Systems and methods for workspace interaction with cloud-based applications

• US 10,063,430 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2012
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CloudOn Ltd. (Dropbox, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CloudOn Ltd. (Dropbox, Inc.)
• Inventors: Binyamin, Shuki, Zaveri, Jay, Morgenstern, Meir, Gadekar, Milind
• Primary Examiner(s): Mejia, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Siddiqi, Emad
• Application Number:
  US13/607,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20130138810A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,181 Days
• Field of Search: 709225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements

Abstract

Various systems and methods described herein relate to server-based computing, where the systems and methods provide a client with access to an application executing remotely from the client device and having access to data (e.g., one or more files) residing on a cloud-based storage (e.g., provided by a third-party cloud-based storage service, such as Dropbox, Box, or Google® Docs). For some systems and methods, the application may be remotely executed and provided to the client such that the application has in-application/embedded access (hereafter, referred to as “native access”) to the cloud-based storage and files residing on the cloud-based storage.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a computing device of an application service provider system, access to cloud-based storage provided by a first cloud-based server over a network, the cloud-based storage comprising a file;

receiving, by the computing device, from a client application on a remote client device a request for access to the file, the client application being native to an operating system of the remote client device;

obtaining, by the computing device, a version of an editing application from a second cloud-based server based on one or more criteria, the one or more criteria including a network bandwidth between the application service provider system and the remote client device, wherein the version of the editing application is natively incompatible with the operating system of the client device, the version of the editing application being capable of processing the file, the version of the editing application being obtained from the second cloud-based server by an application module in response to the user'"'"'s request from the remote client device for access to the file, wherein the editing application is obtained based on the user'"'"'s request;

executing, by a virtual machine on the computing device, a virtualized application instance in a virtual environment generated by the virtual machine, the virtualized application instance being based on the version of the editing application in a virtual computing environment, the virtualized application instance being configured to receive access to the file on the cloud-based storage, the virtualized application instance being further configured to enable editing of the file in response to application controls;

transmitting, by the computing device, to the remote client device output data generated as a result of execution of the virtualized application instance;

receiving, by the computing device, first input data native to an environment of the remote client device and generated by a peripheral coupled to the remote client device;

translating, by the computing device, the first input data to the application controls; and

using, by the computing device, a second input data to control the execution of the virtualized application instance.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising mapping access of the cloud-based storage from a storage module to the virtual computing environment, thereby providing the virtualized application instance access to the cloud-based storage.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the output data comprises display data or audio data generated as the result of the execution of the virtualized application instance.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing access to the cloud-based storage comprises establishing access to the cloud-based storage by a web-based application program interface (API) configured to perform file-based operations with the cloud-based storage.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising redirecting the input data received from the peripheral to the virtualized application instance.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising redirecting the output data received from the virtualized application instance to the remote client device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a separate virtualized application instance for each user on the remote client device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each user on the remote client device is provided with a separate application instance.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating a user on the remote client device; and

enabling access to the file in cloud-based storage using a user credential associated with the authenticated user.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating a user on the remote client device; and

enabling access to an image of the editing application using a user credential associated with the authenticated user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud-based storage is provided by a third-party cloud-based storage provider.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein an image of the editing application is provided by a third-party cloud-based application provider.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions, the instructions executable by a processor of an application service provider system to perform a method, the method comprising:

establishing access to cloud-based storage provided by a first cloud-based server over a network, the cloud-based storage comprising a file;

receiving from a client application on a remote client device a request for access to the file, the client application being native to an operating system of the remote client device;

obtaining a version of an editing application from a second cloud-based server based on one or more criteria, the one or more criteria including a network bandwidth between the application service provider system and the remote client device, wherein the version of the editing application is natively incompatible with the operating system of the client device, the version of the editing application being capable of processing the file, the version of the editing application being obtained from the second cloud-based server by an application module in response to the user'"'"'s request from the remote client device for access to the file, wherein the editing application is obtained based on the user'"'"'s request;

executing, by a virtual machine, a virtualized application instance in a virtual environment generated by the virtual machine, the virtualized application instance being based on the version of the application in a virtual computing environment, the virtualized application instance being configured to receive access to the file on the cloud-based storage, the virtualized application instance being further configured to enable editing of the file in response to application controls;

transmitting to the remote client device output data generated as a result of execution of the virtualized application instance;

receiving first input data native to an environment of the remote client device and generated by a peripheral coupled to the remote client device;

translating the first input data to the application controls; and

using a second input data to control the execution of the virtualized application instance.

14. An application service provider system, comprising:

at least one processor;

means for establishing access to cloud-based storage provided by a first cloud-based server over a network, the cloud-based storage comprising a file;

means for receiving from a client application on a remote client device a request for access to the file, the client application being native to an operating system of the remote client device;

means for obtaining a version of an editing application from a second cloud-based server based on one or more criteria, the one or more criteria including a network bandwidth between the application service provider system and the remote client device, wherein the version of the editing application is natively incompatible with the operating system of the client device, the version of the editing application being capable of processing the file, the version of the editing application being obtained from the second cloud-based server by an application module in response to the user'"'"'s request from the remote client device for access to the file, wherein the editing application is obtained based on the user'"'"'s request;

means for executing, by a virtual machine, a virtualized application instance in a virtual environment generated by the virtual machine, the virtualized application instance being based on the version of the application in a virtual computing environment, the virtualized application instance being configured to receive access to the file on the cloud-based storage, the virtualized application instance being further configured to enable editing of the file in response to application controls;

means for transmitting to the remote client device output data generated as a result of execution of the virtualized application instance; and

means for receiving first input data native to an environment of the remote client device and generated by a peripheral coupled to the remote client device, and for translating the first input data to the application controls.

15. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium that includes one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising;

establishing, by a computing device of an application service provider system, access to cloud-based storage provided by a first cloud-based server over a network, the cloud-based storage comprising a file;

receiving, by the computing device, from a client application on a remote client device a request for access to the file, the client application being native to an operating system of the remote client device;

obtaining, by the computing device, a version of an editing application from a second cloud-based server based on one or more criteria, the one or more criteria including a network bandwidth between the application service provider system and the remote client device, wherein the version of the editing application is natively incompatible with the operating system of the client device, the version of the editing application being capable of processing the file, the version of the editing application being obtained from the second cloud-based server by an application module in response to the user'"'"'s request from the remote client device for access to the file, wherein the editing application is obtained based on the user'"'"'s request;

executing, by a virtual machine on the computing device, a virtualized application instance in a virtual environment generated by the virtual machine, the virtualized application instance being based on the version of the editing application in a virtual computing environment, the virtualized application instance being configured to receive access to the file on the cloud-based storage, the virtualized application instance being further configured to enable editing of the file in response to application controls;

transmitting, by the computing device, to the remote client device output data generated as a result of execution of the virtualized application instance;

receiving, by the computing device, first input data native to an environment of the remote client device and generated by a peripheral coupled to the remote client device;

translating, by the computing device, the first input data to the application controls; and

using, by the computing device, a second input data to control the execution of the virtualized application instance.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

mapping access of the cloud-based storage from a storage module to the virtual computing environment, thereby providing the virtualized application instance access to the cloud-based storage.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the output data comprises display data or audio data generated as the result of the execution of the virtualized application instance.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the processors to perform operations comprising establishing access to the cloud-based storage include instructions that cause establishing access to the cloud-based storage by a web-based application program interface (API) configured to perform file-based operations with the cloud-based storage.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

redirecting the input data received from the peripheral to the virtualized application instance.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

redirecting the output data received from the virtualized application instance to the remote client device.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

generating a separate virtualized application instance for each user on the remote client device.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein each user on the remote client device is provided with a separate application instance.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

authenticating a user on the remote client device; and

enabling access to the file in cloud-based storage using a user credential associated with the authenticated user.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

authenticating a user on the remote client device; and

enabling access to an image of the editing application using a user credential associated with the authenticated user.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the cloud-based storage is provided by a third-party cloud-based storage provider.

26. The system of claim 15, wherein an image of the editing application is provided by a third-party cloud-based application provider.