WO1989005496A1 - Inputs to computer by non-physical link - Google Patents

Inputs to computer by non-physical link Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1989005496A1
WO1989005496A1 PCT/GB1988/001073 GB8801073W WO8905496A1 WO 1989005496 A1 WO1989005496 A1 WO 1989005496A1 GB 8801073 W GB8801073 W GB 8801073W WO 8905496 A1 WO8905496 A1 WO 8905496A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
computer
signals
keyboard
input port
receiving means
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1988/001073
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Clive Morel Fourman
Original Assignee
Soft Image Systems Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Soft Image Systems Limited filed Critical Soft Image Systems Limited
Publication of WO1989005496A1 publication Critical patent/WO1989005496A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
    • G06F3/033—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor
    • G06F3/038—Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
    • G06F3/0227—Cooperation and interconnection of the input arrangement with other functional units of a computer
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
    • G06F3/023—Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
    • G06F3/0231—Cordless keyboards
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
    • G06F3/033—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor
    • G06F3/038—Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
    • G06F3/0383—Signal control means within the pointing device

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing inputs to a computer by a non- physical link such as an infrared or ultrasonic link.
  • Computers, and particularly personal comput ⁇ ers receive inputs from a keyboard which is connected to the processor via a dedicated physical link such as a flexible cable to a dedicated input terminal which is specific to the keyboard.
  • the processor also has a so- called ports which may be serial and/or parallel ports and are usually provided for the communication of addresses and data to peripheral devices such as print ⁇ ers.
  • the infrared input terminal is a dedicated input terminal designed specifically to receive signals derived from the keyboard.
  • the present invention provides an arrangement which can be added on to an existing computer which is not designed for non-physical links whereby to enable an additional control to be provided over a non-physi ⁇ cal link via a serial or parallel port.
  • An advantage of this arrangement is that a computer which is not provided with facilities for a mouse can be so provided whereby to enable programs which have been designed to be controlled by a mouse to be used. It is to be noted that the provision of a mouse is but one example of various additional pieces of control equipment which could be added.
  • the preferred embodiment to be described utilises an infrared link and provides an infrared receiver which is provided with a coupling to enable the signals decoded by the infrared receiver to be supplied to the processor via a serial RS232 port.
  • Figure 1 shows a flow diagram which assists understanding of the overall operation of the method • • and apparatus
  • Figure 2 shows a diagram of one form of remote control unit
  • Figure 3 shows a more detailed circuit dia ⁇ gram of a particular receiver unit.
  • a computer to be controlled in accordance with the present invention is provided with software to enable signals supplied over the non-physical link to be converted into coded sig ⁇ nals which will be recognised by the processor as being equivalent to keyboard input signals.
  • this embodi ⁇ ment it is preferred to convert the received signals into ASCII codes which are placed in the keyboard buffer of the computer. Any other software running on the computer, including the operating system, inter- prets the signals received in the keyboard buffer in this way in the same manner as it would a key depres ⁇ sion on the keyboard.
  • the conversion software has two components.
  • the first component is the SETUP software used to define a look-up table which indicates what will be placed in the keyboard buffer when each remote control signal is received.
  • the second component of the con ⁇ version software is the RUN-TIME software which when active takes signals from the input port and places them in the keyboard buffer. It is activated typically by typing a command such as: WAND FILE where FILE is the name of the look-up table which will be used in interpreting the input received from the input port.
  • the remote control device takes the form of a key pad of some sort. This is not essential, however, as any signaling device of any suitable con ⁇ struction can be used depending on the application required e.g. a bar-code reader could be also used.
  • the individual control signals derived by the control unit as electrical signals are converted to infrared signals in a conventional manner and then transmitted to a corresponding infrared receiver connected to the com ⁇ puter to be controlled.
  • the received infrared signal is converted to an electrical signal and then the conversion software loaded into the computer converts the electrical signal to a standard code signal which will be recognised by the computer. In this case it is converted to RS232 standard which is then fed into the conventional RS232 serial port of the computer where the conversion soft ⁇ ware loads the received and converted signals into the keyboard buffer of the computer. Once in the keyboard buffer, the software loaded in the computer can then interpret the received signals in the same manner as they would had they been entered via the keyboard.
  • FIG. 2 shows in brief terms a typical remote controlled transmitter arrangement which could * be used in the present arrangement but it will not be ' described in detail.
  • Figure 3 shows in more detail an infrared receiver unit which would be attached to the conventional RS232 interface port on a computer.
  • the receiver is based on a microprocessor indicated by reference numeral 30 which receives input signals from an infrared receiver 31, converts the received signals into ASCII codes for temporary storage in a buffer circuit 32 prior to feeding the converted and encoded input signals to the computer via an RS232 connector 33.
  • the arrangement shown in Figure 3 is equally applicable for use as a transmitter so as to provide by directional flow of data between the computer and the remote unit and in this case data from the computer is received by the buffer 32 via an input 35 where the - reverse process of conversion is carried out in the microprocessor 30 and the infrared device which was previously a transmitter can now be replaced or aug ⁇ mented by an infrared transmitter.
  • the remote unit would require on-board processing to enable the signals received by the remote unit to be decoded and acted upon.
  • the above arrangement thus provides an add-on remote keyboard via a serial or parallel non-physical link to a computer in combination with software which makes the add-on input identical to the normal keyboard input in so far as software running on the computer is concerned. It is to be emphasised that the exact form of the non-physical link may be varied and may be ultra ⁇ sonic or some other form of wireless transmission in additional to being infrared. Further, the remote control device may be an additional keyboard or some other form of key pad and may make use of capacitive touch-sensitive switches.

Abstract

A computer having a series or parallel input port has connected thereto an infra-red receiving device for receiving infra-red signals form a transmitter of a signal generating device remote from the computer. The receiving device converts received signals into a form suitable for application to the series or parallel port and the computer is provided with software for loading received signals into a keyboard signal buffer of the computer. This arrangement permits a computer not normally provided with any input devices other than a keyboard to run software requiring inputs from an additional device such as a so-called mouse.

Description

Inputs To Computer By Non-Physical Link
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing inputs to a computer by a non- physical link such as an infrared or ultrasonic link.
Computers, and particularly personal comput¬ ers, receive inputs from a keyboard which is connected to the processor via a dedicated physical link such as a flexible cable to a dedicated input terminal which is specific to the keyboard. The processor also has a so- called ports which may be serial and/or parallel ports and are usually provided for the communication of addresses and data to peripheral devices such as print¬ ers.
It is also known to provide personal comput¬ ers with a so-called mouse in addition to a keyboard, the mouse operating as a replacement for the keyboard. Here again it is customary to utilise a dedicated input for the mouse which is linked by a flexible cable thereto.
It has previously been proposed to replace the physical link between the keyboard and the proces¬ sor i.e. the flexible cable, by a non-physical infrared link, but in this case the infrared input terminal is a dedicated input terminal designed specifically to receive signals derived from the keyboard.
The present invention provides an arrangement which can be added on to an existing computer which is not designed for non-physical links whereby to enable an additional control to be provided over a non-physi¬ cal link via a serial or parallel port.
An advantage of this arrangement is that a computer which is not provided with facilities for a mouse can be so provided whereby to enable programs which have been designed to be controlled by a mouse to be used. It is to be noted that the provision of a mouse is but one example of various additional pieces of control equipment which could be added.
The preferred embodiment to be described utilises an infrared link and provides an infrared receiver which is provided with a coupling to enable the signals decoded by the infrared receiver to be supplied to the processor via a serial RS232 port.
Features and advantages of the present inven¬ tion will become apparent from the following descrip¬ tion of an embodiment thereof given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a flow diagram which assists understanding of the overall operation of the method • • and apparatus;
Figure 2 shows a diagram of one form of remote control unit;
Figure 3 shows a more detailed circuit dia¬ gram of a particular receiver unit.
In the preferred embodiment, a computer to be controlled in accordance with the present invention is provided with software to enable signals supplied over the non-physical link to be converted into coded sig¬ nals which will be recognised by the processor as being equivalent to keyboard input signals. In this embodi¬ ment it is preferred to convert the received signals into ASCII codes which are placed in the keyboard buffer of the computer. Any other software running on the computer, including the operating system, inter- prets the signals received in the keyboard buffer in this way in the same manner as it would a key depres¬ sion on the keyboard.
The conversion software has two components. The first component is the SETUP software used to define a look-up table which indicates what will be placed in the keyboard buffer when each remote control signal is received. The second component of the con¬ version software is the RUN-TIME software which when active takes signals from the input port and places them in the keyboard buffer. It is activated typically by typing a command such as: WAND FILE where FILE is the name of the look-up table which will be used in interpreting the input received from the input port.
Turning now to Figure 1 , in this Figure it is assumed that the remote control device takes the form of a key pad of some sort. This is not essential, however, as any signaling device of any suitable con¬ struction can be used depending on the application required e.g. a bar-code reader could be also used. Despite the exact form of the remote control unit, the individual control signals derived by the control unit as electrical signals are converted to infrared signals in a conventional manner and then transmitted to a corresponding infrared receiver connected to the com¬ puter to be controlled.
As is customary with infrared remote control devices, the received infrared signal is converted to an electrical signal and then the conversion software loaded into the computer converts the electrical signal to a standard code signal which will be recognised by the computer. In this case it is converted to RS232 standard which is then fed into the conventional RS232 serial port of the computer where the conversion soft¬ ware loads the received and converted signals into the keyboard buffer of the computer. Once in the keyboard buffer, the software loaded in the computer can then interpret the received signals in the same manner as they would had they been entered via the keyboard.
Figure 2 shows in brief terms a typical remote controlled transmitter arrangement which could * be used in the present arrangement but it will not be ' described in detail. Turning now to Figure 3, this shows in more detail an infrared receiver unit which would be attached to the conventional RS232 interface port on a computer.
In Figure 3, the receiver is based on a microprocessor indicated by reference numeral 30 which receives input signals from an infrared receiver 31, converts the received signals into ASCII codes for temporary storage in a buffer circuit 32 prior to feeding the converted and encoded input signals to the computer via an RS232 connector 33.
The arrangement shown in Figure 3 is equally applicable for use as a transmitter so as to provide by directional flow of data between the computer and the remote unit and in this case data from the computer is received by the buffer 32 via an input 35 where the - reverse process of conversion is carried out in the microprocessor 30 and the infrared device which was previously a transmitter can now be replaced or aug¬ mented by an infrared transmitter. In this case, the remote unit would require on-board processing to enable the signals received by the remote unit to be decoded and acted upon.
The above arrangement thus provides an add-on remote keyboard via a serial or parallel non-physical link to a computer in combination with software which makes the add-on input identical to the normal keyboard input in so far as software running on the computer is concerned. It is to be emphasised that the exact form of the non-physical link may be varied and may be ultra¬ sonic or some other form of wireless transmission in additional to being infrared. Further, the remote control device may be an additional keyboard or some other form of key pad and may make use of capacitive touch-sensitive switches.

Claims

CLAIMS :
1. Apparatus for inputting information to a computer comprising a signal generating means for generating signals to be input to a computer; transmitting means and receiving means for respectively transmitting and receiving said generated signals over a non-physical link, and a connector for connecting the receiving means to an input port of a computer processor unit.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the conductor is arranged to be connected to a serial input port of a computer.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmitting and receiving means include infra-red light devices.
4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the receiving means comprises a processing device for converting received signals into standard signals for use by the computer.
5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the signal generating means comprises a member mounted for rotation in a housing for generating signals for controlling a cursor.
6. A computer system comprising a processor unit having an input port and apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, the receiver means of which is connected to said input port.
7. A computer system according to claim 6, wherein the processor unit includes a keyboard signal buffer memory, a program store for storing a conversion program, and means responsive to the conversion program for loading signals received by the receiving means into the keyboard memory.
PCT/GB1988/001073 1987-12-02 1988-12-02 Inputs to computer by non-physical link WO1989005496A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8728200 1987-12-02
GB8728200A GB8728200D0 (en) 1987-12-02 1987-12-02 Inputs to computer by non-physical link

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1989005496A1 true WO1989005496A1 (en) 1989-06-15

Family

ID=10627876

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1988/001073 WO1989005496A1 (en) 1987-12-02 1988-12-02 Inputs to computer by non-physical link

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB8728200D0 (en)
WO (1) WO1989005496A1 (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2258067A (en) * 1991-07-18 1993-01-27 Inst Personalized Information Input device conversion.
DE4438768A1 (en) * 1994-10-24 1996-04-25 Aristo Graphic Systeme Keyboard input data format generating facility for computers
FR2728701A1 (en) * 1994-12-23 1996-06-28 Lhonorey Pascal Digital or analog data universal acquisition and processing computer system
GB2345986A (en) * 1999-01-19 2000-07-26 Inventec Corp Computer mouse/mice driver
WO2001025980A1 (en) * 1999-10-05 2001-04-12 Pierre Braunwald Method and device for interactive communication between a transport service offer and a request for same

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0171747A2 (en) * 1984-08-14 1986-02-19 Metaphor Computer Systems Cordless intelligent mouse
FR2575560A1 (en) * 1984-12-27 1986-07-04 Lafitte Rene Communication apparatus intended for people whose motor and/or expression possibilities are very limited, and more particularly intended for people with motor and/or cerebral handicaps
US4642761A (en) * 1982-08-31 1987-02-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Dedicated I/O serial bit interface with peripheral selection
DE3711872A1 (en) * 1987-04-08 1987-10-15 Christian Tammel Moveable device for determining positional data for electronic data processing systems (digitiser), and method of determining its absolute position
EP0246971A2 (en) * 1986-05-21 1987-11-25 Pierre Edmond Gabriel Bourgain Data input device for a data-pressing system

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4642761A (en) * 1982-08-31 1987-02-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Dedicated I/O serial bit interface with peripheral selection
EP0171747A2 (en) * 1984-08-14 1986-02-19 Metaphor Computer Systems Cordless intelligent mouse
FR2575560A1 (en) * 1984-12-27 1986-07-04 Lafitte Rene Communication apparatus intended for people whose motor and/or expression possibilities are very limited, and more particularly intended for people with motor and/or cerebral handicaps
EP0246971A2 (en) * 1986-05-21 1987-11-25 Pierre Edmond Gabriel Bourgain Data input device for a data-pressing system
DE3711872A1 (en) * 1987-04-08 1987-10-15 Christian Tammel Moveable device for determining positional data for electronic data processing systems (digitiser), and method of determining its absolute position

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 5, October 1970 (New York, US) L.A. Joyce: "Buffer system for multiplexing a keyboard and a second input", pages 1215-1216 *
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 28, no. 9, February 1986 (New York, US) "Cursor controller/graphics pad" pages 4093-4097 *

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2258067A (en) * 1991-07-18 1993-01-27 Inst Personalized Information Input device conversion.
GB2258067B (en) * 1991-07-18 1995-05-24 Inst Personalized Information Operation conversion apparatus
DE4438768A1 (en) * 1994-10-24 1996-04-25 Aristo Graphic Systeme Keyboard input data format generating facility for computers
FR2728701A1 (en) * 1994-12-23 1996-06-28 Lhonorey Pascal Digital or analog data universal acquisition and processing computer system
GB2345986A (en) * 1999-01-19 2000-07-26 Inventec Corp Computer mouse/mice driver
WO2001025980A1 (en) * 1999-10-05 2001-04-12 Pierre Braunwald Method and device for interactive communication between a transport service offer and a request for same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB8728200D0 (en) 1988-01-06

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5305449A (en) Keycode/pointing device conversion adapter which converts mouse motion signals into cursor signals by activating keyboard cursor keys
US5881366A (en) Wireless peripheral interface
US7038665B1 (en) Integrated USB input device
AU626968B2 (en) Method for information communication between concurrently operating computer programs
BR9007835A (en) COMPUTER AND TELEPHONE COMBINATION, SYSTEM TO ENABLE A USER TO COMMUNICATE WITH VARIOUS COMPUTERS OF INFORMATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN A EASY-TO-USE DOMESTIC TERMINAL AND A SERVICE COMPUTER PLUS, TO USE THE SERVICE, AND SERVICE SYSTEMS FROM REMOTE USER TERMINALS TO PLUTALITY OF SERVICE COMPUTER SYSTEMS
US5999798A (en) Computer peripheral device with circuit for wirelessly receiving and transmitting signals
JPH08511363A (en) Inductively coupled keyboard
US5977886A (en) Systems and methods for communicating between a user input device and an application using adaptively selected code sets
US6786823B2 (en) Game keyboard device
WO1989005496A1 (en) Inputs to computer by non-physical link
US20030084210A1 (en) Wireless receiving device and method jointly used by computer peripherals
KR100397265B1 (en) Method and apparatus for transmitting multimedia wireless data to a host system
JPS6180325A (en) Information input system of pointing device
CN1115621C (en) Method of transmitting data using wireless keyboard carrying trace ball
US20060197675A1 (en) Remote control interface framework using an infrared module and a method thereof
US6836807B2 (en) Wireless receiving device and method jointly used by computer peripherals
GB2228595A (en) Remote input for microcomputer
JPH02304611A (en) Wireless keyboard
US20030046320A1 (en) Calculator device
JPH08509330A (en) Command modulation system with command generation unit for issuing commands to multiple different types of controlled units
KR100273311B1 (en) Apparatus of wireless universal serial bus
CN1116630C (en) Input device with remote signal receiver
JPH04296921A (en) Key input device
EP0361533A3 (en) A data processing system input device
KR100488447B1 (en) Wireless keyboard system

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): GB US

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE FR GB IT LU NL SE