Sharing a video display between telephony and computing devices
US8106880B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 27, 2007 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 12, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG09G2370/24
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method are disclosed that enable the sharing, between a telephone and a computer, of input peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse and of output peripherals such as a video display. Historically, a telephone and a computer have possessed different interfaces with their user and with peripheral devices. Therefore, except where the telephone functionality is in the form of a softphone implemented on a computer, the telephone in the prior art is often incapable of sharing certain peripherals with a physically-adjacent computer. The telephone device of the illustrative embodiment enables sharing between the telephone and a computer, in contrast to sharing peripherals between computers in the prior art. The telephone device is able to determine which user inputs from a shared keyboard or mouse are intended for which data-processing device (i.e., the telephone device itself or the computer), and to transmit displayable signals from both the telephone device and computer to a shared video display device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.