Mobile Devices Having Plurality of Virtual Interfaces

• US 20110314467A1
• Filed: 06/18/2010
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pearson, Larry B.
• Granted Patent: US 8,468,550 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45504 Abstract machines for programme code execution, e.g. Java virtual machine [JVM], interpreters, emulators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45545 Guest-host, i.e. hypervisor is an application program itself, e.g. VirtualBox
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications

Abstract

Mobile devices, systems and methods are described with a plurality of virtual machines, wherein each virtual machine executes a separate virtual interface, or guest operating system. Each guest operating system corresponds to a different virtual device having its own contact list, applications, and so on. A virtual “device” can be controlled by an employer or service provider, and is a secure space that provides authenticated applications that are walled off from another virtual device. A host operating system provides a hardware abstraction layer. A proxy server on the host operating system receives an incoming signal from a remote device on the external network, and routes the incoming signal to one of the first and second virtual machines based on a call context. A method and computer program product for providing a plurality of virtual interfaces on a mobile device are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A mobile device having a plurality of virtual interfaces, the mobile device comprising;

a processor;

a network interface;

a display;

a memory;

wherein the processor, the network interface, the display and the memory are in communication with each other;

a first virtual machine on the memory, the first virtual machine running a first guest operating system and a first security model; and

a second virtual machine on the memory, the second virtual machine running a second guest operating system and a second security model.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a host operating system on the memory, the host operating system providing each of the first and second virtual machines with a first and second hardware abstraction layer.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein each hardware abstraction layer emulates a plurality of hardware resources to each of the virtual machines, the plurality of hardware resources including a virtual processor core, a memory management unit, and a virtual network interface.

4. The mobile device of claim 3, further comprising a virtual network and a first and second virtual network address for each of the first and second virtual machines, enabling the host operating system having a virtual host address to communicate with the first and second guest operating systems via the virtual network interface.

5. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the network interface has a unique network address enabling the host operating system to connect to an external network via the network interface.

6. The mobile device of claim 5, further comprising:

a proxy server on the host operating system, the proxy server receiving an incoming signal from a remote device on the external network, and routing the incoming signal to one of the first and second virtual machines based on a call context; and

a database in communication with the proxy server, the database including a plurality of business rules used to determine the call context.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, further comprising a call accepter on the host operating system, the call accepter receiving the incoming signal, prompting a user to accept the incoming call, and forwarding the accepted incoming signal to the proxy server.

8. The mobile device of claim 6, further comprising a host dialer on the host operating system, the host dialer initiating a connection between one of the first and second guest operating systems and a remote device on the external network via the proxy server.

9. The mobile device of claim 2, further comprising a hypervisor on the memory.

10. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

11. A method for providing a plurality of virtual interfaces on a mobile device, the mobile device including a host operating system, the host operating system including a proxy server, a dialer, a screen, and a call accepter, the method comprising:

loading a first guest operating system on a first virtual machine and a second guest operating system on a second virtual machine, each virtual machine running on a corresponding hardware abstraction layer provided by the host operating system, each guest operating system having a virtual network address;

receiving, at the proxy server, a request to initiate a connection between the mobile device and a remote device on an external network;

selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems as an endpoint for the connection, said selection based on a connection context of the request;

focusing the screen to the selected guest operating system; and

initiating a connection between the selected guest operating system and the remote device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the request is an incoming connection request from the remote device on the external network, the method further comprising:

receiving the incoming connection request at the call accepter;

prompting a user of the mobile device to accept the incoming connection request; and

transmitting the incoming connection request to the proxy server.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the request is an outgoing connection request from a user of the mobile device, the method further comprising:

receiving the outgoing connection request at the dialer; and

transmitting the outgoing connection request to the proxy server,

wherein the proxy server transmits the outgoing connection request to the remote device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems further comprises:

extracting a plurality of attributes from the request;

comparing the plurality of attributes to a plurality of business rules; and

selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems based upon the comparison.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of attributes includes a remote device network address, the comparing step further comprising retrieving an address book from each guest operating system and determining a frequency of occurrence of the remote device network address in the address book.

16. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable medium on a mobile device, the mobile device including a screen and a host operating system, the host operating system including a proxy server, a dialer, and a call acceptor, the computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for:

loading a first guest operating system on a first virtual machine and a second guest operating system on a second virtual machine, each virtual machine running on a corresponding hardware abstraction layer provided by the host operating system, each guest operating system having a virtual network address;

receiving, at the proxy server, a request to initiate a connection between the mobile device and a remote device on an external network;

selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems as an endpoint for the connection, said selection based on a connection context of the request;

focusing the screen to the selected guest operating system; and

initiating a connection between the selected guest operating system and the remote device.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the request is an incoming connection request from the remote device on the external network, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

receiving the request at the call accepter;

prompting a user of the mobile device to accept the incoming connection request; and

transmitting the incoming connection request to the proxy server.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the request is an outgoing connection request from a user of the mobile device, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

receiving the outgoing connection request at the dialer; and

transmitting the outgoing connection request to the proxy server,

wherein the proxy server transmits the outgoing connection request to the remote device.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems further comprises:

extracting a plurality of attributes from the request;

comparing the attributes to a plurality of business rules; and

selecting one of the first and second guest operating systems based upon the comparison.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the plurality of attributes includes a remote device network address, the comparing step further comprising retrieving an address book from each guest operating system and determining a frequency of occurrence of the remote device network address in the address book.