GB2200820A - Visual display control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus includes a store (14) operable to store a plurality of packages of information and electronic display means comprising a screen (16) (Fig. 2) operable to display some at least of the packages (20a... 20e). Display modifying means is provided to enable displayed information to be amended by moving a stylus (17) over the area of the screen displaying the information to be amended, the store (14) being arranged to store both the original and the amended information. In addition display shifting means are provided enabling the stylus (17) to be used to move information on to and off the screen and to move packages already displayed to different positions on the screen e.g. stylus in a first screen border (21) dumps an adjacent displayed package; in a record border (22) controllably moves an adjacent displayed package; in a third border (23) enlarges a compressed adjacent displayed package and in top and bottom borders (24, 25) causes upwards and downwards scrolling. <IMAGE>

Description

VISUAL DISPLAY CONTROL APPARATUS Visual displays are used for management and control purposes in many applications. They are normally used purely to present information to enable an operator to carry out a control function. The display may take any suitable form ranging from electronic displays to handwritten or drawn information on a suitable display surface.

One example of such a display occurs in the field of air traffic control. It is usual for details of each flight to be handled by a particular controller to be printed out on a paper strip which is inserted into a holder and stacked in front of the controller in order of arrival. If the order changes the positions of the strips are changed by the controller. If flight details change, such as height, bearing and so on, then the controller makes suitable amendments on the strip, crossing out one value and writing-in the new value. When the flight has passed out of the controller's airspace then the strip is removed from the stack but is kept for a certain time in case there is a need to refer to it.

The only part of the operation which is automated is the printing of the strips, which is done from a computer into which flight plans are entered. Attempts have been made to display the flight data on electronic displays, but these have not been altogether satisfactory.

In other fields, such a process control, electronic displays are commonly used to provide flow diagrams or details of alarm conditions, and there may be requirements for an operator to amend such a display.

According to the present invention there is provided visual display control apparatus which includes storage means operable to store a plurality of packages. of information, electronic display means comprising a screen operable to display some at least of said packages, display modifying means enabling displayed information to be amended by movement of a stylus over that area of the screen displaying the information to be amended and operable to cause the retention in the storage means of both the original and the amended information, and display shifting means for moving stored packages of information on to or off the screen and for moving packages already displayed to different positions on the screen. The term "package" is used to define a complete set of information which may be manipulated completely independently of#any other such set.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a display control system according to an embodiment of the invention; and Figure 2 illustrates one possible form of display screen for the embodiment of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 1, the display control apparatus shown comprises one of a number of operator positions together with a number of items common to all control positions. The particular application to be described relates to air traffic control. A central database 10 contains flight plan details relating the traffic control region and is updated by the input of new flight plans and the dumping of old ones.

A hard copy printer 11 is provided and is arranged such that any flight control data to be dumped is first printed out so that a hard copy is available for later study. A distributor 12 distributes the appropriate flight plan data by way of a data bus 13 to one of, probably, a number of control positions, only one of which is shown. The distributor will be arranged to distribute the information to the appropriate operator position.

The flight information required by the operator will include such essential features as a callsign and the height and course of the aircraft, and this may be supplemented by other information. This "package" of information is passed over the data bus 13 to a display store 14 associated with a particular control position. This store 14 is associated with a control position processor 15 which controls a display screen 16. The processor is able to respond to inputs generated by an operator to amend the contents of a "package" of information in the display store 14. Corresponding amendments will also be made to that package in the main database 10 such that both the origi ~' ~ d the new contents are stored.

Figure 2 illustrates one possible layout of a display screen 16 at a control position. As already stated, an operator using the prior art paper strip method of presenting packages of flight information will probably have a stack of such strips, only a few of which will be in use at any one time. In order to retain this well-tried and accepted display the display screen 16 is -of elongated shape in the vertical direction and the majority of the display area comprises a working area which is taken up with the display of complete packages 20 of flight information.Since the operator only requires full contents of a few packages these may, as shown at 20a to 20e, be displayed in full whilst other packages may be displayed in abbreviated or compressed form in auxiliary areas of the screen above and below the working area, as shown at 20f and 20g. This enables an operator to see information of more flights than if full details were presented of each one.

A number of strips of the display area, preferably free of displayed information, are used to enable the displayed information to be manipulated by the operator, using a suitable stylus placed in contact with or very close to appropriate areas of the surface of the screen. For example, placing the stylus on a strip 21 alongside a package of flight information that is no longer required may cause that package to be dumped from the display and from the display store. A second strip 22 may be used to alter the positions of the packages; placing the stylus on this strip 22 alongside a package and moving the stylus along the strip to another position may be used to move that package. The positions of the other packages would be adjusted by the processor 15.

Again, if some of the packages are compressed as suggested above, a third strip 23 may be used to respond to the stylus to cause that compressed package with which the stylus is aligned to expanded temporarily to show all the available flight information.

Since the display store 14 may contain more packages than can be displayed at once, even using compression, it will be necessary to enable the operator to scroll the displayed information so as to view packages which are not normally displayed. Areas 24 and 25 at the top and bottom of the scree may be used for this purpose. Techniques for achieving these effects are known.

The remaining essential requirement is for the operator to be able to amend the displayed information in a package.

Prior art paper strip systems have allowed the operator to do this manually using a pen, and this simple system is faster and is preferred by the operators to using a separate device such as a keyboard. The invention therefore allows the stylus to be used to "write" directly on to the information displayed on the screen. This facility may be provided over part only of the screen, such as the area within the broken outline 26, particularly if some of the packages are compressed as has been suggested. There are various ways of providing this facility. A suitable means may comprise a stylus held by the operator which interacts with a transparent membrane or surface layer placed over at least that part of the screen on which amendments may be effected.In its simplest form this requires circuitry which determines the coordinates of the stylus as it is moved over the overlay and translates these coordinates into corresponding dots on the screen. As is usual in the air traffic control situation a value of, say, height is amended by striking a line through the existing value and writing a new value immediately adjacent to it. The same stylus and overlay may also be used to perform the manipulations referred to above. The overlay could comprise a matrix of fine wires or two resistive sheets pressed into contact by the stylus, for example. An alternative means could comprise a high-resolution light pen.

The input means comprising a stylus and a transparent screen overlay may be improved by the inclusion of a character recognition technique which will produce proper character on the screen rather than a repeat of those written by the operator.

One advantage of this arrangement is that it is then possible for this new information to be used by the control apparatus to generate packages of information for a subsequent operator containing the latest amendments made by the present operator.

Hence aptomatic update of flight information passed from one operator to another could be provided.

It will be seen that the techniques described above may be used in other applications than air traffic control, whenever an operator wishes to change one of a number of items or packages of information displayed on an electronic display.

The changed values could be used to control a process rather than just being part of a passive display system.

Although in the embodiment of Figure 1 separate flight plan database 10 and operator display stores 14 are shown, clearly these may in practice be part of a single store.

Similarly all operator processors 15 may infact be a single processor operating all the separate operator display screens.

Claims (6)

Claims:

1. Visual display control apparatus which includes storage means operable to store a plurality of packages of information, electronic display means comprising a screen operable to display some at least of said packages, display modifying means enabling displayed information to be amended by moving a stylus over that area of the screen displaying the information to be amended and operable to cause the retention in the storage means of both the original and the amended information, and display shifting means for moving stored packages of information on to or off the screen and for moving packages already displayed to different positions on the screen.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 in which the screen comprises a working area in which all the information contained in a number of packages is displayed and at least one auxiliary area in which part only of the information contained in each package is displayed.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2 in which the display shifting means includes means for temporarily expanding any information contained in a package displayed in an auxiliary area of the screen to display all the information contained in the associated package.

4. -Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 in which the display modifying means is operable to respond to the position of the stylus on or very close to the surface of the screen to enable movements of the stylus to be reproduced on the screen.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the display shifting means comprise a number of predetermined areas of the screen arranged such that the placing of the stylus on or very close to the surface of the screen in any one of the predetermined area produces the shifting operation defined by that area.

6. Visual display control apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.