SHARED RESOURCE COMPUTING COLLABORATION SESSIONS MANAGEMENT

• US 20110239133A1
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Duffus, James S., Schmieder, Wilhelm R.
• Application Number:
  US12/749,037
• Publication Number:
  US 20110239133A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/461 Saving or restoring of program or task context
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

The administration of a shared resource computing environment involves the establishment of direct input/output (I/O) connections between a plurality user interfaces and a single computing device. Each of the user interfaces provides a corresponding computer user with access to the single computing device. One or more desktop sessions are launched in the shared resource computing environment that is implemented on the single computing device. The administration of the shared resource computing environment also includes providing the computer users with concurrent access to the one or more desktop sessions, and managing interaction of the computer users in the one or more desktop sessions.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium of a single computing device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

establishing direct input/output (I/O) connections to a plurality of user interfaces from the single computing device, each of the user interfaces including a display and one or more input devices providing a corresponding computer user with access to the single computing device;

launching one or more desktop sessions in a shared resource computing environment that is implemented on the single computing device;

providing the plurality of computer users with concurrent access to the one or more desktop sessions of the shared resource computing environment via the plurality of user interfaces; and

managing interaction of the plurality of computer users in the one or more desktop sessions.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the establishing the direct I/O connections includes establishing the direct I/O connections without using networking hardware or software components.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein each of the direct I/O connections is a wired serial data transfer connection or a wired parallel data transfer connection.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein each of the user interfaces includes a display and one or more input devices.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein each of the user interfaces is a thin-client computing device that includes a display and one or more input devices.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the providing the plurality of computer users with concurrent access includes providing a computer user with access to multiple desktop sessions and receiving a user selection to participate in one of the multiple desktop sessions.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the providing the plurality of computer users with concurrent access includes providing at least one of simultaneous or sequential access to an application that is executing in a desktop session of the shared resource computing environment.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the managing includes at least one of:

moving a computer user from a first of the desktop sessions to a second desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

suspending participation of the computer user in a desktop session of the shared computing resource environment by preventing a corresponding user interface of the computer user from communicating with the desktop session, the participation includes at least one of interaction between the computer user and at least one other computer user or interaction of the computer user with an application executing in the desktop session;

viewing in real time the participation of the computer user in the desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

recording the participation of the computer user in the desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

playing a saved recording of the participation of the computer user in the desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

sending a message to the computer user that is participating in the desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

or

terminating the access of the computer user to the desktop session of the shared computing resource environment.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the managing includes at least one of:

launching another desktop session in the shared resource computing environment that is concurrently accessed by the plurality of computer users;

terminating a desktop session or an application in the desktop session of the shared resource computing environment;

saving data and states of a desktop session of the shared resource computing environment;

resuming a saved desktop session of the shared resource computing environment;

or

switching the desktop session of the shared resource computing environment from executing a first application to executing a second application.

10. A computer implemented method, comprising:

under control of a single computing device configured with executable instructions,

establishing direct input/output (I/O) connections to a plurality of user interfaces from the single computing device, each of the user interfaces providing a corresponding computer user with access to the single computing device;

launching at least one desktop session in a shared resource computing environment that is implemented on the single computing device;

providing the plurality of computer users with concurrent access to an application that is executing in the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment; and

managing interaction of the plurality of computer users in the at least one desktop session, the managing at least includes switching the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment from executing the application to executing another application.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the managing further includes at least one of:

terminating the at least one desktop session or an application in the at least one desktop session;

saving data and states of the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment;

or

resuming the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment that is saved.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the establishing the direct I/O connections includes establishing the direct I/O connections without using networking hardware or software components.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the user interfaces includes a display and one or more input devices.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the user interfaces is a thin-client computing device that includes a display and one or more input devices.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the launching includes launching a plurality of desktop sessions in the shared resource computing environment.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing the plurality of computer users with concurrent access includes providing at least one of simultaneous or sequential access to the application via the plurality of user interfaces.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the managing further includes at least one of:

suspending participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment, the participation includes at least one of interaction between the computer user and at least one other computer user or interaction of the computer user with the application executing in the at least one desktop session;

viewing in real time the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

recording the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

playing a saved recording of the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

sending a message to the computer user that is participating in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

or

terminating the access of a computer user to the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment.

18. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory that includes a plurality of computer-executable components, the plurality of computer-executable components comprising;

an operating system module to support a shared resource computing environment;

a user interface module to establish direct input/output (I/O) connections to a plurality of user interfaces from the single computing device without using networking hardware or software components, each of the user interfaces including a display and one or more input devices to provide a corresponding computer user with access to the single computing device;

a desktop session module to launch at least one desktop session in the shared resource computing environment that is implemented on the single computing device; and

an administration module to enable an administrator to provide the plurality of computer users with concurrent access to an application that is executing in the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment, the concurrent access includes at least one of simultaneous or sequential access to the application by the computer users via the plurality of user interfaces.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the administration module is to further enable the administrator to manage interaction of the plurality of computer users in the at least one desktop session by at least one of:

terminating the at least one desktop session or an application in the at least one desktop session;

saving data and states of the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment;

resuming the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment that is saved;

or

switching the at least one desktop session of the shared resource computing environment from executing the application to executing another application.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the administration module is to further enable the administrator to manage the at least one desktop session by at least one of:

suspending participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment, the participation includes at least one of interaction between the computer user and at least one other computer user or interaction of the computer user with the application executing in the at least one desktop session;

viewing in real time the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

recording the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

playing a saved recording of the participation of the computer user in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

sending a message to the computer user that is participating in the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment;

or

terminating the access of a computer user to the at least one desktop session of the shared computing resource environment.