System for connecting a display over a general-purpose data transport
AssigneeDisplayink (UK) Limited
InventorsMartin Andrew Turnock, Timothy Mark Edmonds, Patrick David Cooper
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system to enable a computer to provide output to a display over a general-purpose data transmission medium, such as USB. The system includes provision of a plurality of display interface components, each display interface component adapted to receive display data and transmission of the display data to the display via the general-purpose data transmission medium. Each component is associated with a respective stage of operation of the system. The system is configured to use a respective one of the display interface components during each of a plurality of distinct operational stages.
Claims36
A method of enabling a computer to provide output to a display over a Universal Serial Bus (USB) general-purpose data transmission medium, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of display interface components, each display interface component adapted to receive display data and transmit the display data via the general-purpose data transmission medium for output to the display, each display interface component associated with a different respective stage of operation of the computer, wherein at least a first display interface component comprises a pre-Operating System (OS) display interface component, and at least a second display interface component comprises an OS display interface component configured to interface with the OS of the computer;
- and
- configuring the computer to use a respective one of the display interface components during each of a plurality of distinct operational stages of the computer, wherein the first display interface component is used at a pre-OS stage of operation prior to booting of an OS and the second display interface component is used at a stage of operation when the OS of the computer has been booted,
- wherein operation of the computer is under control of firmware during the pre-OS stage, the method comprising configuring the firmware to use the pre-OS display interface component for outputting display data.
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A method of providing display output from a computer to a display adapter over a Universal Serial Bus (USB) general-purpose data transmission medium, the display adapter associated with a display and adapted to receive display data over the USB general-purpose data transmission medium and provide an output signal to the display based on the display data, the method comprising:
- prior to booting of an operating system (OS) of the computer, transmitting display data to the display adapter over the USB general-purpose data transmission medium by a display interface component associated with a firmware of the computer;
- configuring the display adapter to maintain a predetermined display output during an initialisation of the USB general-purpose data transmission medium occurring during booting of the OS;
- and
- subsequent to the initialisation, transmitting display data to the display adapter over the USB general-purpose data transmission medium by a display interface component associated with the OS.
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A non-transitory medium storing computer-executable program code, the program code executable by a computer to:
- provide a plurality of display interface components, each display interface component adapted to receive display data and transmit the display data via the general-purpose data transmission medium for output to the display, each display interface component associated with a different respective stage of operation of the computer, wherein at least a first display interface component comprises a pre-Operating System (OS) display interface component, and at least a second display interface component comprises an OS display interface component configured to interface with the OS of the computer;
- configure the computer to use a respective one of the display interface components during each of a plurality of distinct operational stages of the computer, wherein the first display interface component is used at a pre-OS stage of operation prior to booting of an OS and the second display interface component is used at a stage of operation when the OS of the computer has been booted;
- and
- configure the firmware to use the pre-OS display interface component for outputting display data,
- wherein operation of the computer is under control of firmware during the pre-OS stage.
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A computer system comprising:
- a plurality of display interface components, each display interface component adapted to receive display data and transmit the display data via the general-purpose data transmission medium for output to the display, each display interface component associated with a different respective stage of operation of the computer, wherein at least a first display interface component comprises a pre-Operating System (OS) display interface component, and at least a second display interface component comprises an OS display interface component configured to interface with the OS of the computer;
- and
- wherein the computer is configured to use a respective one of the display interface components during each of a plurality of distinct operational stages of the computer system, wherein the first display interface component is used at a pre-OS stage of operation prior to booting of an OS and the second display interface component is used at a stage of operation when the OS of the computer has been booted, wherein operation of the computer is under control of firmware during the pre-OS stage, the firmware being configured to use the pre-OS display interface component for outputting display data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.