into a data bit stream of optical pulses;

forming a predefined area on a screen of a display monitor, said predefined area comprising a plurality of optical zones;

displaying said clocking bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating one of said plurality of optical zones in accordance with said approximately regularly spaced time intervals;

displaying said data bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating another one of said plurality of optical zones different from the one displaying said clocking bit stream so that a bit of said data bit stream is displayed approximately synchrously with illumination of said clocking bit steam; and

displaying said clocking bit stream and said data bit stream so that an optical pulse of said data bit stream is displayed synchronously with a pulse of said clocking bit stream within an optical zone, said optical zone comprising a plurality of pixels within a geometrically defined area on the screen of the display monitor.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said predefined area is defined by a parallelogram, wherein a first region of said plurality of regions is defined by a smaller parallelogram having one comer coincident with a comer of said predefined area and having two sides extending from the coincident corner that are co-linear with two sides of said predefined area, and each of the remaining regions of said plurality of regions are formed in the shape of gnomons, and said sensing device is configured as a linear array of detectors so that when one end of said linear array is aligned with said first of said plurality of region in the shape of said smaller parallelogram and the remaining detectors of said linear array are aligned with said remaining regions that have the shape of a gnomon.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, or 11, wherein said instructions for performing the method comprise a JAVA®

applet program, so that said JAVA®

applet may be downloaded to a computer system having a JAVA®

-enabled Web browser.

13. A system for transferring a source data set from a host computer system having a connection to a display monitor, to a portable information device, said system comprising:

a first computer readable storage medium having stored therein first instructions for causing the host computer to convert the source data set into a data bit stream and to display said data bit stream on the display monitor concurrently with a clocking bit stream within a predefined area of the display monitor, said predefined area comprising a plurality of optical zones, wherein said predefined area is defined by a parallelogram, wherein a first of said plurality of optical zones is defined by a smaller parallelogram having one corner coincident with a corner of said predefined area and having two sides extending from the coincident corner that are co-linear with two sides of said predefined area, and each of the remaining optical zones are formed in the shape of gnomons;

an optical sensing device configured as a linear a of detectors so that when one end of said linear array is aligned with said first of said plurality of optical zones in the shape of said smaller parallelogram and other detectors of said linear array are aligned with said remaining optical zones that have the shape of a gnomon, said data bit stream and said clocking bit stream are detected separately and concurrent when said optical sensing device is positioned in proximity to said predefined area of the display monitor, said optical sensing device being connected to the portable information device; and

the portable information device including a second computer readable storage medium, and having second instructions for causing the portable information device to convert said data bit stream into a target data set in accordance with said clocking bit stream and storing said target data set onto the second computer readable storage medium.

14. The system as in claim 13, wherein the portable information device includes a client computer, and said second instructions for converting and storing data comprised computer readable program code for causing the client computer to perform a method for converting and storing data, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving said data bit stream and said clocking bit stream detected by said optical sensing device;

converting said data bit stream into a target data set in accordance with said clocking bit stream; and

storing said target data set, within the second computer readable storage medium.

15. The system as in claim 14, wherein said first instructions comprise computer readable program code for causing the host computer to perform a method for converting and displaying data, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a clocking bit stream of optical pulses that represent approximately regularly spaced time intervals;

converting a source data set residing on the first storage medium into a data bit stream of optical pulses;

forming a predefined area on a screen of a display monitor;

displaying said clocking bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating a first plurality of pixels within said predefined area in accordance with said approximately regularly spaced time intervals; and

displaying said data bit stream of optical pulses by illuminating an additional plurality of pixels within said predefined area so that a bit of said data bit stream is displayed approximately synchronously with illumination of said first plurality of pixels in accordance with said clocking bit stream.

16. The system as in claim 13, 14, or 15, wherein said first instructions comprise a JAVA®

applet.