Patent Application
20100328216
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-156267, filed Jun. 30, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an input control method which enable input control operations to be shared with a plurality of hosts.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a human interface device (HID) input device, such as a mouse, is connected to a personal computer or the like. The cursor on the display screen is controlled by operating the mouse. A plurality of hosts, such as personal computers, are connected to one another by a close proximity wireless transfer, such as a local area network (LAN) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). When the display device of each of the plurality of hosts shares the display of a single mouse, a multi-viewer of one of the plurality of hosts generally performs control. Since the multi-viewer performs a control single-handed, the processing load on the multi-viewer increases. Because of this problem, a mouse installed in each host is often used in turn without causing the multi-viewer of a single host to perform control. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-122806 discloses the technique for enabling a plurality of hosts to use a single mouse with the help of a distributor.
However, the technique written in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-122806 requires a distributor to be provided additionally. To increase the number of hosts to be operated, it is necessary to replace the present distributor with a new one compatible with the increased number of hosts. In addition, a place where the distributor is installed is needed, making the installation complicated. Moreover, additionally providing a distributor causes a cost increase problem.
A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, an information processing apparatus with a display, comprises a wireless transfer module configured to receive an input operation request from an input operation module by use of a close proximity wireless transfer; and a controller configured to be connected to an external apparatus via the wireless transfer module, and to transit a mouse cursor displayed on the display based on the input operation request to a display of the external apparatus in order to control the mouse cursor displayed on the display of the external apparatus with the information processing apparatus as a master.
Hereinafter, referring to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.
The configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to
The computer PC-B includes an input operation unit using a close proximity wireless transfer, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a display (display) 17B. The input operation unit is a human interface device (HID), such as a mouse. In the embodiment, an example of using a Bluetooth mouse 120 capable of Bluetooth connection will be explained. While in the embodiment, a close proximity wireless transfer is explained, taking Bluetooth as an example, the invention is not limited to this. For instance, TransferJet or the like may be used as a close proximity wireless transfer.
First, a wireless connection is established by pairing the Bluetooth mouse 120 and computer PC-B (or by establishing the link between the Bluetooth mouse 120 and computer PC-B). The pairing enables the Bluetooth mouse 120 to control the mouse cursor on the display (display) 17B. When the wireless connection is established by pairing the Bluetooth mouse 120 with the computer PC-B, the computer PC-B which registers the wireless connection of the Bluetooth mouse 120 as a physical mouse serves as a controlling entity (or a master) in an input operation control. After having become a master in the input operation control, the computer PC-B pairs each of the other hosts, such as a computer PC-A and a computer PC-C, with the computer PC-B, thereby establishing the wireless connection. After the computer PC-A and computer PC-C are paired with the computer PC-B, the Bluetooth mouse 120 can control the mouse cursor on the displays 17A and 17C of the computers PC-A and PC-C, with the computer PC-B as the master (explained later).
Next, a system configuration of the computer PC-B will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The CPU 101 is a processor which controls the operation of the computer PC-B. The CPU 101 executes an operating system (OS) 201 loaded from the hard disk drive (HDD) 111 into the main memory 103 and various application programs, including an input control application program (B) 202b. The input control application program (B) 202b controls the mouse cursor on the display 17B on the basis of an input operation request received from the Bluetooth mouse 120 via a Bluetooth control module (B) 110b. The input control application program (B) 202b is a software program which, on the basis of an input operation request from the Bluetooth mouse 120, controls the mouse cursor on each of the displays 17A and 17C included in the computers PC-A and PC-C each paired with the computer PC-B in Bluetooth.
The Bluetooth control module (B) 110b pairs the computer PC-B and the Bluetooth mouse 120 in Bluetooth, thereby establishing the wireless connection. In addition, the Bluetooth control module (B) 110b pairs the computer PC-B with other computers, such as the computers PC-A and PC-C, in Bluetooth, thereby establishing the wireless communication. Suppose each of the computers PC-A and PC-C includes a Bluetooth control module for performing Bluetooth close proximity wireless transfer (described later). In the specification of Bluetooth, the following six stages are determined: they are (1) device search, (2) service search, (3) authentication, (4) entry, (5) connection, and (6) communication. In the specification, both of the device search and the service search are designed to respond to a request from each of the devices of the general public.
The north bridge 102 is a bridge device which connects a local bus of the CPU 101 and the south bridge 104. The north bridge 102 includes a memory controller which performs access control of the main memory 103. In addition, the north bridge 102 also has the function of communicating with the GPU 105 via, for example, a serial bus complying with the PCI EXPRESS standard.
The GPU 105 is a display controller which controls the LCD (display) 17B used as a display monitor of the computer PC-B. A display signal generated by the GPU 105 is sent to the display 17B of the display unit 12 by a close proximity wireless transfer.
The south bridge 104 controls each device on a Low Pin Count (LPC) bus and each device on a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. The south bridge 104 includes an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) controller for controlling the hard disk drive (HDD) 111 and the DVD drive 112. The south bridge 104 further has the function of communicating with the sound controller 106.
The sound controller 106, which is a sound source device, outputs audio data to be reproduced to the speakers 18A and 18B.
The embedded controller/keyboard controller IC (EC/KBC) 116 is a one-chip microcomputer into which an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling a keyboard (KB) 13 and a touchpad 16 are integrated. The embedded controller/keyboard controller IC (EC/KBC) 116 has the function of turning on/off the power of the computer PC-B.
Next,
The CPU 101 of the computer PC-B executes the OS (B) 201b, HID control driver 203b, and input a control application program (B) 202b loaded from the hard disk drive (HDD) 111 into the main memory 103. The Bluetooth control module 110b sends an input operation request (e.g., the movement of the mouse cursor) received from the Bluetooth mouse 120 to the input control application program (B) 202b which performs an input control in cooperation with the HID control driver (b) 203b. The input control application program (B) 202b controls the mouse cursor in cooperation with the HID control driver (b) 203b.
Next,
The CPU 101 of the computer PC-B starts up the input control application program (B) 202b stored in the HDD 111 or the like and loads it into the main memory 103.
The Bluetooth control module (B) 110b of the computer PC-B pairs the Bluetooth mouse 120, the computer PC-A, and the computer PC-C (or establishes a wireless connection) (block S101). This pairing enables Bluetooth close proximity wireless transfer. For example, if the computer PC-B is a master and the Bluetooth mouse 120 is a slave, a physical and a logical link between the master and slave is established. The physical link is established between the master and slave in a protocol layer at the same level as or lower than a Link Manager Protocol (LMP) layer, one of the Bluetooth protocol layers. The logical link is established between a Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) layer, also one of the Bluetooth protocol layers, after the physical link is established between the master and slave. After the physical and logical links are established between the master and slave, data transmission and reception can be performed between the input control application of the master and that of the slave.
Thereafter, the input control application program (B) 202b of the computer PC-B registers the Bluetooth mouse 120 as a physical mouse (HID). Then, the computer PC-B declares the Bluetooth mouse to be a virtual mouse (block S102). The virtual mouse is such that the computer PC-B itself is regarded as a virtual mouse (HID). That is, the computer PC-B can be registered as a virtual mouse (HID) into another host.
Next, the computer PC-C registers the computer PC-B declared to be a virtual mouse and creates a transition region 300 for the computer PC-B on the display 17C of the computer PC-C (
As described above, the mouse cursor transition regions 300 to 305 are created on the displays of the respective connectable hosts using Bluetooth close proximity wireless transfer. In the created mouse cursor transition regions 300 to 305, when the mouse cursor registers each of the transition regions, this enables the mouse cursor to move from the transition source to the transition destination. For example, as shown in
When the mouse cursor 400 enters in the transition region 301, the mouse cursor 400 transits to the display 17B and the original mouse cursor 401 of the computer PC-A is displayed on the display 17A. A control of the original mouse cursor 401 of the computer PC-A is returned to the computer PC-A so that the mouse cursor 401 may be controlled from the touchpad 250 and others included in the computer PC-A. As described above, the mouse cursor which enters in the transition region is displayed on the display at the transition destination and the original mouse cursor displayed on the display at the transition destination disappears temporarily. Then, when the mouse cursor caused to transit is transited to another display, the original mouse cursor appears again.
The mouse cursor 400 can move from the display 17b of the computer PC-B acting as a master paired with the Bluetooth mouse 120 (physical mouse), pass through various transition regions one after another, and reach to a host at the transition destination (as if it moved through a pipe).
With the above-described embodiment, the mouse cursor can be moved easily between hosts by use of a close proximity wireless transfer in input control operations. Even when the number of registered hosts increases, this can be dealt with easily without adding special hardware.
Furthermore, the information processing apparatus of the embodiment can be realized by not only the computer PC-B but also various consumer information processing units, including a personal digital assistant (PDA). In addition, the function of the input control application can be realized by such hardware as a DSP or a microcomputer. A module can be accomplished in software and hardware.
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-156267 | Jun 2009 | JP | national |
