Loading patent…
AssigneeMediaLink Technologies Corporation
InventorsDavid J. Warman, Mark A. Lacas, Geoffrey P. Coco
Estimating the term…
The graphical control system of the present invention includes a computer (20), a device interface (35) for a non-computer system device (21) having at least one feature control (29a) (or display (29b)), a bus network (28) connecting the computer (20) to the device interface (35), and a visual network operating system (78) based on an object-oriented programming paradigm. The device interface (35) connects the non-computer system device (21) to the bus network (28) and provides the mechanism for converting computer-generated commands into signals for controlling the operation of the feature control (29a) of the non-computer system device (21). The visual network operating system (78) is a distributed operating system that is partially stored on the computer (20) and partially stored in the device interface (35). A computer portion causes the computer (20) to generate or create a visual device control (40) that graphically replicates the feature control (29a) normally associated with the non-computer system device (21). The visual device control (40) is operated by a conventional graphical control device, such as a mouse (32), track ball, touch screen, joystick, etc. As the replicated controls are operated, the computer (20) sends messages to the device interfaces (35), which cause the feature control (29a) of the non-computer system device (21) to respond in the same way it would have responded had the feature control been operated manually, electrically or effected by another computer on the bus network (28).
A graphical control system for controlling at least one non-computer system device, the graphical control system comprising:
A method for controlling at least one non-computer system device including at least one device control, the device control governing an aspect of the non-computer system device, wherein the non-computer system device is coupled to a communication medium by an interface and connected via the communication medium to a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises a display, a processor, a storage medium and a user manipulation device, the method comprising:
A graphical control system for controlling at least one non-computer system device, the graphical control system comprising:
A graphical control system for controlling at least one non-computer system device, the graphical control system comprising:
A method for controlling at least one non-computer system device including at least one device control, the device control governing an aspect of the non-computer system device, wherein the non-computer system device is coupled to a communication medium by an interface and connected via the communication medium to a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises a display, a processor, a storage medium and a user manipulation device, the method comprising:
A method for controlling at least one non-computer system device including at least one device control, the device control governing an aspect of the non-computer system device, wherein the non-computer system device is coupled to a communication medium by an interface and connected via the communication medium to a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises a display, a processor, a storage medium and a user manipulation device, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Term ended 16 Sep 2014 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
This invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for using a computer to control non-computer system devices connected to the computer.
Object-oriented programming paradigms have become an increasingly common tool in computer programming. Such paradigms are often employed by graphical user interfaces, where computer system elements are visually represented and manipulated by visible screen entities such as icons on a computer screen or other display device. For programming purposes, "objects" are used to represent the manipulatable computer system elements by containing methods and data that define those elements. By representing such computer system elements as objects, it is unnecessary for the programmer to generate a specific set of code for each computer system element. Rather, the programmer can define classes of objects and assign certain universal behaviors to each class. Computer system elements that can be represented by objects include computer peripherals and computer application programs. Examples of application programs are spreadsheets, word processing programs, database programs, etc.
In graphical user interfaces employing an object-oriented programming paradigm, application programs are typically represented to a user by an icon displayed within a window on a computer screen, one icon for each application program that can be run. Execution of an application program is initiated by selecting its corresponding icon, most often using a pointing device such as a mouse. When an application program is selected, a message is sent to the corresponding application program object, indicating that the application program object is to invoke certain of its methods. For example, if a word processing program is selected, the methods contained within the application program object may include starting the word processing program. The user may also "drag" icons from one area of the screen to another, or from one window to another using the mouse. The user may even "drag" one icon representative of an application object and "drop" that icon on top of another. This "object-object" interaction will result in a combination of application objects. For example, if a word processing document icon is dropped upon a word processing program icon, the object-object interaction results in starting the word processing program and causing that program to open the word processing document. This is possible because both the word processing program and the word processing document have been represented as compatible application program objects. Hence, the icons in the object-oriented programming paradigm allow the user to graphically control various computer system elements and the interrelationships between computer system elements.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of a preferred embodiment of a graphical control system formed in accordance with the present invention that includes a personal computer, a bus network and a plurality of devices controlled by a graphical control program incorporated in the personal computer;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the personal computer, devices and bus network shown in FIG. 1;
As will be better understood from the following description, the present invention is directed to a graphical control system for controlling non-computer system devices, wherein virtually any electronically controllable device equipped with the necessary interface hardware can be controlled. While the following description explains the invention in connection with musical system components, such as amplifiers and equalizers, it is to be understood that the invention can be used with other non-computer system devices, including a simple on/off switch for controlling a lamp. In addition, the invention easily accommodates non-computer system devices produced by various manufacturers. The invention employs a personal computer, a network, interfaces for connecting the computer and the non-computer system devices to the network, and a visual network operating system. While the preferred network is a bus network, such as a fiber optic bus, other types of networks, including non-wired networks can be employed in actual embodiments of the invention. Further, the network can simply be a point-to-point connection for connecting a computer to the interface of a single non-computer system device. The visual network operating system, which controls the operation of the computer and the interface is based on an object-oriented programming paradigm. In order to better understand the preferred embodiment of the invention described below, certain aspects of object-oriented programming paradigms that are relevant to the following discussion are first described.
The fundamental aspects of object-oriented programming paradigms are that objects can be organized into classes in a hierarchical fashion and that objects are interoperable. Classes are abstract generic descriptions of objects and their behaviors. A class defines a certain category or grouping of methods and data within an object. Methods comprise, procedures or code that operate upon data. Methods as applied to data define the behavior of the object. Refinement of the methods of the class is achieved by the creation of "sub-classes." In other words, a class can be thought of as a genus, and its subclass as the species. Subclasses allow the introduction of a new class into the class hierarchy, and inherit the behaviors of its superclass while adding new behaviors to the subclass.
An instance of a class is a specific individual entity, something concrete having observable behavior. An instance is a specific object with the behaviors defined by its class. Instances are created and deleted dynamically in an object-oriented programming paradigm. The class, however, is the broad, yet abstract, concept under which the instance belongs. The instance inherits all the methods of its class, but has particular individual values associated with it that are unique. There is only one location in the memory of a computer for the class. There may, however, be numerous instances of the class, each of which has different values and different physical locations in memory.