Patent ID: 6294982
Filing Date: 2001-09-25
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A visual messaging device for displaying messages in response to data constituting said messages transmitted by a remote system over a high speed network at a predetermined network data rate constituting a certain bandwidth of the network, said visual messaging device comprising:a visual display device having a plurality of individual light emitting diodes adapted to display said messages;a shared memory having a first and second segments for respectively storing data transmitted by the remote system and messages processed by a processor at network data rate;a network interface within said visual messaging device receiving said data transmitted by the remote system and storing such received data in packets in the first segment of the shared memory at said network data rate without reducing the bandwidth of the high speed network;a processor within said visual messaging device, said processor retrieving the data packets from the first segment of the shared memory, processing the retrieved packets according to one or more programs associated with the processor to build bit maps for display on said visual display device, and storing the bit maps in the second segment of the shared memory in order at the network data rate, thereby enabling the visual messaging device to receive, process and display on the visual display device messages transmitted by the remote system in real time; anda display driver retrieving said bit maps from the second segment of the shared memory in said select order, said display driver in response to said bit maps activating and deactivating said individual light emitting diodes to display said messages on said visual display unit.