NETWORK HANG RECOVERY

• US 20110214015A1
• Filed: 03/24/2011
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Eason, Matt, Sridharan, Baskar, Doll, Stephan, Li, Paul L., Heddaya, Abdelsalam, Lagattuta, Andrew J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,286,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1443 Transmit or communication errors

Abstract

A method of detecting a network hang and restoring an application that communicates on a connection giving rise to the network hang. A user experience may be improved by providing the user with an option to restore the hung application without losing unsaved data or state information. The network hang may be detected when the user tries to terminate the application. The method may include determining whether the network hang is recoverable, which may involve diagnosing a type of the hang. If recoverable, a network connection reset mechanism may be triggered by instructing a network stack of the computer to terminate the network connection.

Claims

1. At least one computer-storage medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer used to interact with an application, implement a method of communicating with the application utilizing a network connection, the method comprising:

detecting that the application is hung due to a network hang;

in response to a first user input indicative of a user attempt to close the application, determining whether a condition exists under which the hung application is to be restored; and

selectively initiating recovery of the hung application when it is determined that the condition exists.

2. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the condition exists comprises, in response to the first user input indicative of the user attempt to close the application, providing the user with an option to restore the hung application;

and

when the user provides a second input indicative of a selection of the option to restore the hung application, initiating an attempt to recover from the network hang.

3. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises, prior to providing the user with the option to restore the hung application:

determining a type of the network hang; and

determining that the network hang of the type is recoverable.

4. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 3, wherein determining that the network hang of the type is recoverable comprises determining that the network connection is not shared between the hung application and another application.

5. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 1, wherein initiating the attempt to recover from the network hang comprises determining whether the network hang is recoverable.

6. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 5, further comprising, when it is determined that the network hang is recoverable, recovering from the network hang.

7. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 5, when it is determined that the network hang is not recoverable, further comprising:

storing data related to the hung application; and

terminating the hung application.

8. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 6, wherein recovering from the network hang comprises:

terminating the network connection; and

triggering an exception handler associated with the application.

9. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 8, wherein triggering the exception handler associated with the application comprises triggering the exception handler in response to an instruction to a network stack of the computer system to terminate the network connection.

10. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing the user with the option to restore the hung application further comprises providing the user with one or more options comprising an option to wait for the hung application, an option to close the hung application, and an option to restart the hung application.

11. At least one computer-storage medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer used to interact with an application, implement a method of communicating with the application utilizing a network connection, the method comprising:

detecting that the application is not responsive to a first user input;

determining whether a condition exists under which the application is to be restored based on a second input; and

selectively initiating recovery of the application when it is determined that the condition exists

12. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether the condition exists comprises determining that the application is non responsive to a network hang, the determining further comprising determining a type of the network hang.

13. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 11, wherein:

detecting that the application is not responsive comprises receiving a first user input indicative of a user attempt to close the hung application;

determining whether the condition exists comprises providing the user with an option to restore the hung application; and

selectively initiating recovery of the application comprises, when the user provides a second input indicative of a selection of the option to restore the application, initiating an attempt to recover from the network hang.

14. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 11, wherein:

detecting that the application is not responsive comprises detecting a network hang; and

selectively initiating recovery of the application comprises initiating an attempt to recover from the network hang by at least one of instructing a network stack of the computer to terminate the network connection and canceling at least one operation of the hung application.

15. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 14, further comprising triggering an exception handler in response to terminating the network connection.

16. The at least one computer-storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether the condition exists comprises:

providing the user with a plurality of options selected based on information stored in a policy component; and

the second user input comprises a selection of an option of the plurality of options.

17. In a computer system comprising at least one computer interacting over a network connection, a method comprising:

detecting that an application is not responsive to at least one user input;

determining whether the application is not responsive due to a network hang;

when it is determined that the application is not responsive due to a network hang;

offering the user options to recover from the network hang, to terminate the at least one application and to wait; and

when it is determined that the application is not hung because of a network hang;

offering the user options to terminate the at least one application or to wait;

in response to a user input selecting the option to recover from the network hang, initiating the recovery;

in response to a user input selecting the option to terminate the at least one application, terminating the at least one application; and

in response to a user input selecting the option to wait, waiting.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the method further comprises testing whether the application is not responsive because of a network hang; and

when it is determined that the application is not responsive because of a network hang, testing whether the network hang is of a type that is recoverable.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein testing whether the network hang is of a type that is recoverable comprises determining that the network connection is not shared between the at least one hung application and another application.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein initiating the recovery comprises breaking down the network connection to trigger an exception handler mechanism to recover from the network hang.