Patent ID: 7158126

Claim:
A method for moving a cursor on a display screen, comprising: providing a display device having the display screen; providing four microphones M 1 , M 2 , M 3 , M 4 at fixed positions such that no three of M 1 , M 2 , M 3 , and M 4 are colinear; providing a wireless pointing device having an acoustic source; moving the pointing device such that the acoustic source is moved to a position P 0 having an associated position vector P 0 , wherein P 0 is yet to be calculated: propagating an acoustic signal from the acoustic source; detecting the acoustic signal at microphone M 1 , for i=1, 2, 3, and 4; converting the acoustic signal detected at microphone M 1 to a periodic electrical signal S 1 , for i=1, 2, 3, and 4; calculating P 0 by solving triangulation equations that comprise a dependence on a phase-shift time delay between S 1 and S j , for j=2, 3, and 4; computing a position vector P C for the cursor, wherein P C depends on: P 0 , a scale vector A, and a shape function of the display screen; and moving the cursor to a position P C associated with the position vector P C .