International Business Machines Corporation

Nicholas J Schwartz

Akram Bou-Ghannam

Andrew B McNeill

Layton Balliet

Gerald U Merckel

Thomas K Pate

Richard N Ames

Joseph A Boscove

Peter Langer

William Craig Troop

Richard V Ballou

Robert V Miller

Stanley M Belyeu

Frederick T Slater

Stanford A Strickland

An advanced display system controller is described for use in automotive vehicles. The controller has electronic circuitry to allow it to be programmed to display monochrome or color graphics and text on an all-points-addressable display device such as a CRT or an Electro-Luminescent (EL) Flat panel. The display resolution and scan rates may be programmed differently depending on the display type and size. The vehicle operator controls the display system via a reconfigurable switch system (RSS), such as an Infrared Touch Panel or Mylar Touch Switch Matrix mounted over the face of the display. In addition, external discrete switches may also be attached to the controller. The controller includes a master microprocessor and a slave microprocessor with preferred partitioning of functions and communicates with other parts of the vehicle via two serial data communication links, a Random Access bus and a Poll/Response bus. The design of this controller allows the display characteristics and supported functions to be changed through reconfigurable hardware and software, allowing a broad range of applications in different model automobiles.

Display system for automotive vehicle

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Nicholas J Schwartz