JP2007334599A - Information processor, and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily use an input device in a sharing manner without separately preparing an input device as external equipment when performing the input operation to a plurality of information processors. <P>SOLUTION: A PC 10 includes an input device including a keyboard 13 or a touch pad 16, and a USB device connector 141 for performing the communication connection to a host PC 20 as an external device. A specified operation determination unit 303 of the PC 10 determines whether a change specific key C is input in the input device, and a communication establishment determination unit 304 determines whether the PC 20 is present, in which the communication with the PC 10 is established via the USB device connector 141. When the specified operation determination unit 303 determines that the change specific key C is input, and the communication establishment determination unit 304 determines that the PC 20 is present in which the communication with the PC 10 is established, an output destination control unit 306 changes the output destination of the input signal from the PC 10 to the PC 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having an emulation function of an input device.

With the development of functions of personal computers (hereinafter also referred to as “PCs”), there are scenes where one user operates a plurality of PCs simultaneously. From the viewpoint of operation efficiency, when operating two PCs, there is a case where it is desired to save the trouble of switching to the keyboard or pointing device of the PC to be operated. Patent Document 1 discloses a switching device that can switch a pair of keyboards and pointing devices, which are external peripheral devices, to a plurality of PCs having USB terminals.
JP 2001-43178 A (page 6, FIG. 1)

  If a peripheral device such as an external keyboard is prepared and the switching device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is prepared, the keyboard can be shared by a plurality of PCs.

  However, when one of a plurality of PCs is a PC in which the main body and the input device are integrated, for example, a notebook PC, a new peripheral device such as an external keyboard is integrated with the notebook PC. The input device (keyboard, pointing device) is played in an unused state, which is inefficient.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an input operation is performed on a plurality of information processing devices by providing an information processing device equipped with the input device with an emulation function of the input device. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that can easily share and use an input device without separately preparing an input device as an external device.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input device including a keyboard or a pointing device, a device connector that performs communication connection with an information processing device of a host that is an external device, and the input Whether there is a specific operation determining means for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been made to the apparatus, and whether or not there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector If there is an information processing apparatus of the host that is determined that the specific operation input has been performed by the communication establishment determination means to be determined and the specific operation determination means, and communication with the own apparatus is established by the communication establishment determination means Switching means for switching the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device from the own device to the information processing device of the host when judged It is characterized by having a.

  In addition, another information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input device including a keyboard or a pointing device, a device connector that performs communication connection with an information processing device on the host side that is an external device, and the input device Specific operation determining means for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been performed, and communication for determining whether or not there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector It is determined that the specific operation input is performed by the establishment determination unit and the specific operation determination unit, and it is determined by the communication establishment determination unit that there is an information processing apparatus of the host that has established communication with the own apparatus. In this case, when the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device at the time is the own device, the output destination is switched to the information processing device of the host. The when the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device in the point of the information processing apparatus of the host, is characterized by having a switching means for switching the output destination to the own device.

  In addition, another information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input device including a keyboard or a pointing device, a plurality of device connectors that perform communication connection with an information processing device on a host side that is an external device, and the input device. Whether or not there is at least one information processing apparatus of a host that establishes communication with the own apparatus via the device connector and a specific operation determination means that determines whether or not a specific operation input has been made to A communication establishment determination means for determining whether or not the specific operation input is determined by the specific operation determination means, and an information processing apparatus of a host for which communication with the own apparatus is established by the communication establishment determination means If it is determined that there is, the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device is switched from the own device to one of the host information processing devices. It is characterized by having a sort switching means.

  The information processing apparatus control method according to the present invention includes an input apparatus including a keyboard or a pointing device, and a device connector that performs communication connection with an information processing apparatus of a host that is an external apparatus. A specific operation determination step for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been made to the input device, and a host that has established communication with the host device via the device connector. A communication establishment determination step for determining whether or not there is an information processing device; and the specific operation determination step determines that the specific operation input has been performed, and the communication establishment determination step establishes communication with the own device. If it is determined that there is a host information processing device, the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device It is characterized by having a switching step of switching to the information processing apparatus of the host.

  When an input operation is performed on a plurality of information processing apparatuses, the input apparatus can be easily shared and used without separately preparing an input apparatus as an external device.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an input device emulation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an input device emulation system 1 includes a PC 10, a PC 20, and a display 40 that is a display device. Here, the PC 10 and the PC 20 are connected by a cable K1, and the PC 20 and the display 40 are connected by a cable K2. Here, the cable K1 is a cable conforming to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. As will be described later, in the input device emulation system 1, the PC 20 serves as a host in the USB standard. The PC 10 plays a role as a device in the USB standard. Therefore, the PC 20 is mounted with at least one A connector conforming to the USB standard. Further, the PC 10 has at least one B connector compliant with the USB standard.

  The A connector of the cable K1 is connected to the PC 20, and the B connector of the cable K1 is connected to the PC 10. The PC 10 is a PC having an input device such as a notebook PC. The PC 10 has an input device emulation function. This emulation function is realized by emulation software 300 (see FIG. 5 and FIG. 6), which will be described later, which is installed in the PC 10 in advance.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the PC 10 with the display unit opened. The PC 10 includes a computer main body 11 and a display unit 12.

  The display unit 12 incorporates a display device composed of, for example, a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) 17. The hinge 18 is attached to the display unit 12 and the computer main body 11 so as to be rotatable between an open position and a closed position.

  The computer main body 11 has a thin box-shaped housing, and on its upper surface, a keyboard (KB) 13, a power button 14 for turning on / off the PC 10, an input operation panel 15, a touch pad 16, and the like Has been implemented.

  Next, the system configuration of the PC 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the PC 10.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the PC 10 includes a CPU 111, a north bridge 112, a main memory 113, a graphics controller 114, a south bridge 119, a BIOS-ROM 120, a hard disk drive (HDD) 121, an optical disk drive (ODD) 122, an embedded controller / keyboard. A controller IC (EC / KBC) 124, a USB host controller 130, a USB host connector 131, a USB device controller 140, a USB device connector 141, and the like are provided.

  The CPU 111 is a processor provided to control the operation of the PC 10 and executes various programs such as an operating system (OS) and emulation software 300 loaded from the hard disk drive (HDD) 121 to the main memory 113. To do. The function of the emulation software 300 will be described later. The CPU 111 also executes a system BIOS (Basic Input Output System) stored in the BIOS-ROM 120. The system BIOS is a program for hardware control.

  The north bridge 112 is a bridge device that connects the local bus of the CPU 111 and the south bridge 119. The north bridge 112 also includes a memory controller that controls access to the main memory 113. The north bridge 112 also has a function of executing communication with the graphics controller 114 via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus or the like.

  The graphics controller 114 is a display controller that controls the LCD 17 used as a display monitor of the PC 10. The graphics controller 114 displays image data written in the video memory (VRAM) 114A by the OS or emulation software 300 on the LCD 17.

  The south bridge 119 controls each device on an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus and each device on a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. The south bridge 119 incorporates an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller for controlling the HDD 121 and the ODD 122.

  The HDD 121 is a storage device that stores various software and data. The ODD 122 is a drive unit for driving a storage medium such as a DVD in which video content such as a DVD title is stored and a CD in which music data is stored.

  The EC / KBC 124 is a one-chip microcomputer in which an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the keyboard (KB) 13 and the touch pad 16 are integrated. The touch pad 16 is a pointing device that functions as a mouse. The EC / KBC 124 has a function of powering on / off the PC 10 according to the operation of the power button 14 by the user. The operation power supplied to each component of the PC 10 is generated from a battery (not shown) built in the PC 10 or an external power supply supplied from the outside via an AC adapter.

  The USB host controller 130 is a communication device that performs communication between the PC 10 and the device by connecting a device such as a mouse conforming to the USB standard via the USB host connector 131.

  The USB device controller 140 is a communication device that executes communication between the PC 10 and the host device by connecting to the USB host controller or a host device that is an external device having the USB host connector via the USB device connector 141.

  The emulation software 300 may be controlled not only by operation of an input device such as the keyboard (KB) 13 and the touch pad 16, but also by operation of an external remote control unit.

  Next, the system configuration of the PC 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the PC 20. The PC 20 is, for example, a desktop PC.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the PC 20 includes a CPU 111, a north bridge 112, a main memory 113, a graphics controller 114, a south bridge 119, a BIOS-ROM 120, a hard disk drive (HDD) 121, an optical disk drive (ODD) 122, an embedded controller / keyboard. A controller IC (EC / KBC) 124, a USB host controller 130, a USB host connector 131, a display connector 118, and the like are provided. Here, the same elements as those of the PC 10 are denoted by the same symbols, and the description thereof is omitted.

  That is, the constituent elements of the PC 20 are substantially the same as the constituent elements of the PC 10. However, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the PC 20 may not include the USB device controller 140, the USB device connectors 141, KB 13, and the touch pad 16 included in the PC 10.

  The display connector 118 is a connector for connecting to the display 40 as an external device.

  Next, the emulation function of the input device in the input device emulation system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of emulation software used in the PC 10. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of the emulation software 300.

  In the following description, as shown in FIG. 1, the USB device connector 141 of the PC 10 and the KB 13 of the PC 20 are connected by the cable K1, and the PC 10 functions as a device and the PC 20 functions as a host. An example will be described.

  The emulation software 300 is a program for sharing the KB 13 and the touch pad 16 that are input devices among a plurality of PCs. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the KB / mouse driver 400 converts an operation input from an input device such as a keyboard (KB) 13 or a touch pad (mouse) 16 into an input signal and sends it to the emulation software 300. To do. The emulation software 300 performs a switching process to send the received input signal to the CPU 111 in the PC 10 as its own device or to the PC 20 as the external device through the USB device controller 140.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the emulation software 300 includes a flag initial setting unit 301, an input determination unit 302, a specific operation determination unit 303, a communication establishment determination unit 304, a flag switching unit 305, and an output destination control unit. 306.

  The flag initial setting unit 301 sets the first flag F when the emulation software 300 is activated. The flag F is information indicating to which device the emulation software 300 sends the input signal. The input determination unit 302 receives an input signal from the KB / mouse driver 400 to determine whether or not the user has performed an operation input from the input device of the KB 13 or the touch pad 16. The specific operation determination unit 303 receives an input signal from the input determination unit 302, and determines whether or not the input signal is an input signal by a specific operation that has been determined in advance. The communication establishment determination unit 304 determines whether there is a host information processing apparatus that has established communication with the own apparatus via the USB device controller 140. The flag switching unit 305 changes the flag F when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The output destination control unit 306 performs control to change the transmission destination of the input signal from the input device, such as switching the output destination of the input signal by the input operation from the own device to the host information processing device.

  Next, an input device switching method executed by the emulation software 300 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the emulation software 300.

  First, when the emulation software 300 is activated, the flag initial setting unit 301 sets an initial flag F = 0 (zero) (step S10). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the flag F = 0 is defined in advance as a setting for sending an input signal from the input device to the CPU 111 of the PC 10 that is the device itself.

  Next, the input determination unit 302 determines whether or not there is an input signal from an input device such as the KB 13 or the touch pad 16 (step S20). This determination is made based on whether or not the input determination unit 302 has received an input signal from the KB / mouse driver 400. As a result, when there is no input signal (No in step S20), the subsequent processing is not performed until the input determination unit 302 determines that there is an input.

  On the other hand, when the input determination unit 302 determines that there is an input signal from the input device (Yes in step SPC20), the input signal is sent to the specific operation determination unit 303, and the specific operation determination unit 303 receives the input signal. It is determined whether or not an operation input by a specific operation (switching specific key C) determined in advance has been performed (step S30). The switching specific key C is a key operation that is not operated in a normal application, such as simultaneously pressing (inputting) a control key (Ctrl), an Alt key, and an X key from the KB 13.

  As a result, when the specific operation determining unit 303 determines that an input operation other than the switching specific key C has been performed (No in step S30), the process of step S70 described later is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the input operation of the switching specific key C has been performed (Yes in step S30), the communication establishment determination unit 304 of the host that has established communication with the own apparatus via the USB device controller 140 is detected. It is determined whether there is an information processing apparatus (step S40).

  As a result of the determination in step S40, if the communication establishment determination unit 304 determines that there is no host information processing device (PC 20 in this case) with which communication has been established (No in step S40), the processing in step S70 to be described later I do. On the other hand, when the communication establishment determination unit 304 determines that there is an information processing apparatus of the host with which communication is established (Yes in step S40), the flag switching unit 305 performs the processing of step S50, step S60, and step S90. By doing so, the flag F is switched.

  That is, the flag switching unit 305 determines whether or not the current setting is flag F = 0 (step S50). As a result, when it is determined that the flag F is not 0 (No in step S50), the flag F is set to 0 (zero) (step S90). On the other hand, when it is determined that the flag F = 0 (Yes in step S50), the flag F is set to 1 (step S60). Here, in the emulation software 300, it is assumed that the flag F = 1 is defined in advance so that the input signal from the input device is set to be sent to the host information processing device (PC 20 in this case).

  Next, the output destination control unit 306 outputs an input signal to the designated PC (step S70). That is, when the flag F = 0, the input signal is sent to the CPU 111 of the PC 10, and when the flag F = 1, the input signal is sent to the PC 20 that is the host device via the USB device controller 140.

  Next, a control unit (not shown) determines whether or not there is an instruction to end the emulation software 300 (step S80). As a result, when it is determined that there is no end command (No in step S80), the process returns to step S20 and the above-described processing is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an end instruction (Yes in step S80), the processing of the emulation software 300 ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the switching specific key C, which is a characteristic operation, is input from the keyboard (KB) 13 or the touch pad (mouse) 16, the output destination of subsequent input signals is set to the external device. The emulation function is realized by switching to the PC 20 as the host device. Therefore, when an input operation is performed on a plurality of information processing apparatuses, the input apparatus can be easily shared and used without separately preparing an input apparatus as an external device.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of emulation software according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 8, the same components as those in the configuration diagram of FIG. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above in that a switching screen display unit 307 is added. The switching screen display unit 307 has a selection display function as to which PC the operation input from the input device is output to the LCD 17 when the switching specific key C is input. When an output destination PC is selected, the contents are sent to the flag switching unit 305.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the emulation software in the second embodiment of the present invention. In the flowchart of FIG. 9, the same parts as those in the flowchart of FIG.

  This embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above in that step S45 for displaying a switching setting screen is added after step S40, and 1 is selected from the screens displayed after step S45. This is the point where step S46 for determining whether or not the item has been selected is added, step S47 for setting the flag F of the selected PC is added, and steps S50, S60 and S90 are further deleted.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen output to the LCD 17 by the process of the switching screen display unit 307.

  In step S40, when the communication establishment determination unit 304 determines that there is an information processing device of the host with which communication is established (Yes in step S40), the switching screen display unit 307, as shown in FIG. A selection screen X for selecting which PC the operation input from the input device is output to is displayed on the LCD 17 (step S45). As shown in FIG. 10, the selection screen X has a selection button a for selecting the PC 10 and a selection button b for selecting the PC 20. Here, it is assumed that the flag F = 0 is assigned to the selection button a and the flag F = 1 is assigned to the selection button b.

  Next, the switching screen display unit 307 determines whether either the selection button a or the selection button b described above has been selected (step S46). As a result, if neither is selected (No in step S46), the subsequent processing is not performed until one of the selection buttons is selected. On the other hand, when one of the selection buttons is selected (Yes in step S46), the flag F corresponding to the selection button is set in the flag switching unit 305 (step S47). Then, the processing after step S70 described above is performed.

  Also in the second embodiment as described above, when the switching specific key C, which is a characteristic operation, is input from the keyboard (KB) 13 or the touch pad (mouse) 16, the output destination of subsequent input signals is set to the external device. The emulation function is realized by switching to the PC 20 as the host device. Therefore, when an input operation is performed on a plurality of information processing apparatuses, the input apparatus can be easily shared and used without separately preparing an input apparatus as an external device. In addition, the switching can be easily made visually.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, a plurality of USB device controllers 140 and USB device connectors 141 shown in FIG. 3 are provided.

As a result, even when a PC having another host function is added in addition to the PC 10 and PC 20, the emulation function can be realized by changing the output destination of the input signal sequentially for each operation input of the switching specific key C.

The figure which showed the structure of the input device emulation system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view in the state where the display unit of PC10 was opened. The figure which showed the system configuration | structure of PC10. The figure which showed the system configuration | structure of PC20. The block diagram which showed the example of the function structure of the emulation software used by PC10. The figure which showed the structure of the emulation software 300. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the emulation software 300. The figure which showed the structure of the emulation software in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process of the emulation software in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed an example of the screen output to the display 17 by the process of the switching screen display part 307. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Input device emulation system 10, 20 PC
11 Computer body 12 Display unit 13 KB
14 Power button 15 Input operation panel 16 Touch pad 17 LCD
18 Hinge 40 Display 111 CPU
112 North Bridge 113 Main Memory 114 Graphics Controller 118 Display Connector 119 South Bridge 120 BIOS-ROM
121 Hard disk drive (HDD)
122 Optical disk drive (ODD)
124 EC / KBC
130 USB host controller 131 USB host connector 300 Emulation software 301 Flag initial setting unit 302 Input determination unit 303 Specific operation determination unit 304 Communication establishment determination unit 305 Flag switching unit 306 Output destination control unit 307 Switching screen display unit K1, K2 Cable X Selection screen

Claims (6)

An input device including a keyboard or pointing device;
A device connector that performs communication connection with an information processing apparatus of a host that is an external apparatus, a specific operation determination unit that determines whether or not a specific operation input has been performed on the input apparatus,
Communication establishment determination means for determining whether or not there is a host information processing apparatus that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector;
When it is determined that the specific operation input has been performed by the specific operation determination unit, and when it is determined by the communication establishment determination unit that there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus, An information processing apparatus comprising: switching means for switching an output destination of an input signal by an operation input to the input apparatus from the own apparatus to the host information processing apparatus. An input device including a keyboard or pointing device;
A device connector for performing communication connection with an information processing apparatus on the host side which is an external apparatus;
Specific operation determining means for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been made to the input device;
Communication establishment determination means for determining whether or not there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector;
When it is determined that the specific operation input has been performed by the specific operation determination unit, and the communication establishment determination unit determines that there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with its own device,
When the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device at the time is the own device, the output destination is switched to the information processing device of the host,
When the output destination of the input signal by the operation input to the input device at the time is the information processing device of the host, the information processing device has switching means for switching the output destination to the own device .   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the communication connection by the front device connector conforms to the USB standard. An input device including a keyboard or pointing device;
A plurality of device connectors for performing communication connection with an information processing apparatus on the host side which is an external apparatus;
Specific operation determining means for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been made to the input device;
Communication establishment determination means for determining whether or not there is at least one host information processing apparatus that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector;
When it is determined that the specific operation input has been performed by the specific operation determination unit, and when it is determined by the communication establishment determination unit that there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus, An information processing apparatus comprising: switching means for switching an output destination of an input signal by an operation input to the input apparatus from the own apparatus to any one of the host information processing apparatuses.   The switching of the output destination in the switching means is performed by the specific operation determining means when the communication establishment determining means determines that there are a plurality of host information processing apparatuses that have established communication with the own apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information processing apparatus sequentially switches in a predetermined order each time an operation input is performed. A control method of an information processing apparatus having an input device including a keyboard or a pointing device and a device connector for performing communication connection with an information processing apparatus of a host which is an external apparatus,
A specific operation determining step for determining whether or not a specific operation input has been made to the input device;
A communication establishment determination step of determining whether or not there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus via the device connector;
If it is determined that the specific operation input has been performed by the specific operation determination step, and it is determined by the communication establishment determination step that there is an information processing apparatus of a host that has established communication with the own apparatus, A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: a switching step of switching an output destination of an input signal by an operation input to the input apparatus from the own apparatus to the host information processing apparatus.

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