Apparatus and method for displaying system state information
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsMichael Sokol, Xi Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A programmable LED display system is disclosed. The system includes a programmable controller, a driver operative to generate a control signal in response to a signal provided by the programmable controller, and a display device operative to provide a visual representation of the state of the system in response to the control signal. The system also includes means for determining which state condition is displayed when more than one state condition exists.
Claims7
An apparatus comprising:
- a programmable controller operative to determine a present state of a system based on event signals received from the system, the programmable controller providing a signal representative of the system state;
- a driver operative to generate a control signal in response to the signal provided by the programmable controller;
- and
- a display device operative to provide a visual representation of the state of the system in response to the control signal, wherein said display device comprises an array of light emitting diodes, arranged in a matrix;
- wherein the system has a plurality of ports, with at least one port of the plurality of ports providing at least one of the event signals, where the at least one event signal carries information on a status of the at least one port with respect to transmission and receipt of data by the at least one port;
- and
- wherein said programmable controller further comprises a register for storing programming information, a port for receiving event information, and a processor operative to generate the signal responsive of the system state in response to the event information and the programming information stored in the register.
A method of operating a display system, comprising the steps of:
- providing event signals representative of a condition of a system to a programmable controller;
- generating signals representative of system state in response to the event signals;
- and
- displaying a visual representation of information representing system state in response to signals generated by the programmable controller;
- wherein the system has a plurality of ports, with at least one port of the plurality of ports providing at least one of the event signals, where the at least one event signal carries information on a status of the at least one port with respect to transmission and receipt of data by the at least one port, and
- wherein said programmable controller further comprises a register for storing programming information, a port for receiving event information, and a processor operative to generate the signal responsive of the system state in response to the event information and the programming information stored in the register.
A programmable display controller for controlling a display device based on event information indicative of a current one of a set of predefined states of a communication system, comprising:
- a programmable controller responsive to programming information defining a selected display state associated with each of the states of the communication system, the programmable controller being operative to generate a control signal indicative of a current display state based on the current state of the communication system and said programming information;
- wherein the event information of the communication system is based on event signals received from the communication system and wherein the communication system has a plurality of ports, with at least one port of the plurality of ports providing at least one of the event signals, where the at least one event signal carries information on a status of the at least one port with respect to transmission and receipt of data by the at least one port, and
- wherein the programmable controller further comprises at least one register for storing programming information, at least one port for receiving event information, and a processor operative to generate a signal in response to the event information and the settings stored in the register.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.