KR100723269B1 - A device sharing apparatus and method for multi computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a device sharing technology of a multi-computer system consisting of a plurality of computer bodies and a plurality of monitors. The apparatus of the present invention is a multi-computer system comprising N computer bodies and N monitors connected to each computer body arranged in nxm in a multi-computer system, wherein the position of the pointing device is detected from the computer body and whether or not the boundary line escapes. A pointing device position detecting means for detecting a key, a key input unit for operation, a 1: N keyboard multiplexer for connecting a keyboard to a selected computer main body according to a keyboard control signal, and a pointing device according to a pointing device control signal. A 1: N pointing device multiplexer for connecting to the selected computer main body, and controlling the power on / off of the computer main body according to the operation of a key input unit, and connecting the keyboard and the pointing device to a predetermined computer when the initial power-on is turned on. Generates a control signal and a pointing device control signal, When the boundary is detected from escaping inting device position detection means determines the machine move in accordance with the integrated type arrangement information and position information of the pointing device in the monitor and is composed of control means for generating a control signal for moving the pointing device to the computer.

Monitor, Share, Keyboard, Mouse, Multiplexer

Description

Device sharing apparatus and method for operating multiple computers {A DEVICE SHARING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MULTI COMPUTER SYSTEM}

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a multi-computer system according to the present invention;

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of an input sharing unit shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the CD sharing unit shown in FIG.

4 is an operation flowchart of an input sharing unit according to the present invention;

5 is a diagram illustrating a mouse pointer movement concept according to the present invention;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a mouse pointer movement procedure according to the present invention;

7 is an example of a mouse pointer movement direction display according to the present invention;

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

102: keyboard 104: mouse

106: key matrix 108: LED

110: input sharing unit 120: CD sharing unit

130: common CD-ROM 210: computer main unit

212-1 to 212-9: PC main body 220: Collective monitor

222-1 to 222-9: Monitor 112: MCU

114,116: Multiplexer

The present invention relates to a device sharing technology of a multi-computer system comprising a plurality of computer bodies and a plurality of monitors, and more particularly, to a computer input / output device and a device sharing device and method for allowing one person to operate a multi-computer. will be.

In general, a technique for constructing a large screen using a plurality of monitors is widely used in advertising systems and the like. In addition, a technique for operating a plurality of computers through a single monitor is also known. In such systems, an input / output sharing device is used to share a keyboard or a mouse with a plurality of computers.

However, the conventional input / output sharing device has a problem in that it is inconvenient to use because it was a simple method of connecting the input / output device to a computer selected by a user using a multiplexer.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency and convenience of operation in an environment where one worker must work while looking at multiple computers and multiple monitors. The present invention provides a device sharing apparatus and method for operating a computer.

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus of the present invention is a multi-computer system comprising an N computer main body and a collective monitor unit formed by arranging N monitors connected to each computer main body in an nxm, wherein Pointing device position detecting means for detecting a position of the pointing device and detecting whether the boundary line escapes; A key input unit for manipulation; A 1: N keyboard multiplexer for connecting the keyboard to the selected computer main body according to the keyboard control signal; A 1: N pointing device multiplexer for connecting the pointing device to the selected computer body according to the pointing device control signal; And controlling power on / off of the computer main body according to an operation of the key input unit, and generating the keyboard control signal and the pointing device control signal to connect the keyboard and the pointing device to a predetermined computer when initial power is turned on. Control means for generating a pointing device control signal for moving to a corresponding computer by determining a computer to move according to the arrangement information of the collective type monitor and the location information of the pointing device when the boundary line escape is detected from the pointing device position detecting means. It features.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention is a multi-computer system consisting of an N computer main body and a collective monitor unit formed by arranging N monitors connected to each computer main body in an nxm, the current computer screen of Detecting a pointing device position; Determining whether to escape the boundary line by comparing the pointing device position with the boundary line position of the screen; Determining the computer to be moved with reference to the moving direction of the pointing device and the arrangement information of the collective monitor when the boundary escape is detected; And moving the pointing device to the determined computer main body, thereby positioning the pointing device pointer at a position adjacent to the pointing device position of the previous monitor, thereby naturally moving the mouse pointer on the n × m collective monitor.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the system to which the present invention is applied includes a computer main body unit designed to occupy a minimum space by embedding a plurality of miniaturized computer motherboards in a small space, and a plurality of display display parts (eg, in a flat display type case). It is a computer system (hereinafter referred to as a 'multi computer system') in which a computer monitor and a monitor are connected in a one-to-one manner by consisting of a monitor unit having a TFT panel module attached to the NxM matrix. In the embodiment of the present invention, a system mainly consisting of nine computer bodies and nine monitors will be described as an example.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire system according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the input sharing unit shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a configuration of the CD sharing unit shown in FIG. A block diagram is shown.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the multi-computer system according to the present invention includes a computer main body 210 designed to occupy a minimum space by embedding nine miniaturized computer motherboards in a small space, and a case of a flat panel display type. Nine display devices (individual TFT-LCD or CRT) in the form of a 3 x 3 matrix closely attached to the monitor unit 220, the input sharing unit for sharing the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 110, a CD-sharing unit 120 for sharing the CD-ROM 130, a key matrix 106 installed in the monitor unit 220 for the operator to operate, and an LED indicating an operation state. Consists of 108.

Referring to FIG. 1, the computer main body 210 includes nine PC main bodies including a special industrial computer main board, which takes up a small space, and a modular bay equipped with a memory, a hard disk, a power supply, and the like. PC9: 212-1 to 212-9) are configured independently. And each of the PC main body (212-1 ~ 212-9) is connected via the input sharing unit 110, keyboard line, mouse line, power control line, USB line, CD sharing unit 120 and 40 pin AT It is connected via an IDE bus and is connected 1: 1 with each of the monitors 222-1 to 222-9 of the collective monitor unit 220.

As such, each PC main body 212-1 to 212-9 has individual operating systems and independent memory spaces, so that even if a hardware trouble occurs in one system, the entire system can be solved without affecting the rest of the normal system. It has the advantage of not expanding to the system. In addition, the module is designed to allow the user to conveniently maintain the system, hard disk, and memory.

And the system of the present invention is equipped with a network router of nine ports in the PC main body (212-1 ~ 212-9) so that the network is formed by connecting only one external network line, nine computer main body (212-1 ~) 212-9) A keyboard and mouse filter driver program is installed in each of them so as to share one keyboard 102 and mouse 104.

The monitor unit 220 has nine individual monitors 222-1 to 222-9 arranged in close contact with each other at 3x3, and is installed in one mechanical case, and at the bottom of the case, the key matrix 106 for operation and an operating state are provided. An LED 108 is installed to indicate. Each of the individual monitors 222-1 to 222-9 is made of TFT-LCD or CRT, and is connected to the corresponding PC main bodies 212-1 to 212-9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the input sharing unit 110 controls a microcontroller unit (MCU) that controls the overall operation according to the input of the NxM key matrix 106 located in the collective monitor unit 220 ( 112, a keyboard mux 114 for connecting the keyboard 102 to the selected computer main body under the control of the microcontroller unit 112, and a computer main body for selecting the mouse 104 under the control of the microcontroller unit 112; It consists of a mouse mux 116 connected to (212-1 ~ 212-9). Here, the key matrix 106 may have a total of 12 key switches by 3 × 4. An example of a control condition in each key switch is as follows. That is, switches 1 to 9 are used to turn on / off the power switch of an individual PC (individual power switch when pressed and released for about 2 seconds), to position the keyboard in the manual mode of keyboard selection of an individual PC, and to provide an auxiliary disk device for an individual PC. When used as a (CD-ROM) selector switch, the 10th switch is pressed for 3 seconds and then released to operate sequential on / off repetition (i.e., batch on / batch off) of all 9 PC power supplies. Repeatedly, change the control target to 3 by setting the power control group / keyboard selection group / auxiliary disk device group key of switches 1 ~ 9. At this time, the toggle state is turned on with one LED (two-color LED) 108 and the color is sequentially turned on, so that the user can control the power of the PC individually and select the manual mode of the keyboard and control the CD-ROM / RW while the lamp color is recognized. You can make a choice. However, in case of CD-ROM / CD-RW device, it does not always switch like a keyboard, but only before all PCs are powered on. Therefore, switch 11 is controlled only two states (keyboard / power control) when all PCs are powered on and the operating system is operating.

As shown in FIG. 3, the CD sharing unit 120 includes a CD mux 122 connecting the common CD-ROM drive 130 to a selected computer main body under the control of the microcontroller unit 112. As described above, the system of the present invention is designed to share hardware such as a CD-RW / CD-ROM drive 130 which is not frequently used in hardware, and is connected to a computer main body through the key matrix 106 of the monitor unit. It is possible to choose. In the embodiment of the present invention, the CD-ROM drive 130 is taken as an example, but the same applies to other auxiliary storage devices or printers that are not frequently used. In this way, by using the sharing unit of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost and space by allowing the peripheral devices which do not necessarily have to be shared in hardware.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an input sharing apparatus according to the present invention.

When the main power is turned on in the multi-computer system of the present invention, power is first applied to the MCU 112 to execute self initialization, and the MCU 112 that has completed the initialization is the key matrix 106 at the bottom of the collective monitor unit 220. ) Scans the switch status and sets the power on of each PC and the selection of shared auxiliary disks (S1 ~ S3). Then, depending on whether the user operates the switch, the following operations are performed.

If the KeyMatrix 106 scan results in the Auto Power On (Bulk Power On) state, check the CD settings of the Key Matrix 106 and connect the CD-ROM drive 130 to the PC. Likewise, control signals CDsel0 to CDsel3 are output. If there is no PC selected, it connects to PC1 212-1 by default (S4, S5).

Control signal PC optional CDsel 0 CDsel 1 CDsel 2 CDsel 3 0 0 0 0 PC1 (default) One 0 0 0 PC2 0 One 0 0 PC3 One One 0 0 PC4 0 0 One 0 PC5 One 0 One 0 PC6 0 One One 0 PC7 One One One 0 PC8 0 0 0 One PC9

As described above, the MCU 112 of the present invention designates a port of the multiplexer 122 using the 4-bit control signals CDsel0 to CDsel3 according to the operation of the key matrix 106 to the corresponding PC main body. Connect. For example, in step S14 and step S15, the selection mode of the CD-ROM auxiliary drive is selected from the switch button group located at the bottom of the collective monitor unit 220. Mode is displayed), the address of the finally selected multiplexer 122 is stored in the non-volatile memory variable area of the MCU 112 according to the corresponding CD-ROM key switch selection input of 1 to 9, and The values are changed and recorded each time by the user's button manipulation. Since the MCU 112 is powered on before the PC main units, the MCU 112 is initialized and output to the address of the multiplexer to sequentially supply the PC power to the PC main body at the corresponding position. CD-ROMs or CD-RWs are physically connected, such as CD-ROM booting and CD-RW writing.

Subsequently, the PC main body is operated by sequentially supplying power from the first PC main body 212-1 to the ninth PC main body 212-9 using the PC power control signal (S6). If the individual power is set to the ON state, check the CD setting state of the key matrix 106, connect the CD-ROM drive 130 to the PC main body, and then turn on the power of the individual PCs (S9 ~). S11).

As described above, the present invention sequentially applies the powers of the PCs of the computer main body 210 and controls them to be sequentially turned off. That is, the MCU 112 detects the state in which the switch specified among the switches is pressed, for example, for 3 seconds by the scan logic, and then the power control element (TTL port of the open collector output of the open collector output is switched to the ground signal for 100 msec) connected to each PC. In this case, the PC power is turned on or off). As such, in the present invention, the MCU 112 sequentially controls the keyboard / mouse POST with a plurality of computers in the system, such that the main power supply of the system has sufficient capacity but supplies several PC powers at one time. This is because supplying power with a slight time difference (for example, about 500 msec) can prevent transients, which are common in electronic circuits and the like.

In addition, most modern computers, such as IBM-PC, perform a power on self test (POST) function immediately after power is applied to check whether basic I / O devices are connected.

Input sharing unit 110 of the present invention is connected to each of the PC main body (212-1 ~ 212-9) while performing the initialization operation of the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 during the POST procedure in the firmware of the MCU (112) The connection and mounting state of the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 are informed to the PC main bodies 212-1 to 212-9. That is, even if the actual keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 are not mounted, the PCs 212-1 to 212-9 connected to the MCU 112 of the present invention may emulate the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 by emulation. ) Will be recognized naturally.

At the first power-on, it communicates with the filter driver of each PC main body to grasp the state of each PC main body, and connects the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 to a default state (S7, S8).

As such, examples of the control signals Ksel0 to Kswel3 and Msel1 to Msel3 for selecting the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 are shown in Table 2 below.

Control signal PC optional Ksel 0 / Msel 0 Ksel 1 / Msel 1 Ksel 2 Msel 2 Ksel 3 / Msel 3 0 0 0 0 PC1 (default) One 0 0 0 PC2 0 One 0 0 PC3 One One 0 0 PC4 0 0 One 0 PC5 One 0 One 0 PC6 0 One One 0 PC7 One One One 0 PC8 0 0 0 One PC9

As described above, the MCU 112 according to the operation of the key matrix 106 designates the ports of the multiplexers 114 and 116 using the 4-bit control signals Ksel0 to Kswel3 and Msel1 to Msel3 as shown in Table 2 above. The keyboard 102 or the mouse 104 is connected to the PC main bodies 212-1 to 212-9.

That is, when the initialization POST operation is completed, the MCU 112 primarily distinguishes between a PC in which a POST operation is performed and a PC in which a POST operation is not performed (such as a failure state), and the operating system is normally operated to prepare for a user input standby state. The operating state of the PC can be understood. This can be done by the pre-installed mouse keyboard filter driver software sending the PC status information to the MCU 112 of the present invention through the USB port, except for one by the exchange of information between the filter driver software and the MCU 112. PC mouse pointers are hidden from the operating system's screen. After the power is turned on, the MCU 112 initially connects the mouse 104 and the keyboard 102 to a predetermined PC main body among PCs normally booted. For example, as shown in Table 2 above, the "MSel0 to MSel3" bit control output of the mouse multiplexer 116 is set to "0000", and is connected to the PC main body 212-1, and the "KSel0 to ~" of the keyboard multiplexer 114 is connected. KSel3 "is also connected with the mouse according to the setting status or in the case of manual mode, it is connected with the PC main body at the position according to the selection of the keyswitch at the bottom of the collective monitor.

If the keyboard scan result is manual keyboard selection, the keyboard 102 is connected to the selected PC main body (S12 to S13).

5 is a diagram illustrating a mouse pointer movement concept according to the present invention.

In the present invention, the control using a single mouse 104 and the keyboard 102 in controlling a plurality of computers and monitors, but unlike the existing method of sharing a conventional keyboard mouse, the connection is automatically set to the corresponding computer as the mouse moves. The mouse pointer can be moved with respect to the entire monitor type as if it were a single monitor. That is, when the mouse is moved on the monitor of PC4 as shown in FIG. 5A and reaches the boundary line position as shown in FIG. 5B, the mouse as shown in FIG. 5C. Connect the mouse to the PC1 computer adjacent to the direction of movement and display the mouse pointer on the PC1 monitor. At this time, if the keyboard movement mode is set to automatic, the keyboard is automatically moved according to the movement of the mouse.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a mouse pointer movement procedure according to the present invention. FIG. 6A is a procedure performed in a driver program of a computer to which a mouse is currently connected. FIG. 6B is a procedure executed by the microcontroller unit 112 of an input sharing unit. to be. 7 is an example of a mouse point movement direction according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6A, after the operating system is started, a keyboard / mouse filter driver mounted on each PC main body is operated to communicate with the MCU 112 of the input sharing unit according to the present invention, and then waits for a mouse input (601 ~). 603).

When the mouse input is detected, the mouse pointer position (X, Y) is obtained by using a window API, a call back function, etc., and then it is determined whether to escape the screen boundary by comparing with the maximum resolution value of the current screen (604 to 607). . In other words, a software driver that monitors the location information of the mouse (pointing device) pointer is located in the hardware driver of each computer's operating system. 0,0) to (0,768), (0,768) to (1024,768), (0,768) to (1024,768), (1024,0) to (1024,768) borders on the top, bottom, left, and right sides Location information), it is determined to move beyond the boundary line.

If it is determined that the borderline escape, and sends the borderline escape information (mouse movement direction, recent mouse pointer trajectory information, last pointer position information, etc.) to the input sharing unit 110 through the USB port (608 ~ 609). At this time, the mouse movement direction is determined as the mouse movement direction information in the eight directions as shown in (A) of FIG. The movement direction information may be determined by the MCU 112.

When the input sharing unit 110 receives the boundary escape information through the USB port as shown in FIG. 6B, the input sharing unit 110 determines the physical position information of the preset monitor and the boundary escape information received from the software of the current computer. After determining the computer to move (switch), check the keyboard movement mode (610 ~ 612). At this time, the determination of the computer to be moved (switched) is performed in the upper (UP), upper (UP-DN), right (R), lower (DN-R), lower (DN), as shown in FIG. In consideration of the eight directions of movement, such as the lower left (DN-L), the upper left (L), and the upper left (UP-L), a computer adjacent to the moving direction is determined.

Subsequently, if the keyboard switching mode is set to automatic, the keyboard 102 and the mouse 104 are connected to a computer to output the keyboard control signals Ksel0 to Kswel3 and the mouse control signals Msel1 to Msel3 to be switched to the keyboard 102. ) And the mouse 104, and only the mouse is switched unless the keyboard is automatically switched (613 to 615).

Subsequently, the newly selected computer main body communicates with the USB port to transmit the most desirable mouse pointer value that can be connected to the previous mouse pointer so that the movement of the mouse is naturally displayed as shown in FIG. 7B (616). That is, the microcontroller unit 112 analyzes the boundary escape information currently transmitted from the computer, and controls the coincidence of the boundary line connection direction of each monitor and the pointer movement direction of the mouse so that a single mouse pointer naturally controls a plurality of computer input devices. Have them move around on the screen as they switch.

In addition, when the mouse pointer moves, the keyboard port is automatically moved to the corresponding computer. This allows the user to switch between multiple computer input systems automatically by simply moving the mouse input device.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the user moves the mouse 104 to reach a boundary surface of four directions such as up, down, left, right, and corners on his or her current screen, the mouse filter driver in operation is activated by the current mouse pointer. The locus and movement direction up to are sent to the MCU 112 via the USB port, where the MCU 112 is connected to the PC main body corresponding to the mouse pointer to be moved based on the configuration of the physical monitor displays. Move the keyboard 102 port. At this time, in the manual mode, only the mouse connection is automatically moved, and the connection movement of the keyboard is handled by a switch operation at the bottom of the collective monitor unit. In addition, the pointer of the moved mouse is positioned in the boundary area of the screen direction of the PC main body before switching so that the automatic automatic screen area switching is possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a mouse is moved in a large computer system connected to a plurality of computers one-to-one and composed of a plurality of monitors, the mouse is positioned at the boundary of the current screen. The effect is to automatically move the mouse and keyboard to neighboring computers so that input is seamlessly connected on the collective monitor's large screen.

Claims (7)

In a multi-computer system comprising N computer bodies and a collective monitor unit formed by arranging N monitors connected to each of the computer bodies in n x m, Pointing device position detecting means for detecting a position of a pointing device in the computer main body and detecting whether a boundary line escapes; A key input unit installed in the collective monitor unit for operation; A 1: N keyboard multiplexer for connecting the keyboard to the selected computer main body according to the keyboard control signal; A 1: N pointing device multiplexer for connecting the pointing device to the selected computer body according to the pointing device control signal; A 1: N device multiplexer for connecting the auxiliary storage device or printer to the selected computer main body according to the device selection signal; And Controlling the power on / off of the computer main body according to an operation of the key input unit, generating the keyboard control signal and the pointing device control signal to connect the keyboard and the pointing device to a predetermined computer when initial power is turned on; When the boundary line escape is detected from the pointing device position detecting means, a computer to be moved is determined according to the arrangement information of the collective monitor and the position information of the pointing device, and a pointing device control signal for moving to the corresponding computer is generated. And a control means for outputting the device selection signal for selecting the printer. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein the control means The device sharing apparatus for operating a plurality of computers, characterized in that for turning on the power of the computer body sequentially at a predetermined time interval when the collective power on. The method of claim 1, wherein the control means A device sharing device for operating a plurality of computers, characterized in that the mouse and keyboard are moved at the same time if the keyboard movement is set to automatic mode. delete

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