RU2733070C2 - Removable processing, storage and external data input device for mobile devices - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: computer equipment.

SUBSTANCE: device includes a housing intended for receiving a mobile device, equipped with extendable handles, a sensor input device located on the outer surface of the housing, a processor configured to receive signals from a sensor input device and to transmit data representing said signals in the form of commands of one of standard profiles to a mobile device through a communication interface, as well as providing support for processing graphics to a processor located in a mobile device, a data storage device configured to provide additional storage of data for a mobile device, data storage device having an additional communication protocol section which, when switched on, is configured to provide additional communication protocol support for the mobile device.

EFFECT: technical result is enabling interaction of removable device for processing, storage and external input of mobile devices with operating system of mobile device.

6 cl, 14 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention relates

The invention relates to the field of computer technology, namely to devices for inputting and reading information into a personal computer and other devices using manipulators as input devices that convert motion into a control signal for positioning the cursor or scrolling pages.

Description of the prior art

Some mobile devices, such as cordless phones, e-book readers, multimedia players, tablet computers, wearable computers (for example, glasses and watches), as well as other mobile devices have a display device (display) that can be used, among other things. for games. However, the processors of some of these mobile devices may not be capable of providing dynamic and detailed graphics rendering in gaming applications.

In addition, some mobile devices may not have the ability to increase the amount of available memory and have limited communication interfaces that do not allow connecting to high-powered protocols (for example, 5G LTE), which may be required or useful when playing an online game to function which may require the transmission of large amounts of data over the Internet.

Also, many portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, media players, e-readers, etc. have touch screens. A limitation in using these devices may be the surface area available for use. Another limitation may be that the user's hands or fingers may at least partially obstruct the viewing of information on the display.

Closest to the proposed invention is the Handy Case device (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1996975074/handycase-make-your-iphone-and-ipad-transparent). The specified device is a case for Apple mobile devices and in the process of operation transmits data from the touch panel directly to the application.

A significant drawback of this device is that it can work only with those applications in which the commands from the Handy Case libraries are preinstalled, as well as only with devices that work with the iOS operating system.

The advantage of the claimed invention is that the claimed invention sends commands from the sensors directly to the operating system of the mobile device in the form of commands from one of the standard profiles (the so-called HID - Human Interface Devices), which allows the claimed invention to interact with any operating system and manage any application that understands standard HID commands.

Tasks solved by the invention

The problem of currently known removable devices for processing, storing and external data input for mobile devices is that such devices, as a rule, can only work with certain applications of a certain operating system, which significantly limits their scope. Also, these devices have the form factor of a case for mobile devices, which suggests that they can be used only on specific models of mobile devices.

The present invention is implemented in order to solve the above problem, and, therefore, the technical problem of the present invention is to create a device that would allow interaction with any operating system of a mobile device and the ability to use the device with mobile devices of any diagonal in the range from 4 to 6 inches.

The technical result of the claimed invention is to provide the possibility of interaction of a removable device for processing, storing and external input of data of mobile devices with any operating system of a mobile device and the possibility of using the claimed device with any mobile devices with a screen diagonal of 4 to 6 inches.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that the claimed invention sends commands from the sensors directly to the operating system of the mobile device in the form of commands of one of the standard profiles (the so-called HID - Human Interface Devices), and also has universal fasteners and sliding handles.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a device with a touch input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of a multi-touch input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary detachable console in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an exemplary detachable console in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a detachable console in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example of a removable cantilever method in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example of a device with an optical touch panel input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the optical touch panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9A-9C are side views of the optical touchpad. FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary assisted touch control method in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an exemplary calibration user interface for an auxiliary touch input device in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a screen diagram of a particular device showing symbology indicating that touch points are activated on auxiliary touch input device (s) in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Disclosure of invention

A removable device for processing, storing and external data input for mobile devices consists of a housing for receiving a mobile device, an input device located on the outer surface of the housing, a support processor located inside the housing, and a data storage device.

The processor of the claimed invention is configured to support graphics processing to a processor located in a mobile device. In the course of operation, the claimed invention queries the mobile device (main) about its configuration and settings and stores this data in the data storage device. Further, the invention coordinates with the main device the possibilities of joint computing, distributing them between the processor of the main device and the processor of the support located inside the housing of the claimed invention. The main task of this process is in complex calculations, for example, when processing complex graphics, the claimed invention performs part of the calculations in order to lighten the load on the computing power of a mobile device, or to completely perform all the necessary calculations. As a result, the calculation results (complete or part of them) are transmitted to the main device. The main device combines the received data with data from its own calculations and transfers it to the running application and then to the screen.

Also, the claimed invention, if necessary, can be used by the main device for storing temporary or permanent data. The transmission of this data can be done both wired and wirelessly (for example, using Bluetooth), in encrypted or unencrypted form. The data storage device is configured to provide additional data storage for the mobile device and has an additional communication protocol section that, when enabled, is configured to provide additional communication protocol support for the mobile device.

The claimed invention uses standard profiles of remote devices for communication with the operating system of a smartphone / mobile phone (the so-called Human Interface Device), to unify interaction with various devices. There are a large number of peripheral data input devices for which unified (standardized) data transfer protocols have been created, namely: pointing (pointing) devices (computer mouse, trackball, touchpad, light pen, graphic tablet, touch screen or touchscreen, joystick, devices, based on computer vision, such as Kinect), as well as game input devices (joystick, gamepad, computer wheel, dance platform, light gun).

Each operating system will have a different number of supported external input devices. The permissions granted by the operating system for each of the peripheral devices also differ.

Each operating system (for example, Android or iOS) contains algorithms that, if a supported profile of a peripheral input device is recognized, interprets the received signals in accordance with the accepted rule. For example, for the gamepad profile (HID Gamepad), the deviation of the left joystick upward is perceived by the operating system and then by the launched application as a "forward" command, and the deviation of the right joystick in the same direction as "camera down".

The invention, using touch surfaces (so-called touchpads) as input devices, can perform the functions of several types of input devices. For example, the invention can use an HID Gamepad. When you switch to the desired configuration, the device transmits to the OS data that a gamepad with two joysticks and several buttons is connected to the main device. In this case, the touchpads, left and right, handle touches in two circular zones, as if it were a gamepad's actions, to the left and right joysticks.

Similar to HID Mouse - the device takes one swing on the touchpad and transmits the touch coordinates to the OS, as if it were a normal computer mouse.

The claimed invention may include a slot for a SIM card, including those with better characteristics than those used in the phone, for example, 5G. The device may additionally include an external port configured to connect the system to a mobile device, with the external port connected to the support processor, an external port of one of the USB variations connected to the support processor, an external port of one of the HDMI variations connected to the support processor, and an external memory device interface port connected to the support processor.

Some embodiments of the invention may include a housing portion for securing an electronic device (eg, a mobile device) to a user. The invention may include at least one touch input device located on the rear of the housing (eg, facing rearwardly relative to the device when inserted into the housing).

The device has the ability to fix the smartphone / mobile phone either in the "portrait" or "landscape" position, depending on the user's wishes. Typically, mobile games arrange their game scenes in a landscape position, with the large edge of the screen being horizontal. This is due to the peculiarities of human perception. However, the process of a number of games occurs vertically - for example, this is the Tetris game, where, in the course of the movement of arbitrary geometric shapes from top to bottom, the user must decide how these shapes will eventually be folded.

A situation is allowed when the claimed invention can be used to control such games, however, in this case, the basic method of fixing a mobile phone / smartphone will not be optimal. Therefore, the mount has the ability to rotate 90 degrees.

The claimed invention has sliding handles, which allows for the versatility of its use with smartphones and mobile phones of different sizes. Based on the requirements of the ergonomics of the device, it is necessary to provide a comfortable distance between the lateral surfaces of the claimed device in contact with the user's palms and the surfaces of the touchpads. This distance depends on the size of the palm and the length of the comfortable finger travel on the sensor surface for the average user. At the same time, it is required to ensure the universality of the application of the invention for mobile phones / smartphones with different screen sizes (body dimensions). To achieve this result, the invention implements sliding doors containing controls (sensors and buttons) for each side.

Thus, in the folded position, the device has dimensions sufficient for comfortable carrying in a regular pocket, but, if necessary, provide comfortable control for touch screens of different sizes.

In one embodiment, the invention may include an interface configured to transmit a signal from at least one touch input device to an electronic device. The interface may include one or more universal serial bus interfaces, a wireless universal serial bus interface, a Bluetooth interface, a serial data interface, and a parallel data interface.

One touch input device may include two (or more) touch input devices (touchpads). At least one touch input device may be located on the rear outer surface of the housing opposite to the front of the housing where the screen of the electronic device is located. The at least one sensor input device may include one or more resistive devices, a surface acoustic wave device, a capacitive device, an infrared device, an optical imaging device, a dispersion signal device, and an acoustic pulse recognition device. The capacitive device may include one or more surface capacitive devices, a projected capacitive device, a mutual capacitance, and a self-capacitive device.

The housing may include a power supply (eg, battery, capacitor, power connector) configured to power at least one sensor input and interface. The at least one touch input device may include a portion configured to provide feedback to a user when searching for the at least one touch input device.

In general, an implementation may include a removable external console (eg, housing, cover, or housing) having an auxiliary touch input surface configured to complement or provide an alternative to the primary touch input device (eg, touchscreen), a portable electronic device. A detachable external console can be configured to attach behind a main unit (such as a portable handheld electronic device) for convenience and compactness. Some implementations may provide for the transfer of user actions on the auxiliary touch input device of the console to the screen of the main unit. By providing an auxiliary touch sensitive surface in the rear console, the implementation can improve the visibility of the screen on the main unit during use.

Some implementations may include displaying graphical feedback on the main unit screen to indicate the position of one or more fingers on the secondary touch input surface (for example, the user's finger outlines displayed in shadow, outline, translucent, or other suitable shape allowing the user to see the position of one or more multiple fingers, while retaining the ability to see the area of the screen under the contours of the fingers superimposed on the screen of the main unit).

Some implementations may include a calibration function that helps reduce (or eliminate) accidental presses with fingers and parts of the hands that are not involved in the control process. The calibration process may include displaying a view of the auxiliary touch input device of the console on the screen of the main unit and providing user interface controls configured to allow the user to select portions of the auxiliary touch input device that are control input parts and parts that are false (or not used). for control). For example, a user may require portions of an assistive touch input device on a console where the user's index fingers can remain identified as control portions, while other portions can be excluded from data transmission to avoid erroneous responses from non-control fingers.

In addition, some implementations may include the ability to display the main unit of the image in combination with parts on the screen (for example, information from a removable / external console along with received and / or processed information using the console in combination with information obtained using the means main unit).

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic device housing 100 may include a housing portion 102 at least partially covering the electronic device. The housing can include a touch input device 104, which can have an edge portion 106 that is configured (eg, raised) to provide a tactile indication to a user regarding the location of the touch input device 104. The invention in this embodiment also includes a processor configured to receive signals from touch input device 104 and to transmit data representative of these signals to an electronic device via a communications interface.

An electronic device (or mobile device) may include a wireless phone (mobile phone / smartphone) (such as iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm OS device, etc.), tablet device (iPad), media player (iPod), e-book ( Kindle, Noo), laptop, laptop, wearable electronics (e.g. glasses, watches).

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary diagram of a device 200 having a body portion 202, a first touch input device 204, and a second touch input device 206. Each touch input device may have an edge (eg, 208) that provides feedback to the user regarding the location of the respective touch input devices.

The sensor input device may include one or more resistive devices, a surface acoustic wave device, a capacitive device (e.g., surface capacitive, projected capacitive, mutual capacitance, self-capacitive capacitance, etc.), infrared device, optical imaging device , a dispersive signaling device, an acoustic pulse recognition device, or the like.

One embodiment of the invention may also include a system having one or more touch input devices on the outer (eg, back side) of the housing, and a program stored on a non-transitive computer-readable medium and configured to execute (or run) on an electronic device. The software can be customized to provide a device display image of the location (or location) of the user's fingers on touch input devices. The image or images can be partially transparent to allow the user to see the location of the fingers on the touch input device and simultaneously view the image on the screen.

While the above embodiments have been described in relation to one or two touch input devices, other embodiments of the invention may include more than two separate touch input devices (eg, one device for each finger of each hand). The individual touch input devices may be assigned the same or different functions (eg, keyboard keys, game controller inputs, or the like). In addition, in addition to being located on the rear outer surface of the housing, one or more sensor inputs may be located on other outer surfaces of the housing.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a detachable console 300 in accordance with at least one embodiment. System 300 includes a processor 302 (eg, a central processing unit, a graphics processor, or both), a mobile device interface 304, a communications protocol interface port 306, an additional BIOS 308, a RAM 310, an external memory card port 312, and one or more external interfaces 314.

Detachable console 300 is configured to connect (via a wired interface, wireless interface, or both) to a mobile device 316. External interfaces 314 may include one or more variations of USB, variations of HDMI, Ethernet (wired or wireless), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the like.

In addition to the aforementioned components, the removable console 300 may include one or more user interface controls, flash memory, ROM memory, an operating system (stored in a memory device), an operating system interface unit (for example, for communication between the operating system of a mobile device such as iOS and the operating system of a removable console such as Android, which may vary), cooling system (active, passive, or both), battery and associated charging circuit, accelerometer (or "G"), vibration unit to provide tactile feedback, speaker (s) and network adapters.

Processor 302 of system 300 may perform some or all of the processing required by an application running on a mobile device. In addition, the detachable console 300 can be used to download, store, and play back bulk media data (eg, video, audio, images, and the like).

Figures 4 and 5 show an example of a removable console in accordance with at least one embodiment. The detachable console is configured to receive a mobile device (for example, a wireless phone), as well as to connect to a mobile device through one or more interfaces, such as a physical interface port (for example, 2.2.2) and a wireless interface (for example, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or the like). The system includes one or more input devices, a game joystick (2.1.1) and one or more input devices (2.1.2).

The input device (2.1.1) may include a touch panel sensor or mechanical joystick buttons located on the front surface and / or back surface of the detachable console. An input device (2.1.1) may be located on either side of the device for left-handed, right-handed, or both-handed play. In addition, the joystick, gaming input devices (2.1.1) can be located on the removable console in places where the middle fingers are most often located. An input device (2.1.1) may include one or more input switches or sensors (for example, one for each left, right, top, bottom, and center).

Thumb input devices (2.1.2) may be crimped or textured to provide a better clamping force between fingers and thumb input devices (2.1.2). Thumb input devices (2.1.2) may have an axis of motion (or rotation around a point) in one plane and an additional input signal from pressing on finger input devices (2.1.2) as a button.

User interface buttons can be programmed to perform specific functions. In addition to being used as input devices, they can be used to perform functions such as navigating in a web browser.

A detachable console can also 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 HDMI port (2.2.4).

In addition to the input controls and front-end ports, the detachable console can include a slot for a communications interface device (eg, a SIM chip) to provide enhanced communications (eg, 5G LTE) for a mobile device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a removable cantilever method in accordance with at least one embodiment. Processing begins at 602 where a detachable console (e.g., as shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4, and Fig. 5) is connected (wired or wirelessly) to a mobile device (e.g., iPhone, iPad, Android phone, e-book reader , media player). Processing continues until 604.

At block 604, the detachable console configuration is transmitted from the detachable console and received at the mobile device. Processing continues until 606.

At 606, the configuration information of the removable console is stored in the mobile device. Processing continues until 608.

At block 608, the mobile device receives a request for capabilities (eg, from a software application that is running on the mobile device). Processing continues until 610.

At block 610, the mobile device responds to the request with internal and external capability information (including information based on the removable console configuration information obtained at block 604). Processing continues until 612.

At block 612, the processing task is split between the internal processor of the mobile device and the external processor to support the removable console. Processing continues until 614.

At block 614, processing results are obtained from the internal processor and the external processor. Processing continues until 616.

At 616, the results of the internal processor and external support processor are combined into a combined result. Processing continues until 618.

At block 618, the mobile processor outputs a result based on the combined result (eg, updates the display with the graphics in the combined result).

It will be appreciated that processes 602-618 may be repeated in whole or in part in order to complete the processing task using a detachable console.

In addition to processing, the detachable console can provide storage / retrieval and / or communication support.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the operation of an optical touch panel input device in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. The device body (eg 200) may include one or more optical touch panel transceivers 702.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the optical touch panel shown in FIG. 7, and shows an optical transmission signal and a return signal.

FIG. 9A-9C are side views of the optical touchpad shown in FIG. 7, in particular, an optical touchpad transceiver may include a plurality of component regions. As shown in FIG. 9A, there may be a first zone 1, a second zone 2, a third zone 3, and a fourth zone 4. Zones 1 and 4 can be a light source (eg, infrared light, an LED, or other illuminator). Zones 2 and 3 can be receivers or transducers. The illuminator is included in the diagram of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 9C depicts a receiver (eg 2) receiving a trace finger movement.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for controlling an optical touch panel in accordance with at least one embodiment. Processing starts at 1002 when one or more fixtures are on. Processing continues until 1004.

At 1004, finger movement indicators are received from receivers (eg, 2 and / or 3). Processing continues until 1006.

At 1006, the system may superimpose a fingerprint image on the main screen image. Processing continues until 1008.

At block 1008, an overlay image is displayed. Processing continues until 1010.

At 1010, the user selects which fingers will control the program. Processing continues until 1012.

At 1012, other fingerprints are ignored and / or removed from the display.

It will be appreciated that the process depicted in steps 1002 to 1012 may be repeated in whole or in part. For example, 1004-1012 may be implemented using an auxiliary touch input device other than an optical touch sensor (eg, a capacitive sensor).

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an exemplary calibration user interface for an auxiliary touch input device. The calibration interface includes a plurality of elements (1102-1106), each of which corresponds to a corresponding section of the auxiliary sensing sensor input device. Each of the items (1102-1106) can be toggled to a state indicating the active control section of the auxiliary touch input device (s) (items indicated 1102) or for a second a state indicating the non-control section of the auxiliary touch input device (s) ) (1104 and 1106).

When using the invention, false alarms of the sensor are possible due to the combination of the anatomical features of the structure of the hand and the location of the touchpads of the claimed invention in the working position. Not all of the user's fingers will participate in the data transfer process, but they will be near the sensors and may sometimes mistakenly touch the sensors, which will be perceived as data input. However, for each user or when performing the same task, false positives will be in the same region of input devices. In this regard, these areas can be calibrated by programmatically indicating the non-working areas of the input devices. Thus, some areas of input devices will no longer perceive touch and interfere with the data input process.

12 depicts an exemplary device screen 1202 showing an image (1204 and 1206) corresponding to dots touching an auxiliary touch input device. The symbology may include one or more graphical representations that the dots touch (or activate) on the assistive touch input device and may overlap with other applications displayed on the device screen (eg, a game or other application).

In addition to the examples of devices described above, a mobile device may include augmented reality systems (eg, Google Glass or the like), furniture or wall displays, and the like.

Claims (6)

1. A removable device for processing, storing and external data input for mobile devices, characterized in that it includes the following elements: a housing designed to receive a mobile device, equipped with sliding handles, a touch input device located on the outer surface of the housing, a processor configured for receiving signals from a touch input device and for transmitting data representing these signals in the form of commands of one of the standard profiles to a mobile device via a communication interface; and also providing graphics processing support to a processor located in the mobile device, a data storage device configured for providing additional data storage for the mobile device, a data storage device having an additional communication protocol section that, when enabled, is configured to provide additional communication protocol support for the mobile device. 2. A method of processing, storing and external data input for mobile devices by means of a removable device, including data input through a sensor input device of a removable device, transmitting a signal corresponding to the data entered through the sensor device to a mobile device in the form of commands of one of the standard profiles, forming by a processor of a removable device of a request for the configuration and settings of a mobile device, sending a generated request to a mobile device, saving a response to a request in a data storage device included in a removable device, agreeing with a mobile device the possibility of joint computing, distributing them between the processor of the mobile device and the processor device, processing at least part of the data by the processor of the removable device, transferring the processed data to the processor of the mobile device. 3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a slot for a SIM card. 4. The device of claim. 1, characterized in that it includes an external port configured to connect to a mobile device. 5. The device of claim. 1, characterized in that it includes an interface configured to transmit a signal from the touch input device to the mobile device. 6. The device of claim. 1, characterized in that it includes a power source.

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