Preference portability for computing

• US 20020147912A1
• Filed: 03/09/2001
• Published: 10/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Israel Limited (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: msystems Ltd. (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Lang, Alex, Billman, Jean, Shmueli, Shimon
• Granted Patent: US 6,986,030 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/602 Providing cryptographic facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions

Abstract

The present invention uses a portable memory device to directly or wirelessly interact with one or more host computing devices to provide a customized configuration for one or more aspects associated with a computing session. In particular, software on the portable device will automatically execute on the host computing device after the host computing device recognizes the presence of the portable device. The software provides instructions for the host computing device to launch a select program on the host computing device and provide a customized configuration for the program. The customized configuration is based on information stored on the portable device. As such, the portable device may automatically set preferred interface or program configurations personalized to the user. For example, the interface settings for a desktop, productivity, or browser application may be tailored as defined by information stored on the portable device. Other settings, such as bookmarks for a browser, may be stored on the portable device and made available to the program launched on the host computing device.

Claims

1. A portable device comprising:

a) a body;

b) memory within the body containing software and data relating to configuration information for a program on a host computing device; and

c) an interface associated with the memory and adapted to facilitate interaction with the host computing device;

the software adapted to automatically execute on the host computing device after the host computing device recognizes the presence of the portable device and instruct the host computing device to launch the program on the host computing device and provide a customized configuration for the program based on the data.

2. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the program launched on the host computing device is a browser.

3. The portable device of claim 2 wherein the configuration information includes bookmarks to web sites, the bookmarks stored as the data on the portable device.

4. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the program launched on the host computing device controls interface settings for a user interface of the host computing device.

5. The portable device of claim 4 wherein the configuration information defines certain of the interface settings of the host computing device.

6. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is further adapted to cause the program launched on the host computing device to access the data in the memory instead of select data on the host computing device, wherein the host computing device would normally access the select data on the host computing device when the portable device is not present.

7. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is adapted to emulate a file system resident on the host computing device when interacting with the host computing device.

8. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software and the data are adapted to appear as a file system to the host computing device.

9. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is adapted to delete records of user interaction from the host computing device at the end of a computing session involving the portable device.

10. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the interface is adapted to directly interface a port in the host computing device.

11. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the interface is adapted to provide a wireless interface with the host computing device.

12. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software includes a plurality of keylets that are independently executable on the host computing device to provide at least one function, including recognizing the presence of the portable device and instructing the host computing device to launch the program on the host computing device and provide a customized configuration for the program.

13. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is further adapted to provide an authentication routine upon the host computing device recognizing the presence of the portable device and before instructing the host computing device to launch the program on the host computing device, the authentication routine including receiving authentication indicia from a user of the portable device via an interface on the host computing device and determining if the authentication indicia received from the user matches authentication indicia stored in the memory.

14. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is further adapted to use encryption to protect select data used during interaction and stored as the data.

15. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the software is further adapted to update the data based on changes to the data occurring while the software is executing on the host computing device.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the program launched on the host computing device is a browser.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein the configuration information includes bookmarks to web sites, the bookmarks stored as the data on the portable device.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the program launched on the host computing device controls interface settings for a user interface of the host computing device.

20. The portable device of claim 19 wherein the configuration information defines certain of the interface settings of the host computing device.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 16 comprising further instructions to cause the program launched on the host computing device to access the data in the memory instead of select data on the host computing device, wherein the host computing device would normally access the select data on the host computing device when the portable device is not present.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software is adapted to emulate file system resident on the host computing device when interacting with the host computing device.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software and the data stored on the portable device are adapted to appear as a file system to the host computing device.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software is adapted to delete records of user interaction from the host computing device at the end of a computing session involving the portable device.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software includes a plurality of keylets that are independently executable on the host computing device to provide at least one function, including recognizing the presence of the portable device, instructing the host computing device to launch the program on the host computing device and providing a customized configuration for the program.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software is further adapted to provide an authentication routine upon the host computing device recognizing the presence of the portable device and before instructing the host computing device to launch the program on the host computing device, the authentication routine including receiving authentication indicia from a user of the portable device via an interface on the host computing device and determining if the authentication indicia received from the user matches authentication indicia stored in the memory.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the software is further adapted to update the data based on changes to the data occurring while the software is executing on the host computing device.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the program launched on the host computing device is a browser.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the configuration information includes bookmarks to web sites, the bookmarks stored as the data on the portable device.

31. The method of claim 28 wherein the program launched on the host computing device controls interface settings for a user interface of the host computing device.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the configuration information defines certain of the interface settings of the host computing device.

33. The method of claim 28 further comprising deleting records of user interaction from the host computing device at the end of a computing session involving the portable device based on the software.

34. The method of claim 28 further comprising:

a) executing an authentication routine based on the software;

b) receiving authentication indicia from a user of the portable device via an interface on the host computing device; and

c) determining if the authentication indicia received from the user matches authentication indicia stored on the portable device.

35. The method of claim 28 wherein the software is further adapted to update data stored on the portable device based on changes to the data occurring while the software is executing on the host computing device.

16. A computer readable medium including software to reside on a portable device capable of interacting with a plurality of host computing devices, the software comprising instructions to:

a) automatically execute on the host computing device after the host computing device recognizes the presence of the portable device;

b) instruct the host computing device to launch a program resident on the host computing device;

c) access configuration information stored on the portable memory device; and

d) customize the configuration of the program based on the configuration information.

28. A method comprising:

a) recognizing the presence of a portable device having software at a host computing device;

b) executing the software on the host computing device;

c) launching a program resident on the host computing device based on the software;

d) accessing configuration information for the software stored on the portable device; and

e) customizing the configuration of the program on the host computing device based on the configuration information.