HK1001795A - Improved method and apparatus in computer systems to selectively map tablet input devices using a virtual boundary - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for selectively mapping a pad-type input device using virtual boundaries

The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for inputting user information, including data and commands, using a pen-type input device.

In computer systems, there is an increasing trend to replace the mouse and keyboard with pen-based input devices. These pen-type input devices can be divided into two broad categories, depending on the type of pad-type input device used. A first type of pad-type input device is depicted in fig. 1. The pad-type input device is a transparent cover layer located on top of the graphical display through which the image of the graphical display is visible. The active area of the pad-type input device 3 is correspondingly mapped to the graphic display area 5. The use of such tablets is inconvenient and has been abandoned by the industry. A type 2 paper-thin input device is depicted in fig. 2. The digitizing plane is an opaque tablet positioned facing the side of the graphics display. Similar to the first category of transparent overlay sheet-book input devices of FIG. 1, the active area of tablet 3 of FIG. 2 corresponds to graphics display area 5.

In normal operation, a user moves a pen over the opaque pad-type input device to cause a corresponding movement of a cursor on the graphical display. Just as with a mouse, trackball, or other pointing device, the user can focus on the graphical display to handle the task at hand without having to know where the pointing device is located. With proper eye-hand coordination, the user can complete the task quickly. However, if the user has to be distracted between the graphic display and the pointing device without being concentrated, the user's work efficiency is inevitably reduced. It is therefore highly desirable for the user to be able to focus fully on the graphical display while moving the cursor on the screen by means of eye-hand coordination by manually moving the pointing device for maximum efficiency.

The same eye-hand coordination between cursor movement on the graphical display and manual movement of the pointing device can be accomplished when using a pen-writing system. The manipulations of the pen on the pad produce the relative manipulations that the user completes when using the mouse. As an example, a pen up tap on a paper book can cause the image on the graphical display to scroll. Another example is to tap a digitized pad with a pen, which is equivalent to pressing a mouse button.

Referring again to this example, the result of two quick continuous shots with the pen is the same as the result of two quick continuous mouse button presses by the user.

There is however a distinction between a mouse or a trackball and a pen on a paper book. The pens on the pad have a fixed limited active area defined by the pad size. On the other hand, the mouse can be used on a flat surface of any size, simply lifted and then lowered for positioning, and the trackball is never limited by the active area. This limited effective area creates a special case when using a pad with pens. If the user inadvertently punches the pen out of the pad, any operation of the pen, such as flicking or tapping the pen up, will not produce any action. In this case, the user's input is ignored. This flushing out of the pad active area causes the user to divert his attention away from the graphical display and to temporarily turn his attention towards the pen to see if the pen is actually back in the pad active area. This type of process is particularly cumbersome when a user wishes to select an outer boundary field on a toolbar of a maximized window, such as the "minizebutton" graphical display field, supported by a common graphics-oriented operating System, such as IBM's OS/2, microsoft's Windows, or apple's System 7. The user must often "search and tap" to complete the desired action. This is wasteful and inefficient.

What is needed, therefore, is an improved method and apparatus for using a pad-type input device with a virtual cursor boundary to selectively limit cursor movement, particularly in pen-based computer systems where the outer boundary region of the graphical display limits cursor movement.

The following document relates to different methods and devices for handling the outer border area of a graphical display in a pen-written computer system.

U.S. patent 5,177,328, "information processing device," entitled "information processing apparatus" by Ito et al, january 5, 1993 discloses a transparent cover pad-type input device with an active area that extends beyond the area of the graphical display. The area extending outside the graphical display area is used for selecting a predetermined system process.

U.S. patent 5,146,049 entitled "method and System for inputting coordinates Using a digitizer" issued to Shima at 9, 8, 1992 describes an opaque digitized pad of paper having regions with a digitized resolution greater than or equal to a correspondingly repositioned mapped region of a graphical display.

Us patent 5,289,168 "image processing device and controller for selecting a display mode" granted to Freeman on 2, 22, 1994 discloses an opaque paper book whose active area protrudes outside the defined area of the graphical display. Movement of the pen over an active area of the paper book that extends beyond the prescribed area of the graphical display changes the manner in which the images are displayed, e.g., scrolling, zooming, etc.

Us patent 4,720,703 entitled "display method and apparatus using cursor lens" in Schnarel, Jr et al, june 19, 1988 describes a graphic display system in which a viewable screen information area can be mirrored by a cursor. When the viewable screen information area is zoomed out of the viewable area of the graphical display, the cursor is included within this zoomed area.

In accordance with the present invention, an improved method and apparatus for selecting an outer border region of a graphical display using a virtual cursor border in a pen-based computer system using a pad-type input device is disclosed. The pad-type input device has a first inner active area surrounded by a second outer active boundary. When the operator selectively moves the pointing device within the first inner active area of the pad-type input device, the cursor may be caused to move accordingly on the graphical display image. The digitizing surface moves the cursor to a corresponding graphical display boundary location when the operator selectively moves the pointing device in the second outer active area.

In a specific embodiment, an information processing apparatus is disclosed that includes a display device for displaying an image in a display area, a pad-type input device connected to the display device and having a first inner indication area surrounded by a second outer indication area, and a pointing device connected to the pad-type input device for selecting a user guide position in the first inner indication area or the second outer indication area. In addition, the system includes a display controller coupled to the display device and the digitizer for controlling display information on the display device, the display controller being controlled such that the first inner indicator region maps to an inner display area on the display device and the second outer indicator region maps to an outer display boundary on the display device. Typically the display area and the border are rectangular and the pad-type input device is a pen. In addition, the display controller also maps a plurality of valid indication corners specified by corners of the notebook input device from the notebook input device to a viewing area on the display device.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pen-writing computer system.

Another object of the present invention is a method and apparatus for inputting user information, including data and commands, using a pen-type input device.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for selectively positioning a cursor within the four-corner regions of a rectangular graphic display in a pen-writing computer system.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for selectively restricting cursor movement, particularly in the outer border region of a graphical display, in a pen-based computer system using a pad-type input device with a virtual cursor border.

To achieve the above objects, a pen-writing computer system is provided that includes a graphic display coupled to a digitized book having a first inner indicating area and a second outer indicating area. The graphical display includes a display area surrounded by a display boundary. A pointing device, directed by a user, connected to the digitized pad has selective movement between a first inner pointing region and a second outer pointing region. The computer system includes a controller coupled to the graphical display for (1) causing the cursor to move within the graphical display when the user introduces the pointing device finger into the first inner pointing region and (2) causing the cursor to move along the boundary of the graphical display when the user introduces the pointing device finger into the second outer pointing region.

To achieve the advantages of the present invention, the digital paper book includes two distinct indicator areas: an inner indicator region and an outer indicator region. In this manner, the inclusion of two distinct indicator areas on a digitized book in accordance with the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art punched-out books while facilitating user selection of the outer boundaries of the graphical display.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The above, as well as additional purposes, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a typical prior art pen-writing computer assembly including a system unit, a graphic display, a transparent overlay-type pad-type input device, and a pen;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a typical prior art pen-writing computer assembly including a system unit, a graphic display, an opaque pad-type input device, and a pen;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of a computer system according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a pen-writing computer assembly according to the present invention including a system unit, a graphic display, a digitizing pad input device with an inner active area and an outer active area, and a pen; and

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of an opaque pad-type input device having four well-defined outer active corner border regions in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a computer system of the present invention. The computer system of the preferred embodiment is an enhanced IBM Aptiva personal computer system. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms and apparatus of the present invention apply equally to any computer system, regardless of whether the computer system is a complicated multi-user computing apparatus or a single user workstation. As shown in the exploded view of FIG. 3, computer system 100 comprises a main or Central Processing Unit (CPU)105 connected to a main memory 140, a display interface 145, a mass storage interface 155, and a communication interface 160. These system components are interconnected through the use of a system bus 150. Although computer system 100 is shown to include only a single host CPU and a single system bus, it should be understood that the present invention is equally applicable to computer systems having multiple CPUs and multiple buses, each of which performs different functions in different ways.

Each of the interfaces, also referred to as input/output processors, used in the preferred embodiment includes a separate, fully programmed microprocessor for relieving CPU 105 of the heavy processing load. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention applies equally to computer systems that simply use an IO adapter to perform a similar function. Display interface 145 is used to directly connect one or more terminals to computer system 100. These terminals, which may be non-intelligent or fully programmable workstations, are used to communicate the hypervisor and computer programs with the computer system 100. Communication interface 160 is used to connect other computer systems or workstations or both to computer system 100 across a network. The invention is not limited to any one network mechanism. The computer system 100 may be connected to other systems using either current analog or digital techniques, or both, or through some networking mechanism of the future. Communication interface 160 also provides a communication connection to device 162, which may be a digital paper pad with a pen or other type of pointing device like a trackball or mouse device. In addition, communication interface 160 may also provide for communication with other computer systems over telephone lines and is not limited to only network configurations.

A mass storage interface, such as DASD secondary processor 155, is used to connect a mass storage device, such as DASD device 185, to computer system 100.

Main memory 140 includes application programs 110, compiler 172, and operating system 165. While application programs 110 and operating system 165 are shown to reside in main memory 140, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these entities shown in this manner represent the following facts: typically, these programs are loaded from a slower mass storage into a faster main memory for execution. Thus, the description of these programs should not be construed as necessarily all of them being contained within main memory 140 at the same time. It should be noted that the term computer system memory as used herein typically refers to the memory of the computer system as a whole (i.e., main memory 140 and memory represented by DASD device 185). Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the programs illustrated in main memory 140 need not all reside on computer system 100. For example, one or more of the applications 110 may reside on another system and participate in a collaborative process with one or more programs resident on the computer system 100. These can be done using one of the well-known client/server mechanisms such as Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).

Compiler 172 is used to compile source code into executable code, as will be explained in the following sections. The operating system 165 is a multitasking operating system such as the OS/2 operating system known in the industry; those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the spirit and scope of the present invention is not limited to any one operating system.

Importantly, while the invention has and will continue to be described in the context of a fully functional computer system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention can be distributed as a software product in the form of a floppy disk, CDROM, or other recordable medium, or by any type of electronic transmission mechanism, such as a modem.

Also provided in the operating system is a display controller 170 which implements the virtual boundary in conjunction with the pointing device 162, the pointing device 162 typically being a digitized book as shown in fig. 4 and 5. The display controller 170 defines the boundaries by creating an inner indicator region and an outer indicator region on the screen and digitized book of fig. 4. As will be described in more detail below, these two indicator regions allow the user to select the outer boundary of the graphical display.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is depicted a pen-writing computer system 400, such as the system depicted in FIG. 3, having a system unit 410 and an electrically connected graphical display 450 with a viewable screen area 455. The graphic display may be of any known type used in the industry, including both Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technologies. Opaque pad input device 470 is electrically connected to system unit 410.

An opaque pad-type input device includes a plastic sheet and a web of X and Y poles extending along X and Y axes, respectively, within the plastic sheet. Opaque pad input device 470 includes a valid indicator area 475. The active indication area 475 includes an inner active indication area 472 surrounded by an outer active indication area 473. The stylus meter 480 is electrically connected to the opaque pad input device 470. The movement of the stylus 480 is detected by the network of X and Y poles and translated into a cursor position on the viewable screen area 455 of the graphical display 450. It is important to note that: other available pad-based input device technologies are encompassed within the spirit of the present invention. These pad technologies include light-based sensor positioning such as infrared positioning, thermal-based sensor positioning, and LED-based sensor positioning. Other pen-writing positioning techniques contemplated include stress-based techniques, piezoelectric positioning, and charge-based coupled positioning.

Continuing further, the inner active indicator region 472 electrically maps to a cursor location on the viewable screen region 455 of the graphical display 450, and thus as the stylus 480 moves within the inner active region 472, the graphical cursor within the viewable screen region 455 moves accordingly.

The outer active indicator area 473 is a border area having a width of about 1/4 inches to about 1/2 inches. The outer active indication area 473 is electrically mapped to the boundary of the viewable screen area 455 of the graphical display 450, such that when the stylus 480 is moved within the outer active indication area 473, the graphical cursor correspondingly moves along the boundary of the viewable screen area 455 of the graphical display 450. It is possible for a user to select a viewable outer boundary of the viewable screen area 455 simply by moving the stylus 480 within the outer active pointing region 473. Even though the outer viewable boundary is a very narrow outline formed by only a single line of graphic pixels in an embodiment, the user can easily select this viewable outer boundary 473 by moving the stylus 480 within the outer active indication area 473. In this very narrow outline embodiment, a single line viewable along the edge of the screen is correspondingly mapped to the outer active indicator region 473.

In yet another embodiment, FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical display with a viewable screen area 455. The viewable screen area includes a plurality of viewable corner boundaries 454. Outer active indicating area 473 of opaque pad input device 470 includes a plurality of active indicating corners 474. Each active pointing corner 474 is correspondingly mapped to a viewable corner boundary 454, such that as the stylus 480 moves within the active pointing corner 474, the graphical cursor stays motionless at the corresponding viewable corner boundary 454.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a display device having a display area for displaying an image;

a pad-type input device connected to said display device with a first inner indication area surrounded by a second outer indication area;

a pointing device connected to said pad-like input device for selecting a user-directed location either through said first inner pointing region or through said second outer pointing region; and

a display controller coupled to the display device and the digitizer, the display controller controlling display information on the display device such that the first inner indicator region maps to a display area on the display and the second outer indicator region maps to an outer display boundary on the display.

2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display area and said display boundary are rectangular.

3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said pad-type input device is a pen.

4. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a display device for displaying an image in the display area;

a paper-thin input device connected to said display device with a first rectangular inner indicating region surrounded by a second rectangular outer indicating region having four sides, each of said four sides of said rectangular indicating region intersecting another side to form corner indicating regions;

a pointing device coupled to said paper-based input device for selecting a user-directed position between said first inner pointing region, said second outer pointing region, and said corner pointing region; and

a display controller coupled to the display device and the digitizer, the display controller controlling display information on the display device such that the first inner indicator region maps to a display area, the second outer indicator region maps to an outer display boundary, and the corner indicator regions map to corresponding corner display boundaries.

5. The information processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein said display area and said display boundary are rectangular.

6. The information processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein said pad-type input device is a pen.

7. A computer software product executable on an information processing apparatus having a display device with a display area for displaying images, a pad-like input device coupled to said display device and having a first inner indication area surrounded by a second outer indication area, and a pointing device coupled to said pad-like input device for selecting a user-directed position either through said first inner indication area or through said second outer indication area, said computer software product comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

a computer usable code means stored on said computer readable medium and executable on said information processing apparatus for controlling display information on said display means such that said first inner indicating area is mapped to said display area and said second outer indicating area is mapped to said outer display boundary.

8. The computer software product of claim 7, wherein said display area and said display boundary are rectangular.

9. The computer software product of claim 7, wherein said pad-like input device is a pen.

10. The computer software product of claim 7, wherein said display controller code means maps a plurality of active pointer corners from said pad-type input device to said viewing corner boundaries on said display.