U.S. patent application number 17/085092 was filed with the patent office on 2021-02-18 for display of combined first and second inputs in combined input mode.
The applicant listed for this patent is Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.. Invention is credited to Syed S. Azam, Monji G. Jabori, Valentin Popsescu, Mike Provencher.
Application Number | 20210049038 17/085092 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005190743 |
Filed Date | 2021-02-18 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210049038 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Azam; Syed S. ; et
al. |
February 18, 2021 |
DISPLAY OF COMBINED FIRST AND SECOND INPUTS IN COMBINED INPUT
MODE
Abstract
A first processing unit provides a first input. The first
processing unit has a first architecture on which a first operating
system is run having a first operating environment in which first
applications are run. A switching unit selects both the first and a
second input in a combined input mode. The second input is provided
by a second processing unit having a second architecture in which a
second operating system is run having a second operating
environment in which second applications are run. A scaler combines
the first and second inputs into an orientation comprising a full
screen of the first operating environment and a window of the
second operating environment, where the window of the second
operating environment is overlaid into the full screen of the first
operating environment. The scaler transmits the combined first and
second inputs to a display unit for display on a screen.
Inventors: |
Azam; Syed S.; (Spring,
TX) ; Provencher; Mike; (Spring, TX) ; Jabori;
Monji G.; (Spring, TX) ; Popsescu; Valentin;
(Spring, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. |
Spring |
TX |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005190743 |
Appl. No.: |
17/085092 |
Filed: |
October 30, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15307741 |
Oct 28, 2016 |
10860366 |
|
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PCT/US2014/036266 |
Apr 30, 2014 |
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17085092 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09G 2360/06 20130101;
G09G 2370/022 20130101; G06F 3/1423 20130101; G09G 2340/12
20130101; G06F 9/4843 20130101; G06F 3/04817 20130101; G09G 2370/20
20130101; G09G 5/14 20130101; G09G 2352/00 20130101; G09G 2360/08
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/48 20060101
G06F009/48; G06F 3/14 20060101 G06F003/14; G09G 5/14 20060101
G09G005/14; G06F 3/0481 20060101 G06F003/0481 |
Claims
1. A system comprising: a display unit having a screen; a first
processing unit having a first architecture on which the first
processing unit runs a first operating system having a first
operating environment in which a plurality of first applications
are run, the first processing unit to provide a first input; a
switching unit to select the first input in a first input mode, a
second input in a second input mode, or both the first and the
second input in a combined input mode, the second input provided by
a second processing unit having a second architecture on which the
second processing unit runs a second operating system having a
second operating environment in which a plurality of second
applications are run; and a scaler to, in the combined input mode,
combine the first input and the second input into an orientation
and transmit the combined first and second inputs to the display
unit for display on the screen, the orientation comprising a full
screen of the first operating environment in which the first
applications are run and a window of the second operating
environment in which the second applications are run, wherein the
window of the second operating environment is overlaid into the
full screen of the first operating environment.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the switching unit is to select
among the combined input mode, the first input mode, and the second
input mode based on first and second control signals.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the switching unit is to receive
the first and second control signals from the first and second
processing units, respectively.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the switching unit is to receive
the first and second control signals from the first processing
unit.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first processing unit
comprises a first system on chip (SoC) to convert the first input
to fit into the screen of the display unit, the first SoC to
provide the converted first input to the switching unit.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second processing unit
comprises a second SoC to convert the second input to fit into the
screen of the display unit, the second SoC to provide the converted
second input to the switching unit.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the first processing unit
comprises a first processor having the first architecture on which
the first processor runs the first operating system.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the second processing unit
comprises a second processor having the second architecture on
which the second processor runs the second operating system.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the first processor provides the
first input to the first SoC according to a protocol.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the protocol is a camera serial
interface (CSI) protocol.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the switching unit and the
scaler are part of the first processing unit.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the scaler is to, in the first
input mode, transmit the first input to the display unit for
display on the screen.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the scaler is to, in the second
input mode, transmit the second input to the display unit for
display on the screen.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium storing
program code executable by a first processing unit to cause the
first processing unit to: run, by a first processor of the first
processing unit, a first operating system on a first architecture,
the first operating system having a first operating environment in
which a plurality of first applications are run; provide, by the
first processor, a first input; select, by a switching unit of the
first processing unit, the first input in a first input mode, a
second input in a second input mode, or both the first and the
second input in a combined input mode, the second input provided by
a second processing unit comprising a second processor having a
second architecture on which the second processor runs a second
operating system having a second operating environment in which a
plurality of second applications are run; combine, in the combined
input mode by a scaler of the first processing unit, the first
input and the second input into an orientation comprising a full
screen of the first operating environment in which the first
applications are run and a window of the second operating
environment in which the second applications are run, wherein the
window of the second operating environment is overlaid into the
full screen of the first operating environment; and transmit, in
the combined input mode by the scaler, the combined first and
second inputs to a display unit for display on a screen of the
display unit.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium of
claim 14, wherein the switching unit is to select among the
combined input mode, the first input mode, and the second input
mode based on first and second control signals.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium of
claim 15, wherein the switching unit is to receive the first and
second control signals from the first and second processing units,
respectively.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium of
claim 15, wherein the switching unit is to receive the first and
second control signals from the first processing unit.
18. A method comprising: providing a first input by a first
processing unit having a first architecture on which the first
processing unit runs a first operating system having a first
operating environment in which a plurality of first applications
are run; selecting, by a switching unit, the first input in a first
input mode, a second input in a second input mode, or both the
first and the second input in a combined input mode, the second
input provided by a second processing unit having a second
architecture on which the second processing unit runs a second
operating system having a second operating environment in which a
plurality of second applications are run; combining, in the
combined input mode by a scaler, the first input and the second
input into an orientation comprising a full screen of the first
operating environment in which the first applications are run and a
window of the second operating environment in which the second
applications are run, wherein the window of the second operating
environment is overlaid into the full screen of the first operating
environment; and transmitting, in the combined input mode by the
scaler, the combined first and second inputs to a display unit for
display on a screen of the display unit.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the switching unit is to select
among the combined input mode, the first input mode, and the second
input mode based on first and second control signals.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the switching unit is to
receive the first and second control signals from the first and
second processing units, respectively, or is to receive the first
and second control signals from the first processing unit.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Commercial PCs depend on a processor such as Intel x86
architecture and an operating system such as Microsoft Windows
ecosystem for productivity and customized IT solutions. However,
there is an increasing need for applications that are only
available on other architectures and operating systems such as the
ARM architecture and a mobile operating system, such as Google
Android ecosystem. A method may be utilized to provide multiple
operating environments on a single system such as hypervisors,
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and virtual container
solutions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0002] Example implementations are described in the following
detailed description and in reference to the drawings, in
which:
[0003] FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate example systems in accordance
with the principles disclosed herein;
[0004] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example user interfaces of the
system in FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with an implementation in
accordance with the principles disclosed herein; and
[0005] FIG. 3 illustrates an example process flow diagram in
accordance with the principles disclosed herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0006] Various implementations described herein are directed to a
computing system with multi-architecture configuration. More
specifically, and as described in greater detail below, various
aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a manner by which
at least two operating environments are used on one display by
modifying a common graphics overlay subsystem and human interface
to create a modular hybrid system that supports at least one
architecture (e.g., ARM and/or x86 architectures). Further, all
operating environments may share common input/output devices.
[0007] Aspects of the present disclosure described herein implement
a system that can display multiple operating environments by
combining the output of multiple architectures in one device.
According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the
approach described herein allows a user to add a new device to an
existing architecture and use one hybrid display to interact with
both devices. More specifically, the hybrid display can take a
video signal from both architectures, creating a modular hybrid
system (e.g., combination of a plurality of architectures) that
supports both operating environments (for examples, operating
environments, such as but not limited to, Android running on ARM
and Windows running on x86 architectures).
[0008] Moreover, aspects of the present disclosure described herein
also disclose adjusting by, for example, pre-defined user
preferences, inferring application context, or user interaction
through user interface elements such as icons or mechanical
switching using a button, between full screen operating
environments, one full screen for one operating environment and the
other operating environment windowed or partial screen for both
operating environments side-by-side. Among other things, this
approach allows the user to choose a configuration and provide such
choice via a button. Accordingly, this approach advantageously
provides that a single hybrid display that may have elements of a
plurality of operating environments, avoiding the need for two
separate displays and therefore creating a low incremental cost
solution.
[0009] Further, aspects of the present disclosure described herein
also disclose two architectures that are separate at hardware
level. Among other things, this approach allows achieving
dual-operating system support without requiring two independent
touch displays. As a result, this solution provides a most cost
conscious option as display units are the most costly component of
devices.
[0010] In addition, virtualized environment consume resources,
emulated environments have performance and application
compatibility issues. For example, peripheral virtualization issues
may exist. Aspects of the present disclosure described herein
address these issues.
[0011] In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a
method for managing display units is provided. The method comprises
receiving an input from a first processing unit in the
multi-architecture system, receiving an input from a second
processing unit in the multi-architecture system, combining the
inputs, and providing the combined inputs to a display unit. The
display unit displays the combined inputs in a configurable
orientation.
[0012] In another example in accordance with the present
disclosure, another system is provided. The system comprises a
display unit, and a first processing unit comprising a processor, a
switching unit and a scaler, the first processing unit to provide,
by the processor, an input, select, by the switching unit, at least
one of the input from the first processor unit and an input from a
second processing unit, and transmit, by the scaler, the selected
at least one input to the display unit. The display unit is coupled
to the first processing unit and receives input from the first
processing unit and the second processing unit.
[0013] In a further example in accordance with the present
disclosure, a method for managing a projection system is provided.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions
which, when executed, cause a device to (i) select at least one of
an input from the first processor unit and an input from a second
processing unit, and (ii) transmit the selected at least one input
to a display unit. The display unit is coupled to the first
processing unit and receives input from the first processing unit
and the second processing unit.
[0014] Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a system 100 in accordance
with the principles disclosed herein is shown. In this example,
system 100 generally comprises a display 110, a processing unit
120, and a processing unit 130. The processing unit 120 comprises a
scaler 150, a system on chip (SoC) 160, and a switching unit (e.g.,
multiplexer) 170. The processing unit 130 comprises a SoC 140. In
FIG. 1A, the processing units 120 and 130 are shown to be in
different devices and may be suitable for any computing device
while still complying with the principles disclosed herein. For
example, in some implementations, the processing unit 120 may be an
electronic display, a smartphone, a tablet, an all-in-one computer
(i.e., a display that also houses the computer's board), or some
combination thereof. In this example, the processing unit 120 is an
all-in-one computer. Further, in this example, the operating
environment 130 is a mobile device. In FIG. 1B, the processing
units 120 and 130 are shown to be in the same device. More
specifically, the processing unit 130 is a part of processing unit
120, considered as one unit. It should be readily apparent that the
present illustration should not be interpreted to be limited by
this particular illustrative architecture shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B,
and the system 100 represents a generalized illustration and that
other elements may be added or the illustrated elements may be
removed, modified, or rearranged in many ways. For example, while
the system 100 depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B includes only two
operating environments, the system may actually comprise any number
of operating environments, and only two have been shown and
described for simplicity. Also, it should be noted that the
operating environments can be multiples instances of the same
architecture or they may be from different architectures (such as,
but not limited to, x86, x86_64 or ARM). Further, in some
implementations, the system 100 may comprise more than one display
unit. For example, the system 100 may send combined inputs from
multiple operating environments to multiple displays.
[0015] In one implementation, a user may interact with the display
110. The display 110 defines a viewing surface and is to project
images for viewing and interaction by a user (not shown). In some
examples, the display 110 includes touch sensitive technology such
as, for example, resistive, capacitive, acoustic wave, infrared
(IR), strain gauge, optical, acoustic pulse recognition, or some
combination thereof. Therefore, throughout the following
description, the display 110 may periodically be referred to as a
touch sensitive surface or display. More specifically, the control
signals provided to the display 110 may be from at least one user
touching the display (e.g., hand or finger of a user). The display
110 displays applications and images captured from a plurality of
operating environments (which will be described in greater detail
below). In one implementation, one application may have a window
shown on the display 110. Moreover, the same display 110 may have
additional windows shown for other operating environments. In such
an implementation, the size of the windows may be adjusted across
the display 110 based on a plurality of criteria, including a
user's preference.
[0016] In an example implementation, two processing units (e.g.,
the processing units 120 and 130) use the same display (e.g., the
display 110) alternatively or simultaneously. In one
implementation, a window for one of the processing units may be
displayed on the display unit 110. For example, the processing unit
120 may have a window on the display 110. Such window may comprise
icons for a plurality of applications that are compatible to run on
the processing unit 120. The applications may comprise information
and visual assets (e.g., graphics. In some implementations,
different windows may have different settings. More specifically,
the specification of the display 110 may identify a resolution
value, and thus, fonts for the applications being displayed on that
window. In another example, a different window is displayed for
another operating environment. For example, the display 110 may
show a second window for the processing unit 130. This second
window may show icons for applications to be run on the processing
unit 130. The display 110 identifies a resolution value, and thus,
fonts for the applications being displayed on that window.
Accordingly, certain settings of the applications may be adjusted
based on the corresponding operating environment to maintain the
physical size consistency between the windows across the display
units.
[0017] In one implementation, the display 110 is a hybrid display
that takes video signals (such as, but not limited to, high
definition multimedia interface (HDMI) input) from a plurality of
architectures (e.g., the processing units 120 and 130) and outputs.
The display 110 may switch between full screen operating
environments, display one input full screen and another input
windowed, or display two inputs side-by-side. When the inputs are
shown side-by-side, environment partitioning can be of variable
sizing, e.g., one environment can have a portrait orientation while
the other is landscape. The system 100 is capable of supporting any
HDMI input, connecting to a scaler 150 or CSI to enable dual
operating environment from two architectures. An SoC (e.g.,
application processors) includes an mobile industry processor
interface (e.g., CSI) for a camera input. This interface brings a
camera input in to processes and store it (e.g., pictures and
video). According to various aspects of this disclosure, this
interface may be used to take in HDMI input and re-route the input,
instead of storing it, to the internal LCD (e.g., the display unit
110).
[0018] In one implementation, the display 110 comprises a button to
switch or adjust a configuration of input sources (e.g., video
sources and/or human input devices such as touchscreen, touchpad,
keyboard, and mouse and/or other connected peripheral devices)
between the processing unit 120 and the processing unit 130. For
example, a user may use the switch or button to communicate how he
wants to configure the display. In one implementation, the user may
choose to apply full screen to display from the processing unit 120
(e.g. the full screen display of Windows). In another
implementation, the user may choose to apply full screen to display
from the processing unit 130 (e.g., the full screen display of
Android). In a further implementation, the user may choose that a
portion of the display is used for the processing unit 120 and the
other portion of the display is used for the processing unit 130
(e.g., half screen for Windows, half screen for Android). In some
implementations, a message may be created and displayed to
configure the screen orientation. For example, the user may choose
to display Windows in a portrait orientation, where the user may
choose to display Android in a landscape orientation. Further, the
user may also decide what ratio of the screen can be used for the
processing unit 120 and what ratio for the processing unit 130
(e.g., 20% of the screen for Android, 80% of the screen for
Windows).
[0019] As mentioned earlier, the processing units 120 and 130 may
be intended to be representative of a broad category of data
processors. The processing units 120 and 130 may be any device
capable of processing data, interacting with a corresponding
content stream and communicating locally or over a network. The
processing units 120 and 130 may be further capable of supporting
various operations, such as and not limited to, content viewing,
recording, downloading, uploading, content play, etc. As used
herein, a "computing device" may be a desktop computer, notebook
computer, workstation, tablet computer, mobile phone, smart device,
server, or any other processing device or equipment. Any computing
device described herein that the processing units 120 and 130 run
on includes a processor. In some implementations, these computing
devices include a memory. Depending on the implementation, security
features/tools may be implemented in various ways such as by a
firewall, one time passwords, encryption programs, digital
certificates, user application security, etc. Various combinations
of these and/or other security features may be used.
[0020] In one example, the first processing units 120 is, for
example, a notebook computer with an x86 architecture, and the
second processing units 130 is, for example, a smart phone with an
advanced RISC machine (ARM) architecture. In such example, the
notebook computer (i.e., the first processing units 120) may be the
primary whereas the smart phone (i.e., the second processing units
130) may be the secondary. The processing units 120 and 130
comprise separate hardware components. Accordingly, sensitive
information such as passwords and user data are contained within
their own separate environments and may not be accessed or captured
by the other processing unit. Further, the processing units 120 and
130 run simultaneously, not requiring one to be off in order for
the other one to control the display 110.
[0021] According to aspects of this invention, the processing units
120 and 130 may run simultaneously. For example, an Android
environment (e.g., the processing unit 120) may be running a music
application, and a Windows environment (e.g., the processing units
130) may be displaying a document. The display unit 110 may be
displaying the document from the processing unit 130 in a full
screen mode, and the music application may be invisible as it does
not require a visual display. The music may be played via a speaker
attached to the system.
[0022] As shown FIGS. 1A and 1B, the switching unit 170 is coupled
to the processing units 120 and 130. In one implementation, the
switching unit 170 switches between the first processing units 120
and the second processing units 130 to determine whether the
display unit 110 is controlled by the first processing units 120 or
the second processing units 130. In another implementation, the
switching unit allows both units (i.e., the first and second
processing units 120 and 130) to control the display unit 110. More
specifically, each processing unit may have its associated control
input (e.g., keyboard and mouse), and each processing unit may
control a portion of the display unit 110 via the associated
control input.
[0023] The scaler 150 resides between the display 110 and the SoC
160 (a built-in onboard source) and receives a feed from additional
processing units (e.g., the processing unit 130) via the switching
unit 170 (e.g., multiplexer). For example, a TV or monitor with
multiple inputs is a typical application of the scaler 150. The
scaler 150 has limited built-in nonvolatile memory where settings
can be stored.
[0024] The input from the switching unit 170 into the scaler 150
and the output from SoC 160 into the switching unit 170 may be USB,
which includes an ability to handle video, audio, power, etc. The
scaler 150 drives the display 110 by applying multiple source
inputs and output to a single display. The features of the scaler
150 include picture in picture and graphics overlay which are
utilized to show content from multiple sources. More specifically,
the scaler 150 takes a video input signal from a first video source
and converts it to fit a screen. In another implementation, the
system 100 may adapt a camera serial interface (CSI). CSI protocol
is a specification that governs the video input signal to the SoC
160. The CSI is scalable in speed and bandwidth. If the video input
signal is being fed by a higher density camera or any image stream
(e.g., HDMI) needs more bandwidth, the CSI may handle by assigning
more lanes to the channel. The CSI receives the input signal in the
SoC 160 in the processing unit 120 and converts it to fit the
screen of the display 110. Further, the SoC 160 comprises an
internal Image Signal Processor (ISP), which processes the input
stream and passes it to the display 110 or any other output. The
ISP may be tied to the internal fabric of the SoC and can pass high
amounts of data to the display block of the SoC to control the
internal display of the processing unit 120 (e.g., tablet or other
mobile device).
[0025] In one implementation, the switching unit 170 takes the
input signal from a SoC 140 (comprising a processor) in the
processing unit 130 and converts it to fit the screen of the
display 110. In another implementation, the scaler 150 takes the
input signals from both sources and fits both on the display 110.
The switching unit 170 sits between the scaler 150 and the SoC 160
and acts as a multiple-input, single-output switch. More
specifically, the switching unit 170 may be a toggle switch in
between the scaler 150 and the SoC 160 and determines the active
source which controls the display 110.
[0026] The SoC 160 is an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates
all components of a computer or other electronic system into a
single chip. More specifically, the SoC 160 comprises a processor
(e.g., x86), a memory (e.g., ROM, RAM, EEPROM and flash memory).
Moreover, the SoC 160 may comprise timing sources including
oscillators and phase-locked loops; peripherals including
counter-timers, real-time timers, and power-on reset generators;
external interfaces including industry standards such as USB,
FireWire, Ethernet, UART, SPI; voltage regulators and power
management circuits.
[0027] As shown FIGS. 1A and 1B, the processing unit 130 comprises
the SoC 140 (e.g. ARM). Both the processor in the SoC 160 and the
SoC 140 in the processing unit 130 may be at least one central
processing unit (CPU), at least one semiconductor-based
microprocessor, other hardware devices or processing elements
suitable to retrieve and execute instructions stored in a
machine-readable storage medium, or combinations thereof. The
processors can include single or multiple cores on a chip, multiple
cores across multiple chips, multiple cores across multiple
devices, or combinations thereof. The processors may fetch, decode,
and execute instructions to implement various processing steps.
More specifically, the instructions, when executed by processor
(e.g., via one processing element or multiple processing elements
of the processor) can cause processor to perform processes, for
example, the processes depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
[0028] The processors may process machine-readable instructions,
such as processor-readable (e.g., computer-readable) instructions.
For example, the machine-readable instructions may configure the
SoC 140 to allow the processing unit 130 to perform the methods and
functions disclosed herein. Similarly, the machine-readable
instructions may configure processor in the SoC 160 to allow the
processing unit 120 to perform the methods and functions disclosed
herein. The machine-readable instructions may be stored in a
memory, such as a non-transitory computer-usable medium, coupled to
the processors and may be in the form of software, firmware,
hardware, or a combination thereof. In a hardware solution, the
machine-readable instructions may be hard coded as part of
processors, e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
chip. In a software or firmware solution, the instructions may be
stored for retrieval by the processors. Some additional examples of
non-transitory computer-usable media may include static or dynamic
random access memory (SRAM or DRAM), read-only memory (ROM),
electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) memory, such as
flash memory, magnetic media and optical media, whether permanent
or removable, etc.
[0029] In one implementation, the processing device 120 (e.g., an
x86-based tablet system) and the processing device 130 (e.g., an
ARM-based Android system) may be housed in a platform. Such
platform may be a jacket, accessory or docking station that
interfaces to via its HDMI port. In one implementation, the
platform is identified by a tablet (e.g., the processing unit 120)
as an HDMI input accessory, which triggers the embedded controller
180 to switch the video stream from an HDMI output to an HDMI
input. The switching unit 170 allows selection between the output
of the SoC 160 (HDMI1) and the output of the processing unit 130 in
the jacket (HDMI2). The HDMI stream is then passed to the scaler
150 (or CSI in another implementation), which sends the stream to
the display 110.
[0030] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate interfaces 210 and 230 of the
display 110 as described in FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with an
example implementation. It should be readily apparent that the user
interfaces illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B represent generalized
depictions and that other components may be added or existing
components may be removed, modified, or rearranged in many ways.
The user interfaces 210 and 230 described herein may comprise a
number of user interface components, each with a particular role,
as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. These modules can be either functions
within the computer program product described herein, sub-methods
of the method described herein, and/or elements of the system
described herein, for instance.
[0031] As described in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the display 110 may show a
user interface (UI) that the processing unit 120 may output on the
display 110. The user interface may facilitate interactions between
a user of the processing unit 120 and 130 and the processing units.
One user interface shown on the display 110 displays applications
that can run on the processing unit 120 and applications that can
run on the processing unit 130. In one example system, such user
interface may present various icons for various applications that
represent functionalities available to the user 110. FIG. 2A
illustrates the user interface 210 on the display 110 shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with an example implementation. The
interface 210 represents a communication channel for the processing
unit 120. In one implementation, the processing unit 120 may run a
Windows operating system, and thus, the interface 210 may be a
Windows desktop. Moreover, the processing unit 130 may run a mobile
operating system (e.g., Android). The user interface 210 comprises
first unit icons 212, 214, 215 and second unit icons 218, 220 and
222. In one example, the icons 212, 214, 215 represent applications
that are compatible to run on the processing unit 120. Moreover,
the icons 218, 220 and 222 represent applications that are
compatible to run on the processing unit 120. Accordingly,
referring back to the implementation mentioned above, where the
processing unit 120 runs a Windows operating system, and thus, the
interface 210 is a Windows desktop, the application icons for both
of the processing units 120 and 130 are illustrated as shortcuts on
the Windows desktop. It should be noted that while the user
interface 210 depicted in FIG. 2A includes three first unit icons
and three second unit icons, the interface 210 may actually
comprise more or fewer icons, and three icons for each processing
unit have been shown and described for simplicity.
[0032] In one implementation, the user may interact with the
interface 210 to select one of the icons to initiate the
application on one of the processing units. For example, the user
may select icon 212 to run the application that the icon 212
represents on the processing unit 120. In another example, the user
may choose the icon 218 to run the application associated with the
icon 218 on the processing unit 130. In such implementation,
notifications from one processing unit may also be overlaid into
the display area of the other processing unit, for example to
indicate receipt of new mail. More specifically, referring to the
example discussed above, where the processing unit 130 runs a
mobile operating system, the processing unit 120 runs a Windows
operating system, and the interface 210 is a Windows desktop,
notification from the mobile operating environment along with
notifications from the Windows operating environment may be shown
on the Windows desktop.
[0033] It should be noted that when one of the processing units is
in full screen display mode (e.g., claims the full screen), the
applications for the other processing unit are displayed as icons
on the display (e.g., user interface). For example, if the Window
operating environment claims the full screen of the display unit
110, the applications of the Android operating environment are
displayed as icons on the Windows desktop.
[0034] FIG. 2B illustrates the user interface 230 on the display
110 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with an example
implementation. The user interface 230 represents a communication
channel for the processing unit 130. In one example, the processing
unit 130 runs an Android operating system, and the user interface
230 is an Android home screen of the mobile device. Moreover, the
user interface 230 comprises first unit icons 232, 234, 236. Such
icons represent applications that can be run by the processing unit
130. For example, the icons may represent mobile applications
(e.g., Skype, App Store) that are compatible with the mobile
operating system running on the processing unit 130.
[0035] Further, the user interface 230 comprises a window 240. In
one implementation, the window 240 represents a user interface
associated with the processing unit 120. The window 240 comprises
second unit icons 242, 244 and 246. In one example, the icons 242,
244 and 246 represent applications that are compatible to run on
the processing unit 120. For example, the processing unit 120 runs
an operating system for a personal computer (e.g., Windows). The
icons 242, 244 and 246 represent applications (e.g., Microsoft
word, adobe acrobat reader) that run on the personal computer
operating system.
[0036] It should be noted that while the user interface 230
depicted in FIG. 2B includes three first unit icons and three
second unit icons, the interface 230 may actually comprise more or
fewer icons, and three icons for each processing unit have been
shown and described for simplicity.
[0037] Turning now to the operation of the system 100, FIG. 3
illustrates an example process flow diagram 300 in accordance with
an implementation. It should be readily apparent that the processes
depicted in FIG. 3 represent generalized illustrations, and that
other processes may be added or the illustrated processes may be
removed, modified, or rearranged in many ways. Further, it should
be understood that the processes may represent executable
instructions stored on memory that may cause a processing device to
respond, to perform actions, to change states, and/or to make
decisions, for instance. Thus, the described processes may be
implemented as executable instructions and/or operations provided
by a memory associated with the processing units 120 and 130.
[0038] The process 300 depicts an example of method that may be
used to manage a multi-architecture configuration. The
machine-readable instructions may instruct the processors in the
processing units 120 and 130 to allow system 100 to perform the
process 300 as illustrated by the flowchart in FIG. 3. In one
implementation, the system 100 may perform the process 300 in
response to receiving an instruction from a user to control the
system.
[0039] The process 300 may begin at block 305, where the system
receives an input from a first processing unit in the
multi-architecture system. At block 310, the system receives an
input from a second processing unit in the multi-architecture
system. At block 315, the system combines the inputs. At block 320,
the system provides the combined inputs to a display unit. In one
implementation, the display may show a full screen from the first
processing unit. In another implementation, the display may show a
full screen from the second processing unit. In a further
implementation, the display may show output from both of the
processing units. For example, a portion of the display may be for
the first processing unit, and a second portion of the display may
be for the second processing unit. More specifically, the display
unit displays the combined inputs in a configurable orientation.
The user may configure the display. For example, the user may
choose to reserve 25% of the screen to the first processing unit
and choose a portrait orientation for it. Further, the user may
choose to reserve 75% of the screen to the second processing unit
and choose a landscape orientation for it.
[0040] The present disclosure has been shown and described with
reference to the foregoing exemplary implementations. Although
specific examples have been illustrated and described herein it is
manifestly intended that the scope of the claimed subject matter be
limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. It is
to be understood, however, that other forms, details, and examples
may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
disclosure that is defined in the following claims.
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