MULTIMODAL COMPUTING DEVICE

• US 20130074067A1
• Filed: 08/15/2011
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Invincible IP LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Chowdhry, Tripatinder
• Granted Patent: US 8,813,175 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/74 operating in dual or compartmented mode, i.e. at least one secure mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/468 Specific access rights for resources, e.g. using capability register
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Technologies described herein generally provide a multimodal device capable of providing at least dual usage. In an example, the multimodal device may include base hardware and a hypervisor that runs on the base hardware. A work virtual machine may include a work operating system that is configured to operate on the hypervisor. A home virtual machine may include a home operating system that is configured to operate on the hypervisor. The work virtual machine may further include an arbitrator operating system that is configured to operate on hypervisor. The arbitrator operating system may be configured to run a smart arbitrator server. The smart arbitrator server may be configured to provide a gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine The smart arbitrator server may also be configured to enforce various policies between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine.

Claims

1. A multimodal device, comprising:

base hardware comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;

a hypervisor configured to operate on the base hardware, the hypervisor adapted to allocate resources of the base hardware between multiple operating systems;

a work virtual machine comprising a work operating system configured to operate on the hypervisor, the work operating system adapted to run work applications installed on the work virtual machine;

a home virtual machine comprising a home operating system configured to operate on the hypervisor, the home operating system adapted to run home applications installed on the home virtual machine;

an arbitrator operating system configured to operate on the hypervisor; and

a smart arbitrator server configured to operate on the arbitrator operating system, the smart arbitrator server adapted to

provide a gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine,

manage access to the work applications according to a policy, wherein the policy allows a non-user entity to restrict a user entity from installing and removing the work applications on the work virtual machine, and

manage access to the home applications according to the policy, wherein policy disallows the non-user entity to restrict the user entity from installing and removing the home applications on the home virtual machine.

2. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein to manage access to the work applications according to the policy, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to permit the non-user entity to install and remove the work applications on the work virtual machine and restrict the user entity from installing and removing the work applications on the work virtual machine;

and

wherein to manage access to the home applications according to the policy, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to permit the user entity to install and remove the home applications in the home virtual machine and restrict the non-user entity from installing and removing the home applications in the home virtual machine.

3. The multimodal device of claim 2, wherein the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to:

receive from the non-user entity a request to remotely access the work virtual machine;

authenticate that the non-user entity is authorized to access the work virtual machine in response to the request; and

permit the non-user entity to access the work virtual machine and restrict the non-user entity from accessing the home virtual machine when the non-user entity is authenticated.

4. The multimodal device of claim 2, wherein the policy specifies that one or more applications retrieved from a privately accessible enterprise application store are permitted to be installed on the work virtual machine and that one or more applications retrieved from a publicly accessible consumer application store are restricted from being installed on the work virtual machine;

and

wherein the policy specifies that one or more applications retrieved from the publicly accessible consumer application store are permitted to be installed in the home virtual machine and that one or more applications retrieved from the privately accessible enterprise application store are restricted from being installed in the home virtual machine.

5. The multimodal device of claim 4, wherein the policy further specifies that a select work application from the work applications installed on the work virtual machine is permitted to be installed on the home virtual machine and that other work applications from the work applications are restricted from being installed on the home virtual machine.

6. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein to manage access to the work applications according to the policy, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to permit data synchronization between the work virtual machine and a work server computer and restrict data synchronization between the home virtual machine and a home server computer;

and

wherein to manage access to the home applications according to the policy, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to permit data synchronization between the home virtual machine and the home server computer and restrict data synchronization between the work virtual machine and the work server computer.

7. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein to provide the gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to:

detect whether the multimodal device is within range of a home network;

activate the home virtual machine and connect to the home network when the multimodal device is determined to be within range of the home network;

detect whether the multimodal devices is within range of a work network; and

activate the work virtual machine and connect to the work network when the multimodal device is determined to be within range of the work network.

8. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein to provide the gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine, the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to:

provide a graphical user interface adapted to request a selection of the work virtual machine or the home virtual machine;

receive, via the graphical user interface, the selection of the work virtual machine or the home virtual machine;

activate the work virtual machine and connect to a work network when the selection of the work virtual machine is received; and

activate the home virtual machine and connect to a home network when the selection of the home virtual machine is received.

9. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein the multimodal device comprises a plurality of device sensors;

and wherein the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to;

disable non-utilized devices sensors from the plurality of device sensors that are not utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device;

enable in a reduced power mode a first set of utilized device sensors from the plurality of device sensors that are anticipated to be utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device and are not currently utilized; and

enable in a full power mode a second set of utilized device sensors from the plurality of device sensors that are anticipated to be utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device and are currently utilized.

10. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to:

receive an indication that an installed application from the work applications or the home applications is paused;

store a state of the installed application and data associated with the installed application when the installed application was paused in a file; and

transmit the file to an installed application synchronization server computer, the installed application synchronization server computer adapted to provide the file to another device to resume the installed application at the state.

11. The multimodal device of claim 10, wherein the smart arbitrator server is further adapted to:

receive a second indication that a streaming application is paused; and

transmit a second state of the streaming application and data associated with the streaming application when the streaming application was paused to a streaming application synchronization server computer, the streaming application synchronization server computer adapted to provide the second state to another device to resume the streaming application at the second state.

12. The multimodal device of claim 1, wherein the hypervisor comprises a bare metal hypervisor.

13. A method for arbitrating a multimodal device having a bare metal hypervisor configured to operate on base hardware, the method comprising:

providing a work virtual machine comprising a work operating system configured to operate on the bare metal hypervisor, the work operating system adapted to run work applications installed on the work virtual machine;

providing a home virtual machine comprising a home operating system configured to operate on the bare metal hypervisor, the home operating system adapted to run home applications installed on the home virtual machine;

providing a gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine;

managing access to the work applications according to a policy, wherein the policy allows a non-user entity to restrict a user entity from installing and removing the work applications on the work virtual machine; and

managing access to the home applications according to the policy, wherein policy disallows the non-user entity to restrict the user entity from installing and removing the home applications on the home virtual machine.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein managing access to the work applications according to the policy comprises permitting the non-user entity to install and remove the work applications on the work virtual machine and restricting the user entity from installing and removing the work applications on the work virtual machine;

and

wherein managing access to the home applications according to the policy comprises permitting the user entity to install and remove the home applications on the home virtual machine and restricting the non-user entity from installing and removing the home applications on the home virtual machine.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving from the non-user entity a request to remotely access the work virtual machine;

authenticating that the non-user entity is authorized to access the work virtual machine in response to the request; and

responsive to authenticating the non-user entity, permitting the non-user entity to access the work virtual machine and restricting the non-user entity from accessing the home virtual machine.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the policy specifies that one or more applications retrieved from a privately accessible enterprise application store are permitted to be installed on the work virtual machine and that one or more applications retrieved from a publicly accessible consumer application store are restricted from being installed on the work virtual machine;

and

wherein the policy specifies that one or more applications retrieved from the publicly accessible consumer application store are permitted to be installed on the home virtual machine and that one or more applications retrieved from the privately accessible enterprise application store are restricted from being installed on the home virtual machine.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the policy further specifies that a select work application from the work applications installed on the work virtual machine is permitted to be installed on the home virtual machine and that other work applications from the work applications are restricted from being installed on the home virtual machine.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein managing access to the work applications according to the policy comprises permitting data synchronization between the work virtual machine and a work server computer and restricting data synchronization between the home virtual machine and a home server computer;

and

wherein managing access to the home applications according to the policy comprises permitting data synchronization between the home virtual machine and the home server computer and restricting data synchronization between the work virtual machine and the work server computer.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein providing the gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine comprises:

detecting whether the multimodal device is within range of a home network;

responsive to detecting that the multimodal devices are within range of the home network, activating the home virtual machine and connecting the multimodal device to the home network;

detecting whether the multimodal device is within range of a work network; and

responsive to detecting that the multimodal device is within range of the work network, activating the work virtual machine and connecting the multimodal device to the work network.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein providing the gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine comprises:

providing, via the multimodal device, a graphical user interface adapted to request a selection of the work virtual machine or the home virtual machine;

receiving, via the graphical user interface, the selection of the work virtual machine or the home virtual machine;

responsive to receiving the selection of the work virtual machine, activating the work virtual machine and connecting the multimodal device to a work network; and

responsive to receiving the selection of the home virtual machine, activating the home virtual machine and connecting the multimodal device to a home network.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

disabling non-utilized devices sensors in the multimodal device that are not utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device;

enabling in a reduced power mode a first set of utilized device sensors that are anticipated to be utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device and are not currently utilized; and

enabling in a full power mode a second set of utilized device sensors that are anticipated to be utilized by the work applications and the home applications installed in the multimodal device and are currently utilized.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving an indication that an installed application from the work applications or the home applications is paused;

storing a state of the installed application and data associated with the installed application when the installed application was paused in a file; and

transmitting the file to an installed application synchronization server computer, the installed application synchronization server computer adapted to provide the file to another device to resume the installed application at the state.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receive a second indication that a streaming application is paused; and

transmit a second state of the streaming application and data associated with the streaming application when the streaming application was paused to a streaming application synchronization server computer, the streaming application synchronization server computer adapted to provide the second state to another device to resume the streaming application at the second state.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the multimodal device comprises a tablet computer.

25. A tablet computer, comprising:

base hardware comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;

a bare metal hypervisor configured to operate on the base hardware, the bare metal hypervisor adapted to allocate resources of the base hardware between multiple operating systems;

a work virtual machine comprising a work operating system configured to operate on the bare metal hypervisor, the work operating system adapted to run work applications installed on the work virtual machine and shared applications;

a home virtual machine comprising a home operating system configured to operate on the bare metal hypervisor, the home operating system adapted to run home applications installed on the home virtual machine and shared applications;

an arbitrator operating system configured to operate on the bare metal hypervisor; and

a smart arbitrator server configured to operate on the arbitrator operating system, the smart arbitrator server adapted to

provide a gateway between the work virtual machine and the home virtual machine,

manage access to the work applications according to a policy, wherein the policy allows a non-user entity to restrict a user entity from installing and removing the work applications on the work virtual machine, and

manage access to the home applications according to the policy, wherein policy disallows the non-user entity to restrict the user entity from installing and removing the home applications on the home virtual machine.

26. The tablet computer of claim 25, wherein the work applications are restricted from being installed on the home virtual machine unless specified in the policy;

wherein the home applications are restricted from being installed on the work virtual machine;

p1 and wherein the shared applications are shared between the home virtual machine and the work virtual machine.