Application distribution system, and distribution server and distribution method thereof

• US 7,237,235 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2002
• Issued: 06/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Maeda, Naoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim; Krisna
• Assistant Examiner(s): Scuderi; Philip S.
• Application Number:
  US10/217,541
• Publication Number:
  US 20030037107A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709217-219, 709246-247, 717151-161, 717171-173, 717176-178
• US Class Current: 717/152
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2895 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data provider application, e.g. reverse proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A distribution system for distributing an application from a distribution server to a user terminal through a communication network, in which the distribution server optimizes a program code of the application in question based on execution data indicative of execution conditions of the application in question at the user terminal in question to distribute the obtained application to the user terminal and the user terminal includes a unit for obtaining a program code and execution data of an application from the distribution server to execute the obtained program code based on execution conditions of the application in question indicated in the execution data, and a unit for obtaining execution data of an application being executed to transmit the execution data to the distribution server.

Claims

1. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein the step of determining comprises;

conducting a static analysis of said program code in accordance with said one or more execution conditions; and

determining, based on said static analysis, said unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

wherein said execution data includes a value of a program counter at which execution of said program code is to begin;

wherein said step of conducting said static analysis comprises;

conducting said static analysis of said program code based on said value of said program counter to generate a tree of function calls; and

wherein said step of determining comprises;

determining, based on said static analysis, a partial tree of said tree of function calls that includes functions that will not be called if said program code is executed in accordance with said execution conditions; and

designating a part of said program code that corresponds to said functions in said partial tree as said unnecessary part of said program code.

2. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said step of obtaining execution data comprises;

obtaining said execution data from said user terminal after said user terminal has partially executed said program code, said execution data being data for allowing said user terminal to resume execution of said program code from a position at which said user terminal ended execution of said program code.

3. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said execution data includes a value of a program counter, values in a heap, and values on a stack that result from said user terminal partially executing said program code.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of transmitting comprises:

compressing said optimized program code to provide compressed optimized program code; and

transmitting said compressed optimized program code to said user terminal over said communication network.

10. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

caching said optimized program code in said distribution server;

receiving a request over said communication network from a second user terminal for a second optimized program code;

determining whether said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code; and

transmitting said cached optimized program code to said second user terminal over said communication network if it is determined that said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code.

5. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein the method further comprises;

obtaining user data including data output as a result of partial execution of said program code by said user terminal; and

wherein said step of transmitting comprises;

transmitting, as a group, said optimized program code, said execution data, and said user data to said user terminal over said communication network.

7. The method of claim 5,

wherein said step of obtaining execution data, comprises:

obtaining said execution data indicative of said one or more execution conditions related to said program code; and

obtaining user terminal information including information about at least one of hardware resources and software resources of said user terminal;

wherein said step of determining comprises;

determining said unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions; and

determining, based on said user terminal information, an additional unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed by said user terminal; and

wherein said step of removing comprises;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code and said additional unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said user terminal information comprises at least one of a size of a screen of the user terminal, a size of a useable volatile memory of the user terminal, and a size of a useable non-volatile storage region of the user terminal.

6. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said execution data includes information about a value of an instance variable of each object generated in a memory of said user terminal when said program code has been partially executed by said user terminal.

9. A method in a distribution server, said method comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said step of obtaining execution data, comprises;

obtaining said execution data indicative of said one or more execution conditions related to said program code; and

obtaining user terminal information comprising a name of a class library cached in said user terminal;

wherein said step of determining comprises;

determining said unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions; and

determining, based on said user terminal information, an additional unnecessary part of said program code that is a part of said program code that corresponds to said class library; and

wherein said step of removing comprises;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code and said additional unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code.

11. A system, comprising:

a distribution server for distributing an optimized program code and execution data to a user terminal over a communication network, said distribution server comprising;

a code optimization unit for optimizing a program code based on said execution data, said execution data being indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code, said code optimization unit configured to determine an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions, said code optimization unit further configured to remove said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code; and

the user terminal for receiving said optimized program code and said execution data from said distribution server over said communication network, and for executing said optimized program code while applying said one or more execution conditions.

12. The system of claim 11,

wherein said execution data includes a value of a program counter;

and

wherein said user terminal is configured to execute said optimized program code starting at an address specified by said value of said program counter in said execution data.

13. The system of claim 11,

wherein said execution data includes values in a heap and values on a stack that result from partial execution of said program code;

and

wherein said user terminal is configured to execute said optimized program code using said values in said heap and values on said stack specified in said execution data.

14. The system of claim 11,

wherein said code optimization unit is further configured to compress said optimized program code to provide a compressed optimized program code;

and

wherein said distribution server is configured to transmit said compressed optimized program code to said user terminal.

15. The system of claim 11,

wherein said code optimization unit is configured to optimize said program code based on said execution data and based on user terminal information to provide said optimized program code, said user terminal information including information about at least one of hardware resources and software resources of said user terminal.

16. The system of claim 15,

wherein said user terminal information comprises at least one of a size of a screen of the user terminal, a size of a useable volatile memory of the user terminal, and a size of a useable non-volatile storage region of the user terminal.

17. The system of claim 15,

wherein said user terminal information comprises a name of a class library cached in said user terminal;

and

wherein said code optimization unit is configured to determine an additional unnecessary part of said program code that is a part of said program code that corresponds to said class library; and

wherein said code optimization unit is configured to remove said unnecessary part of said program code and said additional unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code.

18. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a second user terminal for requesting a second optimized program code from said distribution server;

wherein said distribution server is configured to cache said optimized program code;

wherein said distribution server is configured to determine whether said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code when said distribution server receives said request for said second optimized program code from said second user terminal; and

wherein said distribution server is configured to transmit said cached optimized program code to said second user terminal over said communication network if it is determined that said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code.

19. A distribution server for distributing an optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network, comprising:

a code optimization unit for optimizing a program code based on execution data, said execution data being indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code, said code optimization unit comprising;

a code extraction unit for determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions, and for removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code;

wherein said distribution server is configured to transmit, as a group, said optimized program code and said execution data to said user terminal over said communication network.

20. A distribution server for distributing an optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network, comprising:

a code optimization unit for optimizing a program code based on execution data, said execution data being indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code, said code optimization unit comprising;

a code extraction unit for determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions, and for removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code;

wherein said execution data includes information about a value of a program counter, values in a heap, and values in a stack that result from said user terminal partially executing said program code.

22. The distribution server of claim 20, further comprising:

a cache unit for caching said optimized program code;

wherein said distribution server is configured to receive, over said communication network, a request from a second user terminal for second optimized program code;

wherein said distribution server is configured to determine whether said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code; and

wherein said distribution server is configured to transmit said cached optimized program code to said second user terminal over said communication network if it is determined that said cached optimized program code is useable as said second optimized program code.

21. A distribution server for distributing an optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network, comprising:

a code optimization unit for optimizing a program code based on execution data, said execution data being indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code, said code optimization unit comprising;

a code extraction unit for determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions, and for removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code;

wherein said code extraction unit is configured to determine, based on user terminal information, an additional unnecessary part of said program code, said user terminal information including information about at least one of hardware resources and software resources of said user terminal;

wherein said code extraction unit is configured to remove said unnecessary part of said program code and said additional unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide said optimized program code;

wherein said user terminal information comprises a name of a class library cached in said user terminal; and

wherein said code extraction unit is configured to determine, based on said user terminal information, said additional unnecessary part of said program code as a part of said program code that corresponds to said class library.

23. A user terminal, comprising:

an application management unit for obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to a program code after said program code has been partially executed by said user terminal, and for transmitting said execution data to a distribution server over a communication network; and

an execution data processing unit for obtaining an optimized program code and said execution data from said distribution server over said communication network, and for executing said optimized program code while applying said one or more execution conditions, said optimized program code being an optimized version of said program code that results from optimization of said program code by said distribution server based on said execution data.

24. A storage medium storing a program for causing a distribution server to execute a process, said process comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said step of obtaining execution data comprises;

obtaining said execution data from said user terminal after said user terminal has partially executed said program code, said execution data being data for allowing said user terminal to resume execution of said program code from a position at which said user terminal ended execution of said program code.

25. A storage medium storing a program for causing a distribution server to execute a process, said process comprising:

obtaining a program code;

obtaining execution data indicative of one or more execution conditions related to said program code;

determining an unnecessary part of said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions;

removing said unnecessary part of said program code from said program code to provide an optimized program code; and

transmitting said optimized program code to a user terminal over a communication network;

wherein said execution data includes a value of a program counter, values in a heap, and values on a stack that result from said user terminal partially executing said program code.

26. The storage medium of claim 25, wherein said step of transmitting comprises:

compressing said optimized program code to provide compressed optimized program code; and

transmitting said compressed optimized program code to said user terminal over said communication network.

27. A user terminal, comprising:

an execution data processing unit for obtaining an optimized program code and execution data from a distribution server over a communication network, and for executing said optimized program code while applying one or more execution conditions that are specified in said execution data, said optimized program code being an optimized version of a program code that results from said distribution server removing an unnecessary part of said program code from said program code that would not be executed if said program code were executed in accordance with said one or more execution conditions.