Patent Publication Number: US-2006007126-A1

Title: Wireless peripheral and related control method for supporting legacy keyboard inputting

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a wireless peripheral and related control method, and more particularly, to a wireless peripheral and related control method for supporting legacy keyboard inputting.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      A computer system is important hardware for modern information societies and a human interface device enables a user to conveniently control the computer system. Therefore, manufacturers have focused on developing the human interface device of the computer system, especially for wireless input devices. For instance, a Bluetooth wireless keyboard conforming to the Bluetooth protocol throws off the physical transmission line between the traditional keyboard and the computer system and makes it convenient for the user.  
      Generally, a wireless input interface device, such as a Bluetooth wireless keyboard, has to cooperate with a wireless dongle such as Bluetooth USB dongle, to establish a wireless input device. When the wireless input device is established, the Bluetooth USB dongle is connected to the USB port of the host of the computer system. When the user gives a command by pressing a key of the Bluetooth wireless keyboard, the command is transformed into a key signal by the Bluetooth wireless keyboard. Then the key signal is transformed (or packed) into a Bluetooth key signal conforming to the Bluetooth protocol and wirelessly transmitted to the Bluetooth USB dongle.  
      After the Bluetooth USB dongle receives the Bluetooth key signal from the Bluetooth wireless keyboard, the Bluetooth key signal is transformed into a USB command signal by a basic control module of firmware or hardware. The USB command signal is transmitted to the host through the USB port of the Bluetooth USB dongle and the USB port of the host. After the USB command signal is received from the Bluetooth USB dongle, the software operating system of the host will start a corresponding USB driver program to extract the Bluetooth key signal (i.e. key signal packed according to Bluetooth protocol). By cooperating with a corresponding Bluetooth driver program and an input interface program, such as an interface program supporting human interface device profile (HID profile) of Bluetooth protocol, the key signal can be extracted from the Bluetooth key signal. Then the host can operate according to the key signal and thereby achieve the purpose of controlling the host by the Bluetooth wireless keyboard.  
      As mentioned above, the key signal transmitted to the host must be transformed into the Bluetooth wireless signal, then transformed into the USB command signal, and finally extracted from the USB command signal to control the host. The USB driver program, the Bluetooth driver program, and the input interface program all steps. However, the programs can work only through coordination by the operating system. Hence, in the prior art, the software operating system of the host must be used to enable wireless input device to work correctly.  
      The prior art wireless input device can support basic input operations after the operating system is loaded. However, if the operating system is not yet loaded, the prior art wireless input device cannot support the basic input operations performed by the user. For example, when the user boots the computer, the basic input/output system (BIOS) setting is entered to set basic functions of the host, such as the operational clock of the host, detecting disk drives, setting voltages and IRQs, and etc. Therefore, an appropriate input device is used to perform the settings. However, while booting the computer, the operating system is not yet loaded and the wireless input device cannot operate. This is a drawback of the prior art wireless input device, not supporting the basic input operation if the operating system is not yet loaded.  
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
      Therefore, the claimed invention provides a wireless peripheral and related control method for supporting legacy keyboard input to solve the above-mentioned problem. The claimed invention enables a user to execute the BIOS through the wireless peripheral when the operating system is not yet loaded.  
      The claimed invention comprises a wireless interface device and a wireless dongle. The dongle can be selectively connected to a wired input port (like a PS/2 port) or a universal connection port (like a USB port) of the host. The dongle comprises a basic control module for transforming a wireless key signal into a signal formatted for the universal connection port. In addition, the dongle further comprises a firmware advanced control module for extracting the key signal and transforming the key signal into a signal formatted for the wired input port.  
      Normally, the dongle is electrically connected to the universal connection port of the host. The wireless key signal from the wireless interface device is transformed into the signal formatted for the universal connection port by the basic control module and transmitted to the host by the universal connection port. The operating system of the host cooperates with driver programs of the universal connection port and the wireless peripheral. An input interface program extracts and analyzes the key signal so that the host can operate according to the key signal.  
      According to the claimed invention, when the operating system is not yet loaded, if the user wishes to execute a BIOS setting, the dongle is connected to the wired input port of the host through an adapter. The advanced control module of the dongle has functions similar to the wireless peripheral driver program and the input interface program to extract the key signal and transform the key signal into an input signal formatted for the wired input port. Finally, the input signal is transmitted to the host by the wired input port in order to support the basic input operations of the host.  
      These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a wireless peripheral of the present invention cooperating with a host in a computer system.  
       FIG. 2  shows the cooperation of the wireless peripheral and the host when the operating system is loaded.  
       FIG. 3  shows the cooperation of the wireless peripheral and the host when the operating system is not loaded. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a diagram of a wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention cooperating with a host  12  in a computer system  1   0 . The host  12  comprises a central process unit (CPU)  36 , a bridge circuit  34  (such as chips of north bridge and/or south bridge circuits), a memory  38  (such as random access memory), a non-volatile storage device  32  (such as a hard disk or an optical disc drive), a basic input/output system (BIOS) module  40 , and signal interface circuits  26 A and  26 C. The CPU  36  controls the operation of the host  12 . The BIOS module  40  executes the BIOS of the host  12 . The memory  38  temporarily stores data, information, and programs for the operation of the CPU  36 . The storage device  32  stores information and programs for the operation of the host  12  in a non-volatile manner. In order to connect each peripheral, the host comprises at least a universal connection port  28 C (like a USB port) and at least a wired input port  30  (like a PS/2 port). The signal interface circuit  26 C receives signals conforming to the universal connection port  28 C and the signal interface circuit  26 A receives signals conforming to the wired input port  30 . Signals or data can be transferred through the bridge circuit  34 , the CPU  36 , the memory  38 , the storage device  32 , and the signal interface circuit  26 A and  26 C.  
      The wireless peripheral of the present invention comprises a wireless interface device  16 A and a corresponding wireless receiving dongle  16 B. The interface device  16 A comprises an input interface  20 , a control module  56 A, and a wireless module  18 A. The input interface  20  can be a keyboard with a plurality of keys  22 . When a user presses a key  22 , the input interface  20  detects which key is pressed and generates a corresponding signal  41 . The control module  56 A controls the main operation of the interface device  16 A and the wireless module  18 A transforms electrical signals into wireless signals and then transmits wireless signals.  
      The dongle  16 B comprises a wireless module  18 B corresponding to the wireless module  18 A, a control module  56 B, and a signal interface circuit  26 B. The wireless module  18 B receives wireless signals from the wireless module  18 A. The control module  56 B, having a basic control module  24 A and an advanced control module  24 B, controls the operations of the dongle  16 B, the modules  24 A and  24 B being implemented by firmware. In order to connect to the host  12 , the dongle  16 B comprises a universal connection port  28 B corresponding to the universal connection port  28 C of the host  12 . The signal interface circuit  26 B outputs electrical signals through the universal connection port  28 B. The signal interface circuit  26 B also can detect whether the universal connection port  28 B is directly connected to another universal connection port (of a host, for example). If yes, the control module  56 B will not start the advanced control module  24 B meaning the advanced control module  24 B is disabled.  
      Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which shows the cooperation of the wireless peripheral  14  and the host  12 . In  FIG. 2 , the computer system  10  performs a basic input operation after the operating system is loaded. After the host  12  completes the booting procedure, the CPU  36  loads a software operating system (like a Windows operating system) in the memory  38  so that the user can manage the host  12  under the operating system. When a basic input operation is performed under the operating system, the user can electrically connect the dongle  16 B of the present invention to the universal connection port  28 C. When the user inputs a command using the input interface  20 , a key signal  41  is generated when the user presses a key  22 . The control module  56 A encodes the key signal  41  into a baseband key signal  42 A according to a wireless communication protocol (such as a Bluetooth protocol). The wireless module  1   8 A modulates the baseband key signal  42 A into a wireless key signal  42 R to output the wireless key signal  42 R.  
      After the wireless module  18 B of the dongle  16 B receives the wireless key signal  42 R, the wireless key signal  42 R is transformed into a baseband key signal  42 B by the wireless module  18 B. Since the universal connection port  28 B of the dongle  16 B is electrically connected to the universal connection port  28 C of the host  12 , the control module  56 B will not start the advanced control module  24 B; instead, only the basic control module  24 A is executed. The basic control module  24 A transforms the key signal  42 B into an indication signal  46 A based on the signal format for the universal connection port  28 B and thereby the indication signal  46 A is transmitted into the host  12  through the signal interface circuit  26 B and the universal connection ports  28 B and  28 C.  
      The host  12  receives the indication signal  46 A from the dongle  16 B through the universal connection port  28 C and the signal interface circuit  26 C. After the indication signal  46 A is transformed into a indication signal  46 B by the signal interface circuit  26 C, the CPU  36  executes a signal interface driver program Sd 2 , a wireless peripheral driver program Sd 1 , and an input interface program Si through the operating system in order to extract the key signal from the indication signal  46 B. The signal interface driver program Sd 2  (such as a USB driver program) decodes the indication signal  46 B to obtain related information according to the signal format of the universal connection ports  28 B and  28 C, the information corresponding to the baseband key signal  42 B. The wireless peripheral driver program Sd 1  (such as a Bluetooth driver program) further extracts the key signal corresponding to the key signal  41  from the information extracted by the signal interface driver program Sd 2 . Next, the input interface program Si (like a driver program for a Bluetooth human/computer interface) acquires the user&#39;s keystroke from the input interface  20  based on the key signal extracted by the wireless peripheral driver program Sd 1  and thereby the CPU  36  can control the host  12  correctly.  
      In other words, after the operating system is loaded, if the user performs a basic input operation, the operating system also cooperates with the input interface program Si, the wireless peripheral driver program Sd 1  and the signal interface driver program Sd 2  so that the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention can process the key signal transmitted from the wireless interface device  16 A to the host  12 .  
      On the other hand, please refer to  FIG. 3 , which illustrates how the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention supports the basic input operation when the operating system is not loaded. Before the operating system is loaded, if the user performs a legacy input operation through the wireless interface device  16 A, an adapter  54  is used for electrically connecting the dongle  16 B to the wired input port  30  of the host  12 . Generally, when the operating system is not loaded, the host  12  still can receive a signal conforming to the format of a basic input signal from the input port  30  (like a PS/2 port). The present invention utilizes this property to support the basic input operation when the operating system is not loaded. For instance, when the host is booting, the wireless interface device  16 A can support BIOS settings (i.e. legacy inputting) in the host.  
      As mentioned above, an adapter  54  is used for electrically connecting the dongle  16 B to the host  12 . The adapter  54  comprises a universal connection port  52  and a wired input port  50 , respectively corresponding to the universal connection port  28 B and the wired input port  30 . The adapter  54  transmits the signal of the universal connection port  52  to the wired input port  50 . The user connects the universal connection port  52  of the adapter  54  to the dongle  16 B so that the dongle  16 B can be electrically connected to the wired input port  30  of the host  12  through the wired input port  50  of the adapter  54 . For instance, if the universal connection port is a USB port and the wired input port is a PS/2 port, the two terminals of differential signals D+ and D− of the USB port are electrically connected to the terminals of CLK and DATA of the PS/2 port, respectively.  
      From  FIGS. 2 and 3 , when the operating system is not loaded into the memory  38 , the input interface program Si and the driver programs of  FIG. 2  do not work. Therefore, the dongle  16 B of the present invention can use the advanced control module  24 B to transform the wireless key signal  42 R of the interface device  16 A into an input signal  48  formatted for the wired input port  30  and thereby support the legacy input operation of the host  12 .  
      How the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention supports the wireless basic input operations when the operating system is not loaded is described as follows. When the operating system is not loaded, if the user performs a wireless legacy input operation using the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention, the dongle  16 B is electrically connected to the host  12  through the adapter  54 . After the connection is ready, the signal interface circuit  26 B of the dongle  16 B will detect whether the dongle  16 B is electrically connected to the host  12  through the adapter  54 , and the control module  56  enables the advanced control module  24 B according to the detection result. When the user inputs a command by the input interface  20  of the interface device  16 A, a key signal  41  is generated by the input interface  20 , transformed into a baseband key signal  42 A by the control module  56 A, and then modulated into a wireless key signal  42 R by the wireless module  18 A.  
      The dongle  16 B receives and decodes the wireless key signal  42 R to a baseband key signal  42 B and thereby the advanced control module  24 B can extract the key signal from the baseband key signal  42 B to analyze the command from the user. The control module  56  transforms the information resulting from the analysis by the advanced control module  24 B into an input signal  48  formatted for the wired input port  30 . Finally, the input signal  48  is transmitted into the host through the signal interface circuit  26 B and the wired input ports  50  and  30 . The host  12  still can directly receive the signal of the wired input port  30  as an input command when the operating system is not loaded and thereby the host  12  can perform corresponding operations according to the input signal  48 . For instance, parameters for BIOS settings of the host  12  are set based on the input of the interface device  16 A.  
      Another method of the present invention is to connect a host and a wireless peripheral, the host and the wireless peripheral being separate. The host comprises a wired input port, a universal connection port, and a BIOS module. The BIOS module receives a signal formatted for the wired input port to control the operations of the host. The wireless peripheral comprises an interface device and a dongle. The interface device is selectively electrically connected to the wired input port or the universal connection port through the dongle. The method comprises detecting the input of the wireless input device by the interface device to generate a corresponding key signal, wirelessly transmitting the key signal, the dongle receiving the key signal and providing a corresponding command signal according to the received key signal, and the dongle transmitting the command signal to the host. The command signal is transmitted to the host by the universal connection port of the host if the dongle is electrically connected to the universal connection port of the host. Otherwise, a corresponding input signal formatted for the wired input port is generated according to the command signal if the dongle is electrically connected to the wired input port of the host and the input signal is transmitted to the host through the wired input port.  
      Additionally, when the dongle is electrically connected to the universal connection port, the input signal formatted for the wired input port is not generated. When the dongle is electrically connected to the wired input port, the present invention uses the advanced control module to generate a corresponding input signal based on the command signal from the basic control module and thereby the input signal is transmitted to the host through the wired input port. When the dongle is electrically connected to the universal connection port, the advanced control module is disabled and the input signal formatted for the wired input port is not generated. Moreover, the present invention utilizes the signal interface circuit to detect whether the dongle is connected to the wired input port or the universal connection port.  
      As mentioned above, when the operating system is not loaded, the present invention can support the legacy input operation. The advanced control module  24 B is substantially equivalent to the input interface program Si to extract the original key signal from the baseband key signal of the dongle  16 . If the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention is implemented with the Bluetooth protocol, the advanced control module  24 B can support Human Interface Device Profile (HID Profile). However, the advanced control module  24 B does not have to support all functions of the input interface program Si. Instead, the advanced control module  24 B only has to support the basic input function and thereby the user can perform the legacy input operation when the operating system is not loaded.  
      In conclusion, whether the operating system is loaded or not, the wireless peripheral  14  of the present invention makes it convenient for the user to perform a wireless input operation using the wireless interface device. Generally, the user controls the host through the operating system after the operating system is loaded. In this case (in  FIG. 2 ), the dongle  16 B of the present invention automatically disables the advanced control module  24 B if the dongle  16 B is electrically connected to the universal connection port  28 C of the host  12 . The input interface program and the wireless peripheral program are executed by the operating system to cooperate with the wireless peripheral  14 . It is easy to update and maintain the software input interface program and therefore, since the present invention operates with the input interface program in general conditions. The wireless peripheral  14  is updated with the input interface program and the flexibility of the wireless peripheral  14  is maintained.  
      If the user performs the legacy input operation when the operating system is not loaded, the user can connect the dongle  16  to the wired input port  28 C of the host  12 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The dongle  16 B therefore enables the advanced control module  24 B so that the dongle  16  has the function of the input interface program. This enables the user to perform the basic input operation by using the wireless interface device  14 A. For instance, the user changes the BIOS setting of the host through the wireless interface device  14 A.  
      In the prior art, the wireless peripheral has to work with a software driver program. Hence, the prior art cannot support the basic input operation without the operating system loaded. Compared to the prior art, the wireless peripheral of the present invention can support the basic input operation through the wireless interface device when the operating system is not loaded. No matter what the condition is, the present invention enables the user to control the computer system by wireless.  
      Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.