Application managing apparatus

• US 20020184372A1
• Filed: 05/29/2002
• Published: 12/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Naoto, Ishikawa, Akira
• Application Number:
  US10/156,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20020184372A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

An application managing apparatus that manages start-up and install of applications is provided with connection receiving section 11 that receives a connection request for an application with the designated address, address/application-location managing section 13 that manages the correspondence between an address of an application and substantial location of the program, application state obtaining section 14 that obtains a current state of an application requested for the connection, resource information obtaining section 17 that obtains a currently usable resource amount, and application stop determining section 16 that determines an application to stop so as to reserve a resource amount needed for starting a new application. The apparatus keeps resident applications started as many as the resources permit, and when the resources are not sufficient in starting a new application, determines an application to stop based on a determining algorithm.

Claims

1. An application managing apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

obtaining means for obtaining a currently usable resource amount when the application targeted for the connection request is not started; and

starting means for starting the application targeted for the connection request while keeping a currently accept-state application (keeping an already started application in its accept state), when an obtained resource amount is more than a resource amount needed for executing the application targeted for the connection request.

2. An application managing apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

obtaining means for obtaining a currently usable resource amount when the application targeted for the connection request is not started; and

determining means for determining an application to stop among currently accept-state applications (already started applications), when an obtained resource amount is less than a resource amount needed for executing the application targeted for the connection request.

3. The application managing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

managing means for managing operation logs of the currently accept-state applications,

wherein said determining means determines an application to stop based on a result of analyzing the operation logs.

4. The application managing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said managing means manages, as the operation logs, transaction states of the currently accept-state applications, and said determining means determines an application with an earliest time of finishing transaction to be the application to stop.

5. The application managing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said managing means manages, as the operation logs, processing requested for applications, and said determining means determines an application with a least number of times processing therefor is requested to be the application to stop.

6. The application managing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said determining means determines the application to stop so as to minimize the number of applications to be stopped to reserve a resource amount needed for starting the application targeted for the connection request.

7. An application managing apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

obtaining means for obtaining a free space of storage means when an application targeted for the connection request is not installed onto said storage means; and

determining means for determining an application to uninstall among applications currently installed onto said storage means, when an obtained free space is less than a volume of the application targeted for the connection request.

8. The application managing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

managing means for managing operation logs of the applications currently installed onto said storage means, wherein said determining means determines an application to uninstall based on a result of analyzing the operation logs.

9. The application managing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said managing means manages, as the operation logs, stopped times of the applications currently installed onto said storage means, and said determining means determines an application with a longest stopped time to be the application to uninstall.

10. The application managing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

saving means for saving user data accompanying the application to uninstall in a server, wherein the application managing apparatus is connected to said server through a network.

11. The application managing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said saving means receives the user data saved in said server when the application to uninstall is uninstalled and then installed again.

12. An application managing apparatus connected through a network to a server that controls start-up and install of an application, said application managing apparatus comprising:

means for providing a start-up status or an install status of an application to said server through the network;

receiving means for receiving a start-up request or an install request issued by said server based on the start-up status or the install status, respectively; and

means for starting or installing the application according to the start-up request or the install request, respectively.

13. A server connected through a network to an application managing apparatus that manages start-up and install of an application, said server comprising:

obtaining means for obtaining a start-up status or an install status of an application provided from said application managing apparatus; and

means for issuing a start-up request or an install request to said application managing apparatus based on the start-up status or the install status, respectively.

14. A server that bills a terminal apparatus when said terminal apparatus downloads an application from said server through a network, said terminal apparatus provided with an application managing apparatus that manages install of an application, said server comprising:

means for authenticating a terminal apparatus that downloads an application; and

means for managing a correspondence between an authenticated terminal apparatus and an application that said authenticated terminal apparatus downloads, wherein said server does not bill said authenticated terminal apparatus for an application that said authenticated terminal apparatus previously downloaded.

15. An application managing program comprising:

a receiving step of receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

an obtaining step of obtaining a currently usable resource amount when the application targeted for the connection request is not started; and

a starting step of starting the application targeted for the connection request while keeping a currently accept-state application (keeping an already started application in its accept state), when an obtained resource amount is more than a resource amount needed for executing the application targeted for the connection request.

16. An application managing program comprising:

a receiving step of receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

an obtaining step of obtaining a currently usable resource amount when the application targeted for the connection request is not started; and

a determining step of determining an application to stop among currently accept-state applications, when an obtained resource amount is less than a resource amount needed for executing the application targeted for the connection request.

17. An application managing program comprising:

a receiving step of receiving a connection request for connecting to an application;

an obtaining step of obtaining a free space of storage means when an application targeted for the connection request is not installed onto said storage means; and

a determining step of determining an application to uninstall among applications currently installed onto said storage means, when an obtained free space is less than a volume of the application targeted for the connection request.