CA2204455A1 - Base station for local area network - Google Patents
Base station for local area networkInfo
- Publication number
- CA2204455A1 CA2204455A1 CA002204455A CA2204455A CA2204455A1 CA 2204455 A1 CA2204455 A1 CA 2204455A1 CA 002204455 A CA002204455 A CA 002204455A CA 2204455 A CA2204455 A CA 2204455A CA 2204455 A1 CA2204455 A1 CA 2204455A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- base station
- wireless
- keyboard
- input device
- human input
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status 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 status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
- H04B1/02—Transmitters
- H04B1/03—Constructional details, e.g. casings, housings
- H04B1/034—Portable transmitters
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Input From Keyboards Or The Like (AREA)
- Small-Scale Networks (AREA)
Abstract
A base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, includes means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device, a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device. A method for using a base station to control traffic on a wireless LAN
by assigning source and destination addresses based on device IDs and routing data between sources and destinations, the base station dynamically supporting a wireless keyboard and a PC's local human input/output devices, the LAN including a PC and a wireless keyboard, includes the steps of: when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode; when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration;
when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
by assigning source and destination addresses based on device IDs and routing data between sources and destinations, the base station dynamically supporting a wireless keyboard and a PC's local human input/output devices, the LAN including a PC and a wireless keyboard, includes the steps of: when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode; when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration;
when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
Description
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
BASE STATION FOR LOCAL AREA NETWORK
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to base stations for local area networks. More particularly, the invention relates to base stations for local area networks including auxiliary wireless human input devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, local area networks are used to interconnect PCs together for information and software sharing, as well as to permit the sharing of hardware resources such as printers. Wireless LANs also exist wherein no cabling between PCs, printers and base station is required. Also known are wireless keyboards and pointing devices, as well as conversion hardware to convert the PC's video signals (VGA or SVGA) to a format viewable on a television.
The vast majority of remote keyboards use infrared technology and are in line of sight of a receiver which is hooked up in the keyboard and/or mouse connectors of the PC.
The user generally can not switch between the local and remote keyboard and mouse on the fly. Video conversion hardware, by contrast, are separate products available as stand-alone boxes, on high end PCI video graphics cards, or as television production equipment. Unfortunately, none of these products accommodates the audio signal from the PC.
On the home automation and security front, systems are available that are controlled through a control console, and some systems also use wireless methods for communicating with the control consoles. These systems are separate and distinct from a PC, even though PCs have more than enough processing capacity for these types of applications.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless LAN for sending commands from a wireless keyboard and pointing device to a PC and displaying the PC's video on a television anywhere else in a house or office.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless LAN for communication between the PC, the wireless keyboard, and electronic, electrical or electro-mechanical devices equipped with a wireless interface. Such devices could be for home automation, home security or appliance control.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a human input interface and video/audio output platform for cartridge-contained systems with processor, software and memory specific applications such as video games, web browsers, spreadsheets, etc.
According to the invention, there is provided a base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising: means for interfacing with a PC
having traditional human input/output devices; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input/output devices and an auxiliary human input/output device.
According to the invention, there is further provided a base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising: means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device; a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
According to the invention, there is further provided a method for using a base station to control traffic on a wireless LAN by assigning source and destination addresses based on device IDs and routing data between sources and destinations, the base station dynamically supporting a wireless keyboard and a PC's local human input/output devices, the LAN including a PC and a wireless keyboard, comprising the steps of: (a) when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC
receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouselgame port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode; (b) when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF
transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration; and (c) when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
Other advantages, objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and claims.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an RF Local Area Network embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a block diagram of the Hardware Architecture of the wireless keyboard and the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 3a is a front view of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 3b is a back view of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a block diagram of the architecture of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the wireless keyboard of Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a block diagram of the architecture of the wireless keyboard of Figure 1.
Similar references are used in the Figures to denote similar components.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The illustrated embodiment of the invention provides to the user full remote access to a PC 20 from any television 30 in a house. In addition, the invention, through a USB
connection to the PC 20, enables the PC 20 to interface and control a multitude of devices for house automation or other purposes as they become available.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
Referring to Figure 1, a local area network (LAN) includes, a PC 20, a wireless keyboard 15, wireless devices 35 and a base station 10. Connected to the base station 10 is a television 30.
The television 30 is a conventional television 30 using either the NTSC or PAL standard. It is connected to the base station 10, from which it can receive the converted video and audio signals of the PC 20. It is not necessarily located in the same room as the PC 20.
The PC 20 typically includes memory, a central processor, firmware for BIOS, an operating system and application software which usually reside on mass storage devices such as floppy disks, hard drives or CD-ROMs, human input devices such as a QWERTY keyboard and a pointing device 25, a monitor, a sound card and external speakers. It is located anywhere in the house.
Referring to Figure 2, the system architecture comprises two main blocks, the wireless keyboard 15 and the base station 10. The base station 10 comprises two main blocks, the RF/control block 130 and the video block 135.
The wireless keyboard 15, as shown in Figure 5, includes a key membrane, a pointing device 70 and a game port 75.
Referring to Figure 6, it can be seen that the wireless keyboard 15 also includes a microcontroller 60 to perform data stream encoding/decoding, keyboard, pointing device 70 and game port 75 scanning and security and power management, a baseband block and a RF transceiver with it's antenna.
The wireless devices 35, along with their device specific hardware, include a microcontroller, a baseband block and a RF
transceiver with it's antenna.
CA 022044~ l997-0~-0~
The base station 10 is the core of the LAN for the above and includes, as depicted in Figure 2 and in more detail in Figure 4, a RF/control block 130 and a video block 135.
Referring to Figure 4, the video block 135 portion of the base station 10 includes a video scan converter 145 for converting the VGA or SVGA video signals from the PC 20 to a format acceptable for a television 30 such as NTSC in North America or PAL in Europe [or HDTV in the future], an on-screen display controller 140 for overlaying text on a television signal, a NTSC/PAL audio and video mixer for integrating the left and right audio signals in the television signal, a channel select block 155 that is controlled by the RF/control block 130, and a RF modulator 160 for modulating the resulting television signal to a pre-selected CATV channel.
Again, referring to Figure 4, the RF/control block 130 portion of the base station 10 includes an RF block 85 to permit transmission and reception of digital information on the wireless LAN, a USB controller 125 to transfer data and control information to and from the PC 20, a PC input device 25 input/output block 230 to dynamically select between the keyboard and pointing device 70 inputs from the wireless keyboard 15 or from the PC 20, a keyboard controller 100 to format the received key sequences from the wireless keyboard 15 for the PC 20, memory (non-volatile and volatile) for code and data storage and a microprocessor 95 to perform data stream encoding/decoding, packet routing, security management, keyboard controller interface, selection between the human input devices 25 local to the PC 20 or from the wireless keyboard 15, video scan converter 145 control, On-Screen display controller interface, USB controller 125 interface and firmware management.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 System Description The invention's system architecture is composed of three blocks:
1. The base station 10
BASE STATION FOR LOCAL AREA NETWORK
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to base stations for local area networks. More particularly, the invention relates to base stations for local area networks including auxiliary wireless human input devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, local area networks are used to interconnect PCs together for information and software sharing, as well as to permit the sharing of hardware resources such as printers. Wireless LANs also exist wherein no cabling between PCs, printers and base station is required. Also known are wireless keyboards and pointing devices, as well as conversion hardware to convert the PC's video signals (VGA or SVGA) to a format viewable on a television.
The vast majority of remote keyboards use infrared technology and are in line of sight of a receiver which is hooked up in the keyboard and/or mouse connectors of the PC.
The user generally can not switch between the local and remote keyboard and mouse on the fly. Video conversion hardware, by contrast, are separate products available as stand-alone boxes, on high end PCI video graphics cards, or as television production equipment. Unfortunately, none of these products accommodates the audio signal from the PC.
On the home automation and security front, systems are available that are controlled through a control console, and some systems also use wireless methods for communicating with the control consoles. These systems are separate and distinct from a PC, even though PCs have more than enough processing capacity for these types of applications.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless LAN for sending commands from a wireless keyboard and pointing device to a PC and displaying the PC's video on a television anywhere else in a house or office.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless LAN for communication between the PC, the wireless keyboard, and electronic, electrical or electro-mechanical devices equipped with a wireless interface. Such devices could be for home automation, home security or appliance control.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a human input interface and video/audio output platform for cartridge-contained systems with processor, software and memory specific applications such as video games, web browsers, spreadsheets, etc.
According to the invention, there is provided a base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising: means for interfacing with a PC
having traditional human input/output devices; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input/output devices and an auxiliary human input/output device.
According to the invention, there is further provided a base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising: means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device; a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
According to the invention, there is further provided a method for using a base station to control traffic on a wireless LAN by assigning source and destination addresses based on device IDs and routing data between sources and destinations, the base station dynamically supporting a wireless keyboard and a PC's local human input/output devices, the LAN including a PC and a wireless keyboard, comprising the steps of: (a) when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC
receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouselgame port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode; (b) when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF
transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration; and (c) when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being de-modulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
Other advantages, objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and claims.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an RF Local Area Network embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a block diagram of the Hardware Architecture of the wireless keyboard and the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 3a is a front view of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 3b is a back view of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a block diagram of the architecture of the base station of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the wireless keyboard of Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a block diagram of the architecture of the wireless keyboard of Figure 1.
Similar references are used in the Figures to denote similar components.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The illustrated embodiment of the invention provides to the user full remote access to a PC 20 from any television 30 in a house. In addition, the invention, through a USB
connection to the PC 20, enables the PC 20 to interface and control a multitude of devices for house automation or other purposes as they become available.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
Referring to Figure 1, a local area network (LAN) includes, a PC 20, a wireless keyboard 15, wireless devices 35 and a base station 10. Connected to the base station 10 is a television 30.
The television 30 is a conventional television 30 using either the NTSC or PAL standard. It is connected to the base station 10, from which it can receive the converted video and audio signals of the PC 20. It is not necessarily located in the same room as the PC 20.
The PC 20 typically includes memory, a central processor, firmware for BIOS, an operating system and application software which usually reside on mass storage devices such as floppy disks, hard drives or CD-ROMs, human input devices such as a QWERTY keyboard and a pointing device 25, a monitor, a sound card and external speakers. It is located anywhere in the house.
Referring to Figure 2, the system architecture comprises two main blocks, the wireless keyboard 15 and the base station 10. The base station 10 comprises two main blocks, the RF/control block 130 and the video block 135.
The wireless keyboard 15, as shown in Figure 5, includes a key membrane, a pointing device 70 and a game port 75.
Referring to Figure 6, it can be seen that the wireless keyboard 15 also includes a microcontroller 60 to perform data stream encoding/decoding, keyboard, pointing device 70 and game port 75 scanning and security and power management, a baseband block and a RF transceiver with it's antenna.
The wireless devices 35, along with their device specific hardware, include a microcontroller, a baseband block and a RF
transceiver with it's antenna.
CA 022044~ l997-0~-0~
The base station 10 is the core of the LAN for the above and includes, as depicted in Figure 2 and in more detail in Figure 4, a RF/control block 130 and a video block 135.
Referring to Figure 4, the video block 135 portion of the base station 10 includes a video scan converter 145 for converting the VGA or SVGA video signals from the PC 20 to a format acceptable for a television 30 such as NTSC in North America or PAL in Europe [or HDTV in the future], an on-screen display controller 140 for overlaying text on a television signal, a NTSC/PAL audio and video mixer for integrating the left and right audio signals in the television signal, a channel select block 155 that is controlled by the RF/control block 130, and a RF modulator 160 for modulating the resulting television signal to a pre-selected CATV channel.
Again, referring to Figure 4, the RF/control block 130 portion of the base station 10 includes an RF block 85 to permit transmission and reception of digital information on the wireless LAN, a USB controller 125 to transfer data and control information to and from the PC 20, a PC input device 25 input/output block 230 to dynamically select between the keyboard and pointing device 70 inputs from the wireless keyboard 15 or from the PC 20, a keyboard controller 100 to format the received key sequences from the wireless keyboard 15 for the PC 20, memory (non-volatile and volatile) for code and data storage and a microprocessor 95 to perform data stream encoding/decoding, packet routing, security management, keyboard controller interface, selection between the human input devices 25 local to the PC 20 or from the wireless keyboard 15, video scan converter 145 control, On-Screen display controller interface, USB controller 125 interface and firmware management.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 System Description The invention's system architecture is composed of three blocks:
1. The base station 10
2. The wireless keyboard 15
3. The cable signal mixer As a system, the invention's provides to the user full remote access to a PC 20 from any television 30 in a house. In addition, the invention, through a USB connection to the PC 20, enables the PC 20 to interface and control a multitude of devices for house automation or other purposes as they become available. It's also through the USB interface that the PC 20 can download new firmware to the base station 10. Once configured through either the PC 20 or the On-screen menus, the base station 10 can function in stand-alone mode as a control unit and base station 10 for the devices on the wireless LAN.
To achieve full remote access to a PC 20, the user enters keyboard and mouse commands on the wireless keyboard 15. The micro-controller 60 packetizes these sources after which they are transmitted using RF to the base station 10 and passed along to the PC 20 through it's keyboard, mouse and game ports.
The base station 10 receives and converts the video and audio signals from the PC 20 to a NTSC or PAL format acceptable to a television 30 which is modulated to a pre-selected CATV
channel so that it can be merged with the house CATV network using the cable signal mixer.
At the PC 20, the base station 10 performs the following main functions:
RF channel selection LAN controller CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
buffers and routes the information to their respective destinations (eg. PC 20 keyboard connector for data from the wireless keyboard 15 and PC 20 USB for other devices on the wireless house network) receives input device signals from the invention~s wireless keyboard 15 and formats them for the PC 20 on either the PC's input device connector or as USB devices serves as a selector for either the PC's local input devices 25 or the invention's wireless keyboard 15 NTSC/PAL signal generation from VGA/SVGA through video scan conversion or by combining composite video and audio from the PC 20 provides on-screen menus on the NTSC/PAL signal for user configuration modulates the NTSC/PAL signal to a pre-selectable cable channel frequency and outputs the resulting signal to the cable signal mixer (this may be performed through a coax cable or through a high bandwidth RF channel) interface with the PC 20 through a USB port for firmware upgrade, configuration and data transfer between the PC
20 and various devices selects either the PC's local monitor and speakers or the remote television 30 set for the video and sound signals from the PC 20 It has on the front a LED indicator for power, a switch to put the base station 10 in 'Remote mode' and a switch for 'Passcode mode'.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 On the back, there are:
a power input connector a USB connector a video composite input connector sets of dual input/output connectors for the PC~s video - HD-15F connectors the mouse - PS/2 female connectors the keyboard - PS/2 female connectors the audio - stereo 1/8" jacks the game port - DB-15F connectors Also on the back are a coax output connector and video composite output connectors.
Remotely, the wireless keyboard 15 performs the following main functions:
It converts and packetizes the invention's keyboard, pointing device 70 and game port 75 information It modulates and transmits the data stream information on the chosen channel It performs the passcode entry functions It performs battery management and power down control As well as the keypad 65, there are connectors for the power entry and the game port 75 (DB-15F).
The invention's cable signal mixer performs the following functions:
mixes the invention's signal onto the house cable wiring CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
provides a uni-directional wall to prevent the invention's signal to exit the house.
The following paragraphs describe the invention's system operation and architecture.
The base station 10 serves as a LAN router for the traffic on the house wireless LAN. It controls the traffic on the LAN
by assigning source and destination addresses based on the device IDs and routes the data between the sources and destinations. Configuration data is entered either through on-screen menus using the wireless keyboard 15 or through the USB port using Windows based software.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is inactive, the PC 20 receives it's input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game ports. All dual input/output ports are in loop mode.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is active and in configuration mode:
the keyboard/mouse/game port inputs are received by the base station lO's RF transceiver from the wireless keyboard 15. The data stream is de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station 10.
the base station 10 provides on-screen menus and help to guide the user through the configuration.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is active and in normal mode:
the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs are received by the base station lO's RF transceiver from the wireless keyboard 15. The data stream is de-modulated CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC 20 onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB
connector.
the base station 10 converts the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixes it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to a previously selected channel. Alternatively, the base station 10 can accept a composite video signal from the PC 20 to produce the full NTSC/PAL signal.
The packaging of the invention's PC 20 and base station 10 consists of sheet metal and plastics. The keyboard is made of plastics. Visible on the base station 10 is a status Light Emitting Diode (LED). Green LEDs monitor power to the units and yellow LEDs monitor whether the wireless connections are up.
The base station 10 is powered by an external AC-to-DC power supply. The wireless keyboard 15 is battery powered.
The following sections give a finer detailed description of the various components that make up the invention.
A detailed description of the base station 10 follows.
The base station 10 is basically a wireless base station 10, operating in the 902-928 MHz IMF band, connected to a PC
20 through its input device connectors (i.e. keyboard, mouse and joystick) and a USB port, with an integrated video scan converter 145 for VGA to NTSC/PAL conversion.
The invention's base station lO's architecture is shown in Figure 4. There are three input/output blocks - one for each keyboard input device:
1. the keyboard 2. the pointing device 3. the game port CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
The input/output blocks serve as selectors between the local and remote input devices. They also provide the proper drivers for the PC 20.
A dedicated keyboard controller 100 (eg. W83C43) is used to handle the communication protocol between the wireless keyboard 15 and PC 20. This dedicated controller also supports the PS/2 mouse format. This ensures compatibility between the wireless keyboard 15 and pointing device and the PC 20 while permitting custom secure protocols on the RF link between the wireless keyboard 15 and the base station 10.
A microprocessor 95 is used to perform the following functions:
~ Data stream encoding/decoding The data stream from the wireless keyboard 15 uses a proprietary packet format which provides for secure encoding (using a user supplied passcode) and robustness for reliable wireless transmission while minimizing the effective data rate over the RF link. The microprocessor 95 packetizes and de-packetizes the data for transmission over the RF link. Based on the data packet's destination information, the microprocessor 95 processes and forwards the data to the appropriate device (i.e. keyboard controller 100, game port, video scan converter 145, RF
transceivers, etc.).
~ Packet routing The microprocessor 95 handles the data stream conversion and routing of the data and control information flow between the base station 10, the PC 20 and other devices on the wireless house network.
The microprocessor 95 assigns source and destination addresses to all devices and/or processes on the wireless CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
LAN. It routes and formats data and commands from sources to destinations according to its routing tables.
~ Passcode management Passcodes are derived from a two key combination sequence that the user enters on the wireless keyboard 15 when the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 are both in 'Passcode Mode'. The Passcode is used to encode/decode the data from the wireless keyboard 15 to ensure privacy.
The Passcode is stored in non-volatile memory.
~ Keyboard controller interface The microprocessor 95 decodes the keypad and pointing device information from the wireless keyboard 15 and presents it to the keyboard controller 100 as if it was a keypad and mouse. It also receives from the keyboard controller 100 specific keyboard commands from the PC 20 and acts accordingly (eg. reset).
~ Selection between the remote and local input devices for the PC 20 The base station 10, when the 'Remote Enable' switch is in the on position, is always listening for the scan instruction from the wireless keyboard 15. When the instruction is received, the base station 10 disables the PC 20's local input devices and sends to the PC 20 what it receives from the wireless keyboard 15.
~ Video scan converter control Video scan converters have programmable features such as flicker filtering and over/underscanning. Depending on the video scan converter 145, the features are controlled either by asserting specific pins or with an I2C
interface.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
~ On-screen display controller interface The On-screen display controller 140 provides for displaying text over the NTSC/PAL signal when the user enters configuration mode on the wireless keyboard 15.
The microprocessor 95 controls the On-screen display controller 140 to display configuration menus on the television 30.
~ USB controller 125 interface The USB controller 125 is the link between the PC 20 and the base station's microprocessor 95 and all devices on the wireless LAN. The wireless keyboard 15 can also behave as a USB keyboard, USB mouse and USB j oystick.
~ Firmware management New firmware for the base station 10 can be downloaded from the PC 20 through the USB interface. For this, the base station 10 contains static storage space sufficient for two firmware images: the downloaded image and the active image. The microprocessor 95 switches from the active image to the downloaded image only after the downloaded image's integrity has been verified and following a successful re-boot, sets the downloaded image as the active image.
The baseband processor block 200 performs the following functions:
~ RF channel scanning and selection The RF transceivers in the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 can operate on multiple RF channels in the 902~928 MHz frequency range. Whenever the wireless keyboard 15 is powered on or at the user's demand, the wireless keyboard 15 sends the scan instruction on all channels. When the scan instruction is received from the wireless keyboard 15, the baseband processor block 200 selects each channel one by one on the RF receiver, polls CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
the receiver's signal strength indicator and based on that information, chooses a clear channel. The selected channel information is then sent to all RF devices on the wireless LAN, including the wireless keyboard 15 (on all channels).
~ Rate adaption The baseband processor block 200 performs rate adaption between the microprocessor 95's data stream and the bit rate on the wireless LAN.
~ Framing The baseband processor block 200 performs framing for the time division multiplexing that is used to transmit to multiple devices on the wireless LAN.
~ Intermediate frequency (IF) modulation/demodulation The baseband processor block 200 performs IF modulation and demodulation between the digital frames and the RF
transceiver's analog IF signal. Clocking information is embedded/extracted from the analog IF signal.
The RF transceiver in the base station 10 can operate in two modes: FM and frequency hopping spread spectrum, both in the 902-928 MHz frequency range. Typically, FM is used by power conscious devices-(eg. the wireless keyboard 15) to transmit to the base station 10 whereas frequency hopping is used when privacy is preferred.
The USB controller 125 is the communication link between the invention and the PC 20. It conforms to USB 1.5 Mbps Specification, Version 1Ø
The base station 10 has volatile and non-volatile re-writable memory (eg. Flash). The volatile memory is used to build router tables, for packet buffering and formatting. the CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
non-volatile memory is used for firmware storage. Space for two firmware images is necessary for downloading through the USB
interface from the PC 20: the active image space and the download image space.
The video scan converter 145 is a third party device that converts computer video (VGA) to television video (composite).
It's programmable features include flicker filtering and over/underscanning. Resolutions of 640x480 and 800x600 are supported.
The NTSC/PAL audio/video mixer 150 combines the audio form the PC 20 and either the composite video output of the video scan converter 145 or the composite video input connector on the base station 10 to form a complete NTSC/PAL signal. The On-screen display signal from the On-screen controller is also combined with the NTSC/PAL signal in this block.
The On-screen display controller 140 provides for displaying text over the NTSC/PAL signal when the user enters configuration mode on the wireless keyboard 15. The microprocessor 95 controls the On-screen display controller 140 to display configuration menus on the television 30.
In the channel select block 155, the NTSC/PAL signal can be modulated either on channel 3 or on upper channels. The user can, when in configuration mode, select the channel using the wireless keyboard 15 through key combinations through On-screen menus on the television 30. The microprocessor 95 receives the control information from the wireless keyboard 15 and sets the channel select block 155's registers which in turn selects the frequency for the RF modulator 160.
The NTSC/PAL signal is modulated on the selected channel by the RF modulator 160. The output of this block is sent on the coax connector to the cable signal mixer CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
The base station lO's packaging consists of sheet metal with a molded plastic faceplate. Its approximate size is 12" x 1.5" x 6".
The following sections give an overview of the wireless keyboard 15's architecture and functionality.
The Alexis System's wireless keyboard 15 is based on existing third-party PC 20 input device designs. These designs are modified to house a rechargeable battery pack and a proprietary PCB for the keyboard matrix 65, pointing device 70 and game port 75 RF data stream transmitter 210 and receiver 220.
Referring to Figure 6, the keyboard matrix 65 is a third party key membrane and connects to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. The pointing device 70 is a third-party mechanical assembly and connects to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. The game port connector (15-pin D-submin) and associated receivers connect to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. Initial product offering may support gamepad-type (digital) devices only with support for analog joysticks in the near future.
An 8x51-based microcontroller 60 is used to perform the following functions.
The microcontroller 60 is a low power device and in addition, it powers down between keystrokes. Also, through an integrated ADC, the microcontroller 60 monitors battery voltage status. The microcontroller 60 performs the scanning and debouncing of the keyboard matrix 65. It converts through a look up table the keystrokes in scancodes. The microcontroller supports PS/2 compatible pointing devices. Through an integrated four channel 8-bit ADC, the microcontroller 60 digitizes the game port 75 analog signals. The data stream from CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
the wireless keyboard 15 uses a proprietary packet format which provides for secure encoding (using a user supplied passcode) and robustness for reliable wireless transmission while minimizing the effective data rate over the RF link. The microcontroller 60 packetizes and de-packetizes the data for transmission over the RF link. Based on the data packet's destination information, the microcontroller 60 processes and forwards the data to the appropriate device (i.e. keyboard controller 100, game port, video scan converter 145, RF
transceivers, etc.). Passcodes are derived from a two key combination sequence that the user enters on the wireless keyboard 15 when the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 are both in 'Passcode Mode'. The Passcode is used to encode/decode the data from the wireless keyboard 15 to ensure privacy. The Passcode is stored in non-volatile memory. The microcontroller 60 controls the data and control information transfers between itself and the baseband processor block 200.
The baseband processor block 200 performs the following functions.
The RF transceivers in the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 can operate on multiple RF channels in the 902~928 MHz frequency range. Whenever the wireless keyboard 15 is powered on or at the user's demand, the wireless keyboard 15 sends the scan instruction on all channels. When the scan instruction is received from the wireless keyboard 15, the baseband processor block 200 selects each channel one by one on the RF receiver, polls the receiver's signal strength indicator and based on that information, chooses a clear channel. The selected channel information is then sent to all RF devices on the wireless LAN, including the wireless keyboard 15 (on all channels). The baseband processor block 200 performs rate adaption between the microcontroller 60's data stream and the bit rate on the wireless LAN. The baseband processor block 200 performs framing for the time division multiplexing that CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
is used to transmit to multiple devices on the wireless LAN.
The baseband processor block 200 performs IF modulation and demodulation between the digital frames and the RF
transceiver's analog IF signal. Clocking information is embedded/extracted from the analog IF signal.
The RF transceiver in the base station 10 can operate in two modes: FM and frequency hopping spread spectrum, both in the 902-928 MHz frequency range. Typically, FM is used by power conscious devices (eg. the wireless keyboard 15) to transmit to the base station 10 whereas frequency hopping is used when privacy is preferred.
The cable signal mixer mixes the base station lO's coax NTSC/PAL video output onto the house cable network. The base station's coax signal output is modulated to either channel 3 or on a unused channels in the upper range.
The cable signal mixer also provides upstream isolation so that the PC 20's video information stays in the local (i.e.
home) cable network. It has three male threaded connectors for the upstream feed, the downstream feed and the base station lO's coax output.
The invention comes equipped with two third-party AC-to-DC
power converters for the base station 10 and the keyboard and a rechargeable battery pack for the keyboard. The external charger for the keyboard battery pack is also a third-party product.
The invention requires software in both the base station 10 and the wireless keyboard 15.
Software functions performed by the wireless keyboard 15 are: keyboard matrix 65 scanning, pointing device 70 scanning, game port 75 scanning, RF channel scanning, Passcode CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
management, data stream encoding/decoding, packetizing/de-packetizing the input devices data, including checksum calculation, RF transceiver control, and power management.
Software functions performed by the base station 10 are:
USB controller 125 interface, firmware management, detection of remote operation, RF channel scanning and selection, Passcode management, selection between the remote and local input devices for the PC 20, data stream encoding/decoding, packetizing/de-packetizing the input devices data, including checksum calculation, RF transceiver control, conversion of keyboard stream for keyboard controller 100, conversion of pointing device 70 stream for keyboard controller 100, game port interface, keyboard controller 100 interface, video scan converter 145 control, On-screen display controller interface, On-screen configuration menus, and NTSC/PAL channel selection.
Alternative embodiments of the present invention are possible by incorporating some or all of the described functionality inside the PC either as plug-in boards or even on the motherboard. An example of this would be to have a PCI
card that would create the NTSC or PAL signal directly from instructions from the PC's processor (eliminating the need for video scan conversion) and have a USB port for the link between the PC and the base station. This base station would be as described before except for the video scan converter and the support for the PC's human input devices; these would remain connected to their traditional connectors on the PC while the wireless keyboards input would appear to the PC as USB devices as would the other wireless devices on the LAN.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide a platform for cartridge-contained systems with processor, software and memory for specific applications such as video games, web browsers, spreadsheets, etc. This can be CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
accomplished by using the base station as a human input interface and video/audio output as well as a wireless base station.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to permit multi-user/multi-sessions on a single PC while using multiple wireless keyboards and multiple televisions with a single base station. This base station would forward the keyboard and pointing device information form multiple wireless keyboards as user unique input to the PC. The PC would provide a video output per user which the base station would convert and modulate on indlvidual channels for each user.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to use flat-panel screens for remote viewing of the PC's display. This embodiment would preserve to a greater extent the quality of the image but at this point remains unpractical due to the high cost of such displays.
At this point in time, the other wireless devices that use the invention can be seen to be: home automation devices, 900MHz phones that could be used to communicate with the invention and by that fact, the PC through the public phone system, wireless microphones with which the PC could perform voice and command recognition, wireless alarm systems, house appliances such as VCRs and CD players for which it would be simpler to enter configuration data if the PC was involved, etc. As can be seen by this more than incomplete list, the PC
with its processing power and its many programmers is a tool that has a large potential with the present invention for wireless access to electronic or electromechanical devices.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the particular embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.
To achieve full remote access to a PC 20, the user enters keyboard and mouse commands on the wireless keyboard 15. The micro-controller 60 packetizes these sources after which they are transmitted using RF to the base station 10 and passed along to the PC 20 through it's keyboard, mouse and game ports.
The base station 10 receives and converts the video and audio signals from the PC 20 to a NTSC or PAL format acceptable to a television 30 which is modulated to a pre-selected CATV
channel so that it can be merged with the house CATV network using the cable signal mixer.
At the PC 20, the base station 10 performs the following main functions:
RF channel selection LAN controller CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
buffers and routes the information to their respective destinations (eg. PC 20 keyboard connector for data from the wireless keyboard 15 and PC 20 USB for other devices on the wireless house network) receives input device signals from the invention~s wireless keyboard 15 and formats them for the PC 20 on either the PC's input device connector or as USB devices serves as a selector for either the PC's local input devices 25 or the invention's wireless keyboard 15 NTSC/PAL signal generation from VGA/SVGA through video scan conversion or by combining composite video and audio from the PC 20 provides on-screen menus on the NTSC/PAL signal for user configuration modulates the NTSC/PAL signal to a pre-selectable cable channel frequency and outputs the resulting signal to the cable signal mixer (this may be performed through a coax cable or through a high bandwidth RF channel) interface with the PC 20 through a USB port for firmware upgrade, configuration and data transfer between the PC
20 and various devices selects either the PC's local monitor and speakers or the remote television 30 set for the video and sound signals from the PC 20 It has on the front a LED indicator for power, a switch to put the base station 10 in 'Remote mode' and a switch for 'Passcode mode'.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0 On the back, there are:
a power input connector a USB connector a video composite input connector sets of dual input/output connectors for the PC~s video - HD-15F connectors the mouse - PS/2 female connectors the keyboard - PS/2 female connectors the audio - stereo 1/8" jacks the game port - DB-15F connectors Also on the back are a coax output connector and video composite output connectors.
Remotely, the wireless keyboard 15 performs the following main functions:
It converts and packetizes the invention's keyboard, pointing device 70 and game port 75 information It modulates and transmits the data stream information on the chosen channel It performs the passcode entry functions It performs battery management and power down control As well as the keypad 65, there are connectors for the power entry and the game port 75 (DB-15F).
The invention's cable signal mixer performs the following functions:
mixes the invention's signal onto the house cable wiring CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
provides a uni-directional wall to prevent the invention's signal to exit the house.
The following paragraphs describe the invention's system operation and architecture.
The base station 10 serves as a LAN router for the traffic on the house wireless LAN. It controls the traffic on the LAN
by assigning source and destination addresses based on the device IDs and routes the data between the sources and destinations. Configuration data is entered either through on-screen menus using the wireless keyboard 15 or through the USB port using Windows based software.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is inactive, the PC 20 receives it's input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game ports. All dual input/output ports are in loop mode.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is active and in configuration mode:
the keyboard/mouse/game port inputs are received by the base station lO's RF transceiver from the wireless keyboard 15. The data stream is de-modulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station 10.
the base station 10 provides on-screen menus and help to guide the user through the configuration.
When the invention's wireless keyboard 15 is active and in normal mode:
the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs are received by the base station lO's RF transceiver from the wireless keyboard 15. The data stream is de-modulated CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC 20 onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB
connector.
the base station 10 converts the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixes it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to a previously selected channel. Alternatively, the base station 10 can accept a composite video signal from the PC 20 to produce the full NTSC/PAL signal.
The packaging of the invention's PC 20 and base station 10 consists of sheet metal and plastics. The keyboard is made of plastics. Visible on the base station 10 is a status Light Emitting Diode (LED). Green LEDs monitor power to the units and yellow LEDs monitor whether the wireless connections are up.
The base station 10 is powered by an external AC-to-DC power supply. The wireless keyboard 15 is battery powered.
The following sections give a finer detailed description of the various components that make up the invention.
A detailed description of the base station 10 follows.
The base station 10 is basically a wireless base station 10, operating in the 902-928 MHz IMF band, connected to a PC
20 through its input device connectors (i.e. keyboard, mouse and joystick) and a USB port, with an integrated video scan converter 145 for VGA to NTSC/PAL conversion.
The invention's base station lO's architecture is shown in Figure 4. There are three input/output blocks - one for each keyboard input device:
1. the keyboard 2. the pointing device 3. the game port CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
The input/output blocks serve as selectors between the local and remote input devices. They also provide the proper drivers for the PC 20.
A dedicated keyboard controller 100 (eg. W83C43) is used to handle the communication protocol between the wireless keyboard 15 and PC 20. This dedicated controller also supports the PS/2 mouse format. This ensures compatibility between the wireless keyboard 15 and pointing device and the PC 20 while permitting custom secure protocols on the RF link between the wireless keyboard 15 and the base station 10.
A microprocessor 95 is used to perform the following functions:
~ Data stream encoding/decoding The data stream from the wireless keyboard 15 uses a proprietary packet format which provides for secure encoding (using a user supplied passcode) and robustness for reliable wireless transmission while minimizing the effective data rate over the RF link. The microprocessor 95 packetizes and de-packetizes the data for transmission over the RF link. Based on the data packet's destination information, the microprocessor 95 processes and forwards the data to the appropriate device (i.e. keyboard controller 100, game port, video scan converter 145, RF
transceivers, etc.).
~ Packet routing The microprocessor 95 handles the data stream conversion and routing of the data and control information flow between the base station 10, the PC 20 and other devices on the wireless house network.
The microprocessor 95 assigns source and destination addresses to all devices and/or processes on the wireless CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
LAN. It routes and formats data and commands from sources to destinations according to its routing tables.
~ Passcode management Passcodes are derived from a two key combination sequence that the user enters on the wireless keyboard 15 when the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 are both in 'Passcode Mode'. The Passcode is used to encode/decode the data from the wireless keyboard 15 to ensure privacy.
The Passcode is stored in non-volatile memory.
~ Keyboard controller interface The microprocessor 95 decodes the keypad and pointing device information from the wireless keyboard 15 and presents it to the keyboard controller 100 as if it was a keypad and mouse. It also receives from the keyboard controller 100 specific keyboard commands from the PC 20 and acts accordingly (eg. reset).
~ Selection between the remote and local input devices for the PC 20 The base station 10, when the 'Remote Enable' switch is in the on position, is always listening for the scan instruction from the wireless keyboard 15. When the instruction is received, the base station 10 disables the PC 20's local input devices and sends to the PC 20 what it receives from the wireless keyboard 15.
~ Video scan converter control Video scan converters have programmable features such as flicker filtering and over/underscanning. Depending on the video scan converter 145, the features are controlled either by asserting specific pins or with an I2C
interface.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
~ On-screen display controller interface The On-screen display controller 140 provides for displaying text over the NTSC/PAL signal when the user enters configuration mode on the wireless keyboard 15.
The microprocessor 95 controls the On-screen display controller 140 to display configuration menus on the television 30.
~ USB controller 125 interface The USB controller 125 is the link between the PC 20 and the base station's microprocessor 95 and all devices on the wireless LAN. The wireless keyboard 15 can also behave as a USB keyboard, USB mouse and USB j oystick.
~ Firmware management New firmware for the base station 10 can be downloaded from the PC 20 through the USB interface. For this, the base station 10 contains static storage space sufficient for two firmware images: the downloaded image and the active image. The microprocessor 95 switches from the active image to the downloaded image only after the downloaded image's integrity has been verified and following a successful re-boot, sets the downloaded image as the active image.
The baseband processor block 200 performs the following functions:
~ RF channel scanning and selection The RF transceivers in the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 can operate on multiple RF channels in the 902~928 MHz frequency range. Whenever the wireless keyboard 15 is powered on or at the user's demand, the wireless keyboard 15 sends the scan instruction on all channels. When the scan instruction is received from the wireless keyboard 15, the baseband processor block 200 selects each channel one by one on the RF receiver, polls CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
the receiver's signal strength indicator and based on that information, chooses a clear channel. The selected channel information is then sent to all RF devices on the wireless LAN, including the wireless keyboard 15 (on all channels).
~ Rate adaption The baseband processor block 200 performs rate adaption between the microprocessor 95's data stream and the bit rate on the wireless LAN.
~ Framing The baseband processor block 200 performs framing for the time division multiplexing that is used to transmit to multiple devices on the wireless LAN.
~ Intermediate frequency (IF) modulation/demodulation The baseband processor block 200 performs IF modulation and demodulation between the digital frames and the RF
transceiver's analog IF signal. Clocking information is embedded/extracted from the analog IF signal.
The RF transceiver in the base station 10 can operate in two modes: FM and frequency hopping spread spectrum, both in the 902-928 MHz frequency range. Typically, FM is used by power conscious devices-(eg. the wireless keyboard 15) to transmit to the base station 10 whereas frequency hopping is used when privacy is preferred.
The USB controller 125 is the communication link between the invention and the PC 20. It conforms to USB 1.5 Mbps Specification, Version 1Ø
The base station 10 has volatile and non-volatile re-writable memory (eg. Flash). The volatile memory is used to build router tables, for packet buffering and formatting. the CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
non-volatile memory is used for firmware storage. Space for two firmware images is necessary for downloading through the USB
interface from the PC 20: the active image space and the download image space.
The video scan converter 145 is a third party device that converts computer video (VGA) to television video (composite).
It's programmable features include flicker filtering and over/underscanning. Resolutions of 640x480 and 800x600 are supported.
The NTSC/PAL audio/video mixer 150 combines the audio form the PC 20 and either the composite video output of the video scan converter 145 or the composite video input connector on the base station 10 to form a complete NTSC/PAL signal. The On-screen display signal from the On-screen controller is also combined with the NTSC/PAL signal in this block.
The On-screen display controller 140 provides for displaying text over the NTSC/PAL signal when the user enters configuration mode on the wireless keyboard 15. The microprocessor 95 controls the On-screen display controller 140 to display configuration menus on the television 30.
In the channel select block 155, the NTSC/PAL signal can be modulated either on channel 3 or on upper channels. The user can, when in configuration mode, select the channel using the wireless keyboard 15 through key combinations through On-screen menus on the television 30. The microprocessor 95 receives the control information from the wireless keyboard 15 and sets the channel select block 155's registers which in turn selects the frequency for the RF modulator 160.
The NTSC/PAL signal is modulated on the selected channel by the RF modulator 160. The output of this block is sent on the coax connector to the cable signal mixer CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
The base station lO's packaging consists of sheet metal with a molded plastic faceplate. Its approximate size is 12" x 1.5" x 6".
The following sections give an overview of the wireless keyboard 15's architecture and functionality.
The Alexis System's wireless keyboard 15 is based on existing third-party PC 20 input device designs. These designs are modified to house a rechargeable battery pack and a proprietary PCB for the keyboard matrix 65, pointing device 70 and game port 75 RF data stream transmitter 210 and receiver 220.
Referring to Figure 6, the keyboard matrix 65 is a third party key membrane and connects to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. The pointing device 70 is a third-party mechanical assembly and connects to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. The game port connector (15-pin D-submin) and associated receivers connect to the PCB for scanning by the microcontroller 60. Initial product offering may support gamepad-type (digital) devices only with support for analog joysticks in the near future.
An 8x51-based microcontroller 60 is used to perform the following functions.
The microcontroller 60 is a low power device and in addition, it powers down between keystrokes. Also, through an integrated ADC, the microcontroller 60 monitors battery voltage status. The microcontroller 60 performs the scanning and debouncing of the keyboard matrix 65. It converts through a look up table the keystrokes in scancodes. The microcontroller supports PS/2 compatible pointing devices. Through an integrated four channel 8-bit ADC, the microcontroller 60 digitizes the game port 75 analog signals. The data stream from CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
the wireless keyboard 15 uses a proprietary packet format which provides for secure encoding (using a user supplied passcode) and robustness for reliable wireless transmission while minimizing the effective data rate over the RF link. The microcontroller 60 packetizes and de-packetizes the data for transmission over the RF link. Based on the data packet's destination information, the microcontroller 60 processes and forwards the data to the appropriate device (i.e. keyboard controller 100, game port, video scan converter 145, RF
transceivers, etc.). Passcodes are derived from a two key combination sequence that the user enters on the wireless keyboard 15 when the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 are both in 'Passcode Mode'. The Passcode is used to encode/decode the data from the wireless keyboard 15 to ensure privacy. The Passcode is stored in non-volatile memory. The microcontroller 60 controls the data and control information transfers between itself and the baseband processor block 200.
The baseband processor block 200 performs the following functions.
The RF transceivers in the base station 10 and wireless keyboard 15 can operate on multiple RF channels in the 902~928 MHz frequency range. Whenever the wireless keyboard 15 is powered on or at the user's demand, the wireless keyboard 15 sends the scan instruction on all channels. When the scan instruction is received from the wireless keyboard 15, the baseband processor block 200 selects each channel one by one on the RF receiver, polls the receiver's signal strength indicator and based on that information, chooses a clear channel. The selected channel information is then sent to all RF devices on the wireless LAN, including the wireless keyboard 15 (on all channels). The baseband processor block 200 performs rate adaption between the microcontroller 60's data stream and the bit rate on the wireless LAN. The baseband processor block 200 performs framing for the time division multiplexing that CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
is used to transmit to multiple devices on the wireless LAN.
The baseband processor block 200 performs IF modulation and demodulation between the digital frames and the RF
transceiver's analog IF signal. Clocking information is embedded/extracted from the analog IF signal.
The RF transceiver in the base station 10 can operate in two modes: FM and frequency hopping spread spectrum, both in the 902-928 MHz frequency range. Typically, FM is used by power conscious devices (eg. the wireless keyboard 15) to transmit to the base station 10 whereas frequency hopping is used when privacy is preferred.
The cable signal mixer mixes the base station lO's coax NTSC/PAL video output onto the house cable network. The base station's coax signal output is modulated to either channel 3 or on a unused channels in the upper range.
The cable signal mixer also provides upstream isolation so that the PC 20's video information stays in the local (i.e.
home) cable network. It has three male threaded connectors for the upstream feed, the downstream feed and the base station lO's coax output.
The invention comes equipped with two third-party AC-to-DC
power converters for the base station 10 and the keyboard and a rechargeable battery pack for the keyboard. The external charger for the keyboard battery pack is also a third-party product.
The invention requires software in both the base station 10 and the wireless keyboard 15.
Software functions performed by the wireless keyboard 15 are: keyboard matrix 65 scanning, pointing device 70 scanning, game port 75 scanning, RF channel scanning, Passcode CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
management, data stream encoding/decoding, packetizing/de-packetizing the input devices data, including checksum calculation, RF transceiver control, and power management.
Software functions performed by the base station 10 are:
USB controller 125 interface, firmware management, detection of remote operation, RF channel scanning and selection, Passcode management, selection between the remote and local input devices for the PC 20, data stream encoding/decoding, packetizing/de-packetizing the input devices data, including checksum calculation, RF transceiver control, conversion of keyboard stream for keyboard controller 100, conversion of pointing device 70 stream for keyboard controller 100, game port interface, keyboard controller 100 interface, video scan converter 145 control, On-screen display controller interface, On-screen configuration menus, and NTSC/PAL channel selection.
Alternative embodiments of the present invention are possible by incorporating some or all of the described functionality inside the PC either as plug-in boards or even on the motherboard. An example of this would be to have a PCI
card that would create the NTSC or PAL signal directly from instructions from the PC's processor (eliminating the need for video scan conversion) and have a USB port for the link between the PC and the base station. This base station would be as described before except for the video scan converter and the support for the PC's human input devices; these would remain connected to their traditional connectors on the PC while the wireless keyboards input would appear to the PC as USB devices as would the other wireless devices on the LAN.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide a platform for cartridge-contained systems with processor, software and memory for specific applications such as video games, web browsers, spreadsheets, etc. This can be CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
accomplished by using the base station as a human input interface and video/audio output as well as a wireless base station.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to permit multi-user/multi-sessions on a single PC while using multiple wireless keyboards and multiple televisions with a single base station. This base station would forward the keyboard and pointing device information form multiple wireless keyboards as user unique input to the PC. The PC would provide a video output per user which the base station would convert and modulate on indlvidual channels for each user.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to use flat-panel screens for remote viewing of the PC's display. This embodiment would preserve to a greater extent the quality of the image but at this point remains unpractical due to the high cost of such displays.
At this point in time, the other wireless devices that use the invention can be seen to be: home automation devices, 900MHz phones that could be used to communicate with the invention and by that fact, the PC through the public phone system, wireless microphones with which the PC could perform voice and command recognition, wireless alarm systems, house appliances such as VCRs and CD players for which it would be simpler to enter configuration data if the PC was involved, etc. As can be seen by this more than incomplete list, the PC
with its processing power and its many programmers is a tool that has a large potential with the present invention for wireless access to electronic or electromechanical devices.
CA 022044~ 1997-0~-0~
Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the particular embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.
Claims (15)
1. A base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising:
means for interfacing with a PC having traditional human input/output devices; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input/output devices and an auxiliary human input/output device.
means for interfacing with a PC having traditional human input/output devices; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input/output devices and an auxiliary human input/output device.
2. A base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising:
means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device;
a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device.
means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device;
a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device; and means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device.
3. A base station as defined in claim 2, wherein the wireless interface is an RF interface.
4. A base station as defined in claim 3, wherein the traditional human input device comprises a keyboard and a pointing device, and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device comprises a keyboard and a pointing device.
5. A base station, having a processor, memory and software, for a local area network, comprising:
means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device and a monitor;
a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device;
means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device;
an interface for communication with an equivalent auxiliary viewing device; and means for concurrently supporting the monitor and the equivalent auxiliary viewing device.
means for interfacing with a PC having a traditional human input device and a monitor;
a wireless interface for bidirectional communication with an equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device;
means for concurrently supporting the traditional human input device and the equivalent auxiliary wireless human input device;
an interface for communication with an equivalent auxiliary viewing device; and means for concurrently supporting the monitor and the equivalent auxiliary viewing device.
6. A base station as defined in claim 5, wherein the equivalent auxiliary viewing device is a television.
7. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means for producing straight from processor commands a NTSC/PAL format for the viewing of the PC display on a television.
8. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means for producing straight from processor commands a HDTV format for the viewing of the PC display on a HDTV television.
9. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means for converting the PC's VGA/SVGA video signal to a NTSC/PAL format for the viewing of the PC display on a television.
10. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means for converting the PC's VGA/SVGA video signal to a HDTV format for the viewing of the PC display on a HDTV television.
11. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means of transmitting through a physical medium the resulting NTSC/PAL
or HDTV signal to a television.
or HDTV signal to a television.
12. A base station as defined in claim 2, with the means of transmitting through an air interface the resulting NTSC/PAL
or HDTV signal to a television.
or HDTV signal to a television.
13. A base station as defined in claim 2, with an on-screen display controller for displaying user configuration, status and menu information to the user, such information being embedded in the NTSC/PAL or HDTV signal for viewing on the user's television.
14. A base station as defined in claim 2, further comprising other wireless devices.
15. A method for using a base station to control traffic on a wireless LAN by assigning source and destination addresses based on device IDs and routing data between sources and destinations, the base station dynamically supporting a wireless keyboard and a PC's local human input/output devices, the LAN including a PC and a wireless keyboard, comprising the steps of:
a) when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC
receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode;
b) when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF
transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being demodulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration;
and c) when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being demodulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC
onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
a) when the wireless keyboard is inactive, the PC
receiving input device commands from the local keyboard/mouse/game port, all dual input/output ports of the base station being in loop mode;
b) when the wireless keyboard is active and in configuration mode, the base station's RF
transceiver receiving input device commands from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being demodulated then de-packetized and used to control the base station, and the base station providing on-screen menus on a previously selected channel and help to guide the user through the configuration;
and c) when the wireless keyboard is active and in normal mode, the base station's RF transceiver receiving the keyboard/pointing device/game port inputs from the wireless keyboard, the data stream being demodulated then de-packetized and forwarded to the PC
onto the appropriate connector or as USB devices through the USB connector instead of the PC's local human input device, the base station converting the PC's VGA/SVGA signals to NTSC/PAL video and mixing it with the PC's audio signal to produce a full NTSC/PAL signal which is then modulated to the previously selected channel.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002204455A CA2204455A1 (en) | 1997-05-05 | 1997-05-05 | Base station for local area network |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002204455A CA2204455A1 (en) | 1997-05-05 | 1997-05-05 | Base station for local area network |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2204455A1 true CA2204455A1 (en) | 1998-11-05 |
Family
ID=4160578
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002204455A Abandoned CA2204455A1 (en) | 1997-05-05 | 1997-05-05 | Base station for local area network |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2204455A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011091277A1 (en) * | 2010-01-21 | 2011-07-28 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for interfacing a white space device with a host device |
| EP1483733B1 (en) * | 2002-01-16 | 2016-05-18 | Gemalto SA | Inductive coupling exchange in a portable intelligent object with central and peripheral circuits |
-
1997
- 1997-05-05 CA CA002204455A patent/CA2204455A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP1483733B1 (en) * | 2002-01-16 | 2016-05-18 | Gemalto SA | Inductive coupling exchange in a portable intelligent object with central and peripheral circuits |
| WO2011091277A1 (en) * | 2010-01-21 | 2011-07-28 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for interfacing a white space device with a host device |
| CN102714507A (en) * | 2010-01-21 | 2012-10-03 | 高通股份有限公司 | Systems and methods for interfacing a white space device with a host device |
| US9166633B2 (en) | 2010-01-21 | 2015-10-20 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for interfacing a white space device with a host device |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Dead |