FR2992074A1 - IMPACT DEVICE FOR DIGITAL EQUIPMENT - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (100) for striking a digital equipment (200), comprising a plurality of actuators mutually arranged to form a keyboard, and connected to a microcontroller (MIC) arranged to generate a report comprising data of actuator designating at least some of the plurality of actuators, each actuator being associated with a key identifier which designates a position in a reference keyboard key plane, and for transmitting said reports to the digital equipment. This device (100) has a different keyboard key plane than the reference keyboard key plane, and the microcontroller (MIC) is arranged to detect an activation state change of one or more actuators and to generate in response a plurality of reports in which the activation data indicate the activation of: - an actuator associated with a so-called signaling key identifier, - one or more actuators associated with one or more key identifiers indicating the type activation state switch, and - one or more actuators associated with respectively one or more so-called key position identifiers defining a position in the keyboard key plane of the device that is associated with the actuator (s). actuators whose activation state change has been detected.

Description

The present invention relates to a device arranged to communicate with digital equipment based on standard Human Interface Device (HID) reports of a keyboard device. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Digital equipment is equipment comprising a human-machine interface allowing interactions between a user and an electronic machine. Among the digital devices include touch tablets, smart phones ("smartphones"), computers, robots, production equipment, or 15 televisions in particular. Front facing way. These actuators are essentially tactile and in the form of virtual keyboards on the digital screen. Generally, these tablets have actuators But, these keyboards on the front side occupy far too much space on these screens of limited size. This makes the handling of the equipment uncomfortable for a user. In addition, the 25 virtual keyboards offer little or no haptic feedback, which makes typing difficult. Other problems are related to the use of virtual keyboards. These problems include: - the accumulation of dirt on the touch screen (fingerprints for example); the discomfort and inaccuracy of typing on a virtual keyboard; the virtual keyboards must have a sufficiently large size on the screen for the user to be able to grasp correctly; this reduces the space available for display as such. Next to touch tablets, personal computers are part of everyday life today. Computers have screens through which the man interacts with the machine. It is appropriate to be able to control the computers remotely 10 for example with wireless keyboards. But known wireless keyboards are limited in their functionality, are bulky and do not have sufficient ergonomics. The same is true for new generation TVs that are now able to access the Internet. Comfortable navigation for the user is desirable. The state of the art attempts to solve these problems by the use of peripherals of the keyboard or remote control type comprising actuators or keys (especially mechanical or tactile). However, these devices do not have a satisfactory ergonomics and flexibility. The present invention improves the situation. To this end, the invention introduces a striking device for digital equipment, comprising a plurality of actuators mutually arranged to form a keyboard, and connected to a microcontroller arranged to generate a report comprising activation data designating at least some of the plurality of actuators, each actuator being associated with a key identifier that designates a position in a reference keyboard key plane, and for transmitting said reports to the digital equipment. The device according to the invention has a different keyboard key plane than the reference keyboard key plane. The microcontroller is arranged to detect an activation state change of one or more actuators and to generate in response a plurality of reports in which the activation data indicate the activation of: an actuator associated with an identifier so-called signaling key, - one or more actuators associated with one or more key identifiers indicating the type of activation state change, and - one or more actuators associated with respectively one or more identifiers of so-called position key defining a position in the keyboard key plane of the device that is associated with the actuator or actuators whose activation state change has been detected.

Other advantages and features of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description below and on the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 represents a front perspective view of a digital equipment and a peripheral device; according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 represents a front perspective view of the digital equipment latched onto the device according to the embodiment of FIG. 1; - Figure 3 shows a rear perspective view of the digital equipment latched on the device according to the embodiment of Figure 1; FIG. 4 represents a rear view of digital equipment clipped onto a peripheral according to another embodiment of the invention; - Figure 5 shows a rear perspective view of the digital equipment latched on the device according to the embodiment of Figure 4; - Figure 6 shows a rear view of a digital equipment and a device according to another embodiment of the invention; Fig. 7 is a rear perspective view of the digital equipment latched on the device according to the embodiment of Fig. 6; - Figure 8 shows keys of a device according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 shows a virtual representation of the keys of a device according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of operations performed by the device according to the invention; and FIG. 11 represents a diagram of an arrangement between actuators, a microcontroller and a transmission unit within a device according to the invention. The drawings and the description below contain, for the most part, elements of a certain character. They are an integral part of the description, and may therefore serve not only to make the present invention better understood, but also to contribute to its definition, if necessary. Peripherals that communicate with digital equipment are known. Conventionally, with each interaction with a device actuator, a signal designating this interaction is transmitted to a microcontroller of the device. The microcontroller then transmits a signal through a keyboard HID report to the digital equipment. The microcontroller analyzes and processes the information according to a standard protocol described below. According to the HID keyboard protocol, the microcontroller issues a 5 HID keyboard. The HID Keyboard Report includes a set of information that describes the state of the keyboard keys. In practice, the Keyboard HID report indicates which keys are activated at the instant at which the report is sent. Thus, by comparing successive keyboard HID ratios, the digital equipment can determine which actuators have been activated, and which ones have been released. Each press on an actuator is thus described by an information report containing 8 bytes; each actuator release 15 is also described by an information report containing 8 bytes. The transmission of a support followed by a release of a device actuator to a digital equipment is therefore based on the use of 16 bytes. The information report mentioned above is as follows: a first byte is reserved for the signaling of the support on a modification actuator (such as Alt, Ctrl, Shift, etc.), a second byte is free , and the remaining six bytes are reserved for the identifiers of the actuators supported, up to six actuator positions that can thus be entered in the report. The transmission of this information report is carried out by a transmission channel which may be wired (USB type for example) or wireless (type Bluet ooth (trademark) for example). Digital equipment analyzes information and interprets according to the operating system, drivers, and software running. In addition, digital instruction execution control devices are known via actuators placed on a rear face. Such a device is for example disclosed in the document WO 2009/034242 A1 filed under the number PCT / FR2008 / 000963.

These devices feature rear-panel actuators and offer an ergonomic design that makes handling easier for the user. The good handling is accompanied by a simplified control of said actuators.

However, this equipment requires an unconventional strike that is called "blind strikes". Indeed, the actuators on the rear face are not directly visible to the user. Thus, document WO 2009/034242 describes a device in which the functions of the actuators on the rear face are represented on a screen disposed on the front face of the device. In this case, icons are represented on the screen as a virtual keyboard. Each icon is shown to correspond to the respective positioning of an actuator of the rear face relative to reference marks. Blind typing is thus facilitated because the user sees a representation of the keyboard. This type of equipment has the advantage of including actuators whose function varies according to the application being executed. However, the screen is an integral part of digital equipment. This type of equipment is therefore unsuitable for functioning as a peripheral of other digital equipment. In addition, the need to add a screen to facilitate blind typing greatly increases production costs and design complexity. The Applicant has developed a device adapted to the current needs of the technology. Especially for blind typing systems whose complexity of state can not be described in its completeness by a single standard keyboard HID report. Devices such as digital tablets have actuators (single buttons or keyboards) on the front panel. These actuators can be mechanical or tactile, which is accompanied by disadvantages as described above. Devices such as computers or televisions 10 include keypads or remote controls that do not meet the needs of next-generation devices. The communication with the peripherals remains too primitive beyond the disadvantages mentioned above. There is no satisfactory solution for typing on these modern digital equipments. For example, when a keyboard device is connected to a touch pad, the virtual keyboard provided by the tablet 20 is automatically disabled. This is due to the fact that this virtual keyboard is a priori useless and it is therefore better to free up space for display on the screen. But this is annoying when the device is a blind typing keyboard. To fill this gap, the present invention provides a proprietary protocol that relies on standard keyboard type HID ratios. This protocol uses six characters transmitted according to the HID protocol to transmit support, release or any other interaction with an actuator. Alternatively, this protocol may use five characters or four characters. This is an encoded signaling that allows to transmit a block of data in response: - in support of a single actuator; 35 - in support of several actuators simultaneously; - the presence of a finger near a key; - etc .... This signaling allows to restore the dynamics of typing on a keyboard to hit blind by means of a display on a virtual keyboard. Thus, the device of the invention facilitates typing through the display of the virtual keyboard, while benefiting from the good ergonomics of the keyboard to hit blind. Specifically, the device transmits, for each interaction with an actuator, a "word" consisting of six characters in a HID keyboard report, which is then transmitted in a single HID report to the digital equipment. This word is interpreted by the digital equipment to determine, on the one hand, the actuator with which it has just been interacted and, on the other hand, the command or commands associated with it. According to the invention, the device therefore generates an elaborate signaling which is intended to be interpreted by the digital equipment to perform an event on it.

The word includes a signaling start character and a terminating signal character. Character is any character classically available on a keyboard or a remote control. It can be an alphanumeric character, an extended alphabet character, or a punctuation character in particular. Between the beginning and the end of the signaling, other so-called "action characters" define what must be done on the digital equipment. The action characters describe: - The type of command. This is a piece of information defining whether the interaction is a support, a relaxation, a partial support (for example a depression at the halfway point of an actuator) or the detection of the proximity of one or several fingers of an actuator. In general, it is therefore a question of qualifying the interaction between user and actuator; - An encoding defining the positioning of the actuator pressed. The positioning of each actuator can be defined through a matrix. Each field of the matrix is thus associated with a character. The positioning then corresponds to coordinates indicating a row and a column of the matrix, which together designate the character concerned; - The type of key. This is an information to distinguish an individual support of an actuator of a simultaneous support on several actuators. An individual support corresponds to the support of a single actuator at a time, whereas a simultaneous pressing of actuators corresponds to the support of several actuators at the same time (for example the simultaneous support on two actuators). In this way, the invention allows enriched communication between peripheral and digital equipment. Indeed, the encoding uses the conventional transmission channel between device and digital equipment to avoid any incompatibility. The fact of using the standard HID reports makes it possible to rely on a protocol used by the vast majority of the digital equipments and thus guarantees a very great compatibility with them. FIG. 1 shows separately a device 100, and a digital device 200 of the touch pad type comprising a screen 202 according to one embodiment of the invention. The device 100 comprises a right handle 104a and a left handle 104b for good holding in hands by a user. The right handle 104a is arranged for holding by the right hand of a user, and the left handle 104b is arranged for holding by the right hand of a user.

The device 100 includes a housing 114 on the front to receive the digital equipment 200 in place. The device 100 further comprises retaining elements 102 on either side of the housing 114 to maintain the digital equipment 200 when it is received in said housing 114. The device 100 comprises a microcontroller which manages the signaling according to the invention. invention as described later. It is a microcontroller suitable for embedded systems. In one embodiment, the device 100 of the invention integrates a microcontroller type ARM 32 Bits Cortex-M3. This microcontroller is connected to a transmission unit, which manages the transmission of the device 100 to the digital equipment 200.

FIG. 11 schematically shows three actuators ACT connected to a microcontroller MIC and a transmission unit UT within a device according to the invention. Figures 2 and 3 show perspective views of digital equipment received in the housing of a device according to the invention. In the embodiment described here, the right and left handles 104a and 104b are arranged to extend beyond the digital equipment 200 when it is received in the housing. Thus, when a user holds the device 100 by the handles 140a and 104b, the view on the screen 202 of the digital device is not hindered. Figure 3 shows a rear perspective view of the peripheral / digital equipment assembly in the assembled state. The rear face of the device 100 comprises actuator blocks. In this embodiment, each actuator block 35 comprises at least one actuator arranged to be actuated in at least two directions (for example pushing and pulling) and has a return mechanism towards its rest position. The actuators can be physical, virtual (tactile or haptic type), or mixed (physical and virtual).

Each key is activated by a manual action of the user. There are several blocks of actuators: - the right index block 106a and left 106b, each actuator 10 can be manipulated by the index, respectively of the right hand and left of a user; - The right major block 108a and left 108b, each actuator can be manipulated by the major, respectively of the right hand and left of a user; The right annular block 110a and the left 110b, each actuator of which can be manipulated by the ring finger, respectively of the right and left hand of a user; and the right atrial 112a and left 112b block, each actuator of which can be manipulated by the little finger, respectively of the right and left hand of a user. Figures 4 and 5 show perspective views of digital equipment received in a device according to another embodiment of the invention and maintained by it. The embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5 differs from that of FIGS. 2 and 3 essentially in terms of curvatures on the rear face, added in order to reinforce the grip by the user. In this embodiment, the right actuator blocks 106a, 108a, 110a, and 112a and the left actuator blocks 106b, 108b, 110b, and 112b also have improved ergonomics by being adapted to the anatomy of the actuator. an user. Figures 6 and 7 respectively show a rear view of digital equipment and a peripheral according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 shows a peripheral 100 composed of two distinct parts, namely a right peripheral portion 400a and a left peripheral portion 400b. The digital equipment 200 is of the touch pad type. The tablet is received in respective housings 414a and 414b of the right 400a and left 400b portions of the device 100. This latter embodiment is advantageous for adapting to digital equipment of variable size.

Each of these embodiments makes it possible to manipulate the digital equipment 200 by actuating the actuators disposed on the rear face of the peripheral device 100. This notably avoids having to touch and / or dirty the screen 202 of the digital equipment when it is a touch pad type equipment. Data transmission between device 100 and digital equipment 200 may be wired or wireless transmission. According to a preferred embodiment, the transmission is a radio transmission type Bluetooth (registered trademark). FIG. 8 schematically represents the actuators on the rear face of the device 100. The letter and / or control inscriptions are shown in FIG. 8 for information purposes and to facilitate the understanding of the present description, in which the actuators are identified by their matrix coordinates. In practice, the rear face does not generally include inscriptions. Optionally, the rear face of the device 100 may be provided with sensing registration elements to facilitate the positioning of the "blind" fingers on the back face. There are twelve columns A to L and four lines 1 to 4. According to the embodiment described here: 13 - Block 106a includes actuators A1 - Block 108a comprises actuators A2 - Block 110a comprises actuators A3 - The block 112a comprises actuators C4 - Block 106b comprises actuators G1 - Block 108b comprises actuators G2 - Block 110b comprises actuators G3 - Block 112b comprises actuators H4 to F1; at F2; at F3; at E4; and all ; at L2; at L3; to J4.

The right blocks (106a, 108a, 110a, and 112a) and the left blocks (106b, 108b, 110b, and 112b) are symmetrical about an axis I-I. The symmetrical block layout allows intuitive typing for the user.

FIG. 9 shows a virtual keyboard in correspondence with the actuators represented in FIG. 8. The virtual keyboard is displayed on the screen 202 on the front face of the digital equipment 200. The keyboard corresponds to a visible representation for the user on the screen 202 non-visible actuators disposed on the rear face of the device 100. In general, it is a representation of the functions associated with each actuator located on the rear panel which greatly facilitates the capture and navigation of the on the actuators. This virtual keyboard mainly provides a display. It is actually a graphical representation that facilitates the blind shot. Thus, the sizing of this keyboard can be considerably reduced compared to virtual touch keyboards, used for input. This saves space in terms of display and allows good visibility on the remaining screen 202.35 The I-I axis is kept on the virtual keyboard. The virtual keyboard is composed of icons each of which corresponds to an actuator. This actuator can be pressed to execute the action represented graphically by the icon. The correspondence between the icon and the location on the back of the corresponding actuator facilitates input. However, some icons do not correspond to a physical location of an actuator on the rear panel. Thus, icons may be arranged at the I-I axis, for example. To execute the action represented graphically by this icon, it is necessary to press several actuators simultaneously. This is a simultaneous support, examples of which are described later.

Icons can be letter icons, modifier key icons, or any other functional icon. Their layout on the virtual keyboard may vary depending on the application in progress.

For example, considering the virtual keyboard of Figure 9, the letter "a" can be entered in an application on the screen 202 by pressing the actuator noted Dl in Figure S. The letter ej "can be entered in an application on the screen 202 202 simultaneously pressing the actuators denoted Dl and I1 in Figure S. These are so-called "twin" actuators. These twin actuators are symmetrical about the I-I axis. The letter "z" can be entered into an application on the screen 202 by simultaneously pressing the actuators denoted D1 and D2 in FIG. 8. These are so-called "neighboring" actuators. These neighboring actuators are side by side relative to each other. Figure 10 shows a flowchart of operations performed by the device as a result of interaction with an actuator.

The operation Inp. Phy. corresponds to the interaction with an actuator by a user. As mentioned above, an interaction may be a touch of a key, the release of a key or any other interaction such as a press halfway or the detection of a proximity of a finger of a user. The microcontroller of the device analyzes the interaction in an Analy operation. Microcntr .. During this operation Analy. Microcntr., The microcontroller determines the actuator (s) with which it is interacted by means of an identifier (or coordinates) associated with this actuator. Once the actuator or actuators determined, the microcontroller performs a following operation Gen. Signal. HID. Operation Gen. Signal. HID. includes the generation of signaling in the form of standard HID keyboards based on the proprietary protocol. This protocol usually uses six characters to form a word. In other embodiments, the protocol of the invention may use fewer characters, for example four or five characters. Once the operation Gen. Signal. HID. performed, the microcontroller performs a Transm operation. Signal. The final operation Transm. Signal. comprises the transmission of the HID signaling, which corresponds to the word constructed according to the protocol of the invention, from the peripheral to the digital equipment. In the example described here, the transmission is a wireless transmission, for example a Bluetooth (registered trademark) transmission. Alternatively, other types of wireless transmission may be used, or wired transmissions, for example by USB cable. According to one embodiment, the encoding of the word can be in the following form: "kZLCTx", in which "k" marks the beginning of the signaling and "x" marks the end of the signaling. According to the signal of the invention "k" and "x" are fixed letters which respectively mark the beginning and the end of the signaling. Between these fixed letters of the variables (in this case: Z, L, C and T) constitute the information processed by the microcontroller; Z corresponds to the information concerning the interaction, with an actuator. Z is the command of the message such as the "highlight / downlight" of the icon on the virtual keyboard at the corresponding position of the physical interaction with the actuator. "Highlight / downlight" means the coloring / syntax bleaching or highlighting / non-glossing of an icon on the virtual keyboard. In general, it is the marking / demarcation of an icon on the virtual keyboard; L and C are information concerning the positioning of the interacting actuator. The letter used to code the information L may designate a line in a matrix, while the letter used to code the information C designate a column in the same matrix (or even another matrix). Finally T is information concerning the type of actuator in interaction (individual interaction, multiple interaction such as simultaneous support of twin or neighboring actuators). Once received by the digital equipment, this word is interpreted to perform an action. The interpretation of the word by the digital equipment is essentially a decapsulation and then a decoding of the useful information. By désencapsulat ion, is meant that each word comprises a first letter (here "k") and a last letter (here "X"), which allow the digital equipment to determine the useful part of the word. The interpretation of the useful part of the word by the digital equipment may include verifying that a sufficient number of characters (variables) are present in this useful part. This new type of signaling using the standard keyboard HID reports thus allows advanced interpretation by the digital equipment, for example at the lower layers of the operating system. As described above, it is the word generated by the microcontroller of the device 100 that allows this advanced interpretation. The word has complex information, but is transported through standard HID keyboard reports.

Example of embodiment. In the present example, a virtual QWERTY keyboard displayed on the screen 202 of a digital device 200 is considered. The HID signaling according to this example of the invention uses a word comprising five characters. Thus, the word generated by the microcontroller of the device 100, when pressed on a selected actuator, is in the following form: "kZCLx". In general, it can be seen that the word is constituted by: a beginning of signaling (letter "k"); - a representation of the command (variable "Z"); - a first argument (variable "C"); - a second argument (variable "L"); and 25 - a signaling end (letter "x"). Appendix 1 shows an example of commands ("Z") available in the present embodiment, and the encoding associated therewith. The letters are used by the microcontroller of the peripheral 100 to form the word that will be transmitted to the digital equipment 200. In the present example, each time an actuator is pressed, the microcontroller includes the letter "q" in the generated word, while at each release of the actuator the microcontroller includes the letter "w" in the generated word, at the location of "Z" in the word "kZCLx". Annex 2 shows a matrix encoding according to one embodiment of the invention for the first argument and the second argument. Suppose a press on the actuator D2 of FIG. 8. The position of the support (namely the information of the physical support on the column actuator D, line 2) is transmitted to the microcontroller which then includes respectively the letters "e" and "t" in the generated word, respectively at the locations of "C" and "L" in the word "kZCLx". The part of the word generated by the microcontoller that corresponds to the first and second arguments will therefore be "and". Finally, as explained above, the word ends with the letter "X". The word generated by the protocol in response to the pressing on the actuator D2 is thus: "k" "q" "and" "x", ie "kqetx". In practice, the transmission of the word generated by the microcontroller is accomplished by sending a burst comprising two standard HID keyboard ratios. If we consider the virtual keyboard of Figure 9, the letter E 30 is then marked on the screen 202 by the digital equipment (highlight), and entered into an application that it executes. The keyboard HID salvo comprises: a first HID report indicating that all keys are released; and a second report in which the keys corresponding to the letters of the word are declared as activated. Indeed, the word which is emitted by the microcontroller designates the activation of six keys, whereas in practice a single actuator has been activated. It is therefore a "virtual support" on the keys. However, if there is virtual support ", there must also be a" virtual relaxation ", failing which a subsequent virtual support would not be taken into account by the digital equipment. Therefore, the first HID report ensures that the second report will be correctly interpreted by the digital equipment. Burst transmission is important because it improves the user experience, especially when the transmission of HID keyboard reports is achieved by means of a wireless link. Indeed, it would be possible to realize the invention by emitting six consecutive keyboard HID reports alternately with reports where all the keys are released each indicating the activation of the key corresponding to a respective letter of the word. But in some cases, and especially in the case of wireless links, the transmission of these twelve HID reports would cause slowdowns. The burst transmission nevertheless has the consequence that each word encoded in the form e kZCLx "does not contain any letter repetition. Indeed, it is impossible to transmit twice the support on the same key in a single keyboard HID report or in consecutive reports without releasing it in an intermediate report. Suppose now a release of the actuator D2 of FIG. 8. The position of the release (namely the information of the physical release of the column actuator D, line 2) is transmitted to the microcontroller, which still includes the letters "e" respectively. And "t" in the generated word. When the actuator D2 is released, the generated word is then: "kwetx". This word is transmitted from the device 100 to the digital equipment in the same way as the support. By considering the virtual keyboard of FIG. 9, the letter "e" is then demarcated on the screen 202 of the digital equipment (downlight). Suppose simultaneous support on the twin actuators D1 and I1. The word generated by the microcontroller is then "kqysx". The associated letter is the letter "j" (see Figure 9). When these actuators are released, the microcontroller generates the word e kwysx ". Suppose simultaneous support on the neighboring actuators D1 and D2. The word generated by the microcontroller is then "kqisx". The associated letter is the letter "z" (see Figure 9). When these actuators are released, the microcontroller generates the word "kwisx". Alternatively, the commands ("Z") available can be further enriched. Thus, it is possible to provide layout commands, such as, for example, the regional QWERTY keyboard change in QWERTZ or QWERTY, or the alternation between upper and lower case keyboard. There may also be system controls, such as brightness or sound intensity control. Nevertheless, each command will always be followed by a first and a second argument which will define the word generated by the microcontroller. The protocol of the invention may alternatively include several specificities to improve the user experience and its reliability.

A first specificity is the use of synchronization words. Indeed, it may happen that the microcontroller does not correctly transmit a word, part of the word disappears or is altered during transmission to the digital equipment, or that the equipment misinterprets a word. In this situation, the device and the digital equipment are said to be "out of sync", that is to say that they do not have the same perception of the situation. For example, a consequence may be the marking of the letter "m" instead of the letter "1" on the virtual keyboard, etc. In order to correct these situations, certain situations presenting a regular occurrence are chosen and are treated specifically by the microcontroller. For example, this one can, during the operation Analy. Microcntr., Determine that all the fingers of the user are near the actuators, but without activating them, which corresponds to a reference rest position between the striking of two words or successive sentences. Upon detection of this particular configuration, the microcontroller may emit a chosen word, which will be interpreted by the digital equipment as meaning that the virtual keyboard must be reset (all keys demarcated), or other.

Thus, by defining specific configurations of the device, and by defining corresponding words, the device and the digital equipment can be "resynchronized", that is, they have the same perception of the situation. . Another example of a resynchronization word may be the support on several particular actuators, for example the end actuators of an actuator block, for resetting the virtual keyboard on the digital equipment. Thus, a user noting a desynchronization can cause resynchronization. A second specificity to improve the reliability of the digital equipment is the use of a cyclic list for the signaling start letter. This means that several letters are available for the start of signaling, and that they must be used in a chosen order.

For example, the cyclic list may include the letters k, h, and z in this order. The microcontroller operates using the letter k as the signaling start for a first report, the letter h as the signaling start for a second report, and finally the letter z for a third report, then the list starts again. Thus, if the digital equipment receives two successive words so one begins with "k" and the other with "z", he knows that a word has been lost. Similarly, if one begins with "h" and the other with "z" and "h". This increases reliability by detecting errors more quickly.

A third specificity may be the use of a so-called mixed mode. In this mixed mode, the device uses the signaling of the invention and the conventional HID status report. Indeed, in the embodiment described, the microcontroller emits only words in accordance with the protocol of the invention, in which the first and second arguments define the position on the virtual keyboard of the letter that the user wishes to see. written in the application. In this embodiment, the word transmitted by the microcontroller thus comprises both the pure signaling, that is to say the command associated with the interaction with the actuator, and the load, that is to say the say the name of the key that is pressed. However, in order for a given letter to be repeatedly written by the digital equipment, the device will have to detect that the support on the corresponding actuator is maintained and generate and transmit the corresponding word repeatedly. A different way of operating is that microcontroller 10 selectively transmits words according to the protocol of the invention, solely for signaling purposes, and corresponding keyboard HID ratios to transmit the load. This means, for example, that for pressing the letter "E", the microcontroller will emit the salvo HID corresponding to the word "kqetx", then a HID keyboard report containing the press on the position of the next "e" key the language layout of the keyboard chosen by the receiver. Finally an empty HID report will be issued to mark the release of the "E" key. This may be advantageous because, if the actuator D2 of FIG. 8 (which corresponds to the "E" key in FIG. 9) is maintained, it suffices to delay sending the empty HID report after the HID keyboard report. charge for the support to be considered repeated by the digital equipment. This saves computing power on the device side. In the embodiments described above, it is intended to use two characters to declare the beginning and the end of each word. Nevertheless, it would also be possible to use a single character, for example start or end, since the total size of the word is known. On the other hand, it also appears that the characters CL 35 make it possible to encode the plane of keyboard keys of the device in two dimensions. However, by using a smaller device keyboard layout, it would be possible to use a one-dimensional encoding, or instead use a multi-dimensional encoding. The concept of encoding also applies to the key type character and the command, which together form encoding the type of two-dimensional activation state change. Here again, it would be possible to use a simpler or more complex encoding, according to the desired sophistication.

The invention therefore relates to a device (100) for striking a digital device (200), comprising a plurality of actuators mutually arranged to form a keyboard, and connected to a microcontroller (MIC) arranged to generate a report comprising data of activating at least some of the plurality of actuators, each actuator being associated with a key identifier which designates a position in a reference keyboard key plane, and for transmitting said reports to the digital equipment. This device (100) has a different keyboard key plane than the reference keyboard key plane, and the microcontroller (MIC) is arranged to detect an activation state change of one or more actuators and to generate in response a plurality of reports in which the activation data indicate the activation of: - an actuator associated with a so-called signaling key identifier, - one or more actuators associated with one or more key identifiers indicating the type activation state switch, and - one or more actuators associated with respectively one or more so-called positional key identifiers defining a position in the keyboard key plane of the peripheral device that is associated with the actuator (s). actuators whose activation state change has been detected.

According to various variants, the device may have the following characteristics, possibly taken in combination with each other: the microcontroller (MIC) generates activation data of at least two actuators associated with one or more key identifiers respectively defining a position on the keyboard associated with the actuator or actuators whose activation state change has been detected, and wherein this generation is based on at least two-dimensional encoding associated with the keyboard key plane of the peripheral, - the microcontroller (MIC) generates activation data of at least two actuators associated with respectively one or more key identifiers indicating the type of state change, and in which this generation is based on a to-type encoding. minus two dimensions, - the plurality of reports generated in response to detecting a change of state of ac The actuation of one or more actuators by the microcontroller (MIC) is formed by a burst of reports comprising a first report in which no activation data designates an actuator, and a second report indicating the activation data of the identifiers of signaling key, type of activation state change, and position, - the second reports comprise four, five or six key identifiers, - the signaling identifier generated by the microcontroller (MIC) in the plurality of reports in response to detecting an activation state change of one or more actuators is a signaling start key identifier, or a signaling end key identifier, - the plurality of reports generated by the microcontroller (MIC) in response to detecting an activation state change of one or more actuators includes activation data indicative of acti two actuators respectively associated with a signaling key identifier, one of which is associated with a signaling start key identifier, and the other associated with a signaling end key identifier; signaling associated with activation data generated by the microcontroller (PCM) in response to several successive activation state changes of one or more actuators is selected from a list comprising a plurality of key identifiers, cyclically and according to a order of this list, - in response to the detection of a configuration corresponding to an activation state change of several selected actuators, the microcontroller (MIC) is arranged to generate a plurality of specific reports indicating the digital equipment (200) said configuration.

Other embodiments and variants will be apparent to those skilled in the art, particularly in view of the following claims. In general, the foregoing description has been made in connection with various embodiments. All combinations of the various variants of these embodiments have not been described in order to preserve the clarity of the disclosure. Nevertheless, it must be understood that all these combinations are envisaged where they are possible, without this constituting a new teaching.

APPENDIX 1 Letter Command Q Marking of the position given in argument by C and L First Argument: See Column Encoding below (APPENDIX 2) Second Argument: See below Encoding of the Line (APPENDIX 2) W Demarcation of the position given in argument by C and L Argl: See below column encoding (ANNEX 2) Arg2: See below Encoding of the Line (APPENDIX 2) APPENDIX 2 Columns: Left Hand Column ABCD Simultaneous Neighbors EF Simultaneous Twin Encoding BCDEIFGY Right Hand Simultaneous Column Twin GH Simultaneous Neighbors IJKL Encoding YLMJN 0 PR Lines: Line Encoding I (index) S 2 (major) T 3 (annular) U 4 (auricular) V

Claims (9)

CLAIMS1.An impact device (100) for digital equipment (200), comprising a plurality of actuators mutually arranged to form a keyboard, and connected to a microcontroller (MIC) arranged to generate a report including activation data designating at least some of the plurality of actuators, each actuator being associated with a key identifier which designates a position in a reference keyboard key plane, and for transmitting said reports to the digital equipment, characterized in that the device (100) has a different keyboard key plane than the reference keyboard key plane, and that the microcontroller (MIC) is arranged to detect an activation state change of one or more actuators and to generate in response a plurality of reports in which the activation data indicates the activation of: - an actuator associated with an identifier of so-called signaling key, - one or more actuators associated with one or more key identifiers indicating the type of activation state change, and - one or more actuators associated with one or more key identifiers respectively. said position defining a position in the keyboard key plane of the device which is associated with the actuator or actuators whose activation state change has been detected. 2. Device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the microcontroller (MIC) generates activation data of at least two actuators associated with respectively one or more key identifiers defining a position on the keyboard associated with the actuator or actuators whose activation state change has been detected, and wherein this generation is based on at least two-dimensional encoding associated with the keyboard key plane of the device. 3. Device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the microcontroller (MIC) generates activation data of at least two actuators associated with respectively one or more key identifiers indicating the type of change of state, and wherein this generation is based on at least two-dimensional encoding. Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of reports generated in response to the detection of an activation state change of one or more actuators by the microcontroller (MIC) is formed a report burst including a first report in which no activation data designates an actuator, and a second report indicating the activation data of the signaling key identifiers, the activation state change type, and position. The device (100) of claim 4, wherein the second reports comprise four, five or six key identifiers. The device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the microcontroller generated signaling identifier (MIC) in the plurality of reports in response to detecting an activation state change of one or more actuators is a signaling start key identifier, or an end of signal endpoint identifier. 30 The device of claim 6, wherein the plurality of reports generated by the microcontroller (MIC) in response to detecting an activation state change of one or more actuators includes activation data indicating the activating two actuators respectively associated with a signaling key identifier, one of which is associated with a signaling start key identifier, and the other is associated with a signaling end key identifier. The device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the signaling key identifier associated with activation data generated by the microcontroller (PCM) in response to a plurality of successive activation state changes. One or more actuators is selected from a list comprising several key identifiers, cyclically and in accordance with an order of this list. The device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein in response to detecting a pattern corresponding to an activation state change of a plurality of selected actuators, the microcontroller (MIC) is arranged to generating a plurality of specific reports indicating to the digital equipment (200) said configuration.