Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device – Light pen for fluid matrix display panel
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-26
2001-04-03
Luu, Matthew (Department: 2672)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display peripheral interface input device
Light pen for fluid matrix display panel
C345S173000, C345S179000, C455S566000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06211858
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communications equipment and is particularly directed to a cellular telephone of the type which includes a computer-controlled graphics display. The invention is specifically disclosed as a portable intelligent communications device that has a touch screen display in which the graphics user interface displays a switching meter icon at a given area on the display, and the switching or “rotating” meter displays various symbols that each represent information related to system performance of the portable intelligent communications device.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of portable laptop computers have been available for many years, and their flat panel displays typically run in a Windows™ environment as the graphics user interface. Windows-compatible computer programs that execute on laptop computers typically use pull-down menus so the user can select from various choices to operate the executing program, and many times choices will be presented to the user using a drop down list in which the user can type in certain information, such as operating parameters or filenames. Windows-compatible displays frequently include one or more informative “meters” to indicate various system operating parameters, such as “battery life” (i.e., battery power remaining) or “print status,” and the like. In a complex computer system, displaying all of the informative meters of interest to the user at one time may require an inordinate amount of display real estate, especially for portable computers with limited display sizes, such as in laptop computers. For portable computers having case sizes even smaller than laptop computers, the relatively small size of the associated graphics display will require some changes to the “normal” method of displaying system performance information.
Portable telephones, particularly cellular telephones, have also been available for years. Most such equipment is computer controlled, in which the cellular phone includes a microprocessor or other processing control unit, along with sufficient random access memory to store some of the parameters that can be selected by the phone's user. Some telephones include a relatively small liquid crystal display which can show various types of information, including the telephone number being dialed, and/or the telephone number of a call being received. Such displays are typically limited to alphanumeric characters, and do not lend themselves well to displaying graphical data or images.
It would be desirable to provide a portable telephone with a high-resolution graphics display in order to make better use of the processing power that is available when including a microprocessor within the portable telephone. Such a device could be configured to run computer programs that are comparable to Windows-type software in the form of word processors, spreadsheets, and other communications software such as a web browser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that has the capability of acting as a cellular telephone and as a laptop computer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that includes a cellular telephone and a high-resolution graphics display screen in which various information meter icons are sequentially displayed.
Additional objects, advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an improved portable intelligent communications device is provided which includes a portable or cellular telephone and a computer-controlled touch screen display. The touch screen display is a high-resolution graphics display, and while it is smaller in size than a standard laptop computer display, the touch screen display of the present invention acts as a graphical user interface in which various executable computer programs can be accessed and executed on the portable intelligent communications device. A microprocessor controls the graphics display, and also controls a modem that communicates with the transmitter/receiver portion of the cellular telephone. Under control of the microprocessor, the portable intelligent communications device can communicate over the Internet by use of a web browser program resident in the portable intelligent communications device.
Since the touch screen graphics display is smaller in size than a standard laptop computer's display, the area used for displaying information is at a premium, including the portion of the display that illustrates informative meters. Consequently, the display of the personal business communicator is provided with an area that displays various informative meter icons that sequentially switch or “rotate” from one icon to the next. This is very desirable since the touch screen display is rather small in size, and there may not be enough space to show the user all the information required by various meters. In the present invention, the word “meter” is defined as a “small” application program that constantly monitors the system in the background (or checks the system periodically) and displays the information graphically. Standard meters include: battery power, signal strength, print status, status of messages, handset out of range indicator, types of hardware status messages (e.g., PCMCIA slot usage, infrared connections), and the like. The rotating meters are controlled by a user selectable timetable, and one of the meters can take a higher priority in situations where the value displayed by the meter has changed state. In addition, the area around the rotating meter could be flashed with new information when something out of the ordinary occurs, such as a “New Mail” alert.
Still other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description and drawings wherein there is described and shown a preferred embodiment of this invention in one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
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Bankler Brian
Moon Billy G.
Blackman Anthony J.
Davidson & Gribbell, LLP
Ericsson Inc.
Luu Matthew
LandOfFree
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