Virtual device driver and methods employing the same
AssigneeGateway, Inc.
InventorJohn L. Patterson, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A standalone virtual device driver that is not a mouse driver replacement or a mouse minidriver examines mouse data packets received from the mouse hardware for data packets that are obviously or likely to be faulty. When such a data packet is detected, the virtual device driver also removes the suspected faulty data by returning a null mouse packet to the mouse driver in its place. The virtual device driver may also initiate resynchronization procedures or reset the mouse hardware if necessary.
Claims10
A computer-implemented method for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- resynchronizing the input device when a received data packet conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- resynchronizing the input device when a received data packet conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria.
A computer system for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said computer system comprising:
- means for defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- means for receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- means for examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- means for resynchronizing the input device when a received data packet conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria.
A computer-implemented method for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- replacing each data packet that conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria with a null packet.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- replacing each data packet that conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria with a null packet.
A computer system for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said computer system comprising:
- means for defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- means for receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- means for examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- and
- means for replacing each data packet that conforms with at least one of said one or more criteria with a null packet.
A computer-implemented method for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- (a) defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- (b) receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- (c) examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- (d) logging the time at which a presumed data packet is received;
- (e) replacing the data packet that is presumed faulty with a null packet;
- and
- (f) replacing each data packet received with a null packet for a prespecified period of time after the time is logged in step (d).
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- (a) defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- (b) receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- (c) examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- (d) logging the time at which a presumed data packet is received;
- (e) replacing the data packet that is presumed faulty with a null packet;
- and
- (f) replacing each data packet received with a null packet for a prespecified period of time after the time is logged in step (d).
A computer system for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said computer system comprising:
- means for defining one or more criteria by which it is assumed that an error in the synchronization of said plurality of bytes has occurred;
- means for receiving the data packets input to the computer;
- means for examining each received data packet for conformance with said one or more criteria;
- means for logging the time at which a presumed data packet is received;
- means for replacing the data packet that is presumed faulty with a null packet;
- and
- means for replacing each data packet received with a null packet for a prespecified period of time after the time is logged in step (d).
A computer-implemented method for processing signals encoding computer readable data being input to a computer by an input device, said data being of a type transmitted in the form of data packets comprising a plurality of bytes and said data being further of a type lacking synchronization data, said method steps comprising:
- detecting a false data packet;
- recording the current system time;
- ignoring any subsequent packets that are received within a predetermined number of milliseconds of the false data packet;
- and replacing the false packet with a null packet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.