Remote control method, server and recording medium

• US 6,448,958 B1
• Filed: 07/03/1998
• Issued: 09/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Muta, Hidemasa
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS, DAVID LEE
• Application Number:
  US09/111,131
• Time in Patent Office: 1,530 Days
• Field of Search: 707/513, 702/2, 358/442, 395/200.47, 395/680, 345/127, 345/129, 345/358, 345/342, 345/169, 345/118
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances

Abstract

To make window systems which are widely used in personal computers and applications for personal computers operable in a portable information terminal which does not have a sufficient processing capability, input information such as a key input from operator generated in a portable information terminal 210 is sent to a remote supporting server 240 where it executes or simulates an arbitrary window system which is free from restriction of functions to generate a rendering image. The supporting server then converts the rendering image to an image suitable to the portable information terminal and sends it back to the portable information terminal 210 as a rendering instruction. The portable information terminal 210 receives the rendering instruction of this optimized image for display.

Claims

1. A method of functionally providing a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system at a terminal having processing power, storage resources and/or display resolution insufficient to run said windows operating system and application program, comprising the steps of;

(a) providing the general purpose windows operating system and application program running under such operating;

system on a server connected to a communication network

(b) remotely accessing said server from said terminal via said communication network and transmitting input information generated by an input device of said terminal to said server for said windows operating system and/or said application program;

(c) receiving in said server the input information transmitted from said terminal and interfacing the input information to the windows operating system and/or application program;

(d) generating first rendering image data at said server at a first image resolution consisting of a first number of bits per picture element by the windows operating system and outputting said first rendering image data from said windows operating system to a rendering instruction part of said server;

(e) receiving said first rendering image data and converting said first rendering image data at said server to second rendering image data at a second image resolution consisting of a second number of bits per picture element less than the first number of bits by said rendering instruction part of said server;

(f) forming a rendering instruction including said second rendering image data by said rendering instruction part of said server and transmitting said rendering instruction from said server to said terminal;

(g) at the terminal, receiving the rendering instruction transmitted from the server to said terminal; and

(h) displaying on a display screen of said terminal a windows image at the second image resolution according to the received rendering instruction.

2. A recording medium which stores therein a program executed in part by a portable computer and in part by a server for functionally providing a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system at the portable computer, the portable computer having resources insufficient to run the windows operating system and application program, the server having a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system, the portable computer and the server being connected to a communication network, the operating system having an image rendering engine for generating image rendering instructions at a first image resolution consisting of a first number of bits per picture element suitable for input to a corresponding image rendering driver of the operating system for display of a windows image at the first resolution on an image screen of the server, the portable computer having a display screen for display of a windows image at a second image resolution consisting of a second number of bits per picture element less than the first number of bits on an image screen of the portable computer, comprising:

(a) program code for remotely accessing the server from the portable computer via the communication network and for transmitting processing capability specifying information from the portable computer to the server;

(b) program code for transmitting input information generated by an input device of the portable computer to the server;

(c) program code at the server for receiving the transmitted input information and interfacing the received input information to the windows operating system and/or application program;

(d) at least one first image rendering instruction being generated at the first image resolution by the image rendering engine of the windows operating system;

(e) program code at the server for converting the at least one first image rendering instruction to at least one second image rendering instruction at the second image resolution;

(f) program code for transmitting the at least one second image rendering instruction to the portable computer; and

(g) program code at the portable computer for receiving the transmitted at least one second image rendering instruction and displaying on the display screen of the portable computer a windows image at the second image resolution according to the received at least one second image rendering instruction.

14. A recording medium of claim 2 in which the processing capability specifying information is one of:

(a) maximum resolution information of a logical screen;

(b) maximum resolution information of a physical screen;

(c) bits per picture element information;

(d) color palette information; and

(e) compression/decompression capability information, of the portable computer.

3. A method for specifying a display region of a size of (wx, wy) to be displayed on a display screen from image data constituting a logical screen having a size of (sx, sy) stored in a portable information terminal, characterized in that the region of the size of (wx, wy) is specified as a display region starting from a starting point which is defined as:

4. A method of functionally providing a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system at a portable computer having resources insufficient to run the windows operating system and application program, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing the general purpose windows operating system and application program running under such operating system on a server connected to a communication network, the windows operating system having an image rendering engine for generating image rendering instructions at a first image resolution consisting of a first number of bits per picture element, said image rendering instructions being suitable for input to a corresponding image rendering driver of the windows operating system for display of a windows image at said first resolution on an image screen of said server;

(b) remotely accessing the server from the portable computer via the communication network, the portable computer having a display screen for display of a windows image at a second image resolution consisting of a second number of bits per picture element less than the first number of bits;

(c) transmitting input information generated by an input device of the portable computer to the server via the communication system;

(d) at the server, receiving the transmitted input information and interfacing the received input information to the windows operating system and/or application program;

(e) generating at least one first image rendering instruction at the first image resolution by the image rendering engine of the windows operating system;

(f) at the server, converting said at least one first image rendering instruction to at least one second image rendering instruction at the second image resolution;

(g) transmitting the at least one second image rendering instruction to the portable computer via the communication network; and

(h) at the portable computer, receiving the transmitted at least one second image rendering instruction and displaying on the display screen of the portable computer a windows image at the second image resolution according to the received at least one second image rendering instruction.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of interfacing the received input information includes the step of converting the received input information into a form suitable for input to the windows operating system and inputting the converted input information into the windows operating system.

6. The method of claim 5 where the step of inputting the converted input information into the windows operating system employs a journal playback hook.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the number of picture elements represented by the at least one first image rendering instruction is more than the number of picture elements represented by the at least one second image rendering instruction.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein the portable computer maintains a logical screen in memory that is larger than the display screen of the portable computer.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the logical screen corresponds in size to the image generated by the image rendering engine of the windows operating system.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of remotely accessing the server includes the step of transmitting information specifying a processing capability of the portable computer from the portable computer to the server via the communication network.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the transmitted information specifying a processing capability of the portable computer is at least one of:

(a) maximum resolution information of a logical screen of the portable computer;

(b) maximum resolution information of a physical screen of the portable computer;

(c) bits per picture element information of the portable computer;

(d) color palette information of the portable computer; and

(e) compression/decompression capability information of the portable computer.

12. The method of claim 4 wherein the server simultaneously provides a windows environment to a plurality of portable computers.

13. A system for functionally providing a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system at a portable computer having resources insufficient to run the windows operating system and application program, comprising:

(a) a server having a general purpose windows operating system and an application program running under such operating system connected to a communication network, the operating system having an image rendering engine for generating image rendering instructions at a first image resolution consisting of a first number of bits per picture element suitable for input to a corresponding image rendering driver of the operating system for display of a windows image at the first resolution on an image screen of said server;

(b) a portable computer for remotely accessing the server from the portable computer via the communication network, the portable computer having a display screen for display of a windows image at a second image resolution consisting of a second number of bits per picture element less than the first number of bits;

(c) an input device on the portable computer for generating input information for transmission to the server;

(d) input information analyzing means at the server for interfacing input information received from the portable computer to the windows operating system and/or application program;

(e) the image rendering engine of the windows operating system generating at least one first image rendering instruction at the first image resolution;

(f) rendering instruction monitoring means at the server for converting the at least one first image rendering instruction to at least one second image rendering instruction at the second image resolution;

(g) means for transmitting the at least one second image rendering instruction to the portable computer; and

(h) at the portable computer, means for receiving the transmitted at least one second image rendering instruction and displaying on the display screen of the portable computer a windows image at the second image resolution according to the received at least one second image rendering instruction.