Patent Application
20240134517
The present disclosure relates in general to information handling systems, and more particularly to a touchpad for use in an information handling system, wherein the touchpad is capable of being divided into multiple zones, each zone having a different user interface functionality.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Many information handling systems utilize a touchpad. A touchpad may comprise a pointing device that includes a tactile sensor that may translate motion and position of a user's fingers (or other pointing device, such as a stylus) to a relative position on a display device of an information handling system.
Increasingly, users of information handling systems prefer to use external displays, in addition to the integrated display of a notepad/laptop, for multiple tasks. However, when using a touchpad, moving a cursor between the two displays may be inefficient, especially for larger displays.
In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the disadvantages and problems associated with movement of a cursor between display devices may be reduced or eliminated.
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a processor, a touchpad communicatively coupled to the processor, and non-transitory computer-readable media communicatively coupled to the processor and having stored thereon a program of instructions configured to, when read and executed by the processor in response to a trigger for enabling logical segmentation of the touchpad, logically segment the touchpad into a plurality of zones and map each zone to a respective corresponding feature displayed on one or more displays communicatively coupled to the processor such that user interaction with each of the plurality of zones manipulates the respective corresponding feature of such zones on the one or more displays.
In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include logically segmenting a touchpad of an information handling system into a plurality of zones and mapping each zone to a respective corresponding feature displayed on one or more displays communicatively coupled to a processor of the information handling system such that user interaction with each of the plurality of zones manipulates the respective corresponding feature of such zones on the one or more displays.
In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, an article of manufacture may include a non-transitory computer readable medium and computer-executable instructions carried on the computer readable medium, the instructions readable by a processing device, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the processing device to logically segment a touchpad of an information handling system into a plurality of zones and map each zone to a respective corresponding feature displayed on one or more displays communicatively coupled to a processor of the information handling system such that user interaction with each of the plurality of zones manipulates the respective corresponding feature of such zones on the one or more displays.
Technical advantages of the present disclosure may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the figures, description and claims included herein. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are examples and explanatory and are not restrictive of the claims set forth in this disclosure.
A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood by reference to
For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (“CPU”) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input/output (“I/O”) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components.
For the purposes of this disclosure, information handling resources may broadly refer to any component system, device or apparatus of an information handling system, including without limitation processors, service processors, basic input/output systems, buses, memories, I/O devices and/or interfaces, storage resources, network interfaces, motherboards, and/or any other components and/or elements of an information handling system.
As also shown in
As illustrated in
Hinge(s) 104 may rotatably couple first housing 102 to second housing 103. Thus, information handling system 101 may be openable and closable (i.e., foldable). In other words, information handling system 101 may be transformable between a first state in which first housing 102 and second housing 103 overlap each other, and a second state in which first housing 102 and second housing 103 are opened and keyboard 115, touchpad 116, and display 118 are exposed to the outside.
Touchpad 116 may comprise an input device having the function of a pointing device and a push button. That is, touchpad 116 may associate a movement of a finger, stylus, or other pointing device tracing the surface of touchpad 116 with the movement of a mouse pointer on a screen of display 118.
The information handling system to which a touchpad 116 as described herein can be applied is not limited to the above example of a notebook information handling system having two hinged housings, and may be broadly applied to various types of electronic apparatuses such as a tablet terminal, a television, a cellular phone (including a smartphone), a game console, and/or other information handling systems that include a single housing. In one or more of such devices, a touchscreen may effectively include the functionality of a touchpad and a display.
Although not explicitly shown in
Although external display 200 is depicted as being coupled via a wired connection using cable 202, in some embodiments, both information handling system 101 and external display 200 may be enabled to communicatively coupled via wireless transmission (e.g., Bluetooth).
Logical segmentation of touchpad 116 as described above may have many advantages. For example, a user may desire to perform document comparison between a document displayed on the first display and a document displayed on the second display. Traditionally, to perform such task a user may need to use touchpad 116 to move a cursor from one display to the other, which may require several finger swipes of a user across touchpad 116. However, with logical segmentation of touchpad 116 enabled, a user may independently swipe a respective cursor in each of the first display and second display up and down to perform the desired comparison and/or editing.
As another example, with logical segmentation of touchpad 116 enabled, a user may be able to simultaneously perform multiple tasks, such as gaming on the first screen using first zone 302 and using a chat application on the second screen using second zone 304.
As an additional example, with logical segmentation of touchpad 116 enabled, a user may be able to cast the contents of an external device such as a smartphone or tablet (effectively serving as the second display) onto a portion of the first display via wireless transmissions (e.g., Bluetooth), and simultaneously control the first display using first zone 302 and control the external device using second zone 304.
Although the foregoing contemplates the use of first zone 302 and second zone 304 for controlling contents of two different displays, in some embodiments, touchpad 116 may also be segmented into multiple zones, with each zone configured to manipulate a particular feature of a single display. For example,
In addition to different zones of touchpad 116 manipulating different segments of display 118, touchpad 116 may be segmented into multiple zones wherein each zone manipulates a particular element displayed on display 118. For example, in a gaming context, a zone of touchpad 116 comprising the left half of touchpad 116 may control hands of an avatar displayed on display 118 while a second zone of touchpad 116 comprising the right half of touchpad 116 may control feet of an avatar displayed on display 118. As another example, also in a gaming context, a first zone of touchpad 116 comprising the left half of touchpad 116 may control a left hand of an avatar displayed on display 118 while a second zone of touchpad 116 comprising the right half of touchpad 116 may control a right hand of an avatar displayed on display 118. As a further example, also in a gaming context, a first zone of touchpad 116 comprising the left half of touchpad 116 may control an avatar displayed on display 118 for a first user while a second zone of touchpad 116 comprising the right half of touchpad 116 may control an avatar displayed on display 118 for a second user.
Processor 503 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data, and may include, without limitation a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuitry configured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data. In some embodiments, processor 503 may interpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored in memory 504 and/or another component of information handling system 101.
Memory 504 may be communicatively coupled to processor 503 and may include any system, device, or apparatus configured to retain program instructions and/or data for a period of time (e.g., computer-readable media). Memory 504 may include RAM, EEPROM, a PCMCIA card, flash memory, magnetic storage, opto-magnetic storage, or any suitable selection and/or array of volatile or non-volatile memory that retains data after power to information handling system 101 is turned off. As shown in
Operating system 507 may comprise any program of executable instructions, or aggregation of programs of executable instructions, configured to manage and/or control the allocation and usage of hardware resources such as memory, processor time, disk space, and input and output devices, and provide an interface between such hardware resources and application programs hosted by host operating system 507. Active portions of operating system 507 may be read from memory 504 for execution by processor 503.
Touchpad driver 514 may comprise any program of executable instructions, or aggregation of programs of executable instructions, configured to provide a software interface to touchpad driver 514, in order to enable operating system 507 and/or application 510 to access hardware functions of touchpad 116.
Application 510 may comprise any program of executable instructions, or aggregation of programs of executable instructions, configured to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself. Such application may comprise a productivity application (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet application, image editing application), a game, or any other suitable application.
As noted above, in some embodiments, operating system 507 and touchpad driver 514 may be configured to operate in concert to process user interaction with each of multiple zones of touchpad 116 to manipulate respective features of one or more of display 118 and/or external display 200. In other embodiments, operating system 507, touchpad driver 514, and application 510 may be configured to operate in concert to process user interaction with each of multiple zones of touchpad 116 to manipulate respective features of one or more of display 118 and/or external display 200.
I/O subsystem 512 may comprise any suitable system, device, or apparatus generally operable to receive and transmit data to or from or within information handling system 101. I/O subsystem 512 may represent, for example, any one or more of a variety of communication interfaces, graphics interfaces, video interfaces, user input interfaces, and peripheral interfaces.
User interface 516 may comprise any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities by which a user may interact with information handling system 101. For example, user interface 516 may permit a user to input data and/or instructions into information handling system 101 (e.g., via a keyboard 115, a touchpad 116, and/or other suitable component), and/or otherwise manipulate information handling system 101 and its associated components. User interface 516 may also permit information handling system 101 to communicate data to a user, e.g., by way of a display 118 and/or external display 200 coupled to external port 520 of user interface 516.
At step 602, touchpad driver 514, alone or in concert with operating system 507 and/or application 510, may determine if an event has occurred for triggering logical segmentation of touchpad 116. For example, in some embodiments, such event may include the coupling of external display 200 to external port 520. In these and other embodiments, such event may include the user inputting an indication, such as typing of a hotkey sequence, indicating a desire for logical segmentation of touchpad 116.
At step 604, in response to the event, touchpad driver 514 may determine a size of touchpad 116 and/or a display resolution of display 118 and (if connected) external display 200.
At step 606, touchpad driver 514 may logically segment touchpad 116 into a plurality of zones, and map each of the zones to a respective feature of one or more displays. For example, if external display 200 is coupled to information handling system 101, touchpad driver 514 may map a first zone of touchpad 116 to display 118 and a second zone of touchpad 116 to external display 200. As another example, if external display 200 is not coupled, touchpad driver 514 may map each zone of touchpad 116 to a respective corresponding segment of display 118. As a further example, touchpad driver 514 may map each zone of touchpad 116 to a respective feature (e.g., avatar, feature of avatar, cursor, etc.) of one of more displays. After such segmentation and mapping, touchpad driver 514 may, alone or in concert with operating system 507 and/or application 510, process user interaction with touchpad 116 in accordance with the mapping in order to manipulate the respective features.
In some embodiments, in response to the event, touchpad driver 514, alone or in concert with operating system 507 and/or application 510, may display to display 118 or external display 200 a window for the user to select one or more options with respect to displayed features associated with the zones, such as, for example, appearances of cursors associated with the different zones.
In these or other embodiments, while logical segmentation of touchpad 116 is enabled, touchpad driver 514, alone or in concert with operating system 507 and/or application 510, may cause an indication to be displayed (e.g., via a visual indicator such as a light-emitting diode proximate to touchpad 116) indicating that logical segmentation of touchpad 116 is enabled.
At step 608, touchpad driver 514, alone or in concert with operating system 507 and/or application 510, may determine if an event has occurred for triggering disablement of logical segmentation of touchpad 116. For example, in some embodiments, such event may include the decoupling of external display 200 from external port 520. In these and other embodiments, such event may include the user inputting an indication, such as typing of a hotkey sequence, indicating a desire for ceasing logical segmentation of touchpad 116.
At step 610, in response to the event, touchpad driver 514 may determine a size of touchpad 116 and/or a display resolution of display 118 and map touchpad 116 to display 118. After completion of step 610, method 600 may proceed again to step 602.
Although
Method 600 may be implemented using information handling system 101 or any other system operable to implement method 600. In certain embodiments, method 600 may be implemented partially or fully in software and/or firmware embodied in computer-readable media.
As used herein, when two or more elements are referred to as “coupled” to one another, such term indicates that such two or more elements are in electronic communication or mechanical communication, as applicable, whether connected indirectly or directly, with or without intervening elements.
This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Moreover, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, or component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Accordingly, modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other components and the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.
Although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described above.
Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, various embodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages. Additionally, other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the foregoing figures and description.
To aid the Patent Office and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wish to note that they do not intend any of the appended claims or claim elements to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202211290659.6 | Oct 2022 | CN | national |
