Selective assembly loading and execution based on platform capabilities

• US 7,363,338 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2002
• Issued: 04/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kaakani, Ziad M., Nanja, Murthi
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, KHANH Q
• Application Number:
  US10/196,135
• Publication Number:
  US 20040015568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,106 Days
• Field of Search: 455/435, 455/556, 455/566, 709/227, 709/229, 709/224, 709/228, 709/201, 709/203, 717/177
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

An arrangement is provided for selectively loading and executing an assembly based on platform capabilities. When an application that includes at least one platform capability-dependent assembly realized to perform a function is initiated on a platform of a device, the platform capabilities supported by the device are determined based on corresponding platform capability profiles. Based on the supported platform capabilities, specialized assemblies designed to perform an underlying function on a platform having the supported capabilities are selected. Proxies corresponding to selected specialized assemblies are then accordingly invoked to load and excuting the specialized assemblies.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

initiating an application on a platform of a device, the application including a platform capability-dependent assembly to perform a specific function of the application;

determining at least one capability that the platform supports according to at least one capability profile of the platform, the at least one capability being a processing capability of the platform including at least one of an audio processing capability, a video processing capability, and a graphics processing capability;

dynamically selecting a first specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a first capability;

dynamically selecting a second specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a second capability, wherein said selecting a specialized assembly comprises;

determining whether there are more than one capability supported on the platform of the device;

retrieving custom attributes when there are more than one capability supported by the platform of the device;

identifying a best-fit capability according to at least one custom attribute specifying priority among different capabilities;

determining the specialized assembly corresponding to the best-fit capability, wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly matches the best-fit capability; and

determining the specialized assembly wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly is supported by the platform when there is only one supported capability; and

executing the selected specialized assembly on the platform via a proxy corresponding to the specialized assembly.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining the at least one supported capability comprises:

sending a query to the platform of the device to obtain the at least one capability profile, each of which describing a capability supported by the platform of the device;

receiving the at least one capability profile from the platform of the device; and

determining the at least one supported capability based on the at least one capability profile.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein each of the at least one capability profile includes at least one of:

a profile identifier capable of uniquely identifying a capability supported by the platform;

a profile assembly name representing an assembly corresponding to the supported capability; and

a profile assembly version representing the version of the assembly of the supported capability.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the platform capability-dependent assembly includes at least one specialized assembly, each of which includes meta data and executable code of the specialized assembly.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the meta data in each of the at least one specialized assembly includes at least one of:

a capability required to execute the specialized assembly; and

an entry point from which the specialized assembly is executed.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising loading the specialized assembly prior to said executing.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein said loading the specialized assembly comprises:

retrieving the specialized assembly from a local storage if the specialized assembly is locally stored; and

retrieving the specialized assembly from a remote location if the specialized assembly is not locally stored.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said retrieving from a remote location comprises:

determining the remote location where the specialized assembly is stored;

connecting to the remote location; and

downloading the specialized assembly from the remote location.

9. A system, comprising:

a device;

a platform on the device capable of supporting at least one supported capability, wherein the platform includes at least one capability profile that describes the at least one supported capability, and wherein the at least one capability is a processing capability of the platform including at least one of an audio processing capability, a video processing capability, and a graphics processing capability; and

a platform capability-dependent application to run on the platform in a fashion consistent with the at least one supported capability of the platform of the device, the application further including;

at least one assembly including specialized assemblies that each perform a different supported capability of the platform;

a platform capability-based assembly execution mechanism capable of dynamically selecting a first specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a first capability or a second specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a second capability, wherein selecting a specialized assembly comprises determining whether there are more than one capability supported on the platform of the device, retrieving custom attributes when there are more than one capability supported by the platform of the device, identifying a best-fit capability according to at least one custom attribute specifying priority among different capabilities, determining the specialized assembly corresponding to the best-fit capability, wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly matches the best-fit capability and determining the specialized assembly wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly is supported by the platform when there is only one supported capability; and

at least one proxy, each of which is associated with a corresponding specialized assembly, capable of accessing and executing the selected specialized assembly.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the specialized assembly is stored locally on the device and is retrieved by a corresponding proxy from a local storage.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the specialized assembly is stored remotely at a different location than the device and is downloaded by a corresponding proxy from the remote location.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the platform capability-based assembly execution mechanism comprises:

a required capability identification mechanism capable of identifying at least one required capability necessary for an assembly to be executed on the platform of the device;

a capability profile query mechanism capable of querying and receiving the at least one capability profile from the platform to identify the at least one supported capability; and

a capability matching mechanism capable of matching the at least one required capability necessary for the assembly to run on the device with the at least one supported capability to identify the specialized assembly whose required capability is one of the supported capability on the platform.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the required capability of the specialized assembly corresponds to a most preferable capability according to a capability priority specified in the form of custom attributes in the platform capability-based assembly execution mechanism.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein each of the at least one proxy includes:

a meta data retrieval mechanism capable of retrieving meta data of the specialized assembly, the meta data specifying information related to required capability and execution of the specialized assembly; and

an assembly loading mechanism capable of determining the location where the specialized assembly is stored and loading the specialized assembly for execution.

15. The system according to claim 14, further comprising an assembly execution initiator capable of initiating the execution of the specialized assembly after the specialized assembly is loaded for execution.

16. An article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a machine, result in the following:

initiating an application on a platform of a device, the application including a platform capability-dependent assembly to perform a specific function of the application;

determining at least one capability that the platform supports according to at least one capability profile of the platform, the at least one capability being a processing capability of the platform including at least one of an audio processing capability, a video processing capability, and a graphics processing capability;

dynamically selecting a first specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a first capability;

dynamically selecting a second specialized assembly associated with the platform capability-dependent assembly if the capability profile indicates that the platform supports a second capability, wherein said selecting a specialized assembly comprises;

determining whether there are more than one capability supported on the platform of the device;

retrieving custom attributes when there are more than one capability supported by the platform of the device;

identifying a best-fit capability according to at least one custom attribute specifying priority among different capabilities;

determining the specialized assembly corresponding to the best-fit capability, wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly matches the best-fit capability; and

determining the specialized assembly wherein the capability required by the specialized assembly is supported by the platform when there is only one supported capability; and

executing the selected specialized assembly on the platform via a proxy corresponding to the specialized assembly.

17. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 16, wherein said determining the at least one supported capability comprises:

sending a query to the platform of the device to obtain the at least one capability profile, each of which describing a capability supported by the platform of the device;

receiving the at least one capability profile from the platform of the device; and

determining the at least one supported capability based on the at least one capability profile.

18. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 17, wherein each of the at least one capability profile includes at least one of:

a profile identifier capable of uniquely identifying a capability supported by the platform;

a profile assembly name representing an assembly corresponding to the supported capability; and

a profile assembly version representing the version of the assembly of the supported capability.

19. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 18, wherein the platform capability-dependent assembly includes at least one specialized assembly, each of which includes meta data and executable code of the specialized assembly.

20. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 19, wherein the meta data in each of the at least one specialized assembly includes at least one of:

a capability required to execute the specialized assembly; and

an entry point from which the specializes assembly is executed.

21. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 16, the instructions, when executed by a machine, further result in loading the specialized assembly prior to said executing.

22. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 21, wherein said loading the specialized assembly comprises:

retrieving the specialized assembly from a local storage if the specialized assembly is locally stored; and

retrieving the specialized assembly from a remote location if the specialized assembly is not locally stored.

23. The article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions according to claim 22, wherein said retrieving from a remote location comprises:

determining the remote location where the specialized assembly is stored;

connecting to the remote location; and

downloading the specialized assembly from the remote location.