Patent ID: 7549154

Claim:
An auxiliary display device capable of coupling to a main computer system, the auxiliary device comprising: a processor; and memory storing an auxiliary platform for displaying data received from any main computer system having a particular operating system, the auxiliary platform being extensible to support extended hardware that is incorporated into the auxiliary display device, the auxiliary platform including: a hardware abstraction layer that is specific to the processor and that abstracts functions provided by the processor from higher-level software on the auxiliary display device; a driver layer that includes standard driver code for driving an auxiliary display of the auxiliary display device, the driver layer also being extensible by including additional driver code for driving extended hardware that may be included in the auxiliary display device; a common language runtime layer for running programs that are written in managed code, wherein the common language runtime layer is extensible by providing programs that are written in native code to support extended hardware as needed; and auxiliary device program code that displays the data received from the main computer system or data that is generated by extended hardware that is included in the auxiliary display device.