U.S. patent application number 10/434846 was filed with the patent office on 2004-02-12 for method and system for controlling a complementary user interface on a display surface.
This patent application is currently assigned to xSides Corporation. Invention is credited to Brooks, Phillip, Campbell, J. Scott, Easton, John, Kaan, Carson, Nason, D. David, O'Rourke, Thomas C., Warnock, James.
Application Number | 20040027387 10/434846 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22554820 |
Filed Date | 2004-02-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040027387 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nason, D. David ; et
al. |
February 12, 2004 |
Method and system for controlling a complementary user interface on
a display surface
Abstract
An alternate display content controller provides a technique for
controlling a video display separately from and in addition to the
content displayed on the operating system display surface. Where
the display is a computer monitor, the alternate display content
controller interacts with the computer utility operating system and
hardware drivers to control allocation of display space and create
and control one or more parallel graphical user interfaces adjacent
the operating system desktop. An alternate display content
controller may be incorporated in either hardware or software. As
software, an alternate display content controller may be an
application running on the computer operating system, or may
include an operating system kernel of varying complexity ranging
from dependent on the utility operating system for hardware system
services to a parallel system independent of the utility operating
system and capable of supporting dedicated applications. The
alternate display content controller may also include content and
operating software delivered over the internet or any other LAN.
The alternate display content controller may also be included in a
television decoder/settop box to permit two or more parallel
graphical user interfaces to be displayed simultaneously.
Inventors: |
Nason, D. David; (Bainbridge
Island, WA) ; Campbell, J. Scott; (Seattle, WA)
; Brooks, Phillip; (Seattle, WA) ; Kaan,
Carson; (Seattle, WA) ; O'Rourke, Thomas C.;
(Seattle, WA) ; Warnock, James; (Seattle, WA)
; Easton, John; (Vashon, WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE, LLP
2600 CENTURY SQUARE
1501 FOURTH AVENUE
SEATTLE
WA
98101-1688
US
|
Assignee: |
xSides Corporation
Seattle
WA
|
Family ID: |
22554820 |
Appl. No.: |
10/434846 |
Filed: |
May 9, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10434846 |
May 9, 2003 |
|
|
|
09666032 |
Sep 20, 2000 |
|
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|
6630943 |
|
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60155288 |
Sep 21, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/781 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09G 1/16 20130101; G09G
1/165 20130101; G09G 2310/0232 20130101; G09G 2370/027 20130101;
G09G 5/14 20130101; G06F 9/451 20180201 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/781 |
International
Class: |
G09G 005/00 |
Claims
1. A method for modifying the display of a secondary user interface
on a video display system to include a portal area, the video
display system having a total displayable area that includes a
first region and a second region, the first region controlled by a
computer operating system which presents a user interface that
occupies at least a portion of the first region, the second region
located outside of the first region and outside of the control of
the operating system, the secondary user interface being displayed
in the second region, comprising: upon receiving an indication to
display a portal area; increasing the size of the second region by
reallocating the total displayable area between the first region
and the second region, such that the first region decreases in size
in a manner that is transparent to the operating system; allocating
a first portion of the enlarged second region to the secondary user
interface and a second portion to the portal area; redisplaying the
secondary user interface in the first portion of the enlarged
second region; determining an indication of content to display in
the portal area; and loading and displaying the indicated content
in the portal area.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 60/155,288 filed Sep. 21, 1999, where this
provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to a method and system for
controlling the display of information on a display surface and, in
particular, to computer software that displays one or more user
interfaces that can coexist with a standard user interface provided
by the computer system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the
present invention.
[0004] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the
present invention.
[0005] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a standard display with an overscan
user interface on all four borders of the display.
[0006] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the basic components of the
present invention.
[0007] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a cursor or pointer within the
overscan user interface and the hotspot above it within the
standard display.
[0008] FIG. 6 is a diagram of the usable border within the vertical
overscan and the horizontal overscan surrounding the standard
display.
[0009] FIG. 7 is an overview flow diagram showing the operation of
a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps in Identify
Display step 102 of FIG. 7.
[0011] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps of changing the
display resolution step 114 of FIG. 7.
[0012] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps in the Paint the
Display step 120 of FIG. 7.
[0013] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps of Enable Linear
Addressing step 112 of FIG. 7.
[0014] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps of the Process
Message Loop of FIG. 7.
[0015] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps of the Check
Mouse and Keyboard Events step 184 in FIG. 12.
[0016] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of the sub-steps of the Change
Emulation Resolution step 115 in FIG. 7.
[0017] FIG. 15 is a diagram of a standard display of the prior
art.
[0018] FIG. 16 is a diagram of a standard display with an overscan
user interface in the bottom overscan area.
[0019] FIG. 17 is a diagram of a standard display including a
desktop, an overscan user interface in the bottom overscan area and
a context sensitive browser on the side.
[0020] FIG. 18 is a diagram of a standard display with an overscan
user interface in the bottom and on the right overscan area.
[0021] FIG. 19 is a line drawing of a parallel GUI according to an
example embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 20 is a simplified example of a menu tree.
[0023] FIG. 21 is a line drawing of a parallel GUI with an
accessory container or cartridge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Embodiments of the present invention provide computer-based
methods and systems for displaying information on a display
surface. When a resident operating system is present, embodiments
display information in a manner that is complementary to the
resident operating system. The information displayed may be
coexistent with a user interface provided by the resident operating
system. In addition, embodiments may be embedded into a resident
operating system and provide a primary interface to a display
surface.
[0025] Embodiments provide a technique for controlling allocation
and content of display space among one or more user interfaces,
operating systems or applications permitting an application or
parallel graphical user interface (GUI) to operate outside the
desktop, the area designated for display of the operating system
interface and it's associated applications. In an example
embodiment, a computer operating under the control of any utility
operating system such as Microsoft Windows.TM., Linux, Apple O/S or
Unix may have the allocation of visible display controlled by
techniques of the present invention. The operating system desktop
may be scaled and/or moved to a specific area of the display
permitting a parallel (or complementary) GUI to operate in the open
area. An example embodiment of the present invention may be an
application operating under the primary or utility operating system
or it may be combined with an operating system kernel to control
the display and content in the parallel display.
[0026] Also, in some embodiments, a technique is provided for
adding and using a parallel graphical user interface adjacent to
the standard user graphical display interface, for example in the
border beyond the standard screen display area. Conventional video
systems, such as VGA, SVGA and XGA video systems, include a defined
border surrounding the display area. The original purpose of this
border was to allow adequate time for the horizontal and vertical
retrace of the electron gun in a cathode ray tube display. However,
with the advent of LCD displays and as retrace speeds have
increased in modern monitors, it is now possible to present a user
interface display in this border. The border which can be
controlled as a user interface is a portion of what is known as the
"overscan". Example embodiments include a method for presenting one
or more additional or secondary user interfaces, for example, in
the overscan area surrounding the conventional user interface
display often called the desktop.
[0027] When the electron gun in a CRT retraces to the left of the
screen or the top of the screen, it requires a significant amount
of time relative to the presentation of a scanned line of data.
During the retrace, the electron gun is turned off("blanked"). If
the blanking time required for the retrace is equal to the amount
of time available, there is no usable overscan. However, modem
monitors have become much faster in their retrace speeds, leaving a
significant amount of time when the electron gun need not be
blanked, allowing a displayable border. In the prior art, although
the border is usually "black" (the gun is turned off), it is well
known how to specify that the border shall be given any one of six
colors. Standard BIOS allows a specification of this color. The
desired color is simply specified in one of the registers for the
video controller. Typically no data for this color is stored in the
buffer of video memory for the display. An example embodiment of
the present invention establishes an additional video buffer for
the border and allows this buffer to be written with display data
like the regular display buffer. The additional video buffer is
often present but unused in the graphics systems of most computers
because video memory is usually implemented in sizes that are
powers of 2 e.g. "512K", whereas standard desktop dimensions are
not "e.g. 640.times.480=300K". The display area is thereby
expanded, on one or more edges, to provide a visible area
previously invisible. The pixels within this newly visible area of
the display are made accessible to programs through an application
programming interface (API) component of example embodiments of the
present invention. A program incorporating a parallel graphical
user interface may be displayed in the previously blanked area of
the display, functionally increasing the accessible area of the
display without hardware modification. In other cases the desktop
may be increased or decreased to non-standard sizes.
[0028] Other example embodiments of the present invention include a
method for displaying an image on a video display system in an area
outside of the primary display area generated by the video display
system. Two dimensions define the standard display area, each
specifying a number of pixels. Selecting a video "mode" specifies
these dimensions. The method can be accomplished by adjusting
parameters for the video display system to increase the number of
pixels in at least one dimension of the display system. The number
of pixels which is added is less than or equal to the difference
between the number of pixels specified in the video mode and a
maximum number of pixels which the video display system can
effectively display. Any such difference is defined here as the
overscan area. Thus, the overscan area may be the difference
between the current desktop video mode and the display capability
of the display device or more specifically, any portion of video
memory unused when the operating system is in a given screen
dimension. Because most interface displays are created by writing a
desired image to a buffer or memory for the video display, the
method requires allocating additional video display memory for the
increased pixels. The image written to such memory is then
displayed by the system alongside the original display area.
[0029] In other example embodiments, only the vertical dimension is
increased and the overscan user interface is presented above or
below the primary display area. Alternatively, the horizontal
dimension may be increased and the overscan user interface
displayed to the right or the left of the primary display area.
Similarly, the interface image may be displayed on any or all of
the four sides of the primary display area.
[0030] In still other example embodiments, a parallel (or
complementary) GUI is provided that includes access to existing
search engines and browsers. In another embodiment, the parallel
GUI includes a search engine and/or browser. A search engine and/or
browser may be opened in either the overscan space or a space
within or over the operating system user interface.
[0031] These and other features and advantages of embodiments of
the present invention will become further apparent from the
detailed description and accompanying figures that follow.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0032] Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and
systems for displaying information on a display surface in a manner
that complements the display metaphor and technology provided by a
resident operating system. Using techniques of embodiments of the
present invention, a complementary user interface is made operable
within an existing system or is provided as a stand-alone
environment. The complementary user interface may coexist as a
secondary graphical user interface ("GUI") with a primary user
interface, such as conventional desktop GUI provided by the
resident operating system. The complementary user interface
provided by such embodiments may be used, for example, to provide
additional display screen real estate or to provide quick or
continuous ("sticky") access to selected applications. The new user
interface may provide access to a wide variety of capabilities,
including, for example, continuous access to a user's favorite
network locations on, for example, the Internet.
[0033] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, in a preferred embodiment,
programming mechanisms and interfaces in a video display and
control system such as computer system 7 or settop box 8 provide
one or more parallel GUIs such as space 2C and/or space 4 in a
display area such as display area 1 or display area 9 by providing
access and visibility to a portion of the display otherwise ignored
and/or inaccessible (hereinafter "overscan area"). Display areas
such as display area 1 or display area 9 may be created on any type
of analog or digital display hardware including but not limited to
CRT, TFT, LCD and flat panel.
[0034] Alternate display content controller 6 interacts with the
computer utility operating system 5B and hardware drivers 5C to
control allocation of display space 1 and create and control one or
more parallel graphical user interfaces such as context sensitive
network browser (CSNB) 2 and internet pages 2A and 2B adjacent the
operating system desktop 3. Alternate display content controller 6
may be incorporated in either hardware or software. As software, an
alternate display content controller may be an application running
on the computer operating system, or may include an operating
system kernel of varying complexity ranging from dependent on the
utility operating system for hardware system services to a parallel
system independent of the utility operating system and capable of
supporting dedicated applications. The alternate display content
controller may also include content and operating software such as
JAVA delivered over the Internet I or any other LAN.
[0035] The alternate display content controller may also be
included in a television decoder/settop box such as box 8 to permit
two or more parallel graphical user interfaces such as pages 9A and
9B to be displayed simultaneously. Methods and systems of the
present invention may be compatible with conventional television
formats such as NTSC, PAL, PAL-C, SECAM and MESECAM. In this
configuration content and software may be delivered over any
conventional delivery medium 10 including but not limited to over
the air broadcast signals 10A, cable 10C, optical fiber, and
satellite 10B.
[0036] FIGS. 1 and 2 will be referenced in more detail below.
[0037] FIG. 15 shows an example of a standard prior art display
desktop generated by a Microsoft Windows 95.TM. operating system.
Within the desktop 31 are the taskbar 32 and desktop icons 33.
[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a
graphical user interface image is painted onto one or more of the
sides of the overscan area as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a
depiction of a Super VGA (SVGA) display with the addition of a
graphical bar user interface displayed in the overscan area. The
overscan user interface bar 30 is defined to reside outside the
borders of the "desktop" display area 31. In FIG. 16, the display
is modified to include a graphical user interface 30 in a bar
20-pixels high below the bottom edge. In FIG. 3, the display is
modified to include a graphical user interface in four bars each
20-pixels high/wide outside each of the four display edges: a
bottom bar 30, a left side bar 34, a right side bar 36, and a top
bar 38.
[0039] The overscan interface may include, and is not limited to,
buttons, menus, application output controls (such as a "ticker
window"), animations, and user input controls (such as edit boxes).
Because the overscan interface is not obscured by other
applications running within the standard desktop, the overscan
interface may be constantly visible or it may toggle between
visible and invisible states based upon any of a number of
programming parameters (including, but not limited to, the state of
the active window, the state of a toggle button, etc.)
[0040] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the basic components of the
present invention. Within the software component S are the
operating system 63 and one or more applications such as
application 61. Within the protected modes of modem systems,
applications 61 do not have direct access to the video or Graphics
Drivers 64 or hardware components such as the video card 66 which
contains the video chipset 66A, 66B and 66C. Abstraction layers
such as Application Interface (API) 60, and/or Direct API 62,
provide limited access, often through the operating system 63.
[0041] Embodiments of the present invention provide a technique for
painting and accessing an area of the computer display not
accessible, or used, in the operative desktop graphics modes. In
the Microsoft Windows environments (including Microsoft Window 95
and derivatives, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and derivatives) and
other contemporary operating environments, the primary display area
"desktop" is usually assigned by the operating system to be one of
a set of pre-determined video "modes" such as those laid out in
Tables 1 and 2 below, each of which is predefined at a specific
pixel resolution. Thus, the accessible area of the computer display
may not be modified except by selecting another of the available
predefined modes.
1TABLE 1 ROM BIOS VTDEO MODES Mode Number Resolution Mode Colors
Buffer Type Segment 00H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 350 pixels) 00H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 350 pixels) 00H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 400 pixels) 00H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 400 pixels) 01H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 200 pixels) 01H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 350 pixels) 01H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 400 pixels) 01H 42 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (320
.times. 400 pixels) 02H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 200 pixels) 02H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 350 pixels) 02H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 400 pixels) 02H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 400 pixels) 03H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 200 pixels) 03H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 350 pixels) 03H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (640
.times. 400 pixels) 03H 80 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha B800 (720
.times. 400 pixels) 04H 320 .times. 200 pixels 4 Graphics B800 05H
320 .times. 200 pixels 4 Graphics B800 06H 840 .times. 200 pixels 2
Graphics B800 07H 80 .times. 25 chars 2 Alpha B000 (720 .times. 350
pixels) 07H 80 .times. 25 chars 2 Alpha B000 (720 .times. 400
pixels) 0DH 320 .times. 200 pixels 16 Graphics A000 0EH 640 .times.
200 pixels 16 Graphics A000 0FH 640 .times. 350 pixels 4 Graphics
A000 10H 640 .times. 350 pixels 4 Graphics A000 10H 640 .times. 350
pixels 16 Graphics A000 11H 640 .times. 480 pixels 2 Graphics A000
12H 640 .times. 480 pixels 16 Graphics A000 13H 320 .times. 200
pixels 256 Graphics A000
[0042]
2TABLE 2 SVGA VIDEO MODES DEFINED IN THE VESA BIOS EXTENSION Mode
Number Resolution Mode Colors Buffer Type 100H 640 .times. 480
pixels 256 Graphics 101H 640 .times. 480 pixels 256 Graphics 102H
800 .times. 600 pixels 16 Graphics 103H 800 .times. 600 pixels 256
Graphics 104H 1024 .times. 768 pixels 16 Graphics 105H 1024 .times.
768 pixels 256 Graphics 106H 1280 .times. 1024 16 Graphics pixels
107H 1280 .times. 1024 256 Graphics pixels 108H 80 .times. 60 chars
16 Alpha 109H 132 .times. 25 chars 16 Alpha 10AH 132 .times. 43
chars 16 Alpha 10BH 132 .times. 50 chars 16 Alpha 10CH 132 .times.
60 chars 16 Alpha 10DH 320 .times. 200 pixels 32,768 Graphics 10EH
320 .times. 200 pixels 65,536 Graphics 10FH 320 .times. 200 pixels
16,777,216 Graphics 110H 640 .times. 480 pixels 32,768 Graphics
111H 640 .times. 480 pixels 65,536 Graphics 112H 640 .times. 480
pixels 16,777,216 Graphics 113H 800 .times. 600 pixels 32,768
Graphics 114H 800 .times. 600 pixels 65,536 Graphics 115H 800
.times. 600 pixels 16,777,216 Graphics 116H 1024 .times. 788 pixels
32,768 Graphics 117H 1024 .times. 768 pixels 65,536 Graphics 118H
1024 .times. 768 pixels 16,777,216 Graphics 119H 1280 .times. 1024
32,768 Graphics pixels 11AH 1280 .times. 1024 65,536 Graphics
pixels 11BH 1280 .times. 1024 16,777,216 Graphics pixels
[0043] As shown in FIG. 6, a displayed image is "overscanned". That
is, the displayed video buffer data occupies less than the entire
drivable screen size. The drivable screen size is determined by the
total amount of video memory and the operative video display
characteristics. The width of the usable overscan border depends on
the amount of the horizontal overscan 52 reduced by the horizontal
blanking 54 and the amount of the vertical overscan 53 reduced by
the vertical blanking 55.
[0044] In a first preferred embodiment, only a border at the bottom
of the standard display area is used. Consequently, only the
vertical control parameters for the cathode ray tube (CRT)
controller, shown as Control Registers 6H, 16H, 11H, 10H, 12H and
15H in FIG. 4 need to be adjusted. These parameters and others are
shown in Table 3 below:
3TABLE 3 VERTICAL TIMING PARAMETERS FOR CR PROGRAMMING. Register
Name Description 6H Vertical Total Value = (total number of scan
lines per frame) - 2 The high-order bits of this value are stored
in the overflow registers. 7H Overflow High-order bits from other
CR registers. 10H Vertical Retrace Start Scan line at which
vertical retrace starts. The high-order bits of this value are
stored in the overflow registers. 11H Vertical Retrace End Only the
low-order 4 bits of the actual Vertical Retrace End value are
stored. (Bit 7 is set to 1 to write-protect registers 0 through 7.)
12H Vertical Display End Sean line at which display on the screen
ends. The high-order bits of this value are stored in the overflow
registers. 15H Start Vertical Blank Scan line at which vertical
blanking starts. The high-order bits of this value are stored in
the overflow registers. 16H End Vertical Blank Sean line at which
vertical blanking ends. The high order bits of this value are
stored in the overflow registers. 59H- Linear Address Linear
address window position 5AH Window Position in 32-bit CPU address
space.
[0045] In the standard 640.times.480 graphics mode, the nominal
horizontal scan rate is 31.5 KHz (31,500 times per second) with a
vertical scan rate of 60 Hz (60 frames per second). So the number
of lines in one frame is 31,500/60, or 525. Because only 480 lines
of data need to be displayed, there are 525-480, or 45, lines
available for vertical overscan. Leaving a more than adequate
margin for retrace, which requires only 2 lines worth of time, the
preferred embodiment uses 20 lines for the alternate display. Thus
the additional 23 unused but available lines may be used to
increase the size of the operating system desktop to some
non-standard size while still allowing two lines for retrace, or
may be left blank, or may be used for one or more additional
alternate parallel user interface displays.
[0046] The information display methods of a preferred embodiment of
the present invention can be accomplished by achieving three
requirements:
[0047] (1) to address and modify the visible resolution of the
video display system such that portions of the overscan area are
visible as shown in FIG. 6,
[0048] (2) to address and modify the video display contents for the
visible portion of the overscan area, and
[0049] (3) to provide an application programming interface (API) or
other mechanism to allow applications to implement this
functionality.
[0050] FIG. 7, and the additional details and sub-steps provided in
FIGS. 8-13, provides an example flow diagram of an implementation
of a preferred embodiment of the present invention meeting the
requirements described above. The environment of this
implementation is a standard Microsoft Windows 95.TM. operating
environment, using Microsoft Visual C and Microsoft MASM for the
development platform. One skilled in the art will recognize that
other embodiments can perform on other other platforms and within
other environments. For example, embodiments could be implemented
within any graphical interface environment, such as X-Windows, OSF
Motif, Apple OS, a Java OS, and others in which similar video
standards (VGA, SVGA, XGA, 8514/A) are practiced. The reference
books PC Video Systems by Richard Wilton, published by Microsoft
Press and Programmer's Guide to the EGA, VGA, and Super VGA Cards
by Richard F. Ferrano, published by Addison Wesley provide more
than adequate background information to implement an embodiment in
a Windows environment.
[0051] Referring now in particular to FIG. 7, upon initialization,
at Identify Display Type step 102, the program attempts to
determine the display type, and current location in memory used by
the display driver, in order to determine the size and locations of
any display modifications to be made, e.g. to the size and location
of overscan area(s) to be used.
[0052] As described in further detail in FIG. 8, the program first
queries the hardware registry in Query Hardware Registry, step 131,
to attempt to determine the registered display type. If successful,
the program then determines compatibility information in Display
Type Supported, step 135, to verify that the program supports that
display type and determine memory allocation information.
[0053] If the hardware registry information is unavailable, as
determined in step 131, or the display type determined in step 131
is unsupported as determined by step 104, the program may use an
alternate approach, shown as subroutine Query hardware, steps 135
in FIG. 8, to query the BIOS, in step 134, and the video chipset
66, in step 136, for similar information as described immediately
below.
[0054] If the BIOS is to be accessed in step 134, physical memory
is first allocated in Allocate Physical Memory, step 132, and
accessed using Microsoft's DPMI (DOS Protected Mode Interface) to
map it to the linear memory address in which the BIOS resides in
Use DPMI to assign BIOS linear address to physical memory, step
133.
[0055] Thereafter, the program queries the BIOS in Read BIOS block,
Search for VGA/XVA type and manufacturer ID, step 134. If
successful, the driver and chipset are then further queried to
determine the display type and memory location in Query
driver/chipset for exact chipset, step 136.
[0056] If the compatibility information does not indicate a
standard VGA, SVGA, XGA, or 8514/A signature, step 134, this
routine returns a failure. If a known chipset manufacturer's
identification is found, the driver and/or chipset may be queried
with manufacturer-specific routines, step 136, to identify and
initialize, as necessary, the specific chipset.
[0057] If, at step 104, the program was unable to finally unable to
identify the display type, either because the registry query in
step 131 or the hardware query in step 135 was unsuccessful, the
user may be prompted at Run in windowed mode, step 116, as to
whether the program should continue to run as a standard
"application bar" or "toolbar". The program may either exit or
proceed to run as a toolbar on the desktop.
[0058] Returning now to FIG. 8, if a supported display type is
detected, the program then determines the screen borders to be
accessed in Identify borders to display in overscan, step 106,
based upon user preferences, and determines, as necessary, whether
sufficient video memory exists to make the necessary display
changes. For example, if the screen is currently set to a
1024.times.768 resolution at 16 bits-per-pixel, and the program is
to include four graphical interface bars, one on each edge, with
each bar 20 pixels deep, the program preferrably checks that video
memory is greater than 1.7 MB (required number of bytes =Pixels
Width * BitsPerPixel * PixelsHeight).
[0059] The controller registers 6H, 16H, 11H, 10H, 12H and 15H as
shown in FIG. 4 and detailed in Table 3, may be accessed through
standard input/output ports, using standard inp/outp functions. The
CR registers 6H, 16H, 11H, 10H, 12H and 15H are first unlocked, as
indicated in Unlock CRTC registers, step 108 in FIG. 7, to make
them writeable. They are unlocked by clearing bit 7 in controller
register 11H.
[0060] Addressing of video memory, step 112, is accomplished
through one of several means. One is to use the standard VGA 64 Kb
"hardware window", moving it along the video memory buffer 67 (FIG.
4) in 64 Kb increments as necessary. One example method is to
enable linear addressing by querying the video chipset for the
linear window position address, step 138 of FIG. 11. This 32-bit
offset in memory allows the program to map the linear memory to a
physical address, steps 140 and 142 of FIG. 11, that can be
manipulated programmatically.
[0061] At this point the program can modify the size of the
display, step 114 and FIG. 9, to include the border areas. This
routine first checks to determine whether or not the system is
running in "toolbar" mode, step 144, and, if so, returns true. If
not, it then determines whether to reset all registers and values
to their original state, effectively returning the display to its
original appearance, step 152. The determination is based upon a
number of parameters, such as whether the current resolution, step
146, reflects a standard value or previous programmatic
manipulation, step 148. If a standard resolution is already set,
the variables are reset to include the specified border areas, step
150. The CR registers are adjusted, step 154, to modify the scanned
and blanked areas of the display. If the top or side areas are
modified, existing video memory is moved accordingly in step 162 of
FIG. 10.
[0062] If any of the foregoing routines returns a failure, the
program may prompt the user to determine whether "emulation" mode,
step 13, or windowed mode step 116 should be used or if the program
should exit at step 124.
[0063] In its simplest form, embodiments of the present invention
can be viewed as techniques for adding a secondary GUI by
reconfiguring the actual display mode to add a modified,
non-standard GUI mode in which the standard display size or
resolution has been adjusted to include a secondary display in
addition to the primary display. For example, a standard
640.times.480 display is modified in accordance with techniques of
the present invention to become a larger display, one section of
which corresponds to the original 640.times.480 display while
another section corresponds to a 640.times.25 secondary GUI
display.
[0064] There are various techniques or mechanisms required for
modifying the system to include the secondary GUI, depending upon
the requirements of the secondary GUI and upon the present
circumstances of the unmodified system.
[0065] In another embodiment of the present invention system,
resources are allocated for a secondary GUI by fooling the video
driver into going to larger resolution. This technique
automatically guarantees that enough space is kept clean, since the
video driver allocates system resources according to the resolution
that the video driver believes it will be operating in. To operate
one or more secondary user interfaces in one or more areas of the
screen it is necessary to have the memory that was associated in
video memory or in the frame buffer with that location,
contiguously below the primary surface free and available. By
writing a series of small applets specific to hardware known to
have system resource allocation problems for a secondary user
interface, the secondary user interface application may run such
applet whenever resolutions will be switched, initializing the chip
set pertinent to that particular applet. If the application finds
an applet pertinent to the current particular chip set it will be
launched. The applet or minidriver initializes itself, performs the
necessary changes to the driver's video resolution tables, forces a
reenable, and sufficient space is subsequently available for one or
more secondary user interfaces.
[0066] When reenabled, the driver allocates video memory as needed
for the primary display according to the data on the UCCO
resolution tables. Therefore, the modified values result in a
larger allocation. Once the driver has allocated memory necessary
for the primary surface, the driver will allow no outside access to
the allocated memory. Thus by fooling the driver into believing
that it needs to allocate sufficient memory for a resolution
exactly x bytes larger than the current resolution where x is the
size of one or more secondary user interfaces, the application can
be sure that no internal or external use of the allocated memory
location can conflict with the secondary user interface.
[0067] This method ensures that system resources will be allocated
for one or more secondary user interfaces by writing an applet that
would address the video driver in such a way as to force the video
driver, on its next reenable, to allocate video memory sufficient
for a resolution higher than the actual operating system
resolution. This may also be done by modifying each instance of the
advertised mode tables, and thus creating a screen size larger than
the primary user interface screen size.
[0068] This technique has an additional benefit of eliminating the
need to prevent the driver from actually shifting into the
specified larger resolution, handing the primary user interface a
larger display surface resolution. The "hardware mode table," a
variant of the aforementioned video resolution tables, is not
advertised and not accessible. Therefore, when the driver validates
the new resolution, checking against the hardware mode table, it
will always fail and therefore refuse to shift into that
resolution. Because this technique modified the advertised video
resolution tables early enough in the driver's process, allocated
memory was modified, and memory addresses set before the failure in
validate mode. Subsequently when the CRTCs are modified, in step
114, the driver is reserving sufficient memory for one or more
secondary user interfaces and not making it available for any other
process or purpose.
[0069] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, an
enveloping driver is installed to sit above the existing driver and
shims itself in between the hardware abstraction layer and the
actual video driver in order to be able to handle all calls to the
video driver and modify the driver and the driver's tables in a
much more generic fashion rather than in a chipset specific
fashion. The enveloping driver shims into the primary video driver,
transparently passing calls back and forth to the primary video
driver. The enveloping driver finds the video resolution tables in
the primary video driver which may be in a number of locations
within the driver. The enveloping driver modifies the tables (for
example, increasing 800 by 600 to 800 by 620). A 1024 by 768 table
entry may become 1024 by 800.
[0070] Like the previously described embodiment, the primary driver
cannot validate the new resolution and therefore cannot actually
change the display setting. As a result, the driver allocated
memory, allocated the cache space, determined memory address and
moved cache and offscreen buffers as necessary. So the primary
driver never uses all the space allocated, and will never draw in
that space.
[0071] As stated earlier, methods of the present invention may
include three primary steps, finding or producing unused video
memory, creating or expanding the overscan area, and putting data
in the overscan area.
[0072] The step of finding or producing the unused video memory
requires a review of the contents of the Controller Registers, the
CR registers, used by VGA compatible chip sets or graphic boards to
identify where the overscan area, the blanking, the vertical and
horizontal total and the sinking should be set. The CR defines the
desktop display, how its synched, where it's laid out left and
right, how much buffer area there would be on each side, where it
would be stored within the video memory area. A review of the
contents of the CR data registers therefore fully defines and
allows one to control the potential location and size of the
overscan area.
[0073] In order to accomplish the step of creating or expanding the
overscan area, the CRs may currently be used directly for systems
with video display resolutions up to and including 1024 pixels in
any dimension, that is, resolutions which can be defined in the
generally accepted VGA standards by 10 bits per register. To expand
the overscan area, new data is written into the CR using standard
techniques such as the Inp and Outp, functions. A standard video
port and MMIO functions may also be used to modify the CRs.
[0074] At greater resolutions, 11 bits may be needed to properly
define the resolution. There is currently no standard way in which
the 11.sup.th bit location is defined. Therefore, at a resolution
above 1280 by 1024, for example, an understanding about the video
card itself, particularly how the 11 bits representing the
resolution are stored, is currently required and will be described
below in greater detail.
[0075] When expanding the overscan, it is important to make sure a
previous overscan bar is not already displayed, possibly from a
previous crash or other unexpected problem. Either the display is
preferrably immediately reset to the appropriate resolution
defaults, or the CR queried to determine if the total screen
resolution as understood by the video card and drivers differs from
the screen resolution known by the operating system display
interface. An overscan bar may already be displayed if the total
screen resolution is not equal to one of the standard VGA or SVGA
resolutions. In particular, if the total screen resolution is equal
to a standard VGA/SVGA resolution plus the area required for the
overscan bar or is greater than the resolution reported by the
operating system display interface, the display is reset.
[0076] Once the display area or resolution as stored in the CR is
determined, the resolution or display area can be extended in
several different ways. The overscan area can be added to the
bottom, the top, or the right of the current display area, and
optionally, the display area can be repositioned so that the
overscan bar can remain centered in appearance. Alternatively, the
overscan area can be added anywhere and the original or desktop
display area can be centered to improve appearance. In any event,
the height/width of the display area required for the overscan bar
is presented adjacent the desktop area stored in the CR and the
combination is written into the CR, overwriting the previous
data.
[0077] The screen typically shows a quick flash as it is placed in
a different mode, including the desktop display area as well as a
parallel GUI such as a display bar in the overscan area. As soon as
that change occurs, a black mask can be positioned over the new
areas. The new menu data can then be safely written on top of the
black mask so that the user never sees memory "garbage".
[0078] There is typically a few seconds of load time during which a
simple message can be displayed, such as "Loading . . . ", to avoid
confusing the user.
[0079] There are a number of mechanisms by which this may be done.
A set of class objects is used, all derived from a common base
class corresponding to the above described VGA-generic
technique.
[0080] The first mechanism is an implementation of the VGA-generic
technique. Using this mechanism, no information specific to a
video-card is necessary, other than ensuring VGA support. Using
standard application programming interface (API) routines, primary
and secondary surfaces are allocated. The new display data in the
CR is simply the physical address at the start of the primary
surface plus the number of pixels defined by the screen size.
[0081] Allocation of the primary surface will always be based on
the entire screen display. Given the linear address of the
allocated primary surface, from which a physical address can be
derived, it can be extrapolated that the physical address of the
location in video memory immediately adjacent to the primary
surface is represented by the sum of the number of bytes of memory
used to maintain the primary surface in memory plus the value of
the physical address of the primary surface.
[0082] Once the physical address of the primary surface is known,
the size of the primary surface as represented in video memory can
be determined.
[0083] For example, the system looks in the CRs for the resolution
of the screen, 800 by 600, in terms of number of bits per pixel, or
bytes per pixel. Then any data stored in the CR representing any
horizontal synching space is added. This is the true scan line
length. The scan line length is a more accurate measurement of the
width in a given resolution.
[0084] Next, the physical address of the allocated secondary
surface is derived from its linear address. In the case where the
allocated secondary surface is, in fact, allocated in the memory
space contiguous to the primary surface (the value of the secondary
surface physical address is equal to the value of the primary
surface physical address plus the size of the primary), the
secondary surface is determined to be the location in memory for
the overscan display.
[0085] If, however, the above is not true and the secondary surface
is not contiguous to the primary surface, another approach
mechanism is required.
[0086] To summarize, the first mechanism determines how much
physical area to allocate for the desktop allowing adjacent area
for parallel GUI secondary space beyond that to display in the
overscan area. The newly allocated area will be the very first
block of memory available. If this block immediately follows the
primary surface, the physical address will correspond to the value
associated with the physical address of the primary surface, plus
the size of the primary surface. If that is true, the memory blocks
are contiguous, this VGA-generic mechanism can be used.
[0087] If this first, VGA-generic mechanism cannot be used, the
video card and driver name and version information retrieved from
the hardware registry and BIOS, as described earlier, is used in
conjunction with a look-up table to determine the best alternatives
among the remaining mechanisms. The table includes a set of
standards keyed to the list of driver names found in the hardware
registry. A class object specific to the video chipset is
instantiated based, directly or indirectly, on the VGA-generic
object.
[0088] If the hardware look up does not result in a reliable match,
a reliability, or confidence, fudge factor may be used. For
example, if the hardware look up determines that an XYZ-brand
device of some kind is being used, but the particular XYZ device
named is not found in the look up table, a generic model from that
chipset manufacturer many often be usable. If no information is
available, the user may get a message indicating that the hardware
is not supported and that the program cannot run in the overscan
area. The user may then be queried to determine if the system
should be operated in the "application-toolbar" mode, which
basically runs with exactly the same functionality but in a
windowed environment within the desktop rather than in the overscan
area outside the desktop.
[0089] The next alternative mechanism uses surface overlays. The
first step to this approach is to determine if the system will
support surface overlays. A call is made to the video driver to
determine what features are supported and what other factors are
required. If surface overlays are supported, for example, there may
be a scaling factor required.
[0090] For example, a particular video card in a given machine,
using 2 megabytes of video RAM, might support unsealed surface
overlays at 1024.times.768 at 8 bits per pixel, but not at
1024.times.768 at 16 bits per pixel because the bandwidth of the
video card or the speed of the card, coupled with the relatively
small amount of video memory would not be sufficient to draw a full
width overlay. It is often horizontal scaling that is at issue,
preventing the driver from drawing a full width overlay. An overlay
is literally an image that is drawn on top of the primary surface.
It is not a secondary surface, which is described above. Typically,
the system sends its signal from the video driver to the hardware
such that it merges the two signals together, overlaying a second
signal on top of the first.
[0091] If a system can not support unsealed overlays, perhaps
because of bandwidth issues or memory issues, this mechanism is not
desirable. It is not rejected, but becomes a lower priority
alternative. For example, if the scaling factor is below 0.1, then
the normal bar can be drawn and it will be clipped closer to the
edge. If the scaling factor is more than 10%, another approach
mechanism is required
[0092] In the next set of alternative mechanisms, a secondary
surface is allocated sufficient in size to encompass the normal
desktop display area plus the overscan area to be used for display
of the overscan bar or bars. Using these mechanisms, the allocated
secondary surface does not have to be located contiguous in memory
to the primary surface. However, these approaches use more video
memory than the others.
[0093] The first step is to allocate a secondary surface sufficient
in size to contain the video display (the primary surface) plus the
overscan area to be used. If the allocation fails, that means that
there is not enough video memory to accomplish the task and this
set of mechanisms is skipped and the next alternative tried. After
the new block of memory is allocated, a timer of very small
granularity is used to execute a simple memory copy of in the
contents of the primary surface onto the appropriate location of
this secondary surface. The timer executes the copy at
approximately 85 times per second.
[0094] Within this set of alternative mechanisms is a variant that
uses the system page tables. This mechanism queries the system page
tables to determine the current GDI surface address, that is, the
physical address in the page table for the primary surface. A
secondary surface is then created large enough to hold all of what
is in the video memory plus the memory required for the overscan
bar to be displayed. This surface address is then pushed into the
system page table and asserted as the GDI surface address.
[0095] Thereafter, when GDI reads from or writes to the primary
surface through the driver, it actually reads from or writes the
new, larger surface. The overscan bar program can, subsequently,
modify the area of the surface not addressed by GDI. The original
primary surface can be de-allocated and the memory usage reclaimed.
This mechanism, being more memory-efficient than the previously
described mechanism, is the preferred alternative. But the page
tables solution will not work correctly on a chipset that includes
a coprocessor device. If the initial device query reveals that the
device does include a coprocessor, this variant mechanism will not
be attempted.
[0096] Other variations of the above-described mechanisms are
accounted for in derived class objects. For example, the
VGA-generic mechanisms may vary when the video card requires more
than ten bits to represent the video resolution in the CR. Some
instances may require 11 bits. Such registers typically do not use
contiguous bytes, but use extension bits to designate the address
information for the higher order bits.
[0097] In this example, the eleventh bit is usually specified in an
extended CR register and the extended CR registers are usually chip
specific.
[0098] Similarly, a variation of the surface overlay mechanism
includes a scaling factor, as described above. This alternative is
handled in specific implementations through derived class objects
and may be the preferred solution in certain situations.
[0099] Another implementation of this technology uses a "hooking"
mechanism as shown in FIG. 14. After the display driver is
identified through the hardware registry or the BIOS, as described
above, certain programming interface entry points into the driver
are hooked such as at step 117. In other words, when the video
system device interface, Windows GDI for example, calls those entry
points into the display driver, the program can take the
opportunity to modify the parameters being passed to the display
driver, and/or to modify the values being returned from the display
driver.
[0100] By hooking the "ReEnable" function in the display driver, at
step 117, the overscan bar program can allocate screen area in
different ways in step 119:
[0101] (1) In step-up mode, step 121, by intercepting a resolution
change request and identifying the next-higher supported screen
resolution and passing that higher resolution to the display
driver, then, when the display driver acknowledges the change,
intercepting the returned value, which would reflect the new
resolution, and actually returning the original requested
resolution instead. For example, GDI requests a change from
640.times.480 resolution to 800.times.600 resolution; the overscan
program intercepts the request and modifies it to change the
display driver to the next supported resolution higher than
800.times.600, say 1024.times.768. The display driver will change
the screen resolution to 1024.times.768 and return that new
resolution. The overscan program intercepts the return and instead
passes the original request, 800.times.600, to GDI. The display
driver has allocated and displays a 1024.times.768 area of memory.
GDI and Windows will display the desktop in an 800.times.600 area
of that display, leaving areas on the right and bottom edges of the
screen available to the overscan program.
[0102] (1) In shared mode, step 123, by intercepting only the
return from the display driver and modifying the value to change
the operating system's understanding of the actual screen
resolution. For example, GDI requests a change from 800.times.600
resolution to 1024.times.768 resolution. The overscan program
intercepts the returned acknowledgment, subtracting 32 before
passing the return on to GDI. The display driver has allocated and
displays a 1024.times.768 area of memory. GDI and Windows will
display the desktop in an 1024.times.736 area of that display,
leaving an area on the bottom edge of the screen available to the
overscan bar program.
[0103] After hooking, the overscan bar program can display by:
[0104] (1) using standard API calls to render the bar to an
off-screen buffer, as described in the next section, and then
hooking the "BitBlt" function entry point into the display driver
in order to modify the offset and size parameters and subsequently
redirect the BitBlt to the area outside of that which the API
believes is onscreen.
[0105] (1) using mechanisms of primary and secondary surface
addresses, described earlier, the program determines the linear
addresses for the off-desktop memory location(s) left available to
it, and can render directly to those memory locations.
[0106] Phase 2 of the methods of embodiments of the present
invention begins by painting the new images into a standard
off-screen buffer, step 118, as is commonly used in the art, and
making the contents visible, step 120, as described in FIG. 10. If
the program is in "toolbar" mode, step 156, the off-screen buffer
is painted into the standard window client space, step 166, and
made visible, step 164, using generic windowing-system routines.
Otherwise, the linear window position address is mapped, step 158,
as described in FIG. 11 which has been previously explained. Once
the linear memory is mapped to a physical memory address, step 142,
the contents of the off-screen display buffer can be copied into
the video buffer directly, step 154 of FIG. 10, or painted as to a
secondary surface.
[0107] The preferred embodiment application includes a standard
application message loop, step 122, which processes system and user
events. An example of a minimum functionality process loop is in
FIG. 12. Here the application handles a minimal set of system
events, such as painting requests, step 170, system resolution
changes, step 172, and activation/deactivation, step 174. Here,
too, is where user events, such as key or mouse events, may be
handled, step 184, detailed in FIG. 13. System paint messages are
handled by painting as appropriate into the off-screen buffer, step
178, and painting the window or display buffer, step 180, as
appropriate, as described earlier in FIG. 10. System resolution
messages are received whenever the system or user changes the
screen or color resolution. The programs reset all registers to the
correct new values, then change the display resolution, step 182,
as earlier described in FIG. 9, to reflect the new resolution
modified. User messages are ignored when the program is not the
active application.
[0108] FIG. 13 describes a method of implementing user-input
events. In this embodiment, there are three alternative mechanisms
used to implement cursor or mouse support so that the user has a
pointing device input tool within the overscan area user
interface.
[0109] In the preferred mechanism, GDI's "cliprect" is modified to
encompass the overscan bar's display area. That keeps the operating
system from clipping the cursor as it moves into the overscan area.
This change doesn't necessarily make the cursor visible or provide
event feedback to the application, but is the first step.
[0110] Some current Windows applications continually reset the
cliprect. It is a standard programming procedure to reset the
cliprect after use or loss of input focus. Some applications use
the cliprect to constrain the mouse to a specific area as may be
required by the active application. Whenever the overscan display
bar interface receives the input focus it reasserts the cliprect,
making it large enough for the mouse to travel down into the
overscan space.
[0111] Once the cliprect has been expanded, the mouse can generate
messages to the operating system reflecting motion within the
expansion area. GDI does not draw the cursor outside what it
understands to be its resolution, however, and does not pass
"out-of-bounds" event messages on to an application. The overscan
program uses a VxD device driver, and related callback function, to
make hardware driver calls at ring zero to monitor the actual
physical deltas, or changes, in the mouse position and state. Every
mouse position or state change is returned as an event to the
program which can graphically represent the position within the
menu display bar.
[0112] An alternative mechanism avoids the need to expand the
cliprect in order to avoid conflict with a class of device drivers
that use the cliprect to facilitate virtual display panning.
Querying the mouse input device directly the overscan program can
determine "delta's", changes in position and state. Whenever the
cursor touches the very last row or column of pixels on the
standard display, it is constrained there by setting the cliprect
to a rectangle comprised of only that last row or column. A
"virtual" cursor position is derived from the deltas available from
the input device. The actual cursor is hidden and a virtual cursor
representation is explicitly displayed at the virtual coordinates
to provide accurate feedback to the user. If the virtual
coordinates move back onto the desktop from the overscan area, the
cliprect is cleared, the virtual representation removed, and the
actual cursor restored onto the screen.
[0113] A third alternative mechanism creates a transparent window
that overlaps the actual Windows desktop display area by a
predefined number of pixels, for example, two or four pixels. If
the mouse enters that small, transparent area, the program hides
the cursor. A cursor image is then displayed within the overscan
bar area, at the same X-coordinate but at a Y-coordinate
correspondingly offset into the overscan area. If a two-pixel
overlap area is used, this method uses a granularity of two.
Accordingly, this API-only approach provides only limited vertical
granularity. This alternative mechanism assures that all
implementations will have some degree of mouse-input support, even
when cliprect and input device driver solutions fail.
[0114] FIG. 7 describes the cleanup mechanisms executed when the
program is closed, step 124. The display is reset to the original
resolution, step 126, and the CR registers are reset to their
original values, step 128, and locked, step 130.
[0115] In another embodiment of the present invention, the
launching or initiating of alternate display content controller 6
may be modified and controlled. Alternate display content
controller 6 may be launched as a service, as an application, or as
a user application. As a service, alternate display content
controller 6 may be launched as a service within the registry of
utility operating system 5B. The first kind of application is
launched in the Run section in the registry, and the user
application may be initiated from the Start Up Group within the
Start button. Thus, alternate display content controller 6 may be
initiated any time from the first thing after graphics mode is
enabled to the very last thing initiated.
[0116] Launched as a service, alternate display content controller
6 may be visible shortly after utility operating system 5B such as
Windows actually addresses the display, and how soon after depends
on where alternate display content controller 6 is put it in the
order of the things that will be launched as services. It may be
possible to put alternate display content controller 6 so that it
launches as essentially the first service and thus would launch
almost at the same time as the drivers, very, very shortly after
the drivers are launched. Accordingly, it is possible to have the
screen change from text mode to graphics, draw the colored
background, immediately re-display with the overscan addressed and
a parallel GUI such as CSNB 2 display the very close to the same
time as taskbar. Launched as a run-line application, alternate
display content controller 6 may be visible in display space 1
shortly after icons appear.
Example Secondary User Interfaces
[0117] The following descriptions provide example user interfaces
that can be implemented using methods and techniques of the present
invention. Appendices A, B, C, D, and E, incorporated herein by
reference, include source code, descriptions, and visuals
demonstrating many of these user interfaces, including for example,
the Xsides.TM. application environment implement by The Pixel
Company. Xsides.TM. includes, among other capabilities, a
cylindrical visualization of a secondary user interface, a Portal
feature, and a Web Jump (NetSpace) feature that offers Internet
browsing and searching capabilities. The Portal feature can include
any type of textual or graphical content envisioned by its
implementer. One example use of a portal area, as a personal
information manager, is discussed in detail in Appendix D. One
skilled in the art will recognize that many other user interfaces
can be realized by the methods, systems, and techniques of the
present invention and that these interfaces may be available in
conjunction with one another.
Xsides.TM. Application Environment Overview
[0118] The Xsides.TM. environment is an embodiment of the methods
and systems of the present invention. It offers a user interface
that is:
[0119] always visible and accessible
[0120] technically scalable
[0121] able to "overtake" the desktop
[0122] merge-able
[0123] able to provide highly secure data transmissions
[0124] easy to use
[0125] small (<1.5 MB to download)
[0126] Appendix B shows examples of some of these capabilities.
Other examples of these capabilities and techniques provided by the
user interface are provided in Appendices C and D.
[0127] Xsides.TM. is implemented by software that is independent of
any underlying systems user interface. It resides "below" the
operating system and "above" the drivers (if the system
architecture is viewed from the drivers up through the application
software). The software communicates directly to the driver level
and adjusts video display parameters. It also allows keyboard and
mouse events outside of the primary user interface supported by the
operating system.
[0128] The technology can deliver, among other things, Internet
content and services, third-party applications, Web browsers,
personal Internet portals, advertisements, Web-based client-server
applications and electronic program guides (EPGs). Because the
xSides.TM. Technology enables content and functionality to reside
physically outside and control independent of the existing
operating systems, such content and functionality do not interfere
with and cannot be covered by the operating system or the
applications that reside on the desktop.
[0129] The xSides.TM. Technology is able to support interactive
content and applications in a persistent fashion outside of the
operating system because it resides outside of the operating
system's control. Specifically, xSides.TM. resides within an
abstraction layer "below" the operating system and "above" the
device drivers. As such, xSides.TM. can adjust the parameters for
the video display system, can increase the number of pixels and
scan lines and can enable keyboard and mouse events within the
xSides.TM. area. This allows xSides.TM. to dramatically resize the
existing desktop, if desired, "uncovering" the majority of the
display area around any or all four sides of the desktop, which we
can then use to display content and applications. An application
programming interface ("API") to the xSides.TM. Technology allows
developers to rapidly develop applications that take advantage of
these unique characteristics of the technology.
[0130] The technology can potentially address every user of an
Internet-enabled computer or TV worldwide. In addition, the
proliferation of consumer electronics operating systems (i.e.,
Microsoft CE) in such devices as portable daily planners and
set-top boxes further expands our market opportunity.
[0131] The first products of xSides.TM. Technology will be
variations of co-branded mini-portals, which reside on the user's
display area and feature the content and applications of our
strategic partners. These products initially appear on the bottom
of a computer screen as a thin cylinder icon (the "control bar")
containing a series of control buttons. The control bar is
comprised of a number of faces, which we call "Sides.TM.," each of
which can contain different combinations of content, applications
and graphics (hence the name xSides.TM.). The user can easily
rotate from one Side.TM. to the next with mouse clicks to view and
access the different content present on a given Sidem. The ability
to rotate the xSides.TM. interface to different faces expands the
available computer display real estate and allows for compatibility
among products licensed to different partners, enabling users to
easily view and access whatever content they want. The control
buttons can perform a variety of tasks, including launching a Web
connection or application, displaying tickers and banners of
server-delivered content, or can allow the user to launch functions
running in an additional xSides.TM. display area called the
xSides.TM. Portal. The xSides.TM. Portal is an Internet display
area below the xSides.TM. control bar which can contain any
html-based image or application, including email and instant
messaging input and output, calendar and address book information,
ISP controls, ad-banners, electronic programming guides and
Web-based client-server applications. The xSides.TM. Portal is
initially being used to build personal "desktop" Internet portals,
which will be customized and distributed by Internet content and
commerce providers, fee-based and free Internet service providers
(ISPs), PC based Web application developers (ISVs) and hardware
OEMs.
[0132] An important feature of our xSides.TM. products is the
function we call "merge." Merge allows users to upgrade their
existing xSides.TM. products to subsequent versions and to add or
remove additional faces to their control bar at will. Essentially,
merge enables users to make their xSides.TM. product a convenient,
one-stop destination for all of their favorite content and
services. This is not only important and attractive to users, but
also to our strategic partners who are able to introduce multiple
faces, as well as upgrade their users to new applications and
functionality over time. Although merge provides product
convenience and flexibility for both users and strategic partners,
in one preferred embodiment neither the original faces nor the
persistent logos on an xSides.TM. product can be "de-merged,"
giving strategic partners additional incentive to distribute the
products.
[0133] The following summarizes the five basic functions performed
by our xSides.TM. Technology:
[0134] Expands the display surface around the desktop to a
previously unused area--The xSides.TM. Technology adjusts
parameters for the video display system to increase the number of
pixels in at least one dimension of the display system and on one
or more edges of the desktop.
[0135] Establishes additional video memory buffers for the newly
visible area--The number of scan lines and pixels which need to be
added to the display is set by xSides.TM. so that the video display
system can display within the physical limitations of video RAM and
monitor refresh.
[0136] Allows the buffers to be written into like any regular
display buffer--The buffers are allocated and locked in order to
prevent them from being corrupted by the video display system.
[0137] Allows keyboard and mouse events within the xSides.TM.
area--These events can now occur outside of the desktop, whereas
before they were recognized only by the operating system.
[0138] Secures the xSides.TM. area--Since the xSides.TM. area
communicates directly to the driver level without having to
communicate through the operating system, transactions, emails, and
other data transfers are more secure than in an environment where
the data transfer occurs through multiple layers of an operating
system where corruption and infiltration can occur.
Xsides.TM. Example Cylindrical User Interface
[0139] Referring now to FIG. 19, display area 26 includes a
parallel GUI 28 according to embodiments of the present invention.
Display area 26 may be located anywhere on screen 24S of video
monitor 24. For example, with long axis L oriented horizontally
display area 26 may be located adjacent edge 24T or edge 24B.
Alternatively, with long axis L oriented vertically, display area
26 may be located adjacent edge 24L or edge 24R.
[0140] Aspect ratio 34 of parallel GUI 28 is the relationship
between dimension 32 measured along long axis L and dimension 30
expressed as 34:1 where aspect ratio 34 is determined by equation
36.
36.fwdarw.Aspect ratio 34=dimension 32.div.dimension 30
[0141] According to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, parallel GUI 28 includes bar 38 surrounded by area 28A.
Bar 38 may include one or more containers or cartridges such as
cartridge 86 of FIG. 20. Area 28A may be any color; in the example
embodiment, area 28A is black. Bar 38 may be composed of separate
elements such as title area 40, one or more help areas such as help
area 42 and or help area 56, one or more rotators such as rotator
44 and or rotator 48, and one or more buttons such as button 46,
button 50, ticker 52 and button 54. A button may be depressible
such as button 46 or non-depressible such as button 40. A
depressible button such as button 46 may perform an associated
action and display highlighting when selected and clicked on using
any conventional pointing device such as mouse 22. A
non-depressible button such as button 40 may act as a label and or
initiate apparent rotation of the elements of bar 38 to the right
of button 40 along with all the associated sound, apparent motion,
and highlighting as described below.
[0142] During a `mouse over` condition, that is when a pointer such
as arrow 64 is moved over a depressible button such as button 46,
the appearance of button frame 62 may be changed such as by
changing its color and thus the apparent intensity of emitted
light. The change evoked in a button frame such as button frame 62
may be localized to a portion of the button frame such as comer
62A. Preferably, a `mouse over` condition causes light to
apparently emit from the lower left comer of the button frame such
as corner 62B.
[0143] Clicking on or `mouse down` condition of a depressible
button such as button 46 may evoke apparent movement of the button
and or apparent lighting changes adjacent the effected button.
Preferably, `mouse down` of a depressible button such as button 46
causes button 46 to apparently move into bar 38 and an apparent
increase of light from behind button frame 62. Apparent motion and
light emission changes may be accomplished by any conventional
means.
[0144] Following a click on or `mouse down` condition of a
depressible button such as button 46 a `mouse up` condition is
initiated thus completing a button selection cycle. A `mouse up`
condition may initiate an action such a hyperlink or launch an
application associated with the acting button such as button 46.
Additionally, a `mouse up` condition may cause a button such as
button 46 to reverse the apparent motion caused by the prior `mouse
down` condition, thus as in the prior example, button 46 apparently
springs back out of bar 38 into alignment with bar 38. At the
conclusion of a button selection cycle, a highlighting change of a
selected button may also be included. In one embodiment, a post
selection highlighting is the same as the earlier described `mouse
over` highlighting and is maintained until another button such as
button 54 is selected or some other action within parallel GUI 28
is initiated.
[0145] Actuation of a complete button selection cycle on a
non-depressible button such as button 50, a title button such as
title area 40, or on a rotator such as rotator 44 may initiate
rotation about long axis L of the display area. In one embodiment a
click of right mouse button 22R initiates rotation of 38 in a first
direction D and a click of left mouse button 22L initiates rotation
of 38 in a second direction U, opposite first direction D.
[0146] Accompanying a complete button selection cycle as described
above, sound may be used to enhance the experience and thus
heighten the similarity of a virtual metaphor to a real
3-dimensional device. In one embodiment, sound 66 may issue from
the computer system, sound 66 may resemble a sound or sounds issued
from a real device such as a subtle mechanical click. Any other
appropriate sound or sounds may also be used.
[0147] A non-depressible button such as button 50 may be used a
title button or a placeholder, and thus may not invoke a utility,
URL or any other function if subjected to a complete button
selection cycle. Accordingly, no highlighting or other special
indicia would accompany a `mouse over` condition of a
non-depressible button such as button 50. In an alternate
embodiment, a non-depressible button such as button 50 may include
the functionality of a rotator such as rotator 44 or 48. Thus a
complete button selection cycle on such a non-depressible button
would result in the apparent rotation of non-depressible button 50
and all the elements of bar 38 to its right such as ticker 52 and
button 60.
[0148] Tickers such as ticker 52 may be dynamic reading areas
within a cartridge such as cartridge 86 as shown in FIG. 20.
Scrolling updateable text such as text 53 can be displayed and the
text reading area can also be dynamically linked to launch an
application or URL. A ticker such as ticker 52 may be as long as a
single button or any combination of multiple buttons. The text such
as text 53 that is displayed may be scrolling or otherwise made to
move through ticker window 52A. In a currently preferred embodiment
of the present invention text enters ticker window 52A at right
side 52R and scrolls to the left to left side 52L. The scrolling
text such as text 53 may repeat in a loop at the end of the text
string. Ticker text such as text 53 may be updated locally or over
a network. A ticker such as ticker 52 may activate a hyperlink
through a network when ticker 52 is clicked on, or subjected to a
complete button cycle.
[0149] Referring now to FIG. 20, an example of a menu tree that may
be displayed and accessed through parallel GUI 28 is shown. Menu 70
includes title bands 72, 74, 76, 78 and 80 which correspond to
title area 40, button 46, button 50, ticker 52 and button 54
respectively. Rotators 44 and 48 are represented by bands 82 and
84, respectively. In this example, title area 40 includes 6
containers or cartridges, cartridges 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 and
cartridge 91. Many more cartridges and titles may be available, the
number of cartridges or titles available may only be limited by the
resources of the computer. Cartridges such as cartridge 90 or
cartridge 91 may include accessories such as a web browser or media
player or any other accessory. Accessories for a cartridge such as
cartridge 90 may be installed for use with system software, or they
may be components of the software implementing the parallel GUI, or
they may be available via a network.
[0150] Referring now to FIG. 21, parallel GUI 28 is shown with
accessory cartridge 90 visible. Accessory cartridge 90 may include
function specific actuators such as fast forward or next track for
a CD player. A section of accessory cartridge 90 or any other
cartridge selected may also be dedicated to a single function such
as web browser 92, to permit the browser to remain visible at all
times that parallel GUI software is running.
[0151] Cartridges such as cartridges 86-91 may be pre-loaded with
links and accessories. Alternatively, the elements or buttons of a
cartridge may be blank for loading by a user through a "merge"
capability (see Appendix E). User cartridge(s) may include access
to applications, documents, files, or network links such as URLs
and or embedded functions. Some embedded functions which may be
launched from a cartridge may include a browser, an MP3 player,
instant messaging, trading notices for marketplace functions,
alerts for auction results and or trades, agent checking regarding
price comparison searches. User items such as applications,
documents, files, or network links may be added to a user button
via any conventional method such as copy and paste or drag and drop
functions of system software or of any web browser. Preferably,
user buttons may be renamed or cleared in any conventional
manner.
[0152] A parallel GUI such as parallel GUI 28 may also include a
help function. Help screens or menus may be implemented in any
conventional manner. A map of the contents and organization of bar
38 may be provided in the form of a menu or tree such as menu 70 of
FIG. 20. Menu 70 and other help screens may extend from display
area 26 in any conventional manner. In one embodiment, in which
menu 70 is visible extending away from edge 26T thus allowing bar
38 to remain visible, actuation of a complete button cycle on a
title such as title 87C will initiate rotation of bar 38 to bring
cartridge 87 and title 87C to visibility on bar 38.
[0153] In a one embodiment of the present invention, display area
26 includes 4 preset actuators 94. Activation of a complete button
cycle on an actuator such as actuator 96 will rotate bar 38 to a
pre-selected position. A user may initially load, change or delete
a preset setting associated with an actuator such as actuator
96.
[0154] The software implementing the parallel GUI may also include
a screen saver component such as idle component 96. If parallel GUI
28 is notified that the system software is in idle, rather than
blanking display area 26 as in some conventional techniques,
parallel GUI 28 may auto rotate through all possible cartridge
displays of menu 70. When the system software returns to active
mode, bar 38 will automatically return to the last active position
prior to idle.
[0155] If parallel GUI 28 is oriented with a title cartridge, such
as cartridge 86 with title 86A visible on title area 40, a complete
button cycle of title area 40 as described above may result in
apparent rotation of bar 38 and thus display an adjacent cartridge
such as cartridge 87 or cartridge 85 (not shown). Title area 40 may
also include all buttons and rotators to the right of title area 40
as well. In an alternate embodiment, a complete button cycle of
title area 40 changes the visible title such as title 86 and
apparently rotates elements of bar 38 to the right of title area 40
such as rotator 44, rotator 48, button 46, button 50, ticker 52 and
button 54. The result of changing a cartridge and thus the title
visible in title area 40 is that as cartridge 87 is visible, title
87A may be visible as well as a set of it's subordinate titles such
as titles 87B, 87C, 87D and 87E. Additional cycling of title area
40 will result in display of additional cartridges and thus
additional titles of band 72 such as titles 88A and 89A.
[0156] If title 89A is visible in band 72, execution of a complete
button cycle on rotator 44 corresponding to band 82 will cause
apparent rotation of bar 38 at button 46 corresponding to band 74
including everything to the right of button 46. Subsequent button
cycles of a rotator such as rotator 44 cause titles which appear on
button 46 to sequentially cycle through titles 89B, 89C, 89D, 89E
and 89F with a new title appearing after each button cycle.
[0157] In one preferred embodiment, a merge function may be
included to allow cartridges such as cartridges 86-91 to be added
to an existing parallel GUI such as parallel GUI 28. (See Appendix
E.) A cartridge such as cartridge 86 may be added or merged with
any existing cartridges in a parallel GUI such as parallel GUI 28
using any conventional technique such as copy and paste or drag and
drop. A merged cartridge such as cartridge 86 may be added between
any two adjacent cartridges such as cartridges 88 and 89.
Similarly, existing cartridges may be reordered using a
conventional sort function.
[0158] New cartridges may be merged or added to an existing
parallel GUI from any conventional media such as magnetic storage
media, optical storage media, or from network resources such as the
Internet, or any local or intranet network. A delete and or a sort
function may also be included to permit a user to organize or
personalize a bar such as bar 38 in parallel GUI according to their
own wishes consistent with the parallel GuI software.
[0159] For example, a user may go to a specific Internet site to
peruse the applications available to be merged into the parallel
GUI. One such application is an application providing access to
weather information over the WEB. The user selects the application
to be merged, and the parallel GUI automatically determines a set
of cartridges provided by the application. The parallel GUI
software then merges the determined set of cartridges into the
current data structure used to store data on the currently loaded
cartridges. One skilled in the art will recognize that any
conventional data structure may be used, including arrays, hash
tables, linked lists, and trees. Preferably, a data structure that
allows easy replacement of entire cartridges, (such as cartridges
stored as branches of a tree) is used. The parallel GUI software
may then update any related data structures whose information
depends upon knowledge of the current set of available
cartridges.
NetSpace
[0160] Referring again to FIG. 1, in an alternate embodiment of the
present invention, the technique of controlling the allocation of
display area 1 is used to open a context sensitive network browser
2 (CSNB) adjacent but not interfering with operating system desktop
3 and/or parallel graphical user interface 4. A display controller
such as alternate display content controller 6 may include CSNB 2
thus permitting the browser to create and control a space for
itself on display 1 which may not be overwritten by utility
operating system 5B. The combined controller/browser may be an
application running on the computer operating system, or may
include an operating system kernel of varying complexity ranging
from dependent on the utility operating system for hardware system
services to a parallel system independent of the utility operating
system and capable of supporting dedicated applications. The
alternate display content controller/browser may also include
content and operating software such as JAVA delivered over the
Internet I or any other LAN. There may also be more than one
context sensitive network browser and more than one parallel
graphical user interface in addition to the operating system
desktop.
[0161] Context sensitive interface such as network browser 2 may
respond to movement and placement of cursor IC controlled by a
pointing device such as mouse IM anywhere on display area 1. The
generation and control of a cursor across two or more parallel
graphical user interfaces was described previously. The location of
cursor IC will trigger CSNB 2 to retrieve appropriate and related
network pages such as web page 2A. CSNB 2 may store the last X
number of CSNB enabled network addresses for display offline. In a
currently preferred embodiment of the present invention, X is ten
pages. If a user is examining a saved CSNB enabled page offline, a
mouse click on the page or a link on the page will initiate the
users dial-up sequence and establish an online connection.
[0162] In an alternate embodiment, alternate display content
controller 6 may include a browser or search engine. In an
alternate embodiment of the present invention, space 2C may include
an edit input box 2D. Edit input box 2D may include conventional
functionality's such as edit, copy, paste, etc. A user may enter a
URL into edit input box 2D using any conventional input device and
then select a button to launch or initiate alternate display
content controller 6 as a browser. This may be accomplished by
using objects and or drivers from utility operating system 5B.
Initiating alternate display content controller 6 as a browser
would include a simple window to display the URL as a live HTML
document with all conventional functionality. By implementing
alternate display content controller 6 as a little applet that uses
that DLL, it may slide on, or slide off. Thus initiating alternate
display content controller 6 as a browser is like a window into the
Internet.
[0163] Secondly, a user may enter any text into edit input box 2D
using any conventional input device and then select a button to
launch or initiate alternate display content controller 6 as a
search engine. By entering a search string and selecting "search"
and enter any string and click on "search" and pass that to any
number from one to whatever or existing search engines, and
subsequently have the search string acted on by one or more
selected search engines and or by alternate display content
controller 6 as a search engine. Resulting in multiple different
windows appearing in some sort of stacked or cascaded or tiled
format, with the different searches within them.
[0164] Using alternate display content controller 6 as a search
engine or browser, the results or HTML document may be displayed in
any overscan area or on the desktop.
[0165] Referring now to FIG. 17, a context sensitive network
browser such as CSNB 13 may also include a suite of tools such as
tools 14 that may or may not have fixed locations on the browser
space. Such tools may include but are not limited to e-mail, chat,
buddy lists and voice. As shown, spaces such as desktop 14A, web
page 14B, secondary GU114C and browser 13 may be arranged in any
convenient manner.
Hooking Mechanism
[0166] The following describes the hooking mechanism used with
xSides (an example embodiment) on an Intel 80386 (or greater)
processor. This description of the Intel processor operations are
simplified for clarity. This hooking mechanism is expected to work
on most, if not all, compatible processors currently available.
Interrupt Descriptor Table
[0167] The interrupt descriptor table (IDT) associates each
interrupt with a descriptor for the instructions that service the
associated event. For example, when a software interrupt (INT 3) is
generated (and interrupts are enabled), the Intel processor will
suspend what it was currently doing, look up in the IDT for the
appropriate entry (or interrupt vector) for the address of the code
to execute to service this interrupt. The code is known as the
Interrupt Service Routine (ISR). It will start executing the ISR.
When a Return From Interrupt instruction (IRET) is executed by the
ISR, the processor will resume what is was doing prior to the
interrupt.
Debug Registers
[0168] The Intel 80386 microprocessor provides a set of system
registers that are normally used for debugging purposes. The are
technically referred to as Debug Registers. These registers allow
control over execution of code as well as access over data. The
Debug Registers are used in conjunction with exception code. There
are four addresses registers (i. e. Four different locations of
code and/or data) (DR0, DR1, DR2, and DR3).
[0169] There is a control register (DR7) that can be programmed to
selectively enable the address registers. In addition, DR7 is used
to control the type of access to a memory location that will
generate an interrupt. For example, an exception can be raised for
reading and or writing a specific memory location or executing a
memory location (i. e. Code execution).
[0170] Finally, there is a status register (DR6) that is used to
detect and determine the debug exception, (i. e. What address
register generated the exception). When enabled and the data
criterion is met, the x86 processor generates an Interrupt 1 (TNT
1).
How This Mechanism is Used
[0171] The xSides implementation preferably first sets up the IDT
to point our ISR to process INT 1 interrupts. Next, the address of
the code that you want to hook (or the memory location of data, as
in this case) is programmed into one of the address registers and
the appropriate bits within the control register are set. When the
x86 processor executes this instruction (or touches the memory
location of data), the processor generates an INT 1. The processor
will then invoke the Interrupt 1 ISR (as described above.) At this
point, the ISR can do almost any kind of processor, code or data
manipulation. When complete, the ISR executes an IRET instruction
and the processor starts execution after the point of the INT 1
occurrence. Note that the interrupt code has no knowledge of the
interruption.
[0172] This mechanism is expected to move the memory address used
on some video systems for cache or hardware cursor. This should
allow us to push the percentage of systems that support "overscan"
mode to around 90% (in that this mechanism should work on
approximately that number of machines).
Additional Alternative Embodiments
[0173] 1. Utilizing the VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) in place of the
CRT Controller registers (FIG. 5) to determine the linear window
position address, step 138, as necessary.
[0174] 2. Utilizing API's (application programming interfaces) 62
capable of direct driver and/or hardware manipulation, such as
Microsoft's DirectX and/or DirectDraw, in place of the CRT
Controller registers and/or direct access to the display
buffer.
[0175] 3. Utilizing API's (applications programming interfaces) 62,
such as Microsoft's DirectX and/or DirectDraw, capable of direct
driver and/or hardware manipulation, to create a second virtual
display surface on the primary display with the same purpose, to
display a separate and unobscured graphical user interface.
[0176] 4. Utilizing modifications in the video subsystem of the
operating system 63 in place of the CRT Controller registers and/or
DirectX access to the display buffer.
[0177] 5. Utilizing modifications in the video subsystem of the
operating system 63 to create a second virtual display surface on
the primary display with the same purpose, to display a separate
and unobscured graphical user interface.
[0178] 6. Building this functionality into the actual video drivers
64 and/or mini-drivers. Microsoft Windows provides support for
virtual device drivers, VxDs, which could also directly interface
with the hardware and drivers. These could also include an API to
provide applications with an interface to the modified display.
[0179] 7. Incorporating the same functionality, with or without the
VGA registers, into the BIOS and providing an API to allow
applications an interface to the modified display.
[0180] 8. Incorporating the same functionality into hardware
devices, such as monitor itself, with hardware and/or software
interfaces to the CPU.
[0181] 9. This technique may be used to control the desktop (i.e.
Windows) to easily enable the desktop to operate in virtually any
non-standard size limited only by the capability of the display
hardware. This may be in combination with parallel graphical user
interface displays or exclusively to maximize the primary operating
system desktop display area. This may not require any modification
to the operating system.
[0182] In overview, the visual display area is conventionally
defined by the values maintained in the CRTC registers on the chip
and available to the driver. The normally displayed area is defined
by VGA standards, and subsequently by SVGA standards, to be a
preset number of modes, each mode including a particular display
resolution which specifies the area of the display in which the
desktop can be displayed.
[0183] The desktop can only be displayed in this area because
Windows does not directly read/write the video memory, rather it
uses programming interface calls to the video driver. And the video
driver simply reads/writes using an address that happens to be in
video memory. So the value this mechanism needs to realize is the
value the video card and driver assert is available for painting.
This value is queried from the registers, modified by specific
amounts and rewritten to the card. Subsequently, present
embodiments change the area of writable visible display space
without informing the operating system's display interface of the
change
[0184] Embodiments of the present invention don't necessarily
change the CRTCs to add just to the bottom. Preferably the top is
also moved up a little. This keeps the displayed interfaces
centered within the drivable display area. For example, rather than
just add thirty-two scan lines to the bottom, the top of the
display area is moved up by sixteen lines.
[0185] Nor do embodiments of the present invention depend solely
upon the ability to change the CRTCs to modify the visible display
area. Alternative mechanisms define other methods of creating and
accessing visible areas of the screen that are outside the
dimensions of the desktop accessed by the operating system's
display interface.
[0186] From a consideration of the specifications, drawings, and
claims, other embodiments and variations methods and systems of the
present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art of
computer science.
[0187] In particular, the secondary GUI may be positioned in areas
not normally considered the conventional overscan area. For
example, the secondary GUI may be positioned in a small square
exactly in the center of the normal display in order to- provide a
service required by the particular system and application. In fact,
the techniques of reading and rewriting screen display information
can be used to maintain the primary GUI information, or portions of
it, in an additional memory and selectively on a timed, computed,
interactive, or airy or other basis, replace a portion of the
primary GUI with the secondary GUI such as a pop-up, window, or any
other display space.
[0188] As a simple example, a security system may require the
ability to display information to a user without regard to the
status of the computer system and/or require the user to make a
selection, such as call for help by clicking on "911?". Embodiments
of the present invention could provide a video display buffer in
which a portion of the primary GUI interface was continuously
recorded and displayed in a secondary GUI for example in the center
of the screen. Under non-emergency conditions, the secondary GUM
would then be effectively invisible in that the user would not
notice anything except the primary GUI.
[0189] Under the appropriate emergency conditions, an alarm monitor
could cause the secondary GUI to present the "911?" to the user by
overwriting the copy of the primary display stored in the secondary
GUI memory. Alternatively, a database of photographs may be stored
and one recalled in response to an incoming phone call in which
caller ID identified a phone number associated with a database
photo entry.
[0190] In general, embodiments of the present invention may provide
one or more secondary user interfaces which may be useful whenever
it is more convenient or desirable to control a portion of the
total display, either outside the primary display in an unused area
such as overscan or even in a portion of the primary GUI directly
or by time division multiplexing, directly by communication with
the video memory, or by bypassing at least a portion of the video
memory to create a new video memory. In other words, methods and
systems of the present invention may provide one or more secondary
user interfaces outside of the control of the system, such as the
operating system, which controls the primary GUI.
[0191] Additional user interfaces may be used for a variety of
different purposes. For example, a secondary user interface may be
used to provide simultaneous access to the Internet, full motion
video, and a conference channel. A secondary user interface may be
dedicated to a local network or multiple secondary user interfaces
may provide simultaneous access and data for one or more networks
to which a particular computer may be connected.
[0192] Although specific embodiments of, and examples for, the
present invention are described herein for illustrative purposes,
it is not intended that the invention be limited to these
embodiments. Equivalent methods, structures, processes, steps, and
other modifications within the spirit of the invention fall within
the scope of the invention. Also, those skilled in this art will
understand how to make changes and modifications to the present
invention to meet their specific requirements or conditions. For
example, the teachings provided herein of the present invention can
be applied to other types of computer systems, including those that
control non-integrated display surfaces. In addition, the teachings
may be applied to other types of devices that have display surfaces
and other organizations of computer operating systems and
environments. These and other changes may be made to the invention
in light of the above detailed description. Accordingly, the
invention is not limited by the disclosure.
* * * * *