On-the-fly device configuration and management

• US 7,870,490 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2005
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Shell, Scott R., Zhu, Yuhang, Coles, Neil L., Dang, Hung M., Abel, Miller T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tan; Alvin H
• Application Number:
  US11/274,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20070113186A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,883 Days
• Field of Search: 715/735, 709/220
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers

Abstract

Translators are provided that enable automated and remote device configurations in an efficient and abstract manner. In one aspect, a device configuration system is provided. A configuration component stores one or more remote configuration trees for various devices. A translator component maps the remote configuration trees to at least one device configuration tree associated with the respective devices to enable device configuration in an automated manner.

Claims

1. A device configuration system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory component communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory component having stored therein computer-executable instructions configured to implement the system including;

a configuration component that stores a remote configuration tree for at least a first device and a second device, the remote configuration tree providing an abstract configuration description for each of the first and second devices, wherein the remote configuration tree comprises a plurality of nodes each representing an object, and wherein each node is addressable by use of a component address comprising a Universal Resource Identifier (URI); and

a translator component that, in response to receipt of an operation request with respect to one of the nodes, maps the address associated with the node in the remote configuration tree to a component address of at least one node in each of at least one actual device configuration tree associated with the first device and at least one actual device configuration tree associated with the second device, the at least one actual device configuration tree associated with the first device having a different node structure and different component addresses than the at least one actual device configuration tree associated with the second device,

wherein the translator component maps each URI on the remote configuration tree to corresponding URIs in the actual device configuration trees thereby allowing abstractions between each remote configuration tree URI and each corresponding actual device configuration tree URI without requiring modifications to the configuration component, wherein each URI on the remote configuration tree and its corresponding URIs in the actual device configuration trees represent a resource accessible to both the first and second devices.

2. The system of claim 1, the configuration component and the translator communicate across at least one network, the network includes a local network connection, a remote network connection, or a wireless network connection.

3. The system of claim 1, the configuration component includes one or more servers, clients, network devices, or administrative tool for deploying configuration assets.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising a network protocol for deploying the configuration assets including Internet protocols, Simple Object Access Protocols (SOAP), an Extensible Markup Language (XML) protocol, or a Wireless Access Protocol.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a device manager server that requests that an operation request is performed on a particular node in a device management tree associated with one or more devices.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one device management server that communicates commands across a network to a configuration manager and one or more configuration service providers that are associated with a given device.

7. The system of claim 6, the device management server communicates with one or more settings on each of the first and second devices that appear as an abstract device management tree to the server, wherein individual nodes in the abstract device management tree are addressed using a Location Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a component to translate URIs and values that represent objects in the abstract device management tree in order to be rerouted to a different data store transparently to the device management server.

9. The system of claim 1, the translator component is accessed in a system registry across a network, according to a Component Object model, or according to a globally unique identifier.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a component to enable the translator component to add or remove segments from a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), a component to modify a value for a configuration node before the node is passed to a configuration service provider, or at least one application programming interface to translate a configuration node or to translate a value for a configuration node.

11. A computerized translation method for device configuration, comprising:

employing a processor to execute computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium to implement the following acts;

defining an abstract server configuration tree comprising a plurality of nodes each representing an object, wherein each node is addressable by use of a Universal Resource Identifier (URI);

defining a first actual device configuration tree and a second actual device configuration tree;

requesting an operation with respect to one of the nodes;

automatically mapping data from the URI associated with the node in the abstract server configuration tree to a URI of at least one node in each of the first actual device configuration tree and the second actual device configuration tree, the first actual device configuration tree having a different node structure and different component addresses than the second actual configuration tree,

wherein each URI on the remote configuration tree is mapped to corresponding URIs in the actual device configuration trees thereby allowing abstractions between each abstract server configuration tree URI and each corresponding actual device configuration tree URI without requiring modification to the abstract server configuration tree, wherein each URI on the abstract server configuration tree and its corresponding URIs in the first and second actual device configuration trees represent a resource accessible to both the first and second devices; and

automatically downloading configuration data to at least one configuration service provider associated with a device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising defining one or more application programming interfaces (API'"'"'s) to facilitate configuration of at least two devices, the API'"'"'s include a get node API, a get node from API, an execute API, a begin transaction API, a commit transaction API, a cancel current transaction API, a set host API, and an initialize access roles API.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising employing a standardized tree that is targeted by a server to allow a particular implementation, or specific device type, to map a standardized tree to its own particular tree.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising enabling a device type to expose multiple trees.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating a combination of standardized and proprietary forms of a device management schema.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising mapping a target Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) from at least one exposed schema to an internal tree.

17. A translator system for device configuration, comprising:

means for downloading abstract device data from at least one server, the abstract device data being associated with a node of an abstract configuration tree, and wherein the node is addressable by use of a component address comprising a Universal Resource Identifier (URI);

means for updating actual settings data for at least a first device and a second device;

means for mapping the component address of the abstract device data to each of a component address of a first configuration tree including the updated actual settings data for the first device and a component address of a second configuration tree including the updated actual settings data for the second device, the first configuration tree having a different node structure and different component addresses than the second configuration tree, the abstract device data providing an abstract configuration description for each of the first and second devices; and

means for executing the abstract device data on the at least two first and second devices,

wherein each URI on the abstract configuration tree is mapped to corresponding URIs in the first and second configuration trees thereby allowing abstractions between each abstract configuration tree URI and each corresponding first and second configuration tree URI without requiring modification to the abstract configuration tree, and wherein each URI on the abstract configuration tree and its corresponding URIs in the first and second configuration trees represent a resource accessible to both the first and second devices.