System and method for virtual displays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9489165-B2
Application number	US-201615012527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 1, 2016
Priority date	Feb 28, 2013
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

An operating system creates one or more virtual display interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between the application layer and one or more virtual display devices. The one or more virtual display devices are not physically connected to the computing system managed by the operating system. One or more applications are executed in an application layer. At least one of the one or more applications communicates display data to and receives user input events from at least one of the one or more display devices using at least one of the display interfaces. At least one other of the one or more applications communicates display data to and receives user input events from at least one of the one or more virtual display devices using at least one of the one or more virtual display interfaces.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, the method comprising:
performing, by one or more processors:
creating, by an operating system, one or more display interfaces, wherein the one or more display interfaces are interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between an application layer and one or more display devices physically connected to a computing system managed by the operating system;
creating, by the operating system, one or more virtual display interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between the application layer and one or more virtual display devices not physically connected to the computing system managed by the operating system;
receiving, by one of the display interfaces, display data from, and sending user input events to, an application executing in the application layer; and
receiving, by one of the virtual display interfaces, display data from, and sending user input events to, another application executing in the application layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
rendering, based on output of the other application, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, display data for display on the virtual display device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting the display data from the virtual display device to a target display device over a radio frequency connection.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting over a network connection the display data from the virtual display device to a remote computing system connected to a target display device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, using the one or more processors, output representing attributes of a window, wherein the window displays the interactive elements of a graphical user interface on at least one of the one or more virtual display devices using at least one of the virtual display interfaces in a simulation of a virtual display; and
rendering, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices; and
displaying, on the at least one of the plurality of display devices using at least one of the display interfaces, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, using the one or more processors, output representing attributes of a window, wherein the window displays the interactive elements of a graphical user interface on at least one of the one or more virtual display devices using at least one of the virtual display interfaces in a simulation of a virtual display; and
rendering, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices; and
comparing to expected values the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices to appraise display performance.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
verifying a permission of a remote computing system housing a target display device to display the display data; and
transmitting the display data over a network connection to the remote computing system connected to the target display device.

8. A system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to:
create, by an operating system, one or more display interfaces, wherein the one or more display interfaces are interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between an application layer and one or more display devices physically connected to a computing system managed by the operating system;
create, by the operating system, one or more virtual display interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between the application layer and one or more virtual display devices not physically connected to the computing system managed by the operating system;
receive, by one of the display interfaces, display data from, and send user input events to, an application executing in the application layer; and
receive, by one of the virtual display interfaces, display data from, and send user input events to, another application executing in the application layer.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
render, based on output of the other application, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, display data for display on the virtual display device.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
transmit the display data from the other application to a target display device over a radio frequency connection.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
transmit over a network connection the display data from other application to a remote computing system connected to a target display device.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
generate output representing attributes of a window, wherein the window displays the interactive elements of a graphical user interface on at least one of the one or more virtual display devices using at least one of the virtual display interfaces in a simulation of a virtual display;
render, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices; and
display, on the at least one of the plurality of display devices using at least one of the display interfaces, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
generate, using the at least one processor, output representing attributes of a window, wherein the window displays the interactive elements of a graphical user interface on at least one of the one or more virtual display devices using at least one of the virtual display interfaces in a simulation of a virtual display;
render, using hardware acceleration provided by a graphics processing unit, the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices; and
compare to expected values the output for display on the one or more virtual display devices to appraise display performance.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
verify a permission of a remote computing system housing a target display device to display the display data; and
transmit the display data over a network connection to the remote computing system connected to the target display device.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:
creating, by an operating system, one or more display interfaces, wherein the one or more display interfaces are interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between an application layer and one or more display devices physically connected to a computing system managed by the operating system;
creating, by the operating system, one or more virtual display interfaces for communication of display data and user input events between the application layer and one or more virtual display devices not physically connected to the computing system managed by the operating system;
receiving, by one of the display interfaces, display data from, and sending user input events to, an application executing

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Wright Christopher P
• Dyke Kenneth C
• Fard Assana M
• Costa Thomas W

Classifications

• G06F3/1423 Primary

  controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display · CPC title

• G06F9/4445

  Physics · mapped topic

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• G06F3/0484

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title

• H04L69/329

  in the application layer [OSI layer 7] · CPC title