SYSTEM FOR CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS USABLE ON MULTIPLE MOBILE DEVICE PLATFORMS

• US 20110161912A1
• Filed: 12/30/2009
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Laboratory Corporation Of America Holdings
• Original Assignee: Qualzoom Incorporated
• Inventors: Carosi, Marco, Eteminan, Isaac Eshagh, Shanthikumar, Harish
• Granted Patent: US 8,719,776 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

The present invention provides a mobile application ecosystem comprising a mobile application development kit and store, both of which are implemented as web-based services such that creation, testing, and distribution of mobile applications, as well as discovery, investigation, and delivery of same, can all be performed using a standard web browser. The mobile application development kit offers common capabilities across all target mobile device brand and brand groups, allowing the same application construct to work unmodified on all, while building the application in a manner that is native to each, thereby avoiding any requirement to embed a separate common runtime or virtual machine on every mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for creating, managing and distributing a mobile device software application, comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

dragging at least one logic and data element from either an Event, Logic, Data, Math or Service Palette onto a Data and Logic Canvas or at least one user interaction element from either a Graphic, Widget, Audio/Video, or Haptic Palette onto a Multimedia User Interaction Canvas to form a Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Distribution Center; and

distributing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Mobile Device.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step of testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step of compiling said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component into an executable application suitable for a target Mobile Device.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step of submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Build Engine for builds on multiple Specific Mobile Device Models.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step of verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module;

compiling said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component into an executable application suitable for a target Mobile Device;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Build Engine for builds on multiple Specific Mobile Device Models; and

verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the Build Engine comprises the computer-implemented steps of:

parsing each expression of a Mobile Application using a combined Compilation Set and Build Toolkit;

translating the parsed expression using syntactic analysis and complier techniques and a selected Target Device-Specific Language Code Generator;

producing a new expression of a Compilation Set in the form of source code native to the Target Specific Mobile Device Model;

combining the new expression of a Compilation Set with one or more Precompiled Component Objects; and

running the combined new expression of a Compilation Set with one or more Precompiled Component Objects through a compiler and linker associated with a Target Specific Mobile Device Mode selected from Target Device-Specific Software Development Kits and Tool Chains to produce a Target Device-Specific Executable.

8. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for creating, managing and distributing a mobile device software application, said method comprising:

dragging one or more logic and data elements from either an Event, Logic, Data, Math or Service Palette onto a Data and Logic Canvas or one or more user interaction elements from either a Graphic, Widget, Audio/Video, or Haptic Palette onto a Multimedia User Interaction Canvas to form a Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Distribution Center; and

distributing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Mobile Device.

9. The computer program product in accordance with method of claim 8, said method further comprising testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module.

10. The computer program product in accordance with method of claim 8, said method further comprising compiling said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component into an executable application suitable for a target Mobile Device.

11. The computer program product in accordance with method of claim 8, said method further comprising submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Distribution Center.

12. The computer program product in accordance with method of claim 8, said method further comprising verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model.

13. The computer program product in accordance with method of claim 8, said method further comprising:

testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Distribution Center;

verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model; and

distributing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Mobile Device.

14. A mobile device software application made by the steps of:

dragging one or more logic and data elements from either an Event, Logic, Data, Math or Service Palette onto a Data and Logic Canvas or one or more user interaction elements from either a Graphic, Widget, Audio/Video, or Haptic Palette onto a Multimedia User Interaction Canvas to form a Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Distribution Center; and

distributing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Mobile Device.

15. The mobile device software application made by the steps of claim 14 further comprising a step of testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module.

16. The mobile device software application made by the steps of claim 14 further comprising a step of compiling said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component into an executable application suitable for a target Mobile Device.

17. The mobile device software application made by the steps of claim 14 further comprising a step of submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Build Engine for builds on multiple Specific Mobile Device Models.

18. The mobile device software application made by the steps of claim 14 further comprising a step of verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model.

19. The mobile device software application made by the steps of claim 14 further comprising the steps of:

testing said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module;

compiling said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component into an executable application suitable for a target Mobile Device;

submitting said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component to a Build Engine for builds on multiple Specific Mobile Device Models; and

verifying said Mobile Application or Mobile Application Component using a Specific Mobile Device Model.

20. A system for creating, managing and distributing a mobile device software application, comprising:

a Mobile Device Application or a Mobile Device Application Component;

a Generic Mobile Device Model;

a Composition Studio; and

a Distribution Center.

21. The system of claim 20 further comprising:

a Specific Mobile Device Model;

a Build Engine; and

a Verification Engine.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein said Composition Studio comprises:

a Multimedia User Interaction Design Toolkit;

a Visual Programming Design Toolkit;

a Graphical User Interface;

an User Interface Support Module;

a Network Communication Support Module;

a Visual Verification Toolkit;

an Embeddable App Library Cache;

a Service Object Library Cache;

an User Interaction Object Library Cache;

a Distribution Center Library Client;

a Distribution Center Submission Client; and

a Visual and XML-Based Representation Language.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said Multimedia Design Toolkit comprises:

a Graphic Palette;

a Widget Palette;

an Audio/Video Palette;

an Haptic Palette; and

a Multimedia User Interaction Canvas.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein said Visual Programming Design Toolkit comprises:

an Event Palette;

a Logic Palette;

a Data Palette;

a Math Palette;

a Service Palette; and

a Data and Logic Canvas.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein said Visual Verification Toolkit comprises:

a Build Engine Client;

a Verification Engine Client;

a Generic Mobile Device Model Testing Module;

a Generic Mobile Device Interface Simulator; and

a Generic Mobile Device Capability Simulator.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein said Distribution Center comprises:

a Mobile Application Demonstrator;

an On-Demand Download Service;

an User Interaction Services;

a Library Services;

a Distribution Service;

a Graphical User Interface;

a Web Application Server;

an User Database Module;

an User Interface Support Module; and

a Network Communication Support Module.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said Mobile Application Demonstrator comprises:

a Generic Mobile Device Model Demonstrator; and

a Specific Mobile Device Selector and Simulators.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein said. On-Demand Download Service comprises:

a Specific Mobile Device Selector;

a Build Engine Client;

an E-Commerce Engine; and

a Mobile Device Over-the-Air Delivery Module.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein said User Interaction Services comprises:

a Social Networking Toolkit;

a Reputation Toolkit; and

a Communication Toolkit.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein said Library Services comprises:

a Search Toolkit;

an Application Repository

a Service Object Repository; and

an User Interface Object Repository.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein said Distribution Service comprises:

a Composer Submission Service Module;

a Verification Engine Client; and

a Library Access Service Module.

32. The system of claim 21, wherein said Build Engine comprises:

a Target Device-Specific Executable;

a Target Device-Specific Software Development Kits and Tool Chains;

a Service Adaptation Framework;

a Compilation Set;

a Build Service;

a Computation Resource Management Module; and

a Network Communication Support Module.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein said Service Adaptation Framework comprises:

a Target Device-Specific Language Code Generators;

an XML-Based Representation Language Interpreter;

a Visual and XML-Based Representation Language;

a Precompiled Component Objects;

a Specific Mobile Device Selector; and

a Generic Mobile Device Model Build Toolkit.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein said Build Service comprises:

a Verification Engine Client;

a Service Responder Module; and

a Distribution Center Library Client Module.

35. The system of claim 21, wherein said Verification Engine comprises:

an Automatic Verification Framework;

an Interactive Verification Framework;

a Test Plan Database;

a Test Device Library;

an Objects to be Verified;

a Verification Service;

a Computation Resource Management Module; and

a Network Communication Support Module.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said Automatic Verification Framework comprises:

a Test Case Execution Driver;

a Test Case Success Analyzer; and

a Test Device Interface.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein said Interactive Verification Framework comprises:

a Test Device Interface; and

a Sequence Recorder.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein said Test Plan Database comprises:

a Specific Mobile Device Test Cases;

a Developer-Supplied App/Component Tests; and

a Service Adaption Framework Test.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein said Test Device Library comprises:

a Generic Mobile Device Model Simulator;

a Specific Mobile Device Selector;

a Specific Mobile Device Simulators; and

a Specific Actual Mobile Devices.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein said Verification Service comprises:

a Service Responder Module;

an Interactive Verification Service; and

an Automated Verification Service.