Patent ID: 6781570
Filing Date: 2004-08-24
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A wireless input device that allows a user to interact with a computer, the wireless input device comprising:a self-contained power source for providing power to the wireless input device; a processing unit that receives power from the self-contained power source and has a number of input/output ports, the processing unit for receiving and processing user interface-type data and movement data, and further configured to turn on and off responsive to a user activity; a user interface having a number of user interface elements, each user interface element being operatively coupled to one of the input/output ports, the user interface for allowing the user to provide user interface-type data to the processing unit; an optical sensor that receives power from the self-contained power source and is operatively coupled to one or more of the input/output ports of the processing unit via a bus, the optical sensor for characterizing movement relative to the wireless input device with a number of images, and for providing movement data that is derived from the images to the processing unit via the bus, and further configured to turn on and off responsive to a user activity, and wherein the optical sensor may operate in a native mode where the power consumption of the optical sensor is self-controlled by the optical sensor, the optical sensor further comprising a mode switch that is accessible to the processing unit via the bus, and in response to the processing unit setting the mode switch to a first state, the native mode of the optical sensor is disabled thereby allowing the power consumption of the optical sensor to be controlled by the processing unit; and a transmitter unit that receives power from the self-contained power source, and receives processed user interface-type data and movement data from the processing unit, the transmitter unit for transmitting the processed user interface-type data and movement data to a receiver associated with the computer, further configured to turn on and off responsive to a user activity.