KR101564498B1 - External support system for mobile devices - Google Patents

Abstract

An external support system and method for a mobile device is disclosed. The external support system may include, but is not limited to, support for processing for computationally intensive operations such as graphics processing, additional memory for data storage, and communication support (e.g., 4G LTE) to increase mobile device capabilities .

Description

{EXTERNAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MOBILE DEVICES}

Related application

This application is a continuation-in-part of U. S. Application No. 13 / 584,922 entitled " Electronic Device Case with Touch Sensitive Input "filed on August 14,

Technical field

Embodiments relate generally to mobile computing devices, and more particularly to external support systems for mobile devices.

Some conventional mobile devices such as a wireless phone, an ebook reader, a media player, a tablet computer, a wearable computer (e.g., glasses and watch) and a neural gaming device, May be provided with a display device that can be used in a game or the like. However, a processor in some of these mobile devices may not have sufficient processing power to render complex graphics (e.g., 3-D 1-in-1 graphics). In addition, many mobile devices have a touch-sensitive display, but these displays may not be ideal for playing games where the user desires to have maximum visibility in the screen area.

In addition, some mobile devices do not have scalable memory and may require more advanced protocols that may be required or helpful when playing online games that may require the transmission of large amounts of data (graphics) over the Internet , 4G LTE). ≪ / RTI >

Further, the conventional electronic device case may be a manual cover for protecting the electronic device held in the case. Many portable electronic devices, such as wireless phone tablets, media players, e-book players, etc., have touch sensitive screens. The limitation of these conventional devices is that the amount of surface area available for use with touch devices is limited. Further, other limitations may be that the user may at least partially obstruct the screen of the device when interacting with the touch-sensitive display.

The embodiments have been particularly made in view of the above-mentioned limitations.

Some implementations may include methods. The method may include connecting an external support system to the mobile device and receiving, at the mobile device, external support system configuration information. The method may further include storing the external assistance system configuration information in a data storage unit of the mobile device and receiving a request for device capabilities from an application program running on the mobile device. The method includes the steps of responding to the request by providing information corresponding to the internal capabilities and external capabilities and performing processing operations by partitioning the processing tasks between the external processor and the internal processor located in the external support system The method comprising the steps of: The method further comprises receiving a first processing result from the internal processor and a second processing result from the external processor and combining the first processing result and the second processing result to produce a combined result . The method may further comprise generating an output from the mobile device based on the combined result.

The processing operation may include a graphics processing operation and the external processor provides graphics processing support to the internal processor. The generating an output from the mobile device may include displaying a graphical image on a display of the mobile device. The graphic image may include an image based on the combined processing results.

The method includes storing data received from the mobile device in a data store of the external support system and retrieving stored data from the data store of the mobile device and delivering the retrieved data to the mobile device . The method may further comprise providing an additional communication protocol device and decoding and encoding the communication message for the mobile device to the additional communication protocol device.

Some implementations may include an external support system for a mobile device. The system may include a body portion adapted to receive and releasably attach the mobile device and one or more user input devices disposed on an outer surface of the body portion. The system may further comprise a support processor disposed within the body portion and configured to provide graphics processing support to a processor disposed within the mobile device, wherein the one or more user input devices are coupled to the support processor. The system further includes a data storage device coupled to the support processor and configured to provide additional storage of data to the mobile device and an additional communication protocol portion configured to provide additional communication protocol support to the mobile device when enabled .

The one or more user input devices may include one or more joystick input devices and one or more thumb control input devices. The additional communication protocol may include a 4G LTE SIM card slot. An external port configured to connect the system to the mobile device, the external port having an external port connected to the support processor, an external mini-USB port connected to the support processor, an external Mini-HDD port, and an external memory device interface port connected to the support processor.

Some implementations may include a case having a body portion configured to receive an electronic device (e.g., a mobile device) and provide a removable cover for the electronic device. The case may include at least one touch sensitive input device disposed on an outer surface of the body portion.

The case may further comprise an interface configured to transmit a signal from the at least one touch sensitive input device to the electronic device. The interface may include one or more of a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a wireless universal serial bus (USB) interface, a Bluetooth interface, a serial data interface, and a parallel data interface.

The at least one touch sensitive input device may include two (or more) touch sensitive input devices. The at least one touch-sensitive input device may be disposed on the rear outer surface of the case opposite the front of the case in which the screen of the electronic device can be seen. The at least one touch sensitive input device may include one or more of a resistive device, a surface acoustic wave device, a capacitive device, an infrared device, a light imaging device, a distributed signal device, and an acoustic pulse recognition device. A capacitive device may include one or more of a surface capacitive device, a projected capacitive device, a mutual capacitance, and a self-capacitance device.

The case may include at least one touch sensitive input device and a power source (e.g., battery, capacitor, power connector, etc.) configured to power the interface. The at least one touch sensitive input device may include an edge portion configured to provide tactile feedback to a user when positioning the at least one touch sensitive input device.

1 illustrates an exemplary device case having a touch sensitive input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.
Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary device case having a plurality of touch sensitive input devices in accordance with at least one embodiment.
Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary external support system in accordance with at least one embodiment;
4 is a top front perspective view of an exemplary external support system in accordance with at least one embodiment.
Figure 5 is a side view of an exemplary external support system in accordance with at least one embodiment.
6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary external support system method in accordance with at least one embodiment.
Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary device case having an optical touchpad input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.
8 is a side view of the optical touch pad of Fig.
9A to 9C are side views of the optical touch pad of Fig.
10 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of controlling an optical touch pad in accordance with at least one embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device case 100 may include a body portion 102 that at least partially covers an electronic device. The case includes a touch sensitive input device 104 that may have an edge portion 106 configured (e.g., raised) to provide a tactile guide to the user for the position of the touch sensitive input device 104 .

The electronic device (or mobile device) may be a wireless device such as a wireless phone (such as an iPhone, a Droid, a Blackberry, a Palm OS device), a tablet device (such as an iPad), a media player (Kindle, Nook, etc.), a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and the like. The device may further include a wearable computer (e.g., glasses, a watch, etc.), a neural game device, and the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary case system 200 having a body portion 202, a first touch sensitive input device 204, and a second touch sensitive input device 206. Each touch sensitive input device may have an edge (e.g., 208) that provides tactile feedback to the user for the location of each touch sensitive input device.

Embodiments may include an interface (e.g., Bluetooth, USB, wireless USB, wired or wireless connection) for transmitting signals from the touch-sensitive input device (s) to the electronic device. The case may further include a processor and / or a power source. The processor may be used to collect signals from the touch-sensitive input device (s) and transmit the signals to the electronic device via the interface. The power source may be used to power the touch sensitive input device (s), processor and / or interface.

The touch sensitive input device may be a resistive device, a surface acoustic wave device, a capacitive device (e.g., surface capacitance, protruding capacitive, mutual capacitance, self capacitance), an infrared device, a light imaging device, A recognition device, and the like.

Embodiments may further include a system having one or more touch sensitive input devices external to the case and having a software program stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to execute on the electronic device. The software program can be configured to provide an image of the position (or positions) of the user's finger at the touch sensitive input device to the display of the device. The images or images may be partially transparent so that the user can see the position of the finger at the touch-sensitive input device (s) and simultaneously view the screen image.

Although the example shows one and two touch sensitive input devices, embodiments may include more than two separate touch sensitive input devices (e.g., one device for each finger of each hand) . The separate touch sensitive input devices may be assigned the same or different functions (e.g., keyboard keys, game controller inputs, etc.). Further, besides being disposed on the rear outer surface of the case, one or more touch sensitive input devices may be disposed on the other outer surface of the case.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary external support system 300 in accordance with at least one embodiment. The system 300 includes a processor 302 (e.g., a CPU, a GPU, or both), a mobile device interface 304, a communications protocol interface port 306, an optional BIOS 308, a RAM 310, An external memory card port 312, and one or more external interfaces 314.

The external support system 300 is configured to be coupled to the mobile device 316 (via a wired interface, a wireless interface, or both). The external interface 314 may include one or more of mini-USB, mini-HDMI, Ethernet (wired or wireless), WiFi, Bluetooth,

In addition to the components described above, the external support system 300 may include a user interface controller, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an operating system (stored in a memory device), an operating system interface unit (e.g., (For example, to communicate between an iOS and an operating system of an external support system that may be different, e.g., Android), a cooling system (active, passive or both), a battery and associated charging circuit, A vibration unit providing an accelerometer (or "G" sensor), tactile feedback, speaker (s), and a network adapter.

The processor 302 of the system 300 may perform some or all of the processing operations required by an application running on the mobile device. External support system 300 may also be used to download, store, and play bulk media data (e.g., video, audio, images, etc.).

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate exemplary external support systems in accordance with at least one embodiment. The external support system may include one or more interfaces such as a physical interface port (e.g., 2.2.2) and a wireless interface (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) Lt; / RTI > to the mobile device. The system includes at least one joystick game input device (2.1.1) and at least one thumb input device (2.1.2).

The joystick game input device 2.1.1 may include a touchpad sensor or mechanical joystick-type button disposed on the front and / or back of the external support system. The joystick game input device (2.1.1) is located on each side of the device and can accommodate playing with either the left hand, right hand or both hands. In addition, the joystick game input device 2.1.1 may be located in an external support system at a location where the index finger and / or the middle finger may naturally lie. The joystick game input device 2.1.1 may include one or more input switches or sensors (e.g., one for each of the left, right, top, bottom, and center).

The thumb input device (2.1.2) may be corrugated or textured to further enhance gripping power between the thumb and the thumb input device (2.1.2). The thumb input device 2.1.2 has a motion axis (or an axis that rotates about one point) in a single plane (e.g., x-axis plane), and a thumb input device (2.1.2) Thereby providing additional input signals.

The user interface button can be programmed (or mapped) to perform a specific function. In addition to being used as a game control input device, the input device can be mapped to perform functions such as navigation in a web browser or the like.

The external support system may further include one or more external interface connectors, such as an external memory card slot (2.2.1), a mini-USB port (2.2.3), and a mini-HDDMI port (2.2.4).

In addition to the input controls and external interface ports, the external support system may include slots for communication interface devices (e.g., SIM chips) that provide enhanced communication capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE) to the mobile device.

6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary external support system method in accordance with at least one embodiment. Processing begins at step 602 where an external support system (e.g., shown in Figures 3-5) is connected to a mobile device (e.g., an iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Player or the like) (wired or wireless). Processing continues to step 604.

At step 604, the external support system configuration information is transmitted from the external support system and received at the mobile device. Processing continues to step 606. [

In step 606, external support system configuration information is stored in the mobile device. Processing continues to step 608. [

At step 608, the mobile device receives a request for capabilities (e.g., from a software application running on the mobile device). Processing continues to step 610.

In step 610, the mobile device provides information about internal and external capabilities (including information based on the external support system configuration information received in step 604) in response to the request. Processing continues to step 612.

In step 612, the processing operation is partitioned between the internal processor of the mobile device and the external support processor of the external support system. The processing operations may be segmented using known or later developed multi-processor techniques. Processing continues to step 614.

In step 614, the result is received from the internal processor and the external processor. Processing continues to step 616. [

At step 616, the results from the internal processor and the external support processor are combined into a combined result. Processing continues to step 618. [

At step 618, the mobile device processor outputs the result based on the combined result (e.g., updates the display according to the graphical image of the combined result).

It is understood that steps 602-618 may be repeated in whole or in part to achieve the processing tasks considered using an external support system.

In addition to processing, the external support system may provide data storage / retrieval and / or communication support.

7 illustrates an exemplary device case having an optical touchpad input device in accordance with at least one embodiment. The device case (e.g., 200) may include one or more optical touch pad transceivers 702. FIG. 8 is a side view of the optical touch pad of FIG. 7, showing an optical transmission signal and a return signal.

9A to 9C are side views of the optical touch pad of Fig. Specifically, the optical touch pad transceiver may include a plurality of component zones. The first zone 1, the second zone 2, the third zone 3 and the fourth zone 4, as shown in FIG. 9A. Zone 1 and zone 4 may be a light source (e.g., infrared light, LED or other illuminator). Zone 2 and zone 3 may be receivers or transducers. The illuminator is on in the view shown in Figure 9b.

In Figure 9c, the receiver (e.g., 2) is receiving the movement of the finger to trace.

10 is an exemplary method flow diagram for controlling an optical touch pad in accordance with at least one embodiment. Processing begins at step 1002, where one or more fixtures are turned on. Processing continues to step 1004.

At step 1004, an indication of finger movement is received from a receiver (e.g., 2 and / or 3). Processing continues to step 1006.

At step 1006, the system may superimpose the finger outline image on the main screen image. Processing continues to step 1008.

At step 1008, the superimposed image is displayed. Processing continues to step 1010. [

In step 1010, the user selects a finger to control the program. Processing continues to step 1012. [

At step 1012, the other finger traces are ignored and / or removed from the display.

In addition to the exemplary devices described above, the mobile device may include an augmented reality system (e.g., Google Glass, etc.), a furniture or a wall mounted display, and the like.

Thus, in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein, it is clear that an external support system configured to enhance the capabilities of the mobile device is provided.

While the disclosed subject matter has been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, applicants are intended to include all alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and variations that fall within the scope and spirit of the present subject matter disclosed.

Claims (9)

As a method,
Connecting an external support system to the mobile device;
Receiving, at the mobile device, external support system configuration information;
Storing the external support system configuration information in a data storage unit of the mobile device;
Receiving a request for device capability from an application program running on the mobile device;
Responding to the request by providing information based on the external support system configuration information;
Performing the processing operation by dividing a processing job between an external processor and an internal processor located in the external support system;
Receiving a first processing result from the internal processor and a second processing result from the external processor;
Combining the first processing result and the second processing result to generate a combined result; And
And generating an output from the mobile device based on the combined result. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing operation is a graphics processing operation and the external processor provides graphic processing support to the internal processor. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the output from the mobile device comprises displaying a graphical image on a display of the mobile device, wherein the graphical image includes an image based on the combined processing result Lt; / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Storing data received from the mobile device in a data storage of the external support system; And
Further comprising retrieving the stored data from the data store of the mobile device and communicating the retrieved data to the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising decoding and encoding the communication message for the mobile device with an additional communication protocol device. An external support system for a mobile device,
A body portion configured to receive and releasably attach the mobile device;
One or more user input devices disposed on an outer surface of the body portion;
A support processor coupled to the at least one user input device and configured to provide graphics processing support to a processor disposed within the body portion and disposed within the mobile device;
A data storage device coupled to the support processor and configured to provide additional data storage to the mobile device; And
And an additional communication protocol unit configured to provide additional communication protocol support to the mobile device when enabled. 7. The external support system of claim 6, wherein the at least one user input device comprises at least one joystick input device and at least one thumb control input device. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the additional communication protocol comprises a 4G LTE SIM card slot. 9. The method of claim 8,
An external port configured to connect the system to the mobile device; The external port being connected to the support processor;
An external mini-USB port connected to the support processor;
An external mini-HDD port connected to the support processor; And
Further comprising an external memory device interface port coupled to the support processor.

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