MONITORING VIRTUAL MACHINE INTERFACE AND LOCAL GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ON A THIN CLIENT AND ALTERNATING THEREBETWEEN

• US 20150082179A1
• Filed: 09/13/2013
• Published: 03/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AmZetta Technologies, LLC (American Megatrends International, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Megatrends Incorporated
• Inventors: Ayanam, Varadachari Sudan, Christopher, Samvinesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,471,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• 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: G06F 2201/815 Virtual
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/00 Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00; network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorised activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/143 Termination or inactivation of sessions, e.g. event-controlled end of session

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for alternating between a local graphical user interface (UI) and a virtual machine interface, on a computing device such as a thin client or a zero client. In particular, a virtual desktop client (VDC), which is in communication with a virtual machine hosted by a hypervisor on a remote computer system, receives desktop video display signals from the virtual machine. A monitoring application monitors the execution status of the VDC. Upon determining that the VDC has been terminated, the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by re-initializing, relaunching, or rebooting the UI, by retrieving display data associated with the UI from a RAM device, or by other means.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a system on chip (SOC);

a video card;

a random access memory (RAM); and

a non-volatile memory storing

a local graphical user interface (UI) configured to receive input from a user of the computing device, wherein the UI is configured to communicate with a virtual machine (VM) hosted by a hypervisor of a remote computer system, and wherein the UI is configured to initialize a virtual desktop client (VDC);

the VDC, wherein the VDC is configured to communicate with the VM hosted by the hypervisor and receive desktop video display signals from the VM hosted by the hypervisor and send signals associated with input from a user to the VM hosted by the hypervisor; and

a monitoring application, wherein the monitoring application is configured to determine an execution status of the VDC and in response to a determination that the VDC has been terminated, present the UI.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a thin client.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a zero client.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein input received from a user of the computing device is selected from the group comprising:

user name;

password;

selection of a virtual machine.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memory further stores a boot program, wherein the SOC is configured to load the boot program into the RAM, wherein the boot program is configured to, when executed by the processor, initialize the RAM and the video card.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the RAM comprises a graphic area for receiving image frame data.

7. The computing device of claim 6, wherein the video card is configured to retrieve image frame data from a graphic area of the RAM.

8. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the video card is further configured to process the image frame data and generate video output signals.

9. The computing device of claim 6, wherein the graphic area comprises one or more graphic planes.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein display data associated with the UI is transferred to a particular graphic plane.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by notifying the video card to retrieve the display data associated with the UI from the particular graphic plane.

12. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by re-initializing the UI.

13. In a computing device comprising a non-volatile memory storing a local graphical user interface (UI) configured to communicate with a virtual machine (VM) hosted by a hypervisor of a remote computer system, a virtual desktop client (VDC) configured to communicate with the VM hosted by the hypervisor of the remote computer system, and a monitoring application, a method comprising:

receiving via the UI input from a user of the computing device;

initializing via the UI the VDC;

receiving via the VDC desktop video display signals from the VM hosted by the hypervisor of the remote computer system;

monitoring via the monitoring application an execution status of the VDC; and

upon determination by the monitoring application that the VDC has been terminated, presenting via the monitoring application the UI.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the computing device is a thin client or a zero client.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the computing device further comprises a system on chip (SOC), a video card, and a random access memory (RAM).

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the RAM comprises a graphic area for receiving image frame data.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the graphic area comprises one or more graphic planes, and further wherein display data associated with the UI is transferred to a particular graphic plane.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by notifying the video card to retrieve the display data associated with the UI from the particular graphic plane.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by re-initializing the UI.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions configured to cause a computing device to execute a method comprising:

receiving at the computing device input from a user of the computing device via a user interface (UI), the UI configured to communicate with a virtual machine (VM) hosted by a hypervisor of a remote computer system;

initializing via the UI a virtual desktop client (VDC), the VDC configured to communicate with the VM hosted by the hypervisor of the remote computer system;

receiving via the VDC desktop video display signals from the VM;

monitoring via a monitoring application an execution status of the VDC; and

upon determination by the monitoring application that the VDC has been terminated, presenting via the monitoring application the UI.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the computing device further comprises a system on chip (SOC), a video card, and a random access memory (RAM).

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the RAM comprises a graphic area for receiving image frame data.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the graphic area comprises one or more graphic planes, and further wherein display data associated with the UI is transferred to a particular graphic plane.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by notifying the video card to retrieve the display data associated with the UI from the particular graphic plane.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the monitoring application is configured to present the UI by re-initializing the UI.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the computing device is a thin client or a zero client.