Portable computer system with ergonomic input device

A portable computer system having an ergonomic input device, comprising:

• a housing having a surface;
• a central processing unit carried in said housing;
• a two dimensional heads-up display for displaying information to a user, certain of the information being selectable by the user, said display being under the control of said central processing unit;
• a first input rotary switch centered in said housing and having a single degree of freedom for producing a first signal;
• a second input switch at a periphery of said first switch for producing a second signal, said first and second input switches being carried on said surface of said housing;
• and
• a software routine running on said central processing unit, said routine for receiving said first and second signals and for mapping said first signal to one of a number of positions on said display, in a predetermined sequence, without moving all of said information being selectable by the user, and for selecting certain information in response to said second signal.

A computer system, comprising:

• a housing having a surface;
• a central processing unit carried in said housing;
• a two-dimensional heads-up display under the control of said central processing unit, said display for displaying a plurality of information items in a predetermined order;
• a first input rotary switch centered in said housing and having a single degree of freedom for producing a first signal;
• a second input switch at a periphery of said first switch for producing a second signal, said first and second switches being carried on said surface of said housing;
• and
• means executed on said central processing unit for cycling through said predetermined order of information items in a first direction, without moving all of said information items, in response to rotation of said rotary switch in a first direction and for cycling through said predetermined order of information items in an opposite direction, without moving all of said information items, in response to rotation of said rotary switch in a direction opposite to said first direction, and for selecting an information item in response to said second signal.

A combination, comprising:

• a heads-up display having at least two dimensions;
• a rotary input device centered in said housing and having a single degree of freedom;
• a second input at a periphery of said first input;
• a processor, connected to said display and said first and second input devices, for selecting, in a predetermined sequence, among a plurality of predetermined regions of said display, without moving all of said predetermined regions of said display, and in response to said rotary input device.

A method of mapping a one dimensional signal to a two dimensional heads-up display, comprising the steps of:

• establishing a sequence of hot spots on the heads-up display;
• moving, in a predetermined order, through said sequence of hot spots in one of first and second directions, without moving all of said hot spots, in response to first input signal, the amount of movement being proportional to the displacement of a rotary switch;
• and
• selecting a hot spot in response to a second input signal from a switch at a periphery of the rotary switch.