JP2000357047A - System and method for synchronizing pointing device with different data packet size - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to use multiple pointing devices(PD) by deciding the maximum size of data packets generated by a PD and setting the data packets to the maximum size when they are smaller than the maximum size. SOLUTION: The maximum size of data packets generated by the PD is decided and the data packets which are received from the PD and smaller than the maximum size are increased to the maximum size. An operating system is started and decides the kind of the PD connected to the computer (S120). Then it is confirmed whether a device ID(0x03) for an extension device is received from an arbitrary PD (S126). When no extension device ID is received, the system ID is set to 0x00. When an extension device ID is received from the PD, the system ID is set to 0x03 (S130).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a controller for a pointing device of a computer, and more particularly to a controller used with a pointing device that generates data packets of different sizes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Modern notebook and laptop personal computers have an internal built-in pointing device for moving the display cursor, as well as a connector for connecting an external pointing device to control the display cursor. ing. FIG.
Shows a block diagram of the main hardware components of a typical notebook computer 10 with internal and external pointing devices.

The notebook computer 10 includes a keyboard and an auxiliary device controller (KBC) 12 connected to a keyboard 14 and an internal pointing device 16.
And an external pointing device 18. The keyboard 14 is connected to the K via the keyboard interface 20.
Connected to BC12. Internal pointing device 1
6 is the KBC1 via the first auxiliary interface 22
2 is connected. For a notebook computer, many of the internal pointing devices 16 are touchpads, trackballs, or pointing sticks built into the computer to control the movement of the display cursor. The external pointing device 18 is connected to the KBC 12 via the second auxiliary interface 24. Many of the external pointing devices 16 are mice or trackballs that connect to external connectors on the computer and provide another means of controlling the display cursor.

[0004] The KBC 12 is connected to a system bus 26 and to a CPU 28. The KBC 12 sends and receives data and control signals to and from the system bus 26,
It receives data from the keyboard 14, the internal pointing device 16, and the external pointing device 18. A standard IBM PS / 2 mouse generates a data packet containing three bytes of data, as shown in FIG. These three bytes include one status byte (40) containing data relating to buttons and other status data of the pointing device, and one data byte (42) for data relating to horizontal or X-direction cursor movement. ,
One data byte (44) for data relating to the movement of the cursor in the vertical direction, ie, the Y direction. in this way,
This conventional data packet provides three bytes to describe cursor movement in a two-dimensional (ie, XY) plane.

[0005] The new Microsoft IntelliMouse (and compatible pointing devices manufactured by other manufacturers) include a wheel control to scroll the display screen, which is considered to be a control of cursor movement in the Z direction. To accommodate this additional cursor control function, the IntelliMouse operates in an extended mode that generates a data packet containing four bytes, as shown in FIG. The three bytes are the same data as the standard mouse, ie one status byte (40), X and Y
Two data bytes (42, 4
4), and the fourth byte contains data relating to scrolling of the display (46). This type of mouse is called an extended mode pointing device.

[0006] The operating system of a notebook computer includes a software device driver (eg, a mouse driver) that processes data received from internal and external pointing devices to generate signals that control the movement of the display cursor. Many of the device drivers are switched to the extended mode to accept the 4-byte data packet generated by the extended mode pointing device. However, when this extended mode is enabled by the mouse driver,
The mouse driver can no longer accept a standard 3-byte data packet. Further, exiting this extended mode often requires a reboot of the operating system.

[0007] One existing solution to this problem is to automatically connect the internal pointing device when an external pointing device is connected and the system driver switches the system to the extended mode to accept a 4-byte data packet. It is to disable. However, with this method, it is not possible to operate the internal and external pointing devices at the same time,
The user cannot use both pointing devices at the same time.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to overcome or at least reduce the effects of the above problems. The invention allows the use of one or more pointing devices with a computer. In this case, the pointing device generates data packets of different sizes. The maximum size of the data packet generated by the pointing device is determined, and data packets received from the pointing device that are smaller than the maximum size have additional bytes added to increase the size of the data packet to the maximum size.

Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a computer with one or more pointing devices, the method comprising determining a maximum size of a data packet generated by the pointing device. Receiving the first data packet from the first pointing device; determining whether the first data packet has a size smaller than the maximum size; and determining whether the first data packet has a size equal to the maximum size. And increasing the size of the first data packet to have

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system comprising one or more pointing devices for generating data packets, and a controller connected to the pointing device for receiving the data packets. The controller determines the maximum size of the data packet and adds one or more bytes to each data packet received from the pointing device and smaller than the maximum size. The controller determines the maximum size of the data packet by sending a command to each pointing device such that each pointing device responds with a device identifier indicating the size of the data packet generated by the respective pointing device. . The controller receives the device identifier from the pointing device and analyzes the device identifier to determine a maximum size of a data packet generated by the pointing device.

As a result of the use of the present invention, simultaneous operation of a plurality of multiple pointing devices is possible even when an extended mode pointing device or another pointing device of non-standard data packet size is used. In this way, notebook computer users can enjoy the convenience of using both internal and external pointing devices at the same time.

While the invention is susceptible to various applications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention covers all applications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent with reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is based on the KB of a notebook computer.
C takes advantage of the fact that it provides a common communication channel for all of the commands and data sent between the device driver and both internal and external pointing devices. In this embodiment, the KBC controller intercepts the “ID read” command sent from the device driver to the pointing device at the time of startup, and reports that the device ID of the pointing device is returned to the device driver with a maximum-size data packet.
For all data packets from a pointing device whose number of bytes is smaller than the maximum size, additional bytes
Therefore, the overall size of the data packet from each pointing device will be the same and equal to the maximum size. As a result, the device driver always receives data packets of the same (maximum) size, and enables normal operation by a pointing device having data packets of different sizes.

Referring first to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of software and firmware components for a notebook computer having internal and external pointing devices. The KBC 12, the internal pointing device 16, and the external pointing device 18 shown in FIG. 1 include a KBC firmware 50, an internal pointing device firmware 52, and an external pointing device firmware 54, respectively. Internal and external pointing device firmware 52,
54 provides the pointing device with the ability to receive commands from the computer and returns data corresponding to the movement of the pointing device and the pointing device button to the computer. Device driver 56
Are included as part of the computer's operating system software 58. Device driver 56 operates as an interface between operating system software 58 and pointing devices 16, 18.

The KBC firmware 50 includes an internal pointing device firmware 52, an external pointing device firmware 54, and a device driver 5.
Communicate with 6. The device driver 56 generally communicates with an application program 60 that controls the movement of a cursor on a display. As described above, the data from the pointing device and the control command from the device driver are exchanged by the interaction of the KBC firmware 50, the internal pointing device firmware 52, the external pointing device firmware 54, and the device driver 56. All commands and data exchanged between the device driver 56 and the pointing device are channeled via the KBC and are required to synchronize with data packets from standard and extended mode pointing devices. Further logic is K
It can be conveniently included in the BC firmware 50.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a program included in the KBC firmware 50 that permits the use of both internal and external pointing devices. In this case, the external pointing device may be an extended mode pointing device. Initially, the program waits to receive data from one of the pointing devices 52, 54 or one of the commands from the vice driver 56 (step 100). Once either a command or a data byte has been received, the program determines whether a "read ID" command has been received from device driver 56 (step 102). If a "read ID" command is received, the command is processed as shown in FIG. 6 and described below (step 104), after which the program proceeds to step 1
Return to 00 and wait for reception of another command or data. If a data byte was received (and no "read ID" command was received) (step 10)
6) The data bytes are processed as shown in FIG. 7 and described below (step 108), after which the program returns to step 100 and waits to receive further commands or data. If a command other than the "ID read" command is received, or data other than data from the pointing device (eg, data from the keyboard) is received, the command or data is processed in a conventional manner (step 110). , The program returns to step 100 and waits for receipt of further commands or data.

FIG. 6 shows the processing of the “ID read” command received from the device driver 56. When the operating system 58 is activated to determine the type of the pointing device connected to the computer,
The “read ID” command generally corresponds to the device driver 56.
Generated by When an “ID read” command is received from the device driver 56 (step 12
0), the command is sent to the internal pointing device and the internal pointing device firmware 52
Generates a device ID in response to a command. The device ID for the standard pointing device is 0x00. The value for the extended mode pointing device is 0x03. This device ID is KBC
Returned to firmware 50, the device ID is saved for use by the program at a later stage (step 122). Next, the “read ID” command is
The device ID sent to the external pointing device and received in response from the external pointing device firmware 54 is stored (step 124).

Next, the program checks to see if the device ID for the expansion device (ie, 0x03) has been received from any pointing device (step 126). The extension device ID is
It is generated by a pointing device (such as an extended mode pointing device) that generates a 4-byte data packet, and requests the device driver to operate in the extended mode. If there is no extended device ID received from the pointing device, the system ID is set to 0x00, indicating that all pointing devices are of the standard type and there is no connected extended mode pointing device (step 128). .

If an extended device ID is received from the pointing device, the system ID is set to 0x03, indicating that at least one extended mode pointing device is connected, and enabling operation in the extended mode (step 130). Next, the system ID determined as described above is returned to the device driver 56 (step 132), and byte counters (described later) for all pointing devices are reset to initial values (step 134).

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the processing of one data byte received from a pointing device. As shown in FIG. 7, when one data byte is received from one of the pointing devices (step 1).
40) The program checks to see if the byte is the first byte of the data packet by determining whether the byte counter byte is the initial value (step 142). The first byte of the data packet contains the status data for the pointing device (as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3). Conventional pointing devices include one or more buttons for selecting display icons or performing other actions. The status data for these buttons (ie, which button the user pressed) is included in the status byte of the data packet generated by the pointing device.

If the data byte received is the first byte, the state of the pointing device button is saved (step 144). The first byte is identified by examining the byte counter. The byte counter is a counter that is incremented as each byte is processed and is reset to an initial value when a complete data packet has been processed. If the byte is the first byte, the byte counter is at its initial value. Next, the program performs an OR operation on the pointing device button states for all the pointing devices,
It is determined whether or not the pointing device button has been pressed by the user (step 146). Logical sum (OR)
Is sent to the device driver 56 (step 1).
48), the byte counter is incremented (step 15).
0). At this point, processing of the data byte is finished and the program resumes waiting for a command or data at step 100 shown in FIG.

If the data byte received is not the first byte, the byte counter is checked to see if the byte is the last byte (step 15).
2). If the pointing device that sent the data byte generated a standard device ID (ie, 0x00), a byte counter value of 3 indicates the last byte of the packet. When the pointing device that has sent the data byte generates the extended device ID (that is, 0x03), the byte counter value of 4 indicates the last byte of the packet. If the data byte received is not the first or last byte of the data packet, the data byte is sent to device driver 56 (step 154) and the byte counter is incremented (step 15).
6), the processing of the data byte ends. The program is
In step 100 shown in FIG. 5, the waiting of commands and data is resumed.

If the received data byte is the last byte of a data packet, the byte is processed as shown in FIG. In the current design, the device ID
For a standard pointing device having 0x00, the last byte is the third byte of the data packet, as indicated by the count accumulated by the byte counter, as described above. Device ID 0x0
For an extended mode pointing device having a 3, the last byte is the fourth byte of the data packet, as indicated by the byte counter. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to these particular device IDs, but is extended to include any device ID used to indicate the size of the data packet generated by the pointing device.

If the device ID generated by the pointing device that sent the data byte is the same as the system ID calculated by the program (shown in steps 128 and 130 of FIG. 6), this means that Show. (1) When there is no connected extended mode pointing device (that is, a 3-byte data packet is expected), and the pointing device sending data is a standard pointing device.
Or (2) when an extended mode pointing device is connected (ie, a 4 byte data packet is expected) and the pointing device sending data is the extended mode pointing device. In either situation, the program does not require any adjustment to the data packet size received from the pointing device. What happens is that (the data packet size received from the pointing device)
This is because the data packet size matches the data packet size expected by the device driver 56.

Thus, referring again to FIG. 8, when the device ID is equal to the system ID (step 16).
0), the data byte is sent to the device driver 56 (step 162), the byte counter is reset to an initial value (step 164), and the processing of the data byte ends. The program executes step 10 shown in FIG.
If it is 0, the waiting of the command or data is resumed.

If the device ID is different from the system ID, this indicates that the pointing device sending the data is a standard pointing device in the system including the extended mode pointing device.
Thus, a data packet received from a standard pointing device contains only three bytes and must be padded to yield the four byte data packet expected by device driver 56. The received data byte is the device driver 5
6 (step 166). The program then waits for a period that emulates the transmission and processing delay that occurs when the program waits for another byte of data from the pointing device (step 168).
Then, the program returns zero (or other suitable embedding (p
1), and sends the byte to the device driver 56 (step 170).
This additional byte extends the data packet from the pointing device, so that a 4-byte data packet will be received by the device driver 56. Next, the byte counter is reset to the initial value (step 172), and the processing of the data byte ends. The program resumes waiting for a command or data in step 100 shown in FIG.

Thus, one embodiment of the present invention has been described which provides a means for enabling a multi-pointing device to generate data packets of different sizes. The program described above with respect to FIGS. 4 to 8 provides one means for enabling the use of a standard pointing device (generating a 3-byte data packet) and an extended mode pointing device (generating a 4-byte data packet). Show. However, the programs described are readily adapted using conventional techniques to adapt the various requirements of different computer systems, well known to those skilled in the art.

For example, the program is modified to operate with a multi-pointing device, where the data packet size is increased by adding multiple bytes to the smaller data packet to match the size of the largest data packet. It changes by more than one byte. Similarly, the program considers three or more different size data packets by adding as many bytes as necessary to create each of the data packets equal to the largest data packet generated by the pointing device. Can be modified as follows. The program is
It is also modified to operate with an appropriate number of internal pointing devices and an appropriate number of external pointing devices. For example, the program is modified to operate on a laptop having a touchpad and a pointing stick, or even one or more external pointing devices.

In addition, the program can be modified to use various techniques to determine the size of the data packet generated by each pointing device. For example, the size of a data packet can be encoded into a status byte for each data packet. Then, the program uses this data to determine the number of data bytes predicted from the pointing device and the maximum size of the data packet predicted from any pointing device.

Further, the above embodiment of the present invention
Completely implemented in software residing in C.
However, other techniques can be used to perform the logic. For example, the functions of the programs shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 may be executed using software included in a device driver or included as another component of an operating system of a computer. Alternatively, the functions of the program can be modified to execute using hardware such as a programmable gate array or similar device.

Many adaptations and modifications can be made to the techniques and structures shown and described without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the methods disclosed herein are illustrative and do not limit the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the hardware of a computer having an internal and external pointing device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data packet generated by a standard pointing device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data packet generated by an extended mode pointing device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of software and firmware components of a computer having internal and external pointing devices.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a program that includes an extended mode pointing device and permits use of both internal and external pointing devices.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of an “ID read” command received from a device driver.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of one data byte received from a pointing device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of one data byte received from a pointing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 notebook personal computer 12 keyboard and auxiliary device controller 14 keyboard 16, 18 pointing device 28 CPU

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method of operating a computer with one or more pointing devices for generating data packets, the method comprising: determining a maximum size of the data packets generated by the one or more pointing devices; Receiving a first data packet from a first pointing device, which is one of the one or more pointing devices; and determining whether the first data packet is smaller than the maximum size. And c. Increasing the size of the first data packet so that the first data packet has a size equal to the maximum size. 2. The step of determining a maximum size of the data packet comprises: sending a command to each of the pointing devices;
Reacting each of the pointing devices with a signal indicating the size of a data packet generated by the respective pointing device; receiving the signal from the pointing device; analyzing the signal to generate the signal generated by the pointing device. Determining the maximum size of the data packet. 3. The step of determining whether the first data packet has a size smaller than the maximum size, comprising: receiving a first signal from the first pointing device; The second corresponding to the largest size
And a step of comparing the first signal with the second signal, wherein the first data is not equal to the second signal if the first signal is not equal to the second signal. The method of claim 2, wherein packets have a size smaller than said maximum size. 4. The process of increasing the size of the first data packet comprises: 1 if the first signal is not equal to the second signal;
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: generating one or more additional data bytes; and adding the one or more additional data bytes to the first data packet. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer is operated with at least two pointing devices and further comprises one or more internal pointing devices and one or more external pointing devices. 6. A system comprising: one or more pointing devices, each generating a data packet; and a controller connected to the pointing device and receiving the data packet, determining a maximum size of the data packet, A computer system, wherein one or more bytes are added to each data packet received from a pointing device that is smaller than the maximum size. 7. The controller sends a command to each of the pointing devices so that each of the pointing devices responds with a signal indicating the size of a data packet generated by the respective pointing device, and from the pointing device. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: receiving the signal and analyzing the signal to determine the maximum size of the data packet generated by the pointing device, thereby determining the maximum size of the data packet. Computer system. 8. The pointing device of claim 6, wherein the pointing device includes one or more internal pointing devices and one or more external pointing devices.
Computer system. 9. A first pointing device for generating a first signal and a first data packet, and a second pointing device for generating a second signal and a second data packet.
And a controller connected to the first and second pointing devices to receive the first signal and the first data packet and the second signal and the second data packet. The controller analyzes the signal to determine the maximum size of the data packet generated by the pointing device, and one or more for each data packet received from the pointing device that is smaller than the maximum size. Computer system characterized by adding an additional byte. 10. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein said first pointing device is an internal pointing device, and said second pointing device is an external pointing device. 11. A controller for use with a computer in conjunction with one or more pointing devices for generating data packets, said means for determining a maximum size of said data packets generated by said one or more pointing devices. Means for receiving a first data packet from a first pointing device that is one of the one or more pointing devices; and whether the first data packet has a size smaller than the maximum size. And a means for increasing the size of the first data packet so that the first data packet has a size equal to the maximum size.