International Business Machines Corporation

Charles S Lanier

James Robert Lewis

Francis James Canova, Jr

Raymond L Yee

Byron K Tiller

Debra A Johnson

David J Allard

William Villafana

Leonard Weiss

Julie F Goodwin

Brent A Beatty

Bradley J DeBauche

Daniel Ming-Te Hsieh

Wayne P Whitley

Roger E McKay

Hiram M Maxwell

Jean Luter Stout

Connie Yudip Au

Jose L Rivero

Neal A Osborn

Daniel T Sze

Peter Rowland Eastwood

Robert Bedford Ferrier

James Christian Wulf

Russell Stephen Padgett

Roger L Cox

Thomas T Murakami

Danile M Hsieh

Anthony F Corkell

Jonathan B Davis

In a personal communications device having a touch sensitive display screen, text may be marked by a user to be used with different applications. In particular, to begin marking, a user has to maintain his touch at a location on the screen for a short predetermined period of time until the system detects that the position is held over the same character for a delayed period, at which time the system beeps to provide an indication that there has been a change of operation mode. The marking mode continues in operation until the user removes his contact from the touch screen. Thus, text over which the contact point passes after the initiation of the marking mode is marked, until the user removes his contact point from the touch screen. A second beep is sounded to alert the user of the termination of the marking mode, and the appearance of a menu of operations on the screen. The menu of operations echoes the marked text for user confirmation. The marked text may be used by the user in a number of applications, among which include a calling application whereby the marked text is used to place a call.

Apparatus and method for marking text on a display screen in a personal

A data processing device and method for searching a database having a plurality of entries to locate entries which match a search string. Each entry within the database is arranged into one or more predetermined search fields which each contain a character string. In response to receipt of a search string, a determination is made whether the search string is a subset of a particular entry within the database. In response to the determination that the search string is a subset of a particular entry, the particular entry is recorded as a matching entry. However, in response to a determination that the search string is not a subset of a particular entry, a determination is made whether a modified search string formed by removing delimiters from the search string is a subset of a character string within a particular predetermined search field within the particular entry. In response to a determination that the modified search string is a subset of the character string, the particular entry is recorded as a matching entry. Thereafter, the foregoing steps are repeated for each of the number of entries within the database such that matching entries within the database are efficiently located.

Apparatus and method therefor of intelligently searching for information

A mobile, hand-held personal communicator includes a casing for housing a cellular phone, modem, and data processing system. Graphics image files are stored and can be selectively displayed on a touchscreen display. A zoom function magnifies areas of a graphics image, such as a fax image, that has been received and stored in the PC. When the zoom function is selected, the user touches the screen, and a magnification frame or window appears. When the user removes his/her finger, the area within the frame is magnified. The user can also drag the frame around the screen, while still touching the screen, to select a specific area to be magnified when the user releases the screen. A pan function allows the user to shift the image within a viewing area. The user can pan the image by touching the display at an initial touch point, and moving his/her finger keeping it in contact with the screen, to shift the touch point to a new touch point. Upon releasing the new touch point, the image is redrawn in a new position corresponding to the change in position between the initial and new touch points.

Personal communicator having improved zoom and pan functions for editing

An option attach connector has a first indicator bit combination that alerts the device that a public switched telephone network connection has been made to it. The presence of the first indicator bit combination is a signal to the device that telephone, FAX, and E-MAIL communications applications are to be conducted over a PSTN link. The presence of the first indicator bit combination invokes a stored computer program to provide appropriate connections between the PSTN link and the telephone, FAX, and modem hardware in the device. The connections are made by an audio multiplexer that receives control signals from the system CPU, while executing the stored computer program. The program determines the communications application selected by the user and selectively configures the PSTN link to be connected to the either the ear piece and microphone for voice communications, or to the FAX/modem for FAX communications, or to the modem alone for E-MAIL communications. The absence of the option attach connector invokes a default indicator bit combination that alerts the device that a cellular telephone network connection is desired by the user. The presence of the default indicator bit combination is a signal to the device that telephone, FAX, and E-mail communications applications are to be conducted over a cellular network.

Selective reconfiguration method and apparatus in a multiple application

A personal communication apparatus includes a digital processor, a memory coupled to the processor, an operating system, stored in the memory and executable by the processor, a touch-screen user interface coupled to the processor and the memory and responsive to file execution commands from the user, and a navigation utility file, executable by the processor, for initiating execution of files and for monitoring the sequence in which file executions occur. The Navigation utility maintains a stack in the memory into which the calling sequences of files are stored according to the order in which files were executed. In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a modem and RF transceiver coupled to the processor for receiving and transmitting data. In another embodiment, the communicator further includes a port for receiving an external memory medium containing a plurality of executable files.

Personal communicator apparatus

A personal communicator has a touch sensitive overlay coupled with a liquid crystal display (LCD). The communicator has two external (non-screen) up/down buttons for adjusting the volume of a cellular phone speaker. These volume buttons are also used to allow the user to adjust contrast. In accordance with one operation, contrast is adjusted in response to the user touching a predetermined area of the screen at the same time as one of the up or down buttons is actuated. In accordance with another operation, contrast is adjusted in response to the user first pressing both speaker volume buttons to enter a contrast adjustment mode, and thereafter pressing one or the other of such buttons, to increase or decrease contrast as desired.

Personal communicator having improved contrast control for a liquid

In a ring-structured data communication network, in which plural data processing systems exchange data and control information on a full duplex peer to peer basis, systems are presently architected to assign at least three I/O subchannels (i.e. at least three device addresses) to respective ring interface adapters. At least two of these subchannels are dedicated for providing separate input paths from the ring to at least two associated program-assignable areas in their system's main store, and a third of these subchannels is dedicated as an output path from the system's store to the ring. Collectively, these subchannels can sustain two input transfer processes and one output transfer process concurrently. One of these input processes is associatable with a locked mode of adapter operations which provides a non-blockable path for data transfer from a selected (remote) station on the ring to the respective system's main store. In this mode the other input subchannel and the output subchannel permit the system to maintain full duplex communication with other ring stations in respect to network transactions/processes which may require priority attention. Information is sent on the ring in discrete information frames of variable bit length, each frame acknowledged by a response frame. In general, response frames have much shorter bit lengths than the information frames, enabling the systems to access the ring more efficiently than they would be able to if response and information frames had equal lengths.

Distributed data processing in ring-structured networks architected for

A method of initializing non-synchronous peer-to-peer data communication rings, and for effecting error recovery in such networks. On detection of error, each station operates in a purging configuration to clear the ring. In the purging configuration the station's receiving circuits are isolated and its transmitting circuits transmit 'clear' signals containing this station's own address as destination. These signals serve to purge all potentially erroneous information in all upstream stations which then are operationally connected to that station. If a loss condition is persistent the station operates first in a 'bypass' configuration for a third predetermined time interval, then in the purging configuration for the second time interval, and then resumes normal operation. In the bypass configuration the station's ring input is connected directly to its output and the (locally clocked) output of its transmitting circuits is connected to the input of its receiving circuits. This serves to restore reception clocking in temporary alignment with the local transmission clock source. When a station switches from purging mode to normal operation it resumes monitoring its reception synchronism. If is fails to develop synchronism it repeats the foregoing recovery procedure.

Method of purging erroneous signals from closed ring data communication

In a loop-structured communication system interconnecting a plurality of data processors without central controller, stations comprise modems which can start loop operation and achieve synchronous frame transmission around the loop through all participating stations. In an initialization procedure after system start or after loss of frame synchronization on the loop, modems select a temporary master station. The temporary master will adapt total loop delay to be an integer multiple of the basic frame period, and will transmit available frames. All active modems adapt their timing to the circulating stream of frames until the whole loop and all participating stations are synchronized. Synchronization conditions are continuously monitored in all stations to start resynchronization or initialization procedures if necessary. In a specific arrangement, the location of a loop failure which prevents establishment of synchronization can be determined. All initialization and synchronization operations are handled by the modems without participation by other functional units or by the host processing system of any station.

Loop initialization mechanism for a peer-to-peer communication system

Growing community of inventors

Delray Beach, FL, United States of America

Charles S Lanier