Inking buffer for flat-panel display controllers
US5233331A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 17, 1991 |
| Grant date | Aug 3, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 17, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG09G5/395
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An intelligent subsystem separately supports inking functions in order to allow stroke-ignorant software to be supported in a stylus driven environment. This subsystem thus provides the inking capability missing in existing flat-panel display controllers. Separate inking functions are incorporated into the subsystem in order to support inking management functions which do not corrupt the display refresh buffer as it is understood by existing application software. The subsystem makes no assumptions about the application's awareness of stroke data as an input modality. Instead, the subsystem assumes that a conventional display subsystem also exists in the system. The subsystem utilizes the strobes and clocks generated by the conventional display controller to generate addresses in a memory which has physically separate address and strobe lines from the display refresh buffer. The content of this added memory is used to control the source of input to the data lines of the display. The invention can be generalized to allow any number of planes to be added to a display system providing access to that display system by any number of asynchronous processes such as inking.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.