Methods and systems for accessing and controlling a remote desktop of a remote machine in real time by a web browser at a client device via HTTP API utilizing a transcoding server

• US 8,589,800 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2010
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Marketing Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wyse Technology Incorporated (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Kominac, Stevan, Stanley, Jeremy Michael, Schwebke, Curtis
• Primary Examiner(s): Refai, Ramsey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Takele, Meseker
• Application Number:
  US12/965,814
• Publication Number:
  US 20120151369A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• Field of Search: 715/740, 715/719, 715/730, 715/760, 709/224, 709/227, 709/234
• US Class Current: 715/740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/08 specially adapted for terminal emulation, e.g. Telnet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

Examples of methods, systems, apparatus, and machine-readable storage media are provided to facilitate access and control of a remote desktop of a remote machine by a web browser at a client device through a transcoding server without installing proprietary plug-ins or protocols on the client device. A transcoding server may translate user input requests from a web browser into input calls compatible with a remote desktop display protocol. The transcoding server may receive remote desktop drawing commands from the remote machine and translate the remote desktop drawing commands into web browser drawing updates compatible with the web browser. A transcoding server may communicate with a web browser via HTTP and communicate with a remote machine via a remote desktop display protocol. A web browser may be an HTML5 browser. A transcoding server may send drawing coordinates to the web browser via an HTTP header and may use long polling.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating accessing and controlling a remote desktop of a remote machine in real time by a web browser at a client device via a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) utilizing a transcoding server, the method comprising:

receiving, at the transcoding server, a remote desktop drawing command based on an image of the remote desktop of the remote machine, wherein the remote desktop drawing command is compatible with a remote desktop display protocol utilized by the remote machine;

translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a web browser drawing update that is compatible with the web browser, wherein translating the remote desktop drawing command into the web browser drawing update comprises;

translating the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;

updating a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command, wherein the updated portion of the Java bitmap represents a portion of an entire image of the remote desktop;

creating an image file from the Java bitmap;

generating drawing coordinates for the image file; and

generating the web browser drawing update including the image file and the drawing coordinates for the image file; and

facilitating providing the web browser drawing update from the transcoding server to the web browser of the client device utilizing an HTTP handler during a remote desktop session between the client device and the remote machine, wherein the facilitating providing comprises placing the drawing coordinates into a cookie to be provided to the web browser;

wherein the transcoding server is a Java transcoding server that is configured to provide an application framework for hosting one or more web applications;

wherein the remote desktop display protocol is a push protocol; and

wherein HTTP is a pull protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating comprises:

translating the remote desktop drawing command into a graphics drawing command that is compatible with the transcoding server, wherein the graphics drawing command includes coordinates;

extracting the coordinates from the graphics drawing command;

updating at least a portion of an off-screen bitmap based on the graphics drawing command, wherein the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap is associated with the coordinates, wherein the off-screen bitmap is based on the image of the remote desktop;

creating an image file based on the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap; and

wherein the web browser drawing update comprises the image file and the coordinates.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the web browser is an HTML5 compatible web browser.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user input request from the web browser, using HTTP;

translating the user input request into an input command compatible with the remote desktop display protocol; and

providing the input command to the remote desktop client for accessing and controlling the remote desktop of the remote machine during the remote desktop session, wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser, wherein the image file and the drawing coordinates represent a portion of an entire image of the remote desktop that has been changed in response to the input command.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user input request comprises at least one of a mouse event, a keyboard event, and a touch event.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server of the remote machine, wherein the translating comprises one or more of:

calculating new drawing command parameters based on the remote desktop drawing command parameters;

adjusting the remote desktop drawing command parameters; and

making adjustments to the bitmap data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server of the remote machine, wherein the translating comprises making adjustments to the bitmap data, wherein the making adjustments comprises converting a 16-bit red-green-blue (RGB) 5-6-5 color format into a 32-bit alpha-red-green-blue (ARGB) 8-8-8-8 format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processing system to perform a method of facilitating accessing and controlling a remote desktop of a remote machine in real time by a web browser at a client device via a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) utilizing a transcoding server, the instructions comprising code for:

receiving, at the transcoding server, a remote desktop drawing command based on an image of the remote desktop of the remote machine, wherein the remote desktop drawing command is compatible with a remote desktop display protocol utilized by the remote machine;

translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a web browser drawing update that is compatible with the web browser wherein translating the remote desktop drawing command into the web browser drawing update comprises;

translating the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;

updating a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command, wherein the updated portion of the Java bitmap represents a portion of an entire image of the remote desktop;

creating an image file from the Java bitmap;

generating drawing coordinates for the image file; and

generating the web browser drawing update including the image file and

generating the drawing coordinates for the image file; and

facilitating providing the web browser drawing update from the transcoding server to the web browser of the client device utilizing an HTTP handler during a remote desktop session between the client device and the remote machine, wherein the facilitating providing comprises placing the drawing coordinates into a cookie to be provided to the web browser;

wherein the transcoding server is a Java transcoding server that is configured to provide an application framework for hosting one or more web applications;

wherein the remote desktop display protocol is a push protocol; and

wherein HTTP is a pull protocol.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the translating comprises:

translating the remote desktop drawing command into a graphics drawing command that is compatible with the transcoding server, wherein the graphics drawing command includes coordinates;

extracting the coordinates from the graphics drawing command;

updating at least a portion of an off-screen bitmap based on the graphics drawing command, wherein the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap is associated with the coordinates, wherein the off-screen bitmap is based on the image of the remote desktop;

creating an image file based on the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap; and

wherein the web browser drawing update comprises the image file and the coordinates.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the web browser is an HTML5 compatible web browser.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further comprise code for:

receiving a user input request from the web browser, using HTTP;

translating the user input request into an input command compatible with the remote desktop display protocol; and

providing the input command to the remote desktop client for accessing and controlling the remote desktop of the remote machine during the remote desktop session;

wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser; and

wherein the image file and the drawing coordinates represent a portion of an entire image of the remote desktop that has been changed in response to the input command.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the user input request comprises at least one of a mouse event, a keyboard event, and a touch event.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server of the remote machine, wherein the translating comprises one or more of:

calculating new drawing command parameters based on the remote desktop drawing command parameters;

adjusting the remote desktop drawing command parameters; and

making adjustments to the bitmap data.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server of the remote machine, wherein the translating comprises making adjustments to the bitmap data, wherein the making adjustments comprises converting a 16-bit red-green-blue (RGB) 5-6-5 color format into a 32-bit alpha-red-green-blue (ARGB) 8-8-8-8 format.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.

19. An apparatus for facilitating accessing and controlling a remote desktop of a remote machine in real time by a web browser at a client device via a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) utilizing a transcoding server, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a remote desktop drawing command based on an image of the remote desktop of the remote machine, wherein the remote desktop drawing command is compatible with a remote desktop display protocol utilized by the remote machine;

means for translating the remote desktop drawing command into a web browser drawing update that is compatible with the web browser wherein the means for translating the remote desktop drawing command into a web browser drawing update comprises;

means for translating the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;

means for updating a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command wherein the updated portion of the Java bitmap represents a portion of an entire image of the remote desktop;

means for creating an image file from the Java bitmap; and

means for generating drawing coordinates for the image file;

means for generating the web browser drawing update including the image file and the drawing coordinates for the image file; and

means for facilitating providing the web browser drawing update from the transcoding server to the web browser of the client device utilizing an HTTP handler during a remote desktop session between the client device and the remote machine wherein the means for facilitating providing comprises means for placing the drawing coordinates into a cookie to be provided to the web browser;

wherein the transcoding server is a Java transcoding server that is configured to provide an application framework for hosting one or more web applications;

wherein the remote desktop display protocol is a push protocol; and

wherein HTTP is a pull protocol.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for translating comprises:

means for translating the remote desktop drawing command into a graphics drawing command that is compatible with the transcoding server, wherein the graphics drawing command includes coordinates;

means for extracting the coordinates from the graphics drawing command;

means for updating at least a portion of an off-screen bitmap based on the graphics drawing command, wherein the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap is associated with the coordinates, wherein the off-screen bitmap is based on the image of the entire remote desktop; and

means for creating an image file based on the at least a portion of the off-screen bitmap;

wherein the web browser drawing update comprises the image file and the coordinates.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the web browser is an HTML5 compatible web browser.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for receiving a user input request from the web browser, using HTTP;

means for translating the user input request into an input command compatible with the remote desktop display protocol; and

means for providing the input command to the remote desktop client for accessing and controlling the remote desktop of the remote machine during the remote desktop session;

wherein the web browser drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file that are recognizable and processable by the web browser; and

wherein the image file and the drawing coordinates represent a portion of an entire image of the of the remote desktop that has been changed in response to the input command.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the user input request comprises at least one of a mouse event, a keyboard event, and a touch event.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server of the remote machine, wherein the means for translating comprises one or more of:

means for calculating new drawing command parameters based on the remote desktop drawing command parameters;

means for adjusting the remote desktop drawing command parameters; and

means for making adjustments to the bitmap data.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the remote desktop drawing command comprises remote desktop drawing command parameters and bitmap data received from a remote desktop server, wherein the means for translating comprises means for making adjustments to the bitmap data of the remote machine, wherein the means for making adjustments comprises means for converting a 16-bit red-green-blue (RGB) 5-6-5 color format into a 32-bit alpha-red-green-blue (ARGB) 8-8-8-8 format.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus comprises the transcoding server.

29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus comprises a processing system and a memory.