Patent ID: 7689724

Claim:
A method of sharing device data and focus command data from a peripheral device by a plurality of computers including a first, second, and third computer, said peripheral device coupled with the first computer, the method comprising: providing for coupling the peripheral device to the first computer using a first hardware interface; providing a first device emulator coupled between and separate from the first computer and the second computer, the first device emulator adapted to pass the device data and focus command data from the first computer to the second computer in a format used by the peripheral device, the first device emulator further comprising, a first USB peripheral controller configured to receive data from the first computer, the first USB peripheral controller configured to be coupled with the first computer, using a first hardware interface of the first computer, the data being originated by the peripheral device and received by the first USB peripheral controller from the first computer, and a second USB peripheral controller coupled with the first USB peripheral controller to receive data therefrom, the second USB peripheral controller configured to be coupled with the second computer using a second hardware interface of the second computer, the second USB peripheral controller configured to encode the data received from the first computer in a format used by the peripheral device and adapted to pass the encoded data which emulates the data that originated from the peripheral device to the second computer through the second hardware interface in the format used by the peripheral device; providing a second device emulator coupled between and separate from the second computer and the third computer, the second device emulator adapted to pass the device data and focus command data from the second computer to the third computer in a format used by the peripheral device, receiving the device data and focus command data at the first computer; processing device data and focus command data received from the peripheral device; determining whether the device data should be processed by the first computer using the focus command data; and passing the device data to the first device emulator for transmission to the second computer if the focus command data identifies a computer different than the first computer.