Common key frame caching for a remote user interface

• US 8,106,909 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2007
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: McDowell, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kimbinh T
• Application Number:
  US11/872,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20090100483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,571 Days
• Field of Search: 345/473, 382/232, 382/236, 382/162, 348/E5.006, 348/E5.008, 348/E7.056, 375/E7.263, 709/205, 709/217, 709/219, 709/248, 725/109
• US Class Current: 345/473
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Common key frames are provided to a client during initialization to provide more efficient remoting of user interface graphical information. By storing the common key frames at the client, the common key frames may be loaded quicker and more efficiently at the client without having to resend graphical information for each common key frame each time a common key frame is used to provide a new frame. Differences between a selected common key frame and the new frame are encoded as delta commands. A payload containing a common key frame command, which identifies a common key frame at the client, and delta commands which encode differences between the selected common key frame and new frame is sent to the client. The client receives the payload, sets a cached common key frame as the current frame, applies the delta commands to the selected common key frame, and renders the new frame.

Claims

1. A method for managing a cache, comprising:

providing a plurality of common key frames of graphical information to a client by a server;

providing current graphical frame data for a current frame to a client by a server over a network, the current graphical frame data identifies a first of the common key frames to be used to render the current frame;

receiving a command from the client at the server after providing the current graphical frame data;

identifying a new frame by the server to be rendered at the client based on the command;

selecting one of the plurality of common key frames by the server for use in rendering the new frame;

determining a set of difference data associated with the difference between the new frame and the selected common key frame; and

transmitting an identifier for the selected common key frame and the set of difference data to the client by the server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting one of the common key frames by the server includes:

receiving an indication that a user interface framework has generated the new frame using a selected frame of the one or more common key frames.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing one or more common key frames includes:

providing one or more common key frames during initialization of the client.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the identified new frame is not associated with a full frame update or that the identified new frame is not associated with a constant color fill.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing one or more common key frames by the server includes:

determining the amount of memory available at the client for caching common key frames.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting one of the common key frames by the server includes:

generating a common key frame command with a key frame identifier.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the key frame command is configured to set a current frame pointer to a common key frame.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the key frame command is configured to copy a current frame from a frame cache to a current frame buffer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining a set of difference data includes:

comparing pixel data values between pixels in the selected common key frame and the new frame.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of determining a set of difference data includes:

generating instructions to set raster segments in the selected common key frame to a set of pixel data values associated with the new frame.

11. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

receiving a set of common key frames containing graphical information by a client from a server;

storing each common key frame at a common key frame cache slot at the client;

rendering a first frame at the client by using a first of the common key frames;

sending a command from the client to the server after rendering the first frame;

receiving a set of instructions by the client from the server in response to the command, the set of instructions including a common key frame instruction and difference data instructions, the difference data instructions are based on differences between a new frame to be presented at the client and a second of the common key frames stored at the client;

setting a first pointer to a selected common key frame cache slot at the client in response to executing the common key frame instruction;

modifying graphical frame data associated with the common key frame slot in response to executing the difference data instructions; and

presenting a frame associated with the modified graphical frame data through a display device by the client.

12. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 11, wherein the common key frame instruction identifies the common key frame slot at the client to which the first pointer is set.

13. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 11, wherein the first pointer may be set to an address associated with client cache memory or a client frame buffer.

14. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 13, wherein only one copy of two or more graphical frames of data is stored in a client memory, the client memory including the client cache and client frame buffer.

15. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 11, wherein the set of instructions include an instruction to fill the current frame with a color.

16. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting memory information by the client to the server, the memory information indicating a portion of memory allocated to store common key frames by the client, to the server, said set of common key frames received from the server configured to be contained within the portion of allocated memory at the client.

17. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 11, wherein said step of modifying includes:

applying updates to raster segments in the selected cache slot frame with raster segment data contained in the difference data instructions.

18. A method for managing a cache, comprising:

receiving memory size information from a client by a server;

providing two or more common key frames to a client by a server over a network during initialization of the client, the two or more common key frames are a corresponding two or more backgrounds to be cached at the client;

identifying a first of the two or more common key frames to be rendered at the client for an initial frame;

identifying a new frame by the server to be rendered at the client;

identifying a second of the two or more common key frames to be used to generate the new frame;

generating a common key frame instruction to select the second common key frame at the client;

encoding a set of difference data instructions associated with the difference between the new frame and the second common key frame; and

transmitting a payload that includes the common key frame instruction and the set of difference data instructions to the client by the server.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of generating a common key frame instruction includes an instruction to set a client pointer to the first common key frame.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

selecting a common key frame at the server which corresponds to the new frame; and

applying the difference data instructions to the common key frame at the server.