Self-registering objects for an IPC mechanism

• US 20060259488A1
• Filed: 05/16/2005
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bernabeu-Auban, Jose M., Havens, Jeff L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,730,522 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/468 Specific access rights for resources, e.g. using capability register
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/548 Object oriented; Remote method invocation [RMI] non-remote method invocation G06F9/449

Abstract

In response to receiving a communication from a first process directed to a second process, a trusted entity determines if an object reference in the communication refers to an object owned by a first process which is being exported to a second process or if the communication refers to an object not owned by the first process which is being passed to the second process. The trusted entity generates a second object reference for use by the second process. Use of a naming convention identifies the reference as a reference to an object which is foreign to or owned by the processes.

Claims

1. An inter-process communication system comprising:

a trusted entity adapted to;

mediate a resource reference communication between a first agent and a second agent via a trusted channel, wherein the resource reference communication comprises a reference to a resource passed from the first agent to the second agent,

determine if the first agent owns the resource by inspection of a name used by the first agent for the reference to the resource;

generate a local name for the reference for use by the second agent, wherein the local name identifies the reference as a reference to a resource not owned by the second agent; and

maintain a namespace of references for the second agent.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the trusted entity is further adapted to:

create an entry in a namespace of references for the first agent in response to determining that the resource is owned by the first agent.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the trusted entity is further adapted to:

generate the local name for the reference for use by the second agent according to a naming convention that distinguishes between a resource that is owned by the second agent and a resource that is not owned by the second agent.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the trusted entity is solely able to access the namespace of references for the first agent.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the trusted entity is solely able to access the namespace of references for the second agent.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the resource reference communication between the first agent and the second agent comprises an invocation of a method on an object via the reference.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the trusted entity is the kernel of a service-based operating system.

8. A computer-implemented method for self-registering resources in an inter-process communication mechanism comprising:

mediating via a trusted channel a resource reference communication from a first agent directed to a second agent, the resource reference communication including a first reference used by the first agent to refer to a resource, the first reference intended to be passed to the second agent from the first agent;

determining if the resource is owned by the first agent;

generating a second reference for the resource to be used by the second agent when referring to the resource, wherein the second reference identifies the resource as one not owned by the second agent.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating an entry in a namespace for the second agent indexed by the second reference, the entry comprising the second reference and the first reference.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

modifying the resource reference communication by replacing the first reference with the second reference and sending the modified resource reference communication to the second agent.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein in response to determining that the resource is owned by the first agent, generating a new entry in a namespace maintained for the first agent, the new entry comprising the first reference.

12. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for:

monitoring via a trusted channel a resource reference communication from a first agent directed to a second agent, the resource reference communication including a first reference used by the first agent to refer to a resource, the resource reference communication intended to pass the first reference to the second agent;

determining if the resource is owned by the first agent;

generating a second reference for the resource to be used by the second agent when referring to the resource, wherein the second reference identifies the resource as one not owned by the second agent.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

generating an entry in a namespace for the second agent indexed by the second reference, the entry comprising the second reference and the first reference.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

modifying the resource reference communication by replacing the first reference with the second reference in the resource reference communication and sending the modified resource reference communication to the second agent.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

determining that the resource is owned by the first agent by inspection of the first reference, wherein the first reference is assigned according to a naming convention that distinguishes between a resource owned by the first agent and a resource not owned by the first agent.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

generating a new entry in a namespace maintained for the first agent in response to determining that the resource is owned by the first agent, the new entry comprising the first reference.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

determining if the reference has previously been exported by the first agent by inspecting the namespace maintained for the first agent, wherein the reference has previously been exported if an entry for the reference is found in the namespace.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

determining if the reference has previously been exported by the first agent by inspecting the namespace for the first agent, wherein the reference has not previously been exported if no entry for the reference is found in the namespace.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

preventing access to a namespace maintained for the first agent by the first agent and the second agent.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, comprising further computer-executable instructions for:

preventing access to a namespace maintained for the second agent by the first agent and the second agent.