Dual FPD and thin client

Details Dual FPD and thin client Dual FPD and thin client

2001-04-03

2002-07-16

Schuberg, Darren (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S679090, C361S826000, C709S236000, C345S215000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06421232

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Modern flat panel display's (herein after “FPD's”) with integral computer motherboards are now commercially available and widely used in the market place. These devices, sometimes termed web pads or tablets, are essentially FPD's with computer hardware integral to the enclosure housing the display so that the user can hold an entire computer in his hand that looks like a thick laptop display. These devices suffer from the limitation that they are generally sealed enclosure computers so that the monitor and the computer are inextricably tied together, without easy upgradability of one or the other. There are also various FPD's which are merely static displays, outputting information from a separate CPU enclosure which is the standard computer display configuration. These devices may or may not have the ability to receive input via a touch screen, attached or integrated mouse, stylus or like input device. A limitation of these devices is that they only serve one primary purpose which is to display information.
Also, well known in the computer arts are various “thin client systems” which have integral displays. Examples of such are the Palm Corporation's PALM PILOT series of personal digital assistants (PDA's), the CASSEOPIA by Casio Corporation, and the VISOR series of PDA's by Handspring Corporation. Typically these device will have a microprocessor which runs at a speed of 30 to 100 MHz and will run a limited capability operating system such as PALM OS or Microsoft WINDOWS CE. They are usually able to communicate with a personal computer to synchronize data and documents but are generally not capable of running robust software applications such as can be run on the personal computer. These devices capably perform their thin client functions, however, as much of the cost of these devices is derived from the creation of the display, they are not able to be fully utilized by plugging them into a wearable, portable or desktop computer to allow them to function as a standard VGA or other type resolution monitor in addition to being a thin client computer.
In the prior art, there exists several examples of computer systems which can be removed from a host computer. For instance, the devices described above, PDA's, now frequently include a data bus for synchronizing data collected with software applications running on a standard computer, or “fat client”, and also allow the fat client to download information and sometimes even programs to the PDA, however, the PDA does not function as a flat panel display for the computer itself. For purposes of this disclosure the term fat client will include, wearable computers, desktop PC's, Apple computers, server computers, or any other standard computer which is capable of running a full functionality operating system.
Gephart et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,625,829 and 5,632,020 assigned to Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., teach a dockable computer system which contains two distinct processors in a portable computer as well as in a host station. The processors are capable of independent and simultaneous processing. The dockable computer system preferably includes a communication channel for transmitting multi-processing support signals between the portable computer and the host station. This differs from the disclosure of the present invention in that the portable computer is not a thin client PDA with integral flat panel display. Also, the invention of Gephart is a system for multi-processing rather then a system which takes a display and adds thin client functionality with wired or wireless communication between the thin client and the computer from which it was disconnected.
Kinkini et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,692,199 and 5,708,840 assigned to Elonex I. P. Holdings, Ltd., teaches a micro personal digital assistant and interconnect bus respectively. The '199 patent discloses a PDA which interfaces via a docking station with a fat client computer. When this happens, the processor of the PDA is automatically disabled so that the CPU of the fat client can access information stored in the PDA. This differs from the disclosure of the present invention in that the thin client does not perform as the primary display device for the computer from which it was disconnected. The present invention is designed specifically to enhance functionality of wearable computers such that a person not requiring all the functionality of the wearable computer can merely remove the display device and have a thin client computer and then reconnect it when he is finished.
Thus, there exists a need for a FPD device which overcomes the limitations of the prior art as disclosed above. It must be small enough to be carried or worn independently, but when unattached from its base computer, can perform thin client operations, and when reconnected to the computer from which it was previously attached, can function as a static display. In addition, any information acquired or maintained by the thin client should be available to the base computer when it is reattached to or in communication with the FPD
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which is devoid of the aforementioned deficiencies.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a display which can operate as a thin client computer when it is detached from its underlying computer.
Another object of this invention is to provide a flat panel display which contains integral hardware to support thin client operations.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a computer display with built in two way communications capability.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a display which performs as a static display when connected to a computer, but also functions as a thin client computer when disconnected from a computer.
Still yet another object of this invention is to provide a display with integral input means such as touch screen activation, stylus activation, voice responsive activation, pointing device activation, or other activation means.
These and other objects of this invention are accomplished generally by a flat panel display which contains integral hardware to support thin client functions and is capable of functioning as such when not functioning as a static computer display.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned limitations of the prior art through the creation of a dual purpose thin client flat panel display, herein after TCFPD. For the purposes of this disclosure and claims, the term thin client will be taken to mean palm top computer, hand held computer, personal digital assistant or other limited functionality hand held computer which may rely on another computer for running applications and processing power. The TCFPD is essentially a standard FPD, which in its normal mode of operation, that is when connected to a fat client, performs as any other FPD or monitor would. For the purposes of this disclosure and claims the term fat client will be taken to mean a computer such as a PC, wearable computer, note book computer or other general or specific purpose computer system. The FPD displays standard VGA, SVGA, or other computer output signals and is optionally responsive to touch screen, stylus, voice, or point device input. However, when detached from the fat client computer's video signal, relying on its integral thin client motherboard and hardware, the TCFPD is able to function as a thin client with integral display capable of running a thin client operating system such as Windows® CE or Palm® OS or similar limited capability OS, and their respective applications. These applications are usually non-computationally intensive and perform tasks such as simple data or form entry, scheduling, and data collection. Additionally, the TCFPD will optionally have capability for wireless transmission of data obtained when in thin client mode to a base computer whether it be a wearable or any other fat client or server computer. The s

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Dual FPD and thin client does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Dual FPD and thin client, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dual FPD and thin client will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2882023