US6081855A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Digital versatile disc playback system with flexible input interface
Assignee: Qualcomm Inc
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Filing: 1998-04-15
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Granted: 2000-06-27
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Expires: 2018-04-15
Abstract
Abstract A media player includes an input manager and an input driver. The input manager operates between a device driver and a player application program. The input manager provides a uniform interface for input drivers and, upon receiving a command from an input driver passes the command along to an application program. The input manager ranks input devices according to a user's preferences and, should the input manager receive commands from more than one device driver at one time, the input manager passes along the commands in accordance with the user's input device preferences. Each input device driver provides the input manager with an indication of the driver's capabilities so that the input manager passes the appropriate information, such as location information in the case of a location sensitive input device's driver, to the driver. Each input device driver also performs the translation of input signals into a format that is acceptable by the input manager.
Inventors
- 👤 Linden A. deCarmo
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 23:23
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/4401; G06F9/4411
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
76 words
Apparatus for use with an application program, the apparatus comprising: an input device driver responsive to input signals from an input device for producing commands from the input signals; an input manager having an input manager registry, the input manager being responsive to commands from the input device driver for producing commands for use by the application program, the input manager being configured to rank the relative preference of an input device for a given user.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
76 words
Apparatus for use with an application program, the apparatus comprising: an input device driver responsive to input signals from an input device for producing commands from the input signals; an input manager having an input manager registry, the input manager being responsive to commands from the input device driver for producing commands for use by the application program, the input manager being configured to rank the relative preference of an input device for a given user.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
Apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of input device drivers, the input manager being configured for translating commands from selected of the plurality of input device drivers into commands supported by the application program.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
Apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input manager is configured to determine which commands are translated and passed to the application program, when commands are received substantially simultaneously from different input devices.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
Apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input manager is configured for ranking input devices for more than one user.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
Apparatus of claim 4 wherein the input manager is configured for storing input device rankings for each user in a memory and for initializing the rankings by retrieving the stored rankings and employing the stored ranking values as the initial ranking values.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
43 words
Apparatus of claim 5, wherein the input manager is configured for examining a command from an input driver, determining whether the command is supported by the application program, and passing the command to the application if the command is supported by the application.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
Apparatus of claim 6 wherein the input manager is configured to suppress commands not supported by the application program.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus of claim 6 wherein the input manager is configured for translating commands not supported by the application into commands that are supported by the application program.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
65 words
A method for providing a user input command generated by an input device to an application program, the method comprising the steps of: converting an input-device signal into a digital signal recognizable by an input-device specific driver; converting the digital signal recognizable by an input-device specific driver into a signal that is recognizable by an input manager; and ranking user preferences for input-device specific drivers.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
65 words
A method for providing a user input command generated by an input device to an application program, the method comprising the steps of: converting an input-device signal into a digital signal recognizable by an input-device specific driver; converting the digital signal recognizable by an input-device specific driver into a signal that is recognizable by an input manager; and ranking user preferences for input-device specific drivers.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of: correlating a user's frequency of use with the user's preference ranking for a particular input device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of: storing user preference rankings in a user identification file.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of: translating a digital signal recognizable by an input manager into a digital signal recognizable by the application program, and passing the translated signal to the application program.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the step of passing translated signals to the application program comprises the step of: passing the translated signals to the application program in a sequence determined by the ranking of user preferences, when inputs are received from two input devices substantially simultaneously.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the step of passing a signal to the application program comprises the step of: passing the translated signal from a frequently used input device to the application program before passing the translated signal from a less frequently-used device, when input events are represented by an event flag in an event queue.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
156 words
A computer program product for responding to user commands in a media player system having an application program and a user input device for receiving user commands, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon comprising: program code for creating an input device driver and converting a user's input-device specific input into a digital signal recognizable by the input-device specific driver, program code for creating an input manager and converting the digital signal recognizable by the input-device specific driver into a signal that both corresponds to the input from the user and is recognizable by the input manager, program code for converting the digital signal recognizable by the input manager to a digital signal recognizable by an application program, program code for passing the digital signal from the input manager to the application program; and program code for ranking user preferences for each of the input device specific drivers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
156 words
A computer program product for responding to user commands in a media player system having an application program and a user input device for receiving user commands, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon comprising: program code for creating an input device driver and converting a user's input-device specific input into a digital signal recognizable by the input-device specific driver, program code for creating an input manager and converting the digital signal recognizable by the input-device specific driver into a signal that both corresponds to the input from the user and is recognizable by the input manager, program code for converting the digital signal recognizable by the input manager to a digital signal recognizable by an application program, program code for passing the digital signal from the input manager to the application program; and program code for ranking user preferences for each of the input device specific drivers.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
28 words
The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising: program code for correlating a user's frequency of use with the user's preference ranking for a particular input device.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
75 words
The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the code for passing a command from the input manager to the application program when commands are received from two input devices substantially simultaneously comprises: program code for passing input commands from the input devices to an application program in a sequence determined by the user preference rankings and program code for storing user preference rankings and retrieving those rankings to be employed as initial ranking values.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-06-27 | 2003-12-27 | 2004-06-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-06-27 | 2007-12-27 | 2008-06-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-06-27 | 2011-12-27 | 2012-06-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |