The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 31, 1995
Filed:
Oct. 05, 1993
Brian Verstegen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Lance King, Newark, CA (US);
George A Vlantis, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Chips and Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for assisting the scanning of a keyboard associated with a personal computer. The system comprises a logic circuit which interacts with the microcontroller and the keyboard to reduce power consumption by the personal computer as well as freeing the microcontroller to do other tasks. The logic circuit 'interrupts' the microcontroller whenever keyboard activity is detected. An image RAM stores a pattern of current key closures to be compared in subsequent keyboard scans. A subsequent miscompare between the keyboard and the Image RAM indicates that keyboard activity has occurred. When no keys are pressed, scanning may be stopped. Any key closure will then generate an interrupt, and the microcontroller will restart scanning.