Cloud Remote Wakeup

• US 20130212413A1
• Filed: 12/20/2012
• Published: 08/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Acer Cloud Technology, Inc. (Acer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Acer Cloud Technology, Inc. (Acer, Inc.)
• Inventors: BERNDT, Sandra, BERTONI, Jon, LO, Raymond, ONORATO, Steve, PRINCEN, John
• Application Number:
  US13/722,605
• Publication Number:
  US 20130212413A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A technique for leveraging cloud resources includes maintaining a resource index for a user for resources that are available from a connected standby device. The resource index can store an identification of resources for an entity (e.g., a user or enterprise) that is stored on a connected standby device. The resource index can include resources of other devices, as well. A connected standby device will generally have at least three power states, online, offline, and connected standby. When a device is online, a processor of the device is powered up and capable of handling, e.g., remote requests for resources. When a device is offline, the device may or may not be off, but is in any case not responsive to remote access. When a device is on connected standby, a processor of the device is powered down, but the device is responsive to a wakeup packet, enabling the device to respond to a resource request, typically after a short delay while the processor powers up.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

indexing resources available from one or more resource servers, wherein a resource server of the one or more resource servers has at least two power states;

online and connected standby;

storing a resource index including resource items associated with the available resources, wherein a resource item of the resource items includes a resource server identifier of the resource server;

receiving a request for a resource of the resource server;

determining whether the resource server is in the connected standby power state;

when the resource server is determined to be in the connected standby power state, providing a wakeup stimulus sufficient to cause the resource server to enter the online power state;

providing access to the requested resource from the resource server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the resource index on a device;

receiving the request for the resource from an application on the device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a power state of the resource server by communicating with a state server, wherein the state server includes a datastore in which the power state of the resource server is stored.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

triggering the wakeup stimulus by communicating with a notification server, wherein the wakeup stimulus is provided by the notification server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a sleep packet to the resource server when the resource server transitions from the connected standby power state to the online power state;

receiving the sleep packet from the resource server when the resource server transitions from the online power state to the connected standby power state.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a sleep packet to the resource server each time the resource server enters the online power state;

receiving the sleep packet from the resource server when the resource server transitions from the online power state to the connected standby power state.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a wakeup key to the resource server from a notification server, wherein the resource server transitions from the connected standby power state to the online power state when the resource server receives the wakeup key.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a wakeup key to the resource server from a notification server each time the resource server enters the online power state;

wherein the resource server transitions from the connected standby power state to the online power state when the resource server receives the wakeup key.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a sleep packet from a state server to the resource server when the resource server enters the online power state;

receiving the sleep packet from the resource server when the resource server transitions from the online power state to the connected standby power state;

deriving a wakeup key from the sleep packet;

sending the wakeup key to the resource server, wherein the resource server transitions from the connected standby state to the online power state when the resource server receives the wakeup key.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource server identifier is a first resource server identifier of a first resource server, and wherein the resource item includes a second resource server identifier of a second resource server.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating new keys when the resource server is awakened with the wakeup stimulus.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forming a secure channel between a notification server and the resource server;

maintaining a connection between the notification server and the resource server when the resource server is in the connected standby power state.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving keep-alive packets from the resource server while the resource server is in an online or connected standby power state.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a TCP keep-alive option to detect connection failures.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a shared session key between the resource server and the notification server;

sending an instant-on, always connected (IOAC) hardware type specifier and a MAC address of the resource server from the resource server to the notification server encrypted with the shared session key, wherein the IOAC hardware type specifier informs the notification server that the resource server is capable of entering a connected standby state.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking state of the resource server.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using an unshared key to generate a sleep packet payload and a wakeup key;

sending the sleep packet payload and the wakeup key to the resource server, encrypted with a shared session key.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

programming instant-on, always connected (IOAC) hardware with the wakeup key, the sleep packet payload, a destination IP address and UDP port of a server that will receive sleep packets, the shared session key, and a configurable transmission interval.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending from instant-on, always connected (IOAC) hardware a sleep packet at a specified transmission interval, wherein the sleep packet acts as a keep-alive signal to the notification server.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

augmenting the sleep packet with a sequence number and a signature using a shared session key.

21. A method comprising:

(a) making a TCP connection to a notification server;

(b) establishing a shared session key with the notification server;

(c) sending a MAC address and instant-on, always connected (IOAC) hardware type specifier to the notification server encrypted with the session key;

(d) receiving a sleep packet and wakeup key from the notification server;

(e) programming IOAC-capable network hardware;

(f) entering connected standby state;

(g) sending a sleep packet at a specified transmission interval;

(h) receiving a wakeup packet.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

programming the IOAC-capable network hardware using the wakeup key, payload of the sleep packet, a destination IP address and UDP port of a server that will receive sleep packets, the shared session key, and the specified transmission interval.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

enabling a resource server to enter a connected standby state, to be awakened at a later time by the notification server.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the specified transmission interval is configurable, further comprising:

adjusting the transmission interval.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining whether a resource server is in a standby-waking state;

when the resource server is in the standby-waking state, waiting until the resource server exits the standby-waking state;

repeating (a) through (h).

26. A method comprising:

accepting a TCP connection from a connected standby client;

establishing a shared session key with the connected standby client;

receiving a MAC address and an instant-on, always connected (IOAC) hardware type specifier from the connected standby client;

generating a sleep packet payload and a secret wakeup key for a connection using an unshared key;

sending the sleep packet payload and the wakeup key to the connected standby client;

receiving a sleep packet at a specified transmission interval;

sending a wakeup packet;

receiving a sleep packet from a connected standby client in standby-waking state.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

encrypting the MAC address and IOAC hardware type specifier with the shared session key.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the secret wakeup key is a 6-byte key for each connection, including the connection.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

encrypting the sleep packet payload and the wakeup key with the shared session key.