Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Reconfiguration
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-08
2001-08-28
Grant, William (Department: 2121)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Reconfiguration
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282646
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to computer display systems, and more particularly to a display system which is capable of instantaneously accommodating changes in the configuration of a computer system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As computers become more prevalent in everyday use, particularly personal type computers, users are employing them in a variety of different situations. Depending upon the particular situation, the user may desire to change the configuration of the display devices connected to the computer. For example, portable computers of the so-called laptop or notebook type have become increasingly popular because of their small size and light weight, making them suitable for use while traveling. Due to the need to keep their dimensions to a minimum, the display screens built into such computers are relatively small in size, and may offer only limited display capabilities. Therefore, when using one of these types of computers in an office environment, the user may connect it to a monitor having a larger display area and/or enhanced display capabilities. Such a connection might be made, for example, by means of a docking station which enables the portable computer to be conveniently connected to a variety of peripheral devices, or by inserting a video card in a PC Card slot.
Subsequently, the user might remove the added monitor, for example to take the computer home or to use it while traveling. In this situation, the built-in display screen must be used. In other words, the computer must route all information to be displayed to the built-in screen, rather than the port to which the external monitor was connected. In addition, the displayed information must be reformatted, or otherwise processed, to accommodate the display parameters of the built-in device.
In the past, changes in the configuration of the computer system, such as the addition or removal of display devices, only became effective upon a restart, or reboot, of the computer system. As part of its initial startup procedure, the computer's operating system detects the presence of each device driver loaded on the system, and registers each such detected driver to permit communications to be carried out between the operating system and the device with which the driver is associated. If a new device and corresponding driver are added to the system after this initialization procedure, the driver is not registered with the operating system, and therefore communications do not take place until the operating system goes through its initialization procedure again, e.g. upon the next reboot of the computer. Hence, if a user adds a monitor to the computer system, the monitor cannot be used to display information generated by the computer until it has been rebooted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,529 discloses a system for dynamically accommodating changes in the display configuration of a computer, without the need to restart the computer. In the system of this patent, changes can be made to the display environment for a computer system while it is in a sleep mode, in which the computer's central processing unit is maintained in a minimal operating state. When the computer is “awakened” from this sleep mode, the system of the '529 patent enables the changed configuration to be immediately recognized, and thereafter utilized in the display of information generated by the computer.
As the capabilities offered by personal computers continue to expand, the opportunities for changing the configuration of computers grows in a concomitant manner. In some situations, users may desire to have changes in the configuration of the computer's display environment become instantaneously effective, without the need to restart the computer or even place it in a sleep mode. For example, the user may create a slide presentation on a notebook computer. During the course of a meeting, a user may desire to immediately display the slide presentation, by connecting the computer to a suitable video projector, or the like. It is desirable to be able to carry out this operation without the need to first put the computer to sleep, and thereby reduce the time needed to operate within the changed configuration. It is an objective of the present invention, therefore, to expand upon the capabilities of the system of the '529 patent, by providing a display environment in which so-called “hot plugging” of displays is possible, wherein a display becomes immediately available for use as soon as it is plugged into the computer system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objective is achieved by utilizing a device manager to automatically recognize and react to changes in the configuration of a display environment, rather than wait for the computer's operating system to proactively determine the status of the display environment, for example upon restarting. When an input/output device is added to or removed from the computer system, an interrupt signal informs the device manager of the fact that a change in configuration has occurred. In response thereto, the device manager determines whether the changed component relates to the computer's display function. For example, it may determine whether an added device is a video card. If so, the device manager makes a call to the computer's display manager, to inform it of the fact that the display configuration has changed. In response to this call, the display manager reconfigures the display space for the computer system, to accommodate an additional frame buffer that is associated with the added component. With this change in the configuration of the display space, the added component becomes immediately available for use.
By means of this approach, the user can add a second monitor or other hardware component to a computer and begin to use the monitor as soon as it has been connected, without the need to reboot the computer or otherwise interrupt its current operating state.
Further features and advantages of the invention are explained in detail hereinafter in the context of specific embodiments that are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5014193 (1991-05-01), Garner et al.
patent: 5276630 (1994-01-01), Baldwin et al.
patent: 5282268 (1994-01-01), Mieras et al.
patent: 5469223 (1995-11-01), Kimura
patent: 5682529 (1997-10-01), Hendry et al.
patent: 5825359 (1998-10-01), Derby et al.
Anderson Eric
Hendry Ian
Urbina Fernando
Apple Computer Inc.
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Grant William
Hartman, Jr. Ronald D.
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