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Option menu for use with a computer management system

1. J08n2 pipoqKay pj aAA 408Jn7 paboq ey 005 Db ubue1 pubuiuio US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 9 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent ev e 2 i 069 737 e e US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 10 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent 7 7 i 4 enosed FASE Z sa Gasto POL BE 866 2 Nou am o6 9 911 i pan see an Pe cae Sane a m si Da 2 U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 11 of 11 US 8 427 421 B2 Connected nected Connected Connected Computer Computer Computer sig 84 814 i i ss Y BIS 830 Option Menu Circuit Menu Circuit 820 US 8 427 421 B2 1 OPTION MENU FOR USE WITH A COMPUTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to an option menu for use with a computer management system Specifically the enhanced video display of the present invention combines or organizes multiple video signals to provide a single option menu video display having more colors more characters and or a larger size than traditional option menus Although the present invention may be utilized in many applications it is described herein to create an option menu that is incorpo rated within a computer server management system That is the enhanced video display
2. Jan 2002 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 6 Jan 2002 Adder Products Brochure APX 304572 304579 Apr 1 1998 8 pages AdderViewOSD Products Brochure RCI 173246 173279 Aug 1 2002 Avocent s Pre Markman Hearing Memorandum in Support of its Proposed Claim Constructions Dec 15 2004 Avocent Redmond s Answering Pre Markman Hearing Briefing Jan 18 2005 Avocent Redmond s Supplemental Responses to Raritan s Second Set of Post Remand Interrogatories Nos I5R 17R Mar 14 2005 Apex OutLook User Guide 1997 Apex et al Products Brochure APX 082949 082971 1996 Apex PC Solutions Users Guide 1993 Apex Products Brochure APX 018983 018996 Jan 7 1997 Apex Products Brochure APX 019103 019121 1995 1996 Apex Products Brochure APX 056304 056346 Oct 1 1998 Apex et al Products Brochure APX 316564 316621 Apex et al Products Brochure APX 316848 316909 Apex et al Products Brochure APX 316910 316969 Apex s Sales Brochure Sep 1 1998 1 page Apex SwitchBack User Guide 1995 Apex s Motion on the PolyCon Catalog and Supporting Memoran dum Jan 15 2002 Apex s Proposed Markman Findings Jan 25 2002 Appendix to Apex s Proposed Markman Findings Jan 25 2002 Badman Switching into High Gear Network Computing Apr 30 2001 Belkin The OmniView PRO User Manual Jul 16 2001 Bruce McNair Deposition Transcript Case No 01 CV
3. PATENT DOCUMENTS 7 512 906 1 3 2009 Baier 2003 0035006 Al 2 2003 Kodosky 2004 0131340 Al 7 2004 Antoun et al 386 125 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Tron International Inc KVM Products Catalogs 1997 Tron International Inc Products Catalogs 1996 Tron International Inc Product Brochure 1997 4 pages Unisys PW2 Advantage Series Rackmount Server 1995 Yee Liaw Deposition Transcript Case No 01 CV 4435 Mar 3 2005 Yee Shung Liaw Deposition Transcript Case No 01 CV 4435 Dec 6 2001 The list of docket reports in the litigation 4vocent Redmond Corp v Raritan Computer Inc Civil Action No 1 01 CV 04435 PKC United States District Court for the Southern District of New York File History of Reissue U S Patent No 5 732 212 Apr 11 2002 Part 1 File History of Reissue U S Patent No 5 732 212 Apr 11 2002 Part 2 File History of U S Appl No 10 032 325 Jun 14 2004 Findings and Conclusions Apex v Raritan Civil Action No 01 CV 0035 Feb 25 2002 Investor s Business Daily Box Keeps Monitors Miceto a Minimum Sep 8 1997 Joseph C McAlexander Deposition Transcript Case No 01 CV 4435 Apr 27 2005 KVM Switch History Aug 2 2002 2 pages KVM Switches Roundup Windows NT Magazine Jul 1997 Lan Times The beauty of Apex is a two sided story Nov 20 1995 Lightwave Communications Inc Product Brochure APX 304594 304605 Jun 1 1998 Lu E amp J Int 4 Port KVM S
4. and blue etc System level IC 358 controls OSD ICs 350 357 via 12C bus 398 i e a bi directional two wire serial bus that pro vides a communication link between ICs System level IC 358 also provides independent horizontal and vertical syn chronization signals to OSD ICs 350 355 and OSD ICs 356 357 via connections 372 and 374 respectively The provided synchronization signals are created based upon the adjustable gain control circuit horizontal and synchronization signals that are transmitted to system level IC 358 via connector 366 and connections 380 and 382 respectively These signals synchronize the horizontal and vertical scans of the video signals to determine the start of each horizontal and vertical line System level IC 358 thus ensures that the OSD ICs 350 355 remain synchronized in creating the video to be displayed to the user as the option menu System level IC 358 also com bines the RGB output data received on line 370 to create the option menu output for the user Specifically if the system is in Mode A then each OSD IC 350 355 contributes data for every pixel to be displayed thus increasing the color depth of the on screen menu e g to allow a list of connected com puters to be color coded The system level IC 358 concat enates this data to be displayed to the user Thus Mode A allows for a greater number of colors or characters to be displayed than is standardly available with systems that uti lize only one
5. each UST 108 may be linked to either first MSU 650 or second MSU 651 via communication link 110 All signals received at UST 108 are transmitted via its connected MSU i e either first MSU 650 or second MSU 651 to CIM 116 that is connected to the desired connected computer 118 In this alternate embodiment CIM 116 provides connectors for two 2 communication links 114 to allow it to connect to both first MSU 650 and second MSU 651 Thus CIM 116 allows sixteen 16 user workstations 100 to operate thirty two 32 connected computers 118 Importantly the option menu of the present invention may be easily incorporated into each UST in this alternate embodiment Therefore even in this expanded configuration each system user may choose one of the four modes A D of operation for the option menu dis played on the user workstation s monitor In addition this embodiment allows two 2 user workstations 100 to simul taneously access and operate the same connected computer 118 Alternatively this embodiment allows a first user work station 100 to inform a second user workstation 100 that a connected computer 118 is in use and therefore access to it is restricted Referring next to FIG 8 disclosed is another alternate embodiment of the intelligent modular server system of the present invention The use of forty 40 total MSUs 1 e eight 8 first tier MSUs 702 and thirty two 32 second tier MSUs 704 wherein each first tier MSU 702 and
6. FIG 7 is a schematic representation of an alternate con figuration of the computer management system for use with the present invention illustrating connection of sixteen 16 user workstations and multiple connected computers to two MSUS wherein the alternate embodiment may accommodate as many as thirty two 32 connected computers FIG 8 is a schematic representation of another alternate configuration of the computer management system for use with the present invention illustrating connection of multiple user workstations and multiple connected computers to mul tiple MSUs wherein the alternate embodiment may accom modate as many as sixty four 64 user workstations and ten thousand 10 000 connected computers FIG 9 is a schematic representation of an alternate embodiment of the computer management system of the present invention wherein the computer management system is contained in a single unit that is directly connected to all connected computers and user workstations DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As required a detailed illustrative embodiment of the present invention is disclosed herein However techniques systems and operating structures in accordance with the present invention may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and modes some of which may be quite different from those in the disclosed embodiment Consequently the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely represe
7. Field of Classification Search 345 132 The present invention discloses an option menu for use with 345 154 156 157 589 1 1 715 810 856 a computer management system In operation the option 312 126 130 294 281 725 37 38 menu circuit combines or organizes a plurality of video sig See application file for complete search history nals generated by various OSD ICs to provide an option menu that is capable of various modes of operation The option 56 References Cited menu circuit is capableofdisplaying the option menu alone or U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 257 390 A 10 1993 Asprey 5 268 676 A 12 1993 Asprey et al 5 353 409 A 10 1994 Asprey et al 5 526 024 A 6 1996 Gaglianello 5 648 795 A 7 1997 Vouri et al 345 698 5 721 842 A 2 1998 Beasley et al 5 732 212 A 3 1998 2 399 Option 14 318 MHz in place ofa portion of the video received from the selected connected computer The option menu produced by the option menu circuit provides inter alia a list of computers that may be accessed by the computer management system By utilizing a keyboard and or cursor control device a user may select the desired computer from the option menu 21 Claims 11 Drawing Sheets i t 1 l l 1 1 e e l L Non Cursor Video OSD ICs n I EA Cursor Video OSD 105_ _ J 5 0 370 US 8 427 421 B2 Page 2 U S
8. is indexed to Mode C seelower left hand corner of FIG 3 each of the six 6 OSD ICs 350 355 supplies its own portion of a thirty 30 row by eighty 80 column video display The video output of OSD IC 350 is displayed in section C1 Similarly the video outputs of each one of OSD ICs 351 355 is displayed in one of the sections C2 C6 Importantly this configuration of OSD ICs 350 355 is capable of producing a thirty 30 row by ninety 90 column video display thus allowing for an on screen display on monitors that are larger than standard size Of course the size of the video display in sections C3 and C6 can be cut or cropped in order to be compatible with various sized moni tors If the system is indexed to the Mode D as depicted in the lower right hand portion of FIG 3 only the four 4 OSD ICs 350 353 are required and each of OSD ICs 350 353 supplies its own portion ofa twenty two 22 row by sixty 60 column video display The vide output of each one of OSD ICs 350 353 is displayed in one of each ofthe sections D1 D4 Similar to that described above for Mode C the configuration of OSD ICs 350 353 in Mode D is capable of producing a thirty 30 row by sixty 60 column video display Again this size can be cropped to fit certain size monitors Mode D also represents an alternate embodiment of the present invention in which only four 4 total OSD ICs 350 353 are used to create the option menu i e OSD ICs 354 and 355 are el
9. may then control connected computer 814 using keyboard 802 and cursor control device 804 as if they are directly connected to connected computer 814 In addition to selecting one of the connected computers 814 the option menu is also used to perform administrative functions such as system programming tuning the received video signals obtaining single unit computer management system diagnostics etc Furthermore multiple security fea tures such as passwords system user histories etc may be implemented and accessed via the option menu The use of the option menu of the present invention allows single unit computer management system 800 to display a larger option menu and or an option menu having more characters or more colors to achieve the benefits discussed above with respect to the preferred embodiment of the present invention While the present invention has been described with refer ence to the preferred embodiments and several alternative embodiments which embodiments have been set forth in considerable detail for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention such embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of all aspects of the invention The scope of the invention therefore shall be defined solely by the following claims Further it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from
10. of each UST 108 and each CIM 116 to MSU 112 Conventional CAT 5 cables include four 4 twisted pair of wires In the preferred embodiment of the present invention three 3 of these twisted pair are utilized for the transmission of video signals Each ofthe three 3 twisted pair transmits one ofthe three video color signals i e red green or blue To allow all video signals to be transmitted via only three 3 twisted pair the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals which would otherwise each require their own twisted pair are individually encoded on one of the red green or blue video signals That is each synchronization signal is encoded on its own dedicated color signal For example the vertical syn chronization signal may be encoded on the blue video signal while the horizontal synchronization signal may be encoded on the green video signal All other non video signals such as keyboard cursor control device and audio signals are trans mitted on the fourth twisted pair cable The single CAT 5 cables are connected to UST 108 MSU 112 and CIM 116 by plugging each end into a RJ 45 con nector located on these respective components Although RJ 45 connectors are preferred other types of connectors may be used including but not limited to RJ 11 RG 58 RG 59 British Naval Connector BNC and ST connec tors As depicted in FIG 1 the connected computer manage ment system includes local user workstations 100
11. of said numbers of video outputs is displayed on a different section of said video display 20 A device according to claim 1 wherein the first set of on screen display circuits contains at least four on screen display circuits and the second set of on screen display cir cuits contains at least two on screen display circuits 21 A deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein the combination of first video outputs produce an increase in a number of characters to be displayed in the non cursor portion of the option menu as compared to a first video output from a single one of the first set of on screen display circuits
12. ponents are implemented on a daughter board 1 e a printed circuit board that plugs into another printed circuit board to augment its capabilities As shown option menu circuit 318 comprises OSD ICs 350 357 system level IC 358 PLL 360 clock buffer 362 digital to analog D A converter 364 and connector 366 According to the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention the option menu and cursor video displays are generated by eight 8 Myson Technology MTV118 On Screen Display for LCD Monitor ICs depicted in FIG 2B as OSD ICs 350 357 However a different quantity and or a different type of OSD IC may be substituted without depart ing from the spirit of the present invention Alternatively an option menu circuit comprising individual electronic compo nents e g logic gates resistors capacitors etc or a com bination of non OSD ICs e g a processor IC a program mable logic controller IC etc configured to produce the same output as OSD ICs 350 357 may be used to generate the option menu and cursor video displays In the preferred embodiment of the present invention each individual OSD IC is capable of producing eight 8 back ground colors eight 8 foreground colors and a video dis play having a maximum of fifteen 15 rows by thirty 30 columns of characters wherein each character comprises a 12 by 18 pixel matrix However the present invention combines the video signals generated by multiple OSD ICs to cre
13. provides a menu of options e g computers connected to the management system video dis play adjustment settings diagnostics etc that is displayed on a system user s monitor The system user then responds to the option menu i e makes a selection via the user s key board and or cursor control device BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a typical computer environment a Local Area Network LAN allows for one or more computer servers to be con nected to several computers such that the resources of each server are available to each of the connected computers In this system a dedicated keyboard video monitor and cursor control device may be employed for each computer and com puter server To maintain proper operation of the LAN the system administrator must maintain and monitor the individual serv ers and computers This maintenance frequently requires the system administrator to perform numerous tasks from the user console located at each server or computer For example to reboot a computer or to add or delete files the system administrator is often required to operate the server or com puter from its local user console which may be located at a substantial distance from the system administrator s com puter Therefore to accomplish the task of system adminis tration the system administrator must often travel far dis tances to access the local user consoles of remotely located servers and computers As an alternative dedi
14. second tier MSU 7704 has eight 8 inputs and thirty two 32 outputs allows sixty four 64 user workstations 100 to operate and access one thousand twenty four 1 024 connected computers 118 In this alternate embodiment each UST 108 is directly linked to one of eight 8 first tier MSUs 702 via single CAT 5 cable 706 First tier MSU 702 transmits all signals received from user workstation 100 via single CAT 5 cable 708 to second tier MSU 704 that is connected to the CIM 116 associated with the desired connected computer 118 Second tier MSU 704 then transmits the received signals to the respective CIM 116 via single CAT 5 cable 710 whereupon CIM 116 applies these signals to the respective ports of connected computer 118 In this embodiment the second tier of MSUs 704 com prises thirty two 32 units Each second tier MSU 704 is coupled to multiple CIMs 116 which provide a direct con nection to each of the one thousand twenty four 1 024 potential connected computers 118 via single CAT 5 cables 710 Importantly the option menu of the present invention may also be easily incorporated into each UST in this alter nate embodiment Therefore even in this expanded configu US 8 427 421 B2 21 ration each system user may choose one of the four modes of operation for the option menu displayed on the user worksta tion s monitor Although FIG 8 depicts the configuration used to access and control one thousand twenty four 1 024 connec
15. signals These emulated signals are applied to keyboard port 414 and cursor control device port 416 through port 400 via communication link 120 Furthermore CIM 116 contains memory unit 410 which stores the address and status of connected computer 118 Thus if a specific connected computer 118 is not functioning properly it is easy to assess which connected computer 118 has malfunctioned In addition the device address facilitates proper transmitting ofthe keyboard and cursor control device signals since the device address is included in the data packets generated by CIM CPU 406 and is therefore transmitted with these signals Additionally memory unit 410 allows a con nected computer 118 to be easily identified even if it is relo cated and connected to a new CIM 116 Therefore the infor mation contained in memory unit 410 maintains the modular nature of the computer management system of the present invention Preferably connected computer 118 provides power to CIM 116 thereby eliminating the equipment cabling and space required for a dedicated CIM power source Referring next to FIG 6 provided is an example of a data packet used to transmit keyboard and cursor control device information In the example protocol data packet 500 con sists of five bytes First byte 502 comprises the instructional or command data and data indicating the total length of data packet 500 That is the first half of first byte 502 contains the command
16. 1 wherein the first set of on screen display circuits are capable of producing multiple background colors multiple foreground colors and a video display having a plurality of rows and columns of characters and wherein each character comprises a plurality of pixels 3 A device according to claim 1 wherein the first set of on screen display circuits are capable of displaying charac ters in a plurality of fonts 4 A device according to claim 1 wherein the first set of on screen display circuits are capable of displaying a plural ity of colors 5 A device according to claim 1 wherein said first number of combined video outputs of the on screen display circuits from the first set of on screen display circuits for display on said video display is at least two 6 A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is disposed in a keyboard video and cursor control device KVM switching system 7 A device according to claim 6 wherein dimensions of said option menu are variable 8 A device according to claim 6 wherein said option menu is displayed on the entire video display when the mode index has a first predetermined value 9 A device according to claim 6 wherein color depth of said option menu can be changed using a keyboard or a cursor control device 10 A device according to claim 1 wherein said cursor image is controlled via an attached keyboard and or cursor control device 11 A device according to claim 1 wherein s
17. 4435 May 5 2005 Compaq White papers 1996 APX 083313 APX 083326 APX 083335 APX 083389 Ching I Hsu Deposition Transcript Case No 01 CV 4435 Mar 11 2005 Cybex Director Installer User Guide Nov 1996 Cybex 4 x P amp Ix P KVM Switches Guide to Applications 1996 Datavision Product Brochure 1992 3 pages Declaration of Joseph C McAlexander in Support of Apex s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction Sep 17 2001 Declaration of Joseph C McAlexander III in the Civil Action No 01 CV 4435 Dec 15 2004 Declaration of Sharad Malik Ph D Jan 8 2002 Declaration of Sharad Malik Ph D Jan 18 2005 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Claim Construction Statement Dec 15 2004 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Jan 8 2002 US 8 427 421 B2 Page3 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law Apr 27 2005 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Reply to Avocent s Proposed Claim Constructions Jan 18 2005 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Response to Plaintiffs Second Set of Interrogatories Nos 9 12 Oct 30 2001 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Second Set of Interrogatories to Plaintiff Apex Nov 16 2001 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Supplemental Response to Plaintiff s First Set of Interrogatories Nos 9 12 Aug 31 2001 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Supplemental Response to Plaintiffs Second Set of
18. 6 to MSU 112 via communication link 114 FIG 1 Even at this point in the transmission ofthe video signals the amplitudes ofthe transmitted video signals may be significantly reduced and the frequencies ofthe video signals may be attenuated Subsequently the video signals are further transmitted from MSU 112 to UST 108 via com munication link 110 wherein the video signals can experi ence further degradation Therefore tuning circuit 304 is implemented to automatically tune the received video signals to achieve the desired amplitude and frequency characteris tics In the preferred embodiment the horizontal synchroniza tion signal is encoded on and transmitted with the green video signal and the vertical synchronization signal is encoded on and transmitted with the blue video signal utilizing tech niques known in the art However the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals may be encoded on and transmitted with any one of the red green or blue video signals It is 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 16 preferable that the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals are encoded as negative pulses since the video signals i e red green and blue are typically positive pulses This allows the system ofthe present invention to easily extract the sync signals The components of tuning circuit 304 combine to create three dedicated signal tuning circuits 1 e one for each ofthe red blue and gr
19. 76 and 6 112 264 Apr 11 2005 Rextron Product Brochure Aug 1 2002 5 pages Rose Electronics Master Switch Installation and Operation Manual 1991 Rose Electronics UltraView Installation and Operation Manual 1991 1997 Rose Electronics Ultra View Aug 1 2002 RCI 173332 173336 Startech Computer Products Ltd Product Press Release APX 304618 304619 Feb 1998 Supplemental Expert Report of Bruce McNair Regarding United States Patent Nos 5 884 096 amp 6 112 264 and 5 937 176 Apr 17 2005 Supplemental Expert Report of Joseph C McAlexander Regarding Infringement of U S Patent Nos 5 884 096 5 937 176 and 6 112 264 Mar 22 2005 Supplemental Expert Report of Michael H Davis Apr 18 2005 SwitchCom ProServer Aug 1 2002 2 pages Tikkler Belkin OmniView SE 4 Port KVM Switch Nov 8 2000 Tony Dekerf and Gary D Davis A Close Look At Modern Key board Video amp Mouse Switches 1995 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 1 Jan 2002 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 2 Jan 2002 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 3 Jan 2002 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 4 Jan 2002 Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 5
20. Interrogatories Nos 9 12 Dec 12 2001 DEI Central Control of Multiple PCs Without Massive Cabling product brochure Nov 1992 Expert Report by Joseph C McAlexander Regarding Infringement and Validity of U S Patent Nos 5 884 096 5 937 176 and 6 112 264 Jan 3 2001 Expert Report by Joseph C McAlexander Regarding Infringement and Validity of U S Patent Nos 5 884 096 5 937 176 and 6 112 264 Jan 3 2001 Claim Charts Expert Report of Michael H Davis Jan 13 2002 Expert Report of Sharad Malik Regarding Noninfringement and Invalidity of U S Patent Nos 5 884 096 5 937 176 and 6 112 264 Jan 13 2002 Unexecuted File History of U S Patent No 5 721 842 Feb 24 1998 File History of U S Patent No 5 732 212 Mar 24 1998 File History of U S Patent No 5 884 096 Mar 16 1999 File History of U S Patent No 5 937 176 Aug 10 1999 File History of U S Patent No 6 112 264 Aug 29 2000 Office Actions mailed on Sep 9 2011 and Jul 11 2012 in related U S Appl No 12 110 763 Office Actions mailed on Jul 13 2011 and May 1 2012 in related U S Appl No 12 110 797 Defendant Raritan Computer Inc s Response to Plaintiff s First Set of Post Remand Interrogatory Requirements to Raritan No 1 R 16R Dec 16 2004 cited by examiner US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 1 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent vit pll US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 2 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U
21. OSD IC US 8 427 421 B2 15 If the system is in Mode B each of the OSD ICs 350 355 contributes data for half of the pixels that comprise the on screen In Modes C and D the outputs of each individual OSD IC provide a separate portion of the option menu thus allow ing for display on a larger screen or for a display with more characters In these modes the outputs are not combined to increase color depth but instead to increase the size of the option menu Again system level IC 358 receives the data from each OSD IC 350 355 and creates the on screen menu The cursor horizontal and vertical synchronization signals are supplied by system level IC 358 independent ofthe option menu horizontal and vertical synchronization signals to allow them to be shifted which causes the cursor to appear as if it is moving in relation to the system user s movement of the cursor control device In an alternative embodiment of the present invention a different type of OSD IC may be incor porated that accepts a single composite horizontal and verti cal synchronization signal in lieu of two independent syn chronization signals After OSD ICs 350 357 generate the red green and blue video signals system level IC 358 receives independent red green and blue video signals from each OSD IC 350 357 via connections 368 and 370 That is system level IC 358 receives eighteen 18 different red green and blue video signals i e one red green and blue sig
22. S Patent v Old 80 90 8 NVN Ado isn roe PND burun 801 oll Zil ASN 9 98plA 81 pno nus uondo U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 3 of 11 US 8 427 421 B2 399 Option 14 318 MH l NUES 4 394 f Clock PLL H Sync L 360 Buffer 362 396 392 390 20 Lo eee 350 351 378 352 553 RC Inter 380 Non Cursor Video OSD ICs AGC H Sync Systern Level IC boos a m SSS S E I 356 357 outiine Body Cursor Video OSD ICs Tw 374 rud 4 MHz 368 Y Sync 370 386 i OSD RB DVA w m 364 318 8 FIG 2B U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 4 of 11 US 8 427 421 B2 E 622 3 302 d Blue V Sync FIG 2C U S Patent Apr 23 2013 Sheet 5 of 11 US 8 427 421 B2 306 Pixels MODE C 8 COLORS US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 6 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent 000 vi uoyas jpjeudueg 956 590 4 US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 7 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent G Sis ei ASW 1 Il Pd TO Oly Kowa 80y n yov JeAU O9pIA 9l I es piboqKay oop 8i jejndujo pejoeuuo horreo pio ae ed jou sos n US 8 427 421 B2 Sheet 8 of 11 Apr 23 2013 U S Patent PHOS jb 99JA9Q 0410 Josing p1boqKay Mt BAB JOJ u07 108409 pupogsay DIO 3IA9
23. United States Patent US008427421B2 12 10 Patent No US 8 427 421 B2 Lee et al 45 Date of Patent Apr 23 2013 54 OPTION MENU FOR USE WITH A 5 821 918 A 10 1998 Reinert et al 345 643 COMPUTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 200 D A 3 1999 Beasley 5 913 034 A 6 1999 Malcolm 709 223 5006 5 937 176 A 8 1999 Beasley 75 Inventors Alex Lee Taipei Hsien TW Yee Liaw 5 978 389 A 11 1999 Chen Warren NJ US Alan Hsu Taipei 6 112 264 A 8 2000 Beasley 6 119 148 A 9 2000 Chen Hea 6 138 191 A 10 2000 Fujii et al 73 Assignee Raritan Americas Inc Somerset NJ ORUM B FE pond al US 6 505 245 81 1 2003 North et al 709 223 6 554 709 1 4 2003 Brenner Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this pur ue 51 MA Mider et al 671 omas Ce P E EM moder 35 6768501 B2 7 2004 Kitagawa et al 715 808 S C 154 b by ys 6 771 213 B2 8 2004 Durst 7 310 775 82 12 2007 Cooper 21 Appl No 10 734 602 Continued 22 Filed Dec 12 2003 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 65 Prior Publication Data Trial Transcript Apex v Raritan Southern District of New York Case No 01 CV 4435 vol 7 Jan 2002 US 2005 0132403 A1 Jun 16 2005 Continued 51 Int CI G09G 5 00 2006 01 Primary Examiner Lun Yi Lao 52 U S CI Assistant Examiner Shaheda Abdin USPC 345 156 715 810 715 856 345 157 345 1 1 345 589 725 37 57 ABSTRACT 58
24. aid second set of on screen display circuits are comprised of at least one outline generating on screen display circuit for producing an outline ofsaid cursor image and at least one on screen display circuit for generating a body of said cursor image 30 24 12 A device according to claim 1 further comprising a first clock for controlling a first timing of said first set of on screen display circuits and a second clock for controlling a second timing of said second set of on screen display circuits 13 A device according to claim 1 wherein said device is implemented on a daughter board to facilitate connection to a KVM switch system 14 A device according to claim 1 wherein said processor produces an option menu in digital video format 15 A device according to claim 1 wherein said processor produces said option menu in analog video format 16 A device according to claim 1 wherein said option menu is displayed on a 4 3 ratio video monitor 17 A device according to claim 1 wherein said option menu is displayed on a 16 9 ratio video monitor 18 A device according to claim 1 wherein said option menu is displayed in conjunction with an external video source 19 A device according to claim 1 wherein said first num ber of video outputs from the first set of on screen display circuits are combined and a second number of video outputs from the first set of screen display circuits are combined such that each combination
25. ant 1 connected computers having a green description are located in Quadrant 2 etc Furthermore there exists a need for a computer management system that provides an option menu that allows the system user to choose the desired mode of operation e g larger video display more colors more characters etc Also a need exists for a computer management system that provides an option menu that allows the system user to choose the size ofthe video monitor that is connected to the local user workstation SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is often convenient to control one or more connected computers from one local set of peripheral devices i e key board video monitor cursor control device etc Since the majority of computers in use today incorporate or are designed to be compatible with commonly known and used computer technologies e g IBM Apple Sun etc many computers use identical or similar electrical connectors to connect peripheral devices Also a computer typically con tains a dedicated electrical connector for each type of periph eral deviceto which the computer is connected Generally the cables that connect such peripheral devices to the respective electrical connector are approximately six 6 feet in length thereby limiting the distance from the computer at which the peripheral devices may be located Alternatively the devices may communicate wirelessly however the wireless signal similarly degrades as distance b
26. ate a single option menu that is larger i e contains more charac ters and or contains more colors than the display provided by anindividual OSD IC Preferably OSD ICs 350 355 generate the non cursor portion of the option menu in any one of four 4 modes A D which are illustrated in FIG 3 The remaining two 2 OSD ICs 356 357 generate the cursor video display used in conjunction with the option menu As depicted in the upper left hand corner of FIG 3 when the system of the present invention is indexed to Mode A all six 6 OSD ICs 350 355 supply video to the same portion A1 ofa fifteen 15 row by thirty 30 column video display This configuration allows the eight colors of each OSD IC 350 355 to be combined to produce a maximum of two hundred sixty two thousand one hundred forty four 262 144 colors Each OSD IC is capable of supplying two 2 different green sig nals 2 different red signals and 2 different blue signals wherein the difference in the signals is a difference in the signal s color Since the color of each pixel is the combination ofthe colors of the red blue and green signals that create the pixel two 2 colors of red green and blue allow 2 or eight 8 color combinations i e pixel colors to be created by an individual OSD IC Similarly when each of the red green and blue signals of six OSD ICs 350 355 are combined 2 1 e 64 colors ofeach ofthe red green and blue signals may be created Sin
27. cated cables may be installed from each remotely located server and computer to the system administrator s user console to allow the system administra tor to fully access and operate the remote computer equip ment However such an alternative requires substantial wir ing and wire harnessing both of which may require tremendous cost Additionally as the distance between the system administrator s user console and the remote computer equipment increases a decrease in the quality of the trans mitted signal often results Thus utilizing dedicated cables between the system administrator s user console and remote computer equipment is often not a feasible alternative Space 1s also an important concern for many networked computer environments especially large scale operations such as data centers server farms web hosting facilities and call centers These environments typically require space to house a keyboard video monitor and cursor control device for each piece of computer equipment and for all ofthe wiring required to connect and power these components As more equipment is added to a computer network it becomes more probable that the space required for the equipment and asso ciated cabling will exceed the space allotted for the network Therefore network architecture equipment size and avail 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 able space are important issues when designing an effective computer netwo
28. ce each pixel is a combination of any one of each of the sixty four 64 red green and blue signals the total number of resulting pixel colors is 64 i e 262 144 Thus in Mode A the system ofthe present invention uniquely combines the outputs of six standard OSD ICs into one on screen display with the ability to represent a pixel in this display with any of 262 144 different color values If the system is indexed to Mode B see upper right hand corner of FIG 3 the video output of three 3 OSD ICs 350 352 and 354 are combined to supply video to the left half i e section B1 of a fifteen 15 row by sixty 60 column video display The video output of three 3 OSD ICs 351 353 and 355 are combined to supply video to the right half of the screen i e section B2 Combining three OSD ICs allows 2 or eight 8 colors for each of the red green and blue signals resulting in 8 or five hundred twelve 512 total pixel colors Thus in Mode B the system of the present invention again combines the outputs of six standard OSD US 8 427 421 B2 13 ICs into one on screen display with the ability to represent a pixel with any of 512 different color values Further in Mode B the system of the present invention allows for a larger on screen menu 15 row by 60 column display than is pos sible with systems that only use one OSD IC or for a display with more characters than was previously possible Alternatively ifthe system
29. computer to access or control using any one of a variety of methods known in the art For example the computer man agement system component can include an array of buttons where each button corresponds with the desired remote com puter Alternatively a user can select the computer from a list displayed on a computer management system component s LCD or LED display press one or more hot keys on the local user workstation s keyboard e g F1 ALT F1 F2 etc select the remote computer from a list displayed on the user workstation s monitor by pointing to it or scrolling to it using the user workstation s keyboard and or cursor control device etc The following references which are discussed below were found to relate to the field of computer management systems Asprey U S Pat No 5 257 390 Asprey 390 patent Asprey U S Pat No 5 268 676 Asprey 676 patent Asprey U S Pat No 5 353 409 Asprey 409 patent Per holtz et al U S Pat No 5 732 212 Perholtz Chen U S Pat No 5 978 389 Chen 389 patent Chen U S Pat No 6 119 148 Chen 148 patent Fujii et al U S Pat No 6 138 191 Fujii Beasley U S Pat No 6 345 323 Bea sley and Wilder et al U S Pat No 6 557 170 Wilder The Asprey 390 patent filed on Jul 26 1991 and issued on Oct 26 1993 discloses an extended range communications link for coupling a computer to a mouse keyboard and or video monitor located
30. d upon command infor mation contained within the received signals The new data packet is transmitted to the appropriate UST UART 230 UST UART 230 then serializes the signals and transmits them to the appropriate UST port 216 for transmission via indepen dent communication link 110 to the appropriate UST 108 FIG 1 Conversely MSU 112 also transmits keyboard and cursor control device signals received at one UST 108 to one CIM 116 connected to a connected computer 118 FIG 1 The keyboard and cursor control device signals are received at UST 108 and transmitted via communication link 110 to the respective UST port 216 located at MSU 112 Thereafter these signals are transmitted to UST UART 230 which de serializes the signals and transmits them to MSU CPU 212 MSU CPU 212 interprets the information contained in the data packets of the received signals to create new signals which also represent newly generated data packets These new signals are then transmitted to the CIM UART 241 that is associated with the desired connected computer 118 CIM UART 241 serializes the signals and transmits them to periph eral switch 214 which transmits the signals to the desired CIM port 202 via peripheral bus 220 Subsequently the key board and cursor control device signals are transmitted via communication link 114 to the appropriate CIM 116 which is connected to the desired connected computer 118 FIG 1 Turning next to FIG 5 shown is a schemat
31. data and the second half of first byte 502 contains length data The subsequent four bytes 504a d include the characters typed on keyboard 102 and clicks performed with cursor control device 106 FIG 1 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 20 Itis well known in the art to transmit command and length data in separate bytes Therefore utilizing conventional data packet technology the data packet of the present invention would need to contain six bytes 1 e one byte for command data one byte for length data and four bytes for system data In contrast the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention minimizes the size of the data packet by combining the com mand and length data into one byte thereby allowing four bytes of system data to be transmitted in a five byte data packet Consequently signal transmission in the intelligent modular server management system of the present invention is more efficient allowing a single CAT 5 cable to be used for transmission of keyboard cursor control device and video signals Referring next to FIG 7 disclosed is an alternate embodi ment of the intelligent modular computer management sys tem of the present invention in which the system is expanded to include two 2 MSUs 112 each having eight 8 inputs and thirty two 32 outputs This configuration allows sixteen 16 USTs 108 to access and operate thirty two 32 con nected computers 118 In this alternate embodiment
32. e received serial data packets and transmits them to UST CPU 308 Of course in the alternative a non UART device may be used to de serialize the received serial data packets UST CPU 308 then uses the information contained in the data packets to emulate keyboard and cursor control device signals to keyboard 102 and cursor control device 106 via keyboard port 300 and cursor control device port 310 respectively Unidirectional video signals generated at connected com puter 118 FIG 1 are also received at port 302 from MSU 112 via communication link 110 However these video signals are transmitted to tuning circuit 304 which tunes the video signals discussed below with respect to FIG 2C to a desired amplitude and frequency characteristics e g to correct for signal degradation The tuned red green and blue compo nents of the video signals are transmitted to video switch 314 Thereafter video switch 314 determines whether to transmit the video signals received from tuning circuit 304 i e the video signals received from one of the connected computers 118 or the video signals received from option menu circuit 318 to video amplifier 316 Finally the amplified video sig nals are transmitted via video monitor port 312 for display on video monitor 104 Option menu circuit 318 is shown in greater detail in FIG 2B Preferably option menu circuit 318 and all of its com 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12
33. e transmitted video signals prior to inputting them to the video monitor According to the Asprey 409 patent performance of this process reduces the appear ance of high frequency video noise on the keyboard clock conductor ofthe transmission cable thereby preventing key board errors Perholtz filed on Jan 13 1994 and issued on Mar 24 1998 discloses a method and apparatus for coupling a local user workstation including a keyboard mouse and or video monitor to a remote computer Perholtz discloses a system wherein the remote computer is selected from a menu dis played on a standard size personal computer video monitor Upon selection of a remote computer by the system user the remote computer s video signals are transmitted to the local user workstation s video monitor The system user may also control the remote computer utilizing the local user worksta tion s keyboard and monitor The Perholtz system is also capable of bi directionally transmitting mouse and keyboard signals between the local user workstation and the remote computer The remote computer and the local user worksta tion may be connected either via the Public Switched Tele phone System PSTN and modems or via direct cabling The Chen 389 patent filed on Mar 12 1998 and issued on Nov 2 1999 discloses a device for multiplexing the video output of a plurality of computers to a single video monitor The system includes three sets of switches for receiving t
34. each pref erably comprising dedicated peripheral devices such as key board 102 video monitor 104 and or cursor control device 106 Other peripheral devices may also be located at work station 100 such as printers scanners video camera biomet ric scanning devices microphones etc Each peripheral device is directly or indirectly i e through another compo nent connected to UST 108 which is attached to MSU 112 via communication link 110 Of course wireless peripheral devices may also be used with this system During operation all electronic signals received at UST 108 from attached peripheral devices are transmitted to MSU 112 via commu nication link 110 Thereafter the signals are transmitted to the desired CIM 116 via another communication link 114 CIM 116 which is coupled to a connected computer 118 via com munication link 120 transmits the received signals to the respective ports of connected computer 118 Each UST 108 incorporates the option menu circuit of the in accordance with the present invention that enables a user to access and control a connected computer via an option menu displayed on the local user workstation s video monitor For example if a user wishes to connect to a specific connected computer 118 the user may first enter a series of keyboard and or cursor control device commands to cause UST 108 to produce the option menu on video monitor 104 This option menu as discussed in detail below lists all con
35. een video color signals gain amplification adjustment circuit 615 frequency compensation amplifica tion adjustment circuit 635 and additional filtering enable ment circuit 625 In operation the red component of the video signal is initially transmitted to red variable gain amplifier 610a and red frequency compensation amplifier 612a Preferably red variable gain amplifier 610a adjusts the amplitude of the red component of the video signals based upon the output of gain amplification adjustment circuit 615 Concurrently red fre quency compensation amplifier 612a adjusts the frequency of the red component of the video signals based upon the output of frequency compensation amplification adjustment circuit 635 The outputs of red variable gain amplifier 610a and red frequency compensation amplifier 612a are electrically com bined and transmitted via wire 622 to video switch 314 FIG 2A The green component of the video signal including the encoded horizontal synchronization signal is transmitted to green variable gain amplifier 6105 and green frequency com pensation amplifier 6125 The two outputs are then electri cally combined and transmitted to gain amplification adjust ment circuit 615 and frequency compensation amplification adjustment circuit 635 Gain amplification circuit 615 com prises slow peak detector 614 which receives the electrically combined outputs of green variable gain amplifier 6105 and green frequency compensat
36. el IC 358 via 12C bus 392 However the clock buffer may be implemented in any one ofthe various methods known in the art For example one such method utilizes a clock buffer IC that includes an integrated PLL Furthermore according to the preferred embodiment sys tem level IC 358 is an Atmel AT94K series system level IC that includes an 8 bit microcontroller 1 e a single IC that contains a processor RAM ROM clock and input output control unit Field Programmable Gate Array FPGA 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 1 e a programmable logic controller having a high density of gates Static RAM SRAM and a JTAG in circuit emu lator This IC is preferably driven by a 4 MHz clock signal via connection 376 although clock signals having other frequen cies may also be employed Also system level IC 358 may be implemented as a plurality of individual electronic compo nents e g logic gates resistors capacitors etc or a com bination of non system level ICs e g a processor IC a programmable logic controller IC an emulator IC etc with out departing from the spirit of the present invention To facilitate manufacturing of the computer management system option menu circuit 318 and all of its components e g OSD ICs 350 357 system level IC 358 PLL 360 clock buffer 362 and D A converter 364 may be implemented on a daughter board i e a printed circuit board that plugs int
37. ets 0 kes 5 40 45 50 65 18 which allow each CIM 116 to be connected to MSU 112 via an independent communication link 114 FIG 1 The unidi rectionally transmitted 1 e from the connected computer to the user workstation only video signals are received at the MSU 112 through CIM ports 202 onto video bus 222 where upon they are transmitted to video differential switch 206 Video differential switch 206 is capable of transmitting any video signals received from video bus 222 to any UST port 216 The transmitted video signals are then transmitted via independent communication link 110 to attached UST 108 FIG 1 In addition to transmitting the unidirectional video signals MSU 112 bi directionally transmits keyboard and cursor con trol device signals between USTs 108 and CIMs 116 FIG 1 When transmitting the signals from one CIM 116 to one UST 108 these signals are received through CIM ports 202 on peripheral bus 220 whereupon they are transmitted to periph eral switch 214 Thereafter peripheral switch 214 transmits these signals to the appropriate CIM universal asynchronous receiver transmitter UART 241 which de serializes the signals i e converts the signals from a serial format to a format that is compatible with the MSU 112 e g parallel format and transmits them to MSU central processing unit CPU 212 MSU CPU 212 analyzes the received signals and generates a new data packet base
38. etween the computer and the devices increases In many circumstances it is desirable to separate the peripheral devices from the computer due to space con straints However one skilled in the art may readily appreci ate that separating a computer from its peripheral devices by substantial distances is likely to increase cabling costs In addition signals such as cursor control device keyboard video or audio signals degrade when transmitted over dis tances greater than fifteen 15 feet resulting in decreased reliability of keyboard and cursor control device commands and lower quality video and audio output This degradation occurs for a few reasons including the induction of noise such as crosstalk between adjacent conductors and an increase in the impedance of the signal transmission In addition to extending the distance between a computer and its peripheral devices it is also convenient to access and operate more than one computer from a single set of periph eral devices Again this feature is desirable when space is limited or when a large number of computers need to be administered The use of only one set of peripheral devices to control multiple computers eliminates the space required to house a dedicated set of peripheral devices for each computer to be accessed and controlled Furthermore an increase in maintenance efficiency is realized if a system administrator can maintain multiple computers from a single set of
39. evice and video monitor ports of connected computers 814 are connected to computer ports 816 on single unit computer management system 800 via communication links 818 Each CPU 822 receives keyboard and cursor control device signals from its respective computer port 816 via the respec tive communication link 830 and converts them to a digital format After these signals have been digitized they are trans mitted to switching device 824 In contrast video signals transmitted to computer port 816 by connected computer 814 bypass CPU 822 and are transmitted directly to central switching device 824 via communication link 832 Switching device 824 based upon instructions received from switch CPU 826 transmits the keyboard and cursor control device signals to the intended keyboard 802 and cur sor control device 804 via keyboard port 808 and cursor control device port 810 respectively In contrast switching device 824 transmits the video signals to video switch 828 Then based upon the instructions provided by switch CPU 826 video switch 828 supplies either the video signals received from connected computer 814 or the video signals generated by option menu circuit 820 to video monitor 806 via video monitor port 812 When the option menu is dis played video switch 828 replaces a portion of the video display that is received from connected computer 814 through switching device 824 with the option menu video display generated by option menu circu
40. fication adjustment circuit 635 the tuned red green and blue components of the video signals are transmitted to video switch 314 FIG 2A There after video switch 314 determines whether to transmit the video signals received from tuning circuit 304 1 e the video signals received from one ofthe connected computers 118 or the video signals received from option menu circuit 318 to video amplifier 316 Finally the amplified video signals are transmitted via video monitor port 312 for display on video monitor 104 Turning next to FIG 4 depicted is a schematic represen tation ofthe preferred embodiment of MSU 112 according to the invention which enables multiple users to access and operate a plurality of connected computers Access by a user to one ofthe connected computers from a local user worksta tion is performed completely via one or more MSUSs 112 independent of any network that may couple the connected computers to each other such as a Local Area Network Wide Area Network etc In other words the computer management system ofthe present invention preferably does not utilize an existing computer network to allow a local user workstation to control the connected computers Rather itis preferred that all physical connections between the local user workstation and the connected computers occur through one or more MSUs 112 In the preferred embodiment MSU 112 comprises a plu rality of CIM ports 202 that are preferably RJ 45 sock
41. he red green and blue components of the video signals from each computer To select the video output of a specific com puter for display on the video monitor a user inputs two video selecting signals into a control signal generating circuit Depending upon the inputted video selecting signals the control signal generating circuit produces an output signal corresponding to the selected video output Thereafter a con 0 an 5 20 40 45 65 4 trol signal is generated that indexes the three sets of switches to switch the video signals being output by the desired com puter to the single video monitor The three sets of switches transfer the incoming video signals to three sets of switch circuits and current amplifying circuits that provide input and output impedance matching respectively The tuned video signals are then displayed on the single video monitor The Chen 148 patent filed on Jul 29 1998 and issued on Sep 12 2000 discloses a video signal distributor that receives processes and distributes video signals received from one or more computers to a plurality of video monitors The video signal distributor includes three transistor based voltage amplifying circuits to individually amplify the red green and blue video signals received from each computer prior to transmitting these signals to a video monitor The video signal distributor also includes a synchronization signal buffering device that receives h
42. he signal received from fast peak detector 632 to the output of slow peak detector 614 to compare the amplitude ofthe rising edge ofthe horizontal synchronization signal pulse to the amplitude of the horizontal synchroniza tion signal pulse itself Next comparator 634 sends a signal that is fed to red frequency compensation amplifier 612a green frequency compensation amplifier 6125 and blue fre quency compensation amplifier 612c to adjust the level of amplification of the red green and blue components of the US 8 427 421 B2 17 video signals until the desired frequency is achieved Option ally a system administrator may manually adjust e g using the option menu discussed above or controls located on the exterior of the UST the signal transmitted by comparator 634 whereupon this adjustment is input to tuning circuit 304 via manual input 633 Such a feature would allow the system user to manually tweak the gain of the video signals until a desired video output is achieved The blue component of the video signals along with the encoded vertical synchronization signal is initially transmit ted to blue variable gain amplifier 610c blue frequency com pensation amplifier 612c and filtering enablement circuit 625 which is employed to increase the range of red frequency compensation amplifier 612a green frequency compensation amplifier 6125 and blue frequency compensation amplifier 612c when the video signals have been trans
43. ic diagram of CIM 116 Preferably each CIM 116 is compatible with all present day computer systems including but not limited to those manufactured by Microsoft Windows Apple Macin tosh Sun Unix DEC Compaq Alpha IBM RS 6000 HP HP9000 and SGI IRIX However it is foreseeable that the technology of the present invention will also be compat ible with those computer systems not yet contemplated CIM 116 connects video port 412 keyboard port 414 and cursor control device port 416 of connected computer 118 with MSU 112 via CAT 5 communication link 120 and port 400 Video signals are transmitted through CIM 116 unidi rectionally from connected computer 118 to MSU 112 How ever as discussed previously keyboard and cursor control device signals may be transmitted bi directionally between connected computer 118 and MSU 112 US 8 427 421 B2 19 During operation video signals are transmitted from video port 412 of connected computer 118 to port 400 of CIM 116 via communication link 120 From port 400 the unidirec tional video signals are transmitted to video driver 404 which converts the standard red green and blue video signals to a differential signal for transmission through port 402 to MSU 112 via communication link 114 Each color signal is trans mitted via its own twisted pair of wires contained within communication link 114 when transmitted from CIM 116 to MSU 112 or communication link 110 when transmitted fro
44. iminated While such an embodiment may be pro duced at a lower cost than the disclosed preferred embodi ment Modes A C would not be available Preferably OSD ICs 356 and 357 are used in each of Modes A D to generate the cursor portion ofthe option menu video display OSD IC 356 generates the video signals that represent the outline of the cursor while OSD IC 357 gener ates the video signals that represent the body of the cursor The present invention allows the cursor video image to be programmed as any one of eight 8 different fonts Referring back to FIG 2B preferably each of OSD ICs 350 357 operate in conjunction with system level IC 358 PLL 360 clock buffer 362 and D A converter 364 PLL 360 is a phase locked loop PLL i e an electronic circuit that controls an oscillator that drives clock buffer 362 via con nection 394 based upon a system level IC 358 generated option menu horizontal synchronization signal input to PLL 360 via connection 390 Alternatively PLL 360 may be sup plied a 14 318 MHz crystal oscillator via connection 399 in lieu of the option menu s horizontal synchronization signal Clock buffer 362 supplies a pixel clock signal to OSD ICs 350 357 and system level IC 358 via connection 396 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the clock bufferisimplemented with an external PLL specifically AMI Semiconductor s Programmable Line Lock Clock Generator FS6131 which is controlled by system lev
45. ion amplifier 6125 Slow peak detector 614 detects the amplitude ofthe horizontal synchro nization signal which is encoded on the green component of the video signals and transmits a signal representing this amplitude to comparator 618 and comparator 634 Compara tor 618 then compares the signal received from slow peak detector 614 to a constant reference voltage supplied by volt age source 616 The signal supplied by voltage source 616 represents the desired amplitude for the horizontal synchro nization signal Next comparator 618 transmits a signal to red variable gain amplifier 610a green variable gain amplifier 6105 and blue variable gain amplifier 610c to adjust the level ofamplification ofthe red green and blue components ofthe video signals until the desired amplitude is achieved Similarly green frequency compensation amplifier 6125 adjusts the level of amplification of the frequency of the horizontal synchronization signal based upon the output of frequency compensation amplification adjustment circuit 635 Frequency compensation amplification adjustment cir cuit 635 comprises fast peak detector 632 that also receives the electrically combined outputs of green variable gain amplifier 6105 and green frequency compensation amplifier 612b Fast peak detector 632 detects the rising edge of the horizontal synchronization signal and transmits a signal rep resenting this rising edge to comparator 634 Then compara tor 634 compares t
46. ional USTs or CIMs must be added alternate embodiments of the present invention allows multiple MSUs 112 to be utilized to connect as many as sixty four 64 user workstations 100 and ten thousand 10 000 connected computers 118 Turning next to FIG 2A depicted is a schematic diagram of the preferred internal structure of UST 108 according to the present invention As shown UST 108 couples keyboard 102 video monitor 104 and cursor control device 106 with MSU 112 Signals generated by keyboard 102 and cursor control device 106 are received by UST CPU 308 via keyboard port 300 and cursor control device port 310 respectively using industry standard connectors and cabling Wireless key boards and cursor control devices may also be used UST CPU 308 then generates data packets that represent the key board and cursor control device information in the received signals as discussed below with reference to FIG 6 The newly generated data packets are transmitted to UART 306 whereupon the they are converted to a serial format and transmitted through port 302 to MSU 112 via independent communication link 110 It should be noted that the converted data packets may alternatively be transmitted via a wireless connection Conversely keyboard and cursor control device signals received from connected computer 118 FIG 1 through MSU 112 and communication link 110 are received as serial data packets at port 302 Thereafter UART 306 de serializes th
47. is coupled to the selected remote computer The second signal conditioning unit then routes the keyboard and mouse command signals to the key board and mouse connectors of the remote computer Simi larly video signals produced by the remote computer are routed from the remote computer through the second signal conditioning unit the cross point switch and the first signal conditioning unit to the local video monitor The horizontal and vertical synchronization video signals received from the remote computer are encoded on one ofthe red green or blue video signals This encoding reduces the quantity of cables required to transmit the video signals from the remote com puter to the local video monitor Wilder filed on May 5 1998 and issued on Apr 29 2003 discloses a keyboard video monitor mouse and power KYMP switching system having an on screen display circuit that provides a visual means for accessing the KVMP switch A first set of switching circuits coupled to a plurality of computers and the on screen display circuit allows a user to access and control any ofthe remote computers using a local keyboard video monitor and mouse A second set of switch ing circuits coupled to the power supply of each remote computer and the on screen display circuit allows a user to control the electrical power to each remote computer To select a remote computer using the Wilder system a user activates the on screen display by entering a h
48. it 820 Keyboard and cursor control device signals are also routed from keyboard 802 and cursor control device 804 through keyboard port 808 and cursor control device port 810 respec tively to computer CPU 822 via switching device 824 CPU 822then emulates keyboard and mouse signals to the selected connected computer 814 via port 816 In contrast video sig nals are transmitted only from connected computer 814 to video monitor 806 only Single unit computer management system 800 incorpo rates option menu circuit 820 which comprises the same electrical components and configuration as option menu cir 0 40 45 60 22 cuit 318 FIGS 2A and 2C Option menu circuit 820 enables a user to select any one of the connected computers 814 from an option menu displayed on video monitor 806 For example if a user wishes to connect to a specific connected computer 814 the user may first enter preselected keyboard and or cursor control device commands utilizing keyboard 802 and or cursor control device 804 to display an option menu on video monitor 806 The option menu includes all connected computers 814 connected to the computer man agement system By utilizing keyboard 802 and cursor con trol device 804 the user selects the desired connected com puter 814 from the option menu Thereafter the option menu is no longer displayed and the video signals generated by connected computer 814 are displayed on video monitor 806 The user
49. ized the US 8 427 421 B2 5 remote computer video signals are combined with the video signals generated by the on screen processor prior to display on the local video monitor The on screen programming circuit disclosed in Beasley also produces its own horizontal and vertical synchronization signals To dictate which characters are displayed on the video monitor the CPU sends instructional data to the on screen processor This causes the on screen processor to retrieve characters from an internal video RAM for display on the local video monitor The overlaid video image produced by the on screen pro cessor namely a Motorola MC141543 on screen processor is limited to the size and quantity of colors and characters that are available with the single on screen processor In other words the Beasley system is designed to produce an overlaid video that is sized for a standard size computer monitor i e not a wall size or multiple monitor type video display and is limited to the quantity of colors and characters provided by the single on screen processor During operation of the Beasley system a remote com puter is chosen from the overlaid video display Thereafter the first signal conditioning unit receives keyboard and mouse signals from the local keyboard and mouse and generates a data packet for transmission to a central cross point switch The cross point switch routes the data packet to the second signal conditioning unit which
50. m MSU 112 to UST 108 FIG 1 Furthermore video driver 404 appends the horizontal and vertical synchroniza tion signals to one of the red green or blue video signals to allow all five components of the video signals to be transmit ted via only three twisted pair of wires of communication links 110 and 114 That is preferably the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals are each transmitted on its own color signal not the same color signal In contrast keyboard and cursor control device signals generated at connected computer 118 are received by CIM CPU 406 from keyboard port 414 and cursor control device port 416 respectively via communication link 120 and port 400 CIM CPU 406 generates data packets representing the keyboard and cursor control device information in the received signals The newly generated data packets are trans mitted to UART 408 which serializes the signals and trans mits them via communication link 114 to MSU 112 through port 402 Conversely keyboard and cursor control device signals received from the local user workstation through MSU 112 and communication link 114 FIG 1 are receivedat port 402 Thereafter UART 408 de serializes the received data packet signals and transmits them to CIM CPU 406 Alternatively the received data packet signals may be de serializes by a non UART device CIM CPU 406 uses the information con tained in the data packet signals to emulate keyboard and cursor control device
51. mitted over approximately four hundred fifty 450 feet The vertical syn chronization signal which is encoded on the blue component ofthe video signals as a precise square wave signal of known duration and amplitude is used as a precise reference point for filtering enablement circuit 625 The blue component of the video signals and the encoded vertical synchronization signal are received by slow peak detector 624 which detects the amplitude of the vertical synchronization signal Slow peak detector 624 transmits a signal representing the ampli tude ofthe vertical synchronization signal to comparator 628 which compares it to the known amplitude of a similar signal transmitted for four hundred fifty 450 feet This known amplitude is represented by a constant reference voltage applied to comparator 628 by voltage source 626 If compara tor 628 determines that the vertical synchronization signal and therefore all of the video signals has been transmitted over four hundred fifty 450 feet a signal indicating this is transmitted to video switch 630 Video switch 630 then sends a signal to red frequency compensation amplifier 612a green frequency compensation amplifier 6125 and blue frequency compensation amplifier 612c to increase the range of each frequency compensation amplifier 612a 6125 and 612c Subsequent to the amplification by gain amplification adjustment circuit 615 and the frequency compensation by frequency compensation ampli
52. mpaq Alpha International Business Machines IBM RS 6000 Hewlett Packard Company HP HP9000 and SGI formerly Silicon Graphics Inc IRIX Additionally local devices such as a keyboard and cursor control device may communicate with the local user work station using a variety of protocols including but not limited to Universal Serial Bus USB American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCH and Recommend Standard 232 RS 232 A variety of cabling mechanisms may be used to connect the local user workstations and the connected computers to the computer management system of the present invention Preferably the present invention incorporates a single Cat egory 5 Universal Twisted Pair CAT 5 cable to connect each user terminal UST i e the computer management system component that connects the keyboard video moni tor and cursor control device of the local user workstation to the computer management system of the present invention and each computer interface module CIM i e the com puter management system component that connects the con nected computer to the computer management system of the present invention to the matrix switching unit MSU of kas 5 40 45 55 8 the computer management system of the present invention However other cabling or wireless communications may be used without departing from the spirit of the pre
53. n the larger quantity of available characters and or colors pro vides greater flexibility and definition in identifying options and in identifying and selecting connected computers The option menu is generated by a plurality of OSD ICs The video outputs of the OSD ICs can be combined or stra tegically organized to produce an option menu having a larger size more colors and or a greater number of characters than is possible with a single OSD IC In the preferred embodi ment a first set of OSD ICs is utilized to create the option menu anda second set of OSD ICs is utilized to create a video image that represents the cursor A software algorithm executed by a system level IC works in conjunction with minimal circuitry to combine and or strategically organize the video outputs of the first and second sets of OSD ICs to provide the option menu and cursor video signals The computer management system ofthe present invention may be utilized to provide compatibility between various operating systems and or communication protocols The present invention allows the same set of local peripheral devices to access connected computers executing a variety of operating systems and protocols including but not limited to those manufactured by Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Windows Apple Computer Inc Apple Macintosh Sun Microsystems Inc Sun Unix Digital Equipment Corporation DEC Compaq Computer Corporation Co
54. nal from each of the six 6 OSD ICs 350 357 System level IC 358 processes these inputs and creates one combined red green and blue video signal which is transmitted to D A converter 364 The analog video signals are then transmitted to video switch 314 FIG 2A via connection 388 and con nector 366 Also the combined i e option menu and cursor horizontal and vertical synchronization signals are transmit ted to the main circuit board via connections 384 and 386 respectively via connector 366 Thereafter video switch 314 FIG 2A transmits either the option menu video signals or the connected computer s video signals to video monitor 104 via video monitor port 312 FIG 2A As discussed earlier the connected computer s video is first tuned by tuning circuit 304 As shown in FIG 2C tuning circuit 304 preferably comprises red variable gain amplifier 610a green variable gain amplifier 6105 blue variable gain amplifier 610c red frequency compensation amplifier 612a green frequency compensation amplifier 6125 blue fre quency compensation amplifier 612c slow peak detector 614 voltage source 616 comparator 618 slow peak detector 624 voltage source 626 comparator 628 video switch 630 fast peak detector 632 and comparator 634 During system operation the video signals generated at connected computer 118 are transmitted via communication link 120 to CIM 116 FIG 1 Thereafter the video signals are transmitted from CIM 11
55. nected com puters 118 By utilizing keyboard 102 and cursor control device 106 the user selects the desired connected computer 118 from the option menu The user is then provided access to the selected connected computer 118 The option menu also facilitates system programming and provides information useful for system operation Furthermore multiple security features such as passwords system user histories etc may be implemented and operated in conjunction with the option menu US 8 427 421 B2 11 CIM 116 is compatible with all commonly used present day computer operating systems and protocols including but not limited to those manufactured by Microsoft Windows Apple Macintosh Sun Unix DEC Compaq Alpha IBM RS 6000 HP HP9000 and SGI IRIX Additionally local devices such as keyboard 102 and cursor control device 106 may communicate with connected computers via a variety of protocols including Universal Serial Bus USB American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII and Recommend Standard 232 RS 232 The computer management system ofthe present invention is scalable and may be configured to connect a large number of user workstations 100 with a large number of connected computers 118 Preferably the system according to the present invention allows eight 8 USTs 108 and thirty two 32 CIMs to be connected via one MSU 112 while still achieving optimal signal transmission If addit
56. ntative yet in that regard they are deemed to afford the best embodiment for purposes of disclosure and to pro vide a basis for the claims herein which define the scope of the present invention The following presents a detailed description of the preferred embodiment as well as some alternative embodiments of the present invention Referring first to FIG 1 depicted is the architecture of the preferred computer management system in accordance with the present invention Specifically a modular intelligent computer management system is shown including a centrally located MSU 112 multiple USTs 108 connected to key boards 102 video monitors 104 and cursor control devices 106 and multiple CIMs 116 connected to connected comput ers 118 Each UST 108 and CIM 116 is connected to MSU 112 via communication link 110 and communication link 114 respectively Although single CAT 5 cabling is the preferred cabling for use with the present invention other cabling may be used such as coaxial fiber optic or multiple CAT 5 cables depend ing on the specific needs of the system user CAT 5 cabling is 0 30 40 45 10 preferred because it reduces cabling cost while maintaining the strength of the signals that are transmitted over extended distances Additionally the use of single CAT 5 cabling mini mizes the spacerequired to house the computer system and its associated wiring Individual CAT 5 cables may be used for connection
57. o another printed circuit board to augment its capabilities This daughter board then plugs into the main UST circuit board a block diagram of which is illustrated in FIG 2A via connec tor 366 This feature allows the object ofthe present invention i e an option menu that is larger contains more colors and or more characters to be easily implemented as an option to a standard computer management system UST CPU 308 controls system level IC 358 via remote control interface RCT 378 which uses a 16 bit address an 8 bit data access and a busy module That is UST CPU 308 sends instructions to system level IC 358 via RCI 378 UST CPU 308 may command system level IC 358 to perform many actions via RCI 378 such as enabling disabling the cursor changing the cursor font changing the cursor color debug ging the cursor displaying the video outputs of all six 6 OSD ICs 350 357 on a single monitor displaying the video output ofa single OSD IC on a monitor changing the video to any one of modes A D as discussed above debugging the option menu video display displaying the built in OSD IC patterns i e 12x18 pixel matrix characters and symbols that are pre programmed in the OSD IC s read only memory ROM debugging the pixel clock stability and position enabling disabling the option menu changing the vertical size of individual option menu characters indexing the dis play to a single color or a combination of red green
58. orizontal and vertical syn chronization signals from each computer and generates new synchronization signals based upon the quantity of video signals that are output to the video monitors Fujii filed on Feb 10 1998 and issued on Oct 24 2000 discloses a system for selectively operating a plurality of computers that are connected to one common video monitor The Fujii system includes a data input device for entering data in any one of the plurality of connected computers The sys tem also includes a main control circuit which is connected to the data input device and a selection circuit for providing the entered data and receiving the video signals from the selected computer A user selects a remote computer by supplying the command code associated with the desired remote computer utilizing the keyboard and or mouse A selection circuit receives the inputted commands and identifies the selected computer The selection circuit then sends a signal indicative of the selected remote computer to a main control circuit which provides communication between the keyboard video monitor and mouse and the selected remote computer Similar to Perholtz Beasley filed on Jun 9 2000 and issued on Feb 5 2002 discloses a specific implementation of a computerized switching system for coupling a local key board mouse and or video monitor to one of a plurality of remote computers In particular a first signal conditioning unit includes an on screen
59. ot key with either the keyboard and or mouse Initially the on screen display prompts the user to enter a username and password After the user is verified the user is provided a list of all attached remote computers The user utilizes the local key board and mouse to select and control the power supply ofthe desired remote computer Wilder incorporates a single on screen processor for generation of the list of remote comput ers In view of the foregoing a need clearly exists for a com puter management system that is compatible with both stan dard size video monitors e g monitors ranging from 13 to 21 and larger than standard size video monitors In addition a need clearly exists for a computer management system that provides an option menu that contains more characters and or more colors than those available with a single on screen pro cessor There is also a need for a computer management 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 system having an option menu that provides greater flexibility and definition for identifying options and connected comput ers Furthermore there is a need for a computer management system that provides an option menu having a large quantity of available colors which may be used to color code con nected computers or options for purposes such as identifying the general location of each connected computer e g con nected computers having a blue description are located in Quadr
60. periph eral devices For example the system administrator no longer must travel to each computer that requires maintenance The present invention provides a computer management system having an option menu that facilitates accessing and controlling connected computers This option menu allows for example a system administrator to select a connected US 8 427 421 B2 7 computer enter video signal tuning calibration information gather network diagnostics program computer management system components etc The option menu is activated by entering predetermined keyboard and or cursor control device commands Upon choosing the option of selecting a connected computer a sub menu of connected computers is displayed on the user workstation s monitor that includes all connected computers The system administrator may then scroll the sub menu or access a further sub menu to select the desired connected computer The option menu of the computer management system of the present invention can have a larger overall size i e it is visible on a larger screen and or contain more colors and more characters than the typical video display provided by a single on screen display integrated circuit OSD IC The option menu of the present invention is compatible with both standard size video monitors e g monitors ranging from 13 to 21 in size and larger monitors Monitor size is simply selected by the system user via the option menu In additio
61. programming circuit that displays alist of connected remote computers on the local video moni tor To activate the menu a user depresses for example the print screen key on the local keyboard The user selects the desired computer from the list using the local keyboard and or mouse According to Beasley the on screen programming circuit requires at least two sets of tri state buffers a single on screen processor an internal synchronization generator a synchro nization switch a synchronization polarizer and overlay con trol logic The first set of tri state buffers couples the red green and blue components of the video signals received from the remote computer to the video monitor That is when the first set of tri state buffers are energized the red green and blue video signals are passed from the remote computer to the local video monitor through the tri state buffers When the first set of tri state buffers are not active the video signals from the remote computer are blocked Similarly the second set of tri state buffers couples the outputs of the single on screen processor to the video monitor When the second set of tri state buffers is energized the video output of the on screen programming circuit is displayed on the local video monitor When the second set of tri state buffers is not active the video output from the on screen programming circuit is blocked Alternatively if both sets of tri state buffers are energ
62. remotely from the computer The end of the link that is coupled to the computer has a first signal conditioning network 1 e a network of circuitry that damp ens the ringing and reflections of the video signals and biases them to a predetermined voltage level that conditions the keyboard video monitor and mouse signals Conditioning the video monitor signals includes reducing their amplitude in order to minimize the crosstalk induced on the conductors adjacent to the video signal conductors during transmission of the video signals This first signal conditioning network is coupled to an extended range cable having a plurality of conductors that transmits the conditioned signals power and logic ground potentials to a second signal conditioning net work i e a network of circuitry that terminates the video signals using a voltage divider and amplifies them which US 8 427 421 B2 3 restores the video signals to their original amplitude and outputs them to a video monitor The Asprey 676 patent filed on Mar 5 1990 and issued on Dec 7 1993 discloses a communications link for use between a computer and a display unit such as a video moni tor that allows these two components to be located up to three hundred 300 feet apart An encoder located at the computer end of the communications link receives analog red green and blue signals from the computer and inputs each signal to a discrete current amplifier that modulates
63. representation of the preferred embodiment of the internal structure of the UST shown in FIG 1 specifically illustrating the circuitry that allows for the selection of connected computer video signals or option menu video signals for display on the video monitor FIG 2B is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment of the option menu circuit shown in FIG 2A which generates the option menu and cursor video signals for display on the video monitor US 8 427 421 B2 9 FIG 2C is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment of the tuning circuit shown in FIG 2A which compensates for the amplitude and frequency reduction that occurs during video signal transmission FIG 3 is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment of the four modes of operation of the option menu circuit shown in FIG 2A and FIG 2B FIG 4 is a schematic representation of the MSU shown in FIG 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating a block diagram ofthe internal structure of the MSU and electrical connectors for CAT 5 cables FIG 5 is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment of the internal structure of the CIM shown in FIG 1 illustrating the connection of the CIM to a connected computer and to an MSU FIG 6 is a schematic representation of a data packet used to transmit data in the computer management system accord ing to the preferred embodiment of the present invention
64. rk environment One method of reducing the amount of space required to house a computer network is to eliminate any equipment 1 e keyboard video monitor cursor control device etc that is not essential for proper operation of the computer network Elimination of this equipment also eliminates the wiring associated with such equipment This equipment and its asso ciated wiring may be eliminated if a system administrator is able to access the remote computers from one user console thereby eliminating the dedicated equipment and its associ ated wiring Elimination of this unnecessary equipment decreases the amount of space required for computer network environments A keyboard video monitor and mouse KVM switch ing system may be utilized to allow one or more user work stations to select and control any one of a plurality of remote computers via a central switching unit Such systems are well known in the art and have been used by system administrators for at least 10 years Specifically a KVM switching system allows a system user to control a remote computer using a local user workstation s keyboard video monitor and cursor control device as if these local devices were directly con nected to the remote computer In this manner a system user may access and control a plurality of remote computers such as servers from a single location i e the location of the user workstation The system user may select a specific remote
65. sent inven tion Therefore it is an object ofthe present invention to provide an improved computer management system containing an option menu that may be larger and or contain more colors and characters than is standardly available Further it is an object ofthe present invention to provide an improved computer management system having an option menu that operates in any one of multiple modes wherein the modes of operation allow a system user to select the size quantity of characters and quantity of colors for the option menu based upon the user s preferences and or the size ofthe video monitor connected to the local user workstation Furthermore it is an object of the present invention to facilitate identification of each computer connected to the computer management system by allowing information tech nology TI personnel to designate lengthier names dis played in the option menu for each connected computer to more adequately describe each connected computer Itis still a further object of the present invention to provide greater organizational flexibility by allowing IT personnel to color code computer names displayed in the option menu to facilitate grouping of computers connected to the computer management system Other objects features and characteristics of the present invention as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure and the combination of parts and economies of man
66. ted com puters 118 from sixty four 64 user workstations 100 many other system configurations are available to allow a greater number of user workstations 100 to be connected to a greater number of connected computers 118 For example the num ber of MSU tiers may be increased or alternatively hubs may be incorporated Also each MSU may be designed to com prise more than eight 8 inputs and more than thirty two 32 outputs to further increase the system capacity Furthermore the option menu may be used with any configuration of the computer management system of the present invention Because the option menu allows for more colors and char acters more information about the available connected com puters can be displayed to a user Further because the option menu can be displayed on a larger screen the user can view more of the available network at one time Therefore the present invention allows for a more efficient and user friendly way of managing a large computer network Turning next to FIG 9 depicted is an alternate embodi ment of the computer management system of the present invention Specifically single unit computer management system 800 is shown connected to keyboards 802 cursor control devices 804 and video monitors 806 via keyboard ports 808 cursor control device ports 810 and video monitor ports 812 respectively utilizing industry standard cabling or wireless connections Also the keyboard cursor control d
67. the signal current Impedance matching networks then match the impedance of the red green and blue signals to the impedance of the cable and transmit the signals to discrete emitter follower transis tors located at the video monitor end of the cable Thereafter these signals are amplified prior to inputting them to the video monitor Concurrently the horizontal synchronization signal is inputted to a cable conductor and its impedance is not matched to the impedance of the cable thereby allowing the conductor to attenuate the horizontal synchronization signal and reduce noise radiation The Asprey 409 patent filed on Jul 19 1990 and issued on Oct 4 1994 discloses an extended range communications link for transmitting transistor transistor logic video signals from a local computer to a video monitor located up to a thousand feet 1 000 from the computer The link includes a first signal conditioning circuit 1 e a circuit that reduces the amplitude of the video signals biases them to a selected potential and applies them to discrete conductors of an extended cable located at the computer end of the link for conditioning the received signals and transmitting them via the extended cable to a second signal conditioning circuit The second signal conditioning circuit i e a circuit that utilizes a threshold or pair of thresholds to effect reconstruc tion of the video signals prior to applying the signals to a video monitor receives th
68. the spirit and the principles of the invention It should be appreciated that the present inven tion is capable of being embodied in other forms without departing from its essential characteristics What is claimed is 1 A user terminal device for producing an option menu said user terminal device comprising a first set of on screen display circuits capable of producing a first video output for display on a video display a second set of on screen display circuits capable of pro ducing a second video output for display on the video display and a processor coupled to said first and second sets of on screen display circuits for configuring the video outputs of ones of the first set of on screen display circuits and ones of the second set of on screen display circuits to generate an option menu on the video display wherein a first number of first video outputs of the first set of on screen display circuits are selectably combined by the processor according to a mode index of the display to form a non cursor portion of the option menu the com bination of first video outputs producing an increase in available colors to be displayed as compared to a first video output from a single one of the first set of on screen display circuits and wherein the second set of on screen display circuits are cursor image producing circuits for producing a cursor image within said option menu US 8 427 421 B2 23 2 A device according to claim
69. ufacture will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings all of which form a part of this specification BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A further understanding of the present invention can be obtained by reference to a preferred embodiment set forth in the illustrations ofthe accompanying drawings Although the illustrated embodiment is merely exemplary of systems for carrying out the present invention both the organization and method of operation of the invention in general together with further objectives and advantages thereof may be more easily understood by reference to the drawings and the fol lowing description The drawings are not intended to limit the scope ofthis invention which is set forth with particularity in the claims as appended or as subsequently amended but merely to clarify and exemplify the invention For a more complete understanding of the present inven tion reference is now made to the following drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic representation of a computer man agement system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating the connection ofa plurality of user workstations which each include a keyboard video monitor and cursor control device to multiple connected computers wherein the system includes a plurality of USTs and CIMs interconnected by at least one MSU FIG 2A is a schematic
70. witch Jul 4 2001 Marksman Transcript Avocent v Raritan Civil Action No 4435 Feb 3 2005 Marksman Transcript Avocent v Raritan Civil Action No 4435 Feb 4 2005 Memorandum and Order on Marksman issues Case No 01 CV 4435 Mar 11 2005 Network Computing Product Brochure May 15 1995 5 pages Network Technologies Inc Product Brochure 1998 2 pages Network World advisement Jul 6 1992 Ocean Isle Reachout Product Brochure RCI 172996 173006 Jun 1994 PC World New Products May 1995 2 pages PolyCon GmbH Data System Inc product catalogs APX 024328 042697 prior to Spring 1995 Press Release Maintain Error Free Central Control of 128 PCs from One Set of Keyboard Mouse and Monitor Feb 4 1999 page Protest Under 37 CFR 1 291 Filed in U S Appl No 08 969 723 Feb 13 1999 Raritan CompuSwitch Mar 16 1998 1 page Raritan Dominion KSX Jul 19 2003 RCI 139356 139371 Raritan Dominion KX and Dominion KSX 2004 181193 181211 Raritan MasterConsole MXU2 Jul 31 2001 Raritan MasterConsole II User s Manual 2000 Raritan Paragon UMT2161 RCI 147483 147505 Jul 5 2002 Raritan Paragon User s Guide Jun 15 2000 Raritan Paragon II User Manual 2004 Raritan Products Brochure 2004 2005 p 185899 185912 Raritan Product Introduction Oct 23 2000 Rebuttal Expert Report of Joseph C McAlexander Regarding Valid ity and Infringement of U S Patent Nos 5 884 096 5 937 1

Option menu for use with a computer management system

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