Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F13/00—Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units
  • G06F13/10—Program control for peripheral devices
  • G06F13/105—Program control for peripheral devices where the program performs an input/output emulation function
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
  • G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
  • G06F9/44—Arrangements for executing specific programs
  • G06F9/451—Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/14—Display of multiple viewports
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
  • G06F3/1423—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/36—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
  • G09G5/39—Control of the bit-mapped memory
  • G09G5/395—Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of the bit-mapped memory to the screen
  • G09G5/397—Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of two or more bit-mapped memories to the screen simultaneously, e.g. for mixing or overlay

Definitions

• the present disclosure is related to displays and to partitioning the display surface of a single physical display into multiple virtual displays.
• a user may wish to have an application running in one portion of a display and have an Internet chat application running in another partition. In this manner, a user may engage in an online gaming application while running a chat session with one or more fellow gamers or other friends.
• a user may wish to run a primary application in one partition while continuing to monitor other items, such as stock quotes, news, etc.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with the embodiments.
• FIG. 2 is a diagram of a display surface having two virtual display partitions in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 3 is a diagram of a display surface having two virtual display partitions where one of the applications is operated in full screen mode without interfering with the other virtual display partition in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 4 is a diagram of a display surface having two virtual display partitions where one of the application windows is moved across the virtual display boundary in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 5 is a diagram of a display surface having two virtual display partitions where the cursor is moved across the virtual display boundary in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 6 is a diagram of a display surface having two virtual display partitions and where a second display provides a clone of one of the virtual display partitions in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating frame composition in a manner which presents image tearing, in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the handling of hardware interrupts and simulation of hardware interrupts for the virtual displays, in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the handling of hardware interrupts and virtual display updates, in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the handling of the cursor as it moves between various virtual display partitions in accordance with the embodiments.
• FIG 1 1 is a flow chart illustrating high level operation of the various embodiments.
• FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating high level operation of the various embodiments.
• FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating high level operation of the various embodiments when an application is operated in full screen mode.
• FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating enabling of a split display having a plurality of virtual partitions in accordance with the various embodiments.
• FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating disabling of a split display in accordance with the various embodiments.
• FIG. 16 is an example of a split display configuration application window in accordance with an embodiment.
• FIG. 17 is a chart of exemplary display configurations, which may be provided in a menu of a split display configuration application window in accordance with an embodiment.
• the present disclosure provides a method that includes partitioning a single display's viewable area into at least two virtual viewable areas, and emulating the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays with an operating system such that the operating system behaves as if interfacing with two actual physical displays.
• the method accomplishes the emulation of the at least two emulated physical displays in various ways. For example, the method provides to the operating system, generated display identification data (such as EDID, "extended display identification data”) for each of the emulated physical displays in response to a query from the operating system for display information.
• the method emulates the at least two emulated physical displays by receiving notification of an interrupt from a graphics processing unit, (where the interrupt corresponds to the single physical display), and reporting to the operating system with at least two sets of interrupt reporting information, corresponding to the at least two emulated physical displays, as if two interrupts were received.
• the operating system is thereby "faked” into acting as if two physical displays are in operation.
• the method further provides for displaying a first application window in full screen mode within one virtual viewable area, emulated as a physical display, of the at least two virtual viewable areas, where the application in full screen mode expands only within a perimeter of the one virtual viewable area.
• the method may further include displaying a second application window within another virtual viewable area, emulated as another physical display, of the at least two virtual viewable areas, while the first application is displayed in full screen mode within the one virtual viewable area, and continuing to display the first application in full screen mode while the second application window is accessed, for example, placed into focus.
• the method includes a double buffering method for composing display data frames where each data frame includes data from both of the at least two virtual viewable areas.
• the method includes sending the display data frames to the single display.
• the method may also include determining that display data displayed within a first virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas has changed, and copying display data from a second virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas in a first display data frame.
• the method may also include receiving selection input corresponding to a display configuration that partitions the single display's viewable area into the at least two virtual viewable areas.
• the method partitions the single display's viewable area, into at least two virtual viewable areas, in response to the selection input.
• the method may also, in some embodiments, emulate the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays, by receiving notification from the operating system, of buffered data ready for display on one of the at least two emulated physical displays, determining that display data on a first emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays has changed, copying display data for a second emulated physical display for which display data did not change but not in the first data frame, of the at least two emulated physical displays, into a first data frame and setting a flag as completed in the first data frame for the first and second emulated physical display, and setting a flag as not completed for the first emulated physical display in a second data frame.
• the method of emulating may also include receiving notification from the operating system, of buffered data ready for display on one of the at least two emulated physical displays, determining that display data on a second emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays has changed, copying display data for both the first, for which display data did not change but not in second data frame, and a second, emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays, into a second data frame and setting a flag as completed in the second data frame for the first and second emulated physical display, and setting a flag as not completed for the second emulated physical display in a first data frame.
• the method may also include cursor control, for example, receiving a notification corresponding to a cursor position, determining an emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays upon which the cursor is located, and converting the cursor's relative position, relative to the emulated physical display upon which the cursor is located, to a physical position corresponding to an overall display surface of the single display.
• cursor control for example, receiving a notification corresponding to a cursor position, determining an emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays upon which the cursor is located, and converting the cursor's relative position, relative to the emulated physical display upon which the cursor is located, to a physical position corresponding to an overall display surface of the single display.
• the embodiments disclosed also provide an apparatus that has at least one programmable processor, and memory operatively coupled to the programmable processor.
• the memory contains executable instructions for execution by the at least one processor.
• the programmable processor executes the executable instructions, the programmable processor is operable to partition a single display's viewable area into at least two virtual viewable areas, and emulate the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays with an operating system such that the operating system behaves as if interfacing with two actual physical displays.
• the apparatus' at least one programmable processor upon executing the executable instructions, may also be operable to emulate the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays by providing to the operating system, generated display identification data for each of the at least two emulated physical displays in response to a query from the operating system for display information.
• the at least one programmable processor may also be operable to emulate the at least two emulated physical displays by receiving notification of an interrupt from a graphics processing unit of the apparatus, where the interrupt corresponds to the single display, and reporting to the operating system with at least two sets of interrupt reporting information, corresponding to the at least two emulated physical displays, as if two interrupts were received.
• the apparatus may also include a display operable to display a first application window in full screen mode within one virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas, where the application window in full screen mode expands only within a perimeter of the one virtual viewable area.
• the display may further display a second application window within another virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas, while the first application is displayed in the full screen mode within the one virtual viewable area. The display will then continue to display the first application window in the full screen mode while the second application window is accessed, for example, placed into focus.
• the at least one programmable processor of the disclosed apparatus may also compose display data frames where each data frame includes data from both of the at least two virtual viewable areas.
• the display data frames are sent to the single display.
• the at least one programmable processor may also determine that display data displayed within a first virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas has changed, and copy display data from a second virtual viewable area of the at least two virtual viewable areas in a first display data frame.
• a user interface is also provided for configuration of the split displays and selecting how the virtual display areas are arranged. Therefore the at least one programmable processor of the apparatus may also be operable to receive selection input corresponding to a display configuration that partitions the single display's viewable area into the at least two virtual viewable areas. The single display's viewable area is then partitioned into at least two virtual viewable areas in response to the selection input.
• the at least one programmable processor of the apparatus may be operable to emulate the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays by receiving notification from the operating system, of buffered data ready for display on one of the at least two emulated physical displays, determining that display data on a first emulated physicals display of the at least two emulated physical displays has changed, copying display data for a second emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays, for which display data did not change, into a first data frame and setting a flag as completed in the first data frame for the second emulated physical display, and setting a flag as not completed for the second emulated physical display in a second data frame.
• the programmable processor may also be operable to emulate the physical displays by receiving notification from the operating system, of buffered data ready for display on one of the at least two emulated physical displays, determining that display data on a first emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays has changed, copying display data for both the first emulated physical display and a second emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays, for which display data did not change but not in first data frame, into a first data frame and setting a flag as completed in the first data frame for the first and second emulated physical display, and setting a flag as not completed for the first emulated physical display in a second data frame.
• the programmable processor may also be operable to emulate the physical displays by receiving notification from the operating system, of buffered data ready for display on one of the at least two emulated physical displays, determining that display data on a second emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays has changed, copying display data for the second emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays, for which display data did change, and the first emulated physical display for which display data did not change but not in second data frame, into a second data frame and setting a flag as completed in the second data frame for the first and second emulated physical display, and setting a flag as not completed for the second emulated physical display in a first data frame.
• the at least one programmable processor may also be operable to enact cursor control including receiving a notification corresponding to a cursor position, determining an emulated physical display of the at least two emulated physical displays upon which the cursor is located, and converting the cursor's relative position, relative to the emulated physical display upon which the cursor is located, to a physical position corresponding to an overall display surface of the single display.
• the present disclosure further provides a computer readable memory, that includes executable instructions for execution by at least one processor, that when executed cause the at least one processor to perform the operations and methods in accordance with the embodiments as outlined above.
• the executable instructions when executed, may cause the at least one processor to partition a single display's viewable area into at least two virtual viewable areas, and emulate the at least two virtual viewable areas as at least two emulated physical displays with an operating system such that the operating system behaves as if interfacing with two actual physical displays.
• the computer readable memory may be any suitable non-volatile memory such as, but not limited to programmable chips such as EEPROMS, flash ROM (thumb drives), compact discs (CDs) digital video disks (DVDs), etc., that may be used to load executable instructions or program code to other processing devices or electronic devices such as those described in further detail herein below.
• programmable chips such as EEPROMS, flash ROM (thumb drives), compact discs (CDs) digital video disks (DVDs), etc.
• module may include software and/or firmware executing on one or more programmable processors, ASICs, DSPs, hardwired logic or combinations thereof, and may be present within an electronic device/apparatus and/or within a display device.
• FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus or electronic device in accordance with the embodiments.
• the apparatus may be, for example, a laptop computer, desktop computer, handheld electronic device such as, but not limited to, a mobile telephone, a book reader, a PDA, etc., or any such electronic device that makes use of a display whether the display is external to the electronic device or integrated within the electronic device.
• the apparatus of FIG. 1 includes a central processing unit, CPU
• the 209 includes an operating system 207 and a graphics module 201 operatively coupled to the operating system 207.
• the graphics module 201 may, in some embodiments, be implemented as a kernel mode driver.
• the operating system 207 is also operatively coupled to a configuration user interface 203 which also may be executing on the CPU 209.
• the configuration user interface 203 together with the graphics module 201 forms a split display system 200.
• the CPU 209 and GPU 215 may, in the various embodiments, be implemented in various ways.
• the CPU and GPU may include one or more processing cores and may be physically located on separate integrated circuits and may even be located on separate printed circuit boards.
• the CPU 209 and GPU 215 may be integrated circuits integrated on a single integrated circuit die.
• the CPU and GPU may share a system memory which may also be physically located externally from the CPU and GPU, or on the same die or printed circuit board with the CPU and GPU.
• the system memory may include the frame buffer 219.
• the GPU 215 may have a dedicated memory and may contain the frame buffer 219.
• the frame buffer 219 may be distributed between the GPU 215 dedicated memory and a system memory shared by the CPU 209 and the GPU 215. Therefore, in accordance with the embodiments, the frame buffer 219 may be stored in any appropriate memory whether it be system memory or dedicated memory such as the GPU 215 dedicated memory.
• the GPU 215 provides data to the virtual display buffer set 221 where the virtual display buffers each correspond to a virtual display area of a physical display such as physical display 101.
• the data provided by the virtual buffers 221 to the physical display frame buffer 223 is display data, that is, display data that corresponds to the virtual displays.
• the physical display buffer 223 buffers the display data and sends the display data to the physical display 101 for display in the virtual display areas 109 and 1 1 1.
• the physical display buffer 223 is segmented into two frames, frame A and frame B, where each of the frames A and B contain display data from both of the virtual displays. That is, frame A will contain display data for virtual display area #1 and for virtual display area #2. Likewise frame B will contain display data for virtual display area #1 and for virtual display area #2.
• Physical display 101 is a display device and may be, for example, a television, computer monitor, or a display that is integrated into another electronic device such as a laptop computer, handheld computing device, mobile telephone, PDA, etc.
• the display device may be, for example, a CRT, LCD flat panel, LED flat panel, plasma screen, etc., that is, any appropriate display technology.
• the physical display 101 is operatively coupled to the GPU 215, and is also operatively coupled to the CPU 209 (for example via the GPU 215).
• the physical display 101 is operable to display information and images related to applications and/or electronic files of various file types such as, but not limited to, JPG/JPEG, GIF, MPEG, etc., and/or files that are determined by a file “extension” such as, but not limited to, ".doc,” “.pdf,” etc.
• the physical display 101 may include memory and/or logic that enables the adjustment, or configuration, of image quality settings related to images displayed on its screen space.
• the physical display 101 includes the capability of receiving and responding to queries for information such as, but not limited to, "EDID" information ("extended display identification data").
• a physical display 101 includes a physical display visible surface 100.
• the physical display visible surface 100 is partitioned via a boundary 107, into a virtual display area #1 109 and a virtual display area # 2 1 11.
• the virtual display areas are therefore partitioned portions of the physical display 101 viewable surface area.
• the virtual display areas may also be considered as corresponding to "virtual displays,” that is, emulated physical displays as will be described further.
• the two virtual display areas each have a corresponding virtual display buffer, that is virtual display buffer #1 and virtual display buffer #2, respectively.
• the physical display visible surface 100 is partitioned into only two virtual display areas, the physical display visible surface 100 may be partitioned into any desired number of virtual display areas in accordance with the embodiments. Therefore the frame buffer 219 may have 1 through N virtual display buffers within the virtual display buffer set 221. As shown in FIG. 1 , the virtual display buffer set 221 is determined per the display configuration. As mentioned above, the display configuration may be user determined using the configuration user interface 203. The virtual display buffer set 221 provides display data to the physical display frame buffer 223 which consolidates the virtual display buffer data into single frames of display data and provides them to the physical display 101 via an interface 225.
• the graphics module 201 provides a virtualization with respect to the CPU 209 and a physical display mapping with respect to the
• the GPU 215 as illustrated by the logical virtualization/physical display mapping boundary 21 1.
• the operating system 207 via the logical interface 213, perceives the virtual display areas 109 and 111 as multiple physical displays operatively coupled to the CPU.
• the GPU 215 only a single physical display, that is the physical display 101, is present and operatively coupled to the overall system.
• the graphics module 201 interfaces between the operating system 207 and GPU 215 to handle interrupts and provide information therebetween such that the operating system acts as if it is interacting with multiple physical displays.
• the interaction between the graphics module 201 and the GPU 215 enables the GPU to act normally as if only a single physical display is connected, which in fact is the case, however information from the virtual display areas is converted back to information corresponding to the physical display visible surface 100 of the physical display 101 so that this information can be provided to the GPU 215.
• the physical display mapping portion of logical boundary 21 1 is the interface between the graphics module 201 and the GPU 215.
• FIG. 2 illustrates how the physical display 101 physical display visible surface 100 is partitioned into two virtual display areas 109 and 1 1 1.
• the virtual display areas are defined by the vertical boundary 107.
• various application windows may be shown and operating within the various virtual display areas.
• virtual display area 109 is shown having application windows 1 through 3 while virtual display area 11 1 is shown having application windows 4 through 6.
• a mouse cursor 105 which is handled by the methods and apparatuses described herein and will be described in further detail below.
• application window 2 is shown in a full screen mode, which, in this example, is an "exclusive mode.” That is, application window 2 has been expanded to take up the entire display area or screen space of the virtual display area 109, and does not show any borders.
• the various embodiments herein disclosed enable the application window #2 to be in full screen mode within the virtual display area 109 without interfering or covering over the other virtual display area
• application windows 4 through 6 which are present within the virtual display area 1 1 1 may still be viewed and may also still be put into focus and operated upon by the user while the application window #2 is in full screen mode within the first virtual display area 109.
• Placing a window into focus includes, for example, an operation whereupon a computing device or electronic device user selects, usually by moving a mouse cursor over an area on a screen space and clicking, that is, "selecting," an application window in order to view that information displayed within the application window, or to proceed with some other operation related to the application or the application window (such as, but not limited to, resizing or moving the application window).
• an application window may also be placed in a full screen mode where the application window borders as still shown, and extend along the periphery of the virtual display area.
• the application window will also not interfere with the neighboring virtual display area or with any applications displayed in the neighboring virtual display area.
• full screen mode may be for example, either "exclusive mode” as used, for example, in gaming (or other) applications where the application screen fills the viewable area of the display and has no borders, or a full screen windows application where an application window is extended fully within the viewable area of the display but may still show a border around the perimeter of the application window.
• FIG. 4 illustrates further capabilities of the various embodiments.
• application window 2 is shown being moved partially across, or between, the two virtual display areas 109 and 11 1.
• movement of the application window #2 into the virtual display area 1 1 1 does not interfere with operation of the various application windows within the virtual display area 1 1 1.
• the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 performs the necessary translations between the operating system 207 and the GPU 215. That is, the graphics module 201 takes appropriate action for transitions of an object, such as the application window #2, across the boundary 107 so that the GPU 215 receives the appropriate physical display mapping and the operating system 207 receives the appropriate information suitable for the two emulated physical displays corresponding to virtual display areas 109 and 1 11.
• FIG. 5 illustrates a scenario where the mouse cursor 105 moves between the two virtual display areas 109 and 1 1 1.
• the cursor 105 is shown across the boundary 107 as it is moved from one virtual display area to the other virtual display area.
• the various embodiments likewise handle such mouse cursor movement scenarios as will be discussed further herein.
• FIG. 6 Another use case scenario is illustrated by FIG. 6.
• the physical display 101 is used in conjunction with a second physical display 601.
• the second physical display 601 includes a clone of the desktop or virtual display area 109 shown on physical display 101.
• the application window #2 on physical display 101 may move across the virtual display area boundary 107.
• the virtual display area boundary 107 on physical display 101 corresponds to the end of the actual physical display visible surface of physical display 601 so that the application window #2 moves off of the visible display area, that is, outside the monitor bezel.
• the graphics module 201 performs various display management tasks including, target management EDID management, connection management, mode list management, display property management, and reverse topology management, which is management of interrupts such as, for example, Vsync interrupts.
• the other tasks that the graphics module must perform in accordance with the embodiments are related to rendering management. Therefore the graphics module in accordance with the embodiments must perform among other things, display rendering detection, displayable frame composition, and resource management, including frame buffer, command buffer and composition context management, and cursor management.
• the graphics module 201 maintains one or more virtual displays which are derived from the physical display 101 and reports information related to the virtual displays to the operating system 207.
• the virtual displays or rather the emulated physical displays corresponding to the virtual display areas, are given the same attributes as a real physical display, for example EDID, connectivity, video output type and interrupts.
• the graphics module 201 may reserve a dedicated memory block, in system memory or in dedicated memory, as a swap chain for the final image which will be shown on the physical display 101.
• the graphics module 201 forces the emulated physical displays to share the same synchronization signal (Vsync) with the physical display 101.
• the graphics module 201 may interact with the desktop windows manager (DWM). For example, when the desktop windows manager is off, the graphics module may construct the frame in a dedicated memory block to be shown on the physical display 101. Construction of the display data frame may be based on the detection of a new render request through, for example "present()" or "flip()" for the surfaces on both emulated physical displays. For cases where the desktop windows manager is on, the graphics module 201 may report the synchronization signal (Vsync) to the operating system for both the virtual displays.
• Vsync synchronization signal
• the graphics module 201 When flip requests come in for the DWM on, or for full screen mode, for either one of the virtual display areas (that is, the emulated physical displays) the graphics module 201 performs a composition from the frames of the emulated physical displays into one frame of the swap chain and shows the newly constructed frame on the physical display 101.
• the various embodiments are transparent to applications in that the graphics module 201 guarantees application independency for the virtual display areas and retains the state regardless of any configuration change from various applications that may be running within the various virtual display areas.
• graphics module 201 takes actions as needed in the case of configuration changes on the various virtual display areas made by the user. For example relocation of the desktop or changes of resolution on the display are handled by the graphics module 201.
• the frame composition method is essentially a double buffering operation modified for the particular necessities of the virtual display areas.
• the operating system has buffer data ready to be displayed on one of the virtual display areas and in 703 the graphics module receives notification from the operating system that this is the case.
• the double buffering scheme divides the physical display frame buffer 223 into two portions, frame A and frame B. Therefore if the next visible frame to be displayed is frame A as shown in 705, a determination of whether the left panel or right panel is ready to be displayed is determined in 707.
• the two sides of the flowchart extending from 707 are symmetrical, in that if a new render frame is present for one of the virtual display areas, then the opposite or other virtual display area surface data is copied and the frame is flagged completed with respect to that particular virtual display area. For example if the new render frame is present for the right panel surface in frame A as shown in 71 1 , then the left panel surface data is copied only as shown in 727. The buffer is then marked completed with respect to the left panel information in frame A as shown in 729. The frame B is unmarked with respect to the left panel as it must be updated as shown in 731. The method then proceeds to blocks 733 through 743 where the interrupt is responded to with respect to the operating system 207.
• FIG. 8 illustrates the handling of hardware interrupts and the simulation of hardware interrupts for the emulated physical displays in accordance with the embodiments.
• the GPU 215 may send a hardware interrupt as shown in 801. This may be a Vsync interrupt in some embodiments as indicated.
• the graphics module 201 will, as shown in block 803, get the target ID associated with the controller ID of the GPU. The graphics module 201 will then get the source ID associated with the controller ID as shown in 805 and will determine in 807 if that particular source is participating in the split display mode. If not, then the graphics module 201 will report to the OS with the retrieved target ID and the surface addresses shown in block 817 and will return control to the OS in 819.
• the graphics module will search an array for the next source ID and target ID participating in the split display as shown in 81 1.
• the graphics module will then use the found source ID as an index to retrieve the associated surface address as shown in 813.
• the surface address may be obtained from for example the table 831 which may be stored in the system memory.
• the graphics module 201 simulates interrupts for the emulated physical displays to the operating system so that the operating system will not inadvertently conclude that the hardware is not properly working and inadvertently place GPU 215 into a reset mode.
• the target ID may be considered a monitor ID that is an ID that corresponds to a physical display. Therefore the graphics module 201 must simulate the target ID with respect to the virtual display areas such that the operating system perceives the virtual display areas as separate physical displays.
• the source ID corresponds to the virtual display area or virtual desktop such as virtual display area 109 and 1 1 1.
• FIG. 9 illustrates the handling of composition when desktop windows manager (DWM) is not running.
• Graphics module 201 creates a call back 901 with GPU 215 through hardware interrupts such as the Vsync interrupt callback. In this case, when an interrupt occurs, graphic module 201 will check both new content states of both virtual display areas in 903. If there is a change on both of the virtual display areas 909, graphic module 201 copies both virtual display areas into a first display frame A in the physical display frame buffer 223. If there is a change on either of the virtual display areas 909, graphic module 201 copies only that particular virtual display area into the first display frame A in physical display frame buffer 223. However the graphics module does not need to report any information back to the operating system 207.
• DWM desktop windows manager
• FIG. 10 illustrates a method of cursor management corresponding to, for example, the scenario illustrated by FIG. 5 where the cursor 105 moves across the virtual display area boundary 107.
• the graphics module 201 determines whether the cursor is on the left panel or right panel, that is, the graphics module 201 determines what virtual display the mouse cursor is present on as shown in 1005.
• the position of the mouse cursor is converted from the relative position on the virtual display areas to the physical display position corresponding to the physical display visible surface 100 of the overall physical display 101. This information is then provided to the GPU 215 as shown in 1009.
• FIGS. 1 1-13 summarize operation of the various embodiments. As shown in FIG.
• a single physical display's viewable area may be partitioned into at least two virtual viewable areas.
• the graphics module 201 of the various embodiments may then emulate the virtual viewable areas as physical displays with respect to the operating system 207.
• FIG. 12 shows that the system 200 may include the configuration user interface 203. Therefore in 1201, a user interface 203 may be provided for configuration of the virtual displays.
• the graphics module 201 may receive user selection input for a display arrangement via the logical interface 205 from the configuration user interface 203.
• the graphics module 201 will map the virtual display data to physical display 101 on the hardware interface between the graphics module 201 and the GPU 215.
• the graphics module 201 will then handle image movement across the virtual display sections as shown in 1209.
• FIG. 12 shows that the system 200 may include the configuration user interface 203. Therefore in 1201, a user interface 203 may be provided for configuration of the virtual displays.
• the graphics module 201 may receive user selection input for a display arrangement via the logical interface 205 from the configuration user interface 203.
• FIG. 13 illustrates operation of the virtual display areas when an application is shown in full screen mode.
• a first application may be displayed in full screen mode within a first virtual viewable area.
• Access is provided to a second application in a second virtual viewable area while the first application is displayed in full screen mode within the first virtual viewable area as shown in 1302.
• FIGS. 14 and 15 are flowcharts illustrating further operation of the configuration user interface 203 and illustrate the enablement and disablement of split display mode on the physical display 101.
• the configuration user interface 203 may send a notification to the graphics module 201 that the user wishes to enter split display mode.
• the graphics module 201 notifies the configuration user interface 203 of the beginning of the split display enable sequence. This may be accomplished by using for example, a "pause" event.
• the graphics module 203 saves the split display data and notifies the operating system 207 that the original display, that is physical display 101 , is detached and that two new displays are now attached. The two new displays are the emulated physical displays which are actually the virtual display areas 109 and 1 1 1 shown in FIG.
• the operating system queries for display info as shown in 1407, and the graphics module 201 generates and provides two fake EDIDs to the operating system 207.
• the operating system 207 queries the monitor mode and graphics module 201 provides the operating system 207 with monitor source modes as shown in 1409.
• the operating system 207 queries the mode list and the graphics module 201 provides the operating system 207 with the supported mode list.
• the operating system 207 sets the mode on two displays, that is, corresponding to the two emulated physical displays corresponding to the two virtual display areas 109 and 1 1 1.
• the graphics module 201 notifies the configuration user interface 203 about the end of the split display sequence using for example a "resume" event.
• FIG. 15 is another flow chart which shows the operation of split mode disable.
• the graphics module 201 disables the split display mode by notifying the operating system 207 that the two fake displays, that is, the two emulated physical displays corresponding to the two fake EDIDs, are detached and that the original physical display 101 is now attached as shown in 1505.
• the graphics module 201 provides the operating system 207 with the information needed as shown in blocks 1509 through 1515, so that the operating system may begin rendering again on the physical display 101 physical display visible surface 100 as shown in 1517.
• a graphics module 201 which in some embodiments may be implemented as a kernel mode driver, provides an interface between an operating system 207 and a graphics processing unit 215 (and related graphics hardware such as the chipset, etc.) such that the operating system 207 perceives operation of multiple physical displays where the graphics processing unit and associated graphics hardware perceives only a single physical display with respect to its specific operations.
• a physical display may thereby be partitioned into various virtual display areas as described above.
• FIG. 16 shows an example application window which may be used as part of the configuration user interface 203.
• the application window 1600 allows a user to pick a display layout by, for example, a pull down menu 1603.
• the configuration user interface 203 application window 1600 may provide a visual image of the physical display visible surface 1601 and show the selected virtual display area partition such as, for example, physical display area partition boundary 1609. The user may then use the cursor 1607 to click OK and enter into the split display mode as was described with respect to block 1401 in FIG. 14 where the configuration user interface 203 sends notification of split display mode to the graphics module 201. Therefore the action illustrated by block 1401 of FIG. 14 may be the result of user action within the application window 1600 of the configuration user interface 203.
• the application window 1600 is a simplified exemplary application window for the purpose of explaining a possible user interface.
• the application window 1600 is to be understood as exemplary only and therefore various other layouts and configurations of the application window 1600 may be used within the various embodiments as would be understood.
• the pull down menu 1603 may provide text descriptions of the configurations of the physical display viewable area, however the pull down menu may also provide symbols of configuration types as illustrated by the configuration types 1700 illustrated in FIG. 17.
• the various configuration types 1700 may be provided as part of the pull down menu 1603 of application window 1600. Therefore a user may simply select the pull down menu and select an appropriate configuration from the configuration choices of configuration types 1700.
• the configuration types 1700 are not to be considered an all-inclusive set, but rather are to be considered as illustrative only of some possible configurations that may be used by the various embodiments. That is, while the example configuration types 1700 shown in FIG. 17 show a maximum of four virtual display areas, there may be many more virtual display areas greater than four.
• the virtual display areas shown in FIG. 17 are defined by vertical and horizontal position boundaries.
• the virtual display areas need not be defined simply by horizontal or vertical boundaries, but may be defined by various geometric shapes and patterns such as but not limited to, triangular, rectangular, circular or other shaped virtual display area boundary patterns.

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• 2009
  • 2009-12-15 US US12/638,941 patent/US8538741B2/en active Active
• 2010
  • 2010-12-10 CN CN201080057011.3A patent/CN102782747B/zh active Active
  • 2010-12-10 WO PCT/CA2010/001966 patent/WO2011072379A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-12-10 KR KR1020127018461A patent/KR101752377B1/ko active Active
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