Establishing and utilizing terminal server dynamic virtual channels

• US 8,799,479 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2011
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Stoyanov, Vladimir K., Patwardhan, Makarand V., Lotlikar, Mahesh S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang, Julian
• Application Number:
  US13/016,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20110138061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• Field of Search: 370/397, 370/399, 370/409, 709227-230, 719/310, 719313-332, 715/740
• US Class Current: 709/227
• 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 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities

Abstract

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for establishing and utilizing terminal server dynamic virtual channels. In some embodiments, a terminal server sends a new channel request to a terminal server. The client receives the new channel request and forwards the new channel request to a listener for a plug-in. The listener creates an instance of the client side plug-in and sends a channel accept to the terminal server. The terminal server receives the channel accept and creates an instance of a server side plug-in. The server and the client agree to use a unique identifier for identifying the established dynamic virtual channel. In other embodiments, data for a dynamic virtual channel is tunneled between computers over a static virtual channel.

Claims

1. At a terminal server that includes at least one processor, a method for transferring data over a dynamic virtual channel between a server side plug-in and a corresponding client side plug-in at a client computing system, both of the server side plug-in and the corresponding client side plug-in being associated with a common plug-in name, the method comprising:

an act of establishing, over a terminal server session, a static virtual channel between the server side plug-in at the terminal server and the corresponding client side plug-in at the client in response to a server side plug-in request which sends the common plug-in name to the client side plug-in, the static virtual connection being identified by the common plug-in name;

an act of establishing a dynamic virtual channel between an instance of the server side plug-in and an instance of the client side plug-in in response to the server side plug-in request, the request being received at a listener for the client side plug-in, the listener spawning an instance of the client side plug-in which communicates with a newly-spawned instance of the terminal server plug-in to negotiate and establish the dynamic virtual channel which includes a correspondingly agreed-upon unique identifier;

an act of accessing application data from an instance of a plug-in, wherein the data is to be transferred over the dynamic virtual channel;

an act of accessing the negotiated and agreed-upon unique identifier corresponding to the dynamic virtual channel;

an act of encapsulating the unique identifier and application data within static virtual channel data for the static virtual channel, such that the unique identifier and the application data are transmitted together within the static virtual channel data;

an act of further encapsulating the static virtual channel data within lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack; and

an act of sending the lower layer data such that the unique identifier for the dynamic virtual session and the application data are tunneled to the destination.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of accessing a unique identifier corresponding to the dynamic virtual channel comprises an act of accessing a unique identifier from a channel mapping at the terminal server.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of encapsulating the unique identifier and application data within static virtual channel data for a static virtual channel comprises an act of encapsulating the unique identifier within static virtual channel data that includes the name of the static virtual channel.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of further encapsulating the static virtual channel data within lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack comprises an act of encapsulating the static virtual channel data within RDP data.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of further encapsulating the static virtual channel data within lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack comprises an act of encapsulating the RDP data within an IP packet.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of sending the lower layer data comprises an act of sending the lower layer data over the Internet.

7. A computer-readable storage device having stored computer-executable instructions which, when executed by at least one computing system with a processor, implement a method for transferring data over a dynamic virtual channel between a terminal server side plug-in and a corresponding client side plug-in at a client computing system, both of the server side plug-in and the corresponding client side plug-in being associated with a common plug-in name, the method including:

an act of establishing, over a terminal server session, a static virtual channel between the server side plug-in at the terminal server and the corresponding client side plug-in at the client in response to a server side plug-in request which sends the common plug-in name to the client side plug-in, the static virtual connection being identified by the common plug-in name;

an act of establishing a dynamic virtual channel between an instance of the server side plug-in and an instance of the client side plug-in in response to the server side plug-in request, the request being received at a listener for the client side plug-in, the listener spawning an instance of the client side plug-in which communicates with a newly-spawned instance of the terminal server plug-in to negotiate and establish the dynamic virtual channel which includes a correspondingly agreed-upon unique identifier;

an act of accessing application data from an instance of a plug-in, wherein the data is to be transferred over the dynamic virtual channel;

an act of accessing the negotiated and agreed-upon unique identifier corresponding to the dynamic virtual channel;

an act of encapsulating the unique identifier and application data within static virtual channel data for the static virtual channel, such that the unique identifier and the application data are transmitted together within the static virtual channel data;

an act of further encapsulating the static virtual channel data within lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack; and

an act of sending the lower layer data such that the unique identifier for the dynamic virtual session and the application data are tunneled to the destination.

8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the one or more storage media comprises system memory of the client computing system.

9. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the one or more storage media comprises the client computing system.

10. At a client computing system, a method for accessing application data transferred over a dynamic virtual channel between a terminal server side plug-in and a corresponding client side plug-in at the client computing system, both of the server side plug-in and the corresponding client side plug-in being associated with a common plug-in name, the method comprising:

an act of establishing, over a terminal server session, a static virtual channel between the server side plug-in at the terminal server and the corresponding client side plug-in at the client in response to a server side plug-in request which sends the common plug-in name to the client side plug-in, the static virtual connection being identified by the common plug-in name;

an act of establishing a dynamic virtual channel between an instance of the server side plug-in and an instance of the client side plug-in in response to the server side plug-in request, the request being received at a listener for the client side plug-in, the listener spawning an instance of the client side plug-in which communicates with a newly-spawned instance of the terminal server plug-in to negotiate and establish the dynamic virtual channel which includes a correspondingly agreed-upon unique identifier;

receiving lower layer data from the terminal server, the lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack, the lower layer data encapsulating static virtual channel data that includes a unique identifier and application data which were previously encapsulated by the terminal server, such that the application data and the unique identifier are transmitted together within the static virtual channel data from the terminal server;

unencapsulating the static virtual channel data from the lower layer data;

unencapsulating the unique identifier and the application data from the static virtual channel data;

comparing the unique identifier to a channel mapping to identify the dynamic virtual channel corresponding to the application data; and

sending the application data to the plug-in corresponding to the dynamic virtual channel.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further includes an act of the client computing system receiving a new channel request over the terminal server session via the static virtual channel to create a new dynamic virtual channel between a client side plug-in at the client computing system and a corresponding server side plug-in at the terminal server, the new channel request including the common plug-in name of the client side plug-in.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes:

an act of forwarding the new channel request to a listener and the listener creating an instance of the client side plug-in, in response to receiving the new channel request; and

an act of the client computing system sending a channel accept to the terminal server, the channel accept indicative of the listener creating the instance of the client side plug-in.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further includes:

establishing the virtual channel over a terminal server session between the instance of the client side plug-in and a corresponding instance of the server side plug-in at the terminal server; and

an act of the terminal server agreeing to the unique identifier for the established new dynamic virtual channel, the unique identifier usable by the client computing system to forward communication from the instance of the client side plug-in to the instance of the server side plug-in via the new dynamic virtual channel, the unique identifier differing from the common plug-in name of the client side plug-in.

14. A computer-readable storage device having stored computer-executable instructions which, when executed by at least one computing system with a processor, implement a method for a client computing system accessing application data transferred over a dynamic virtual channel between a terminal server side plug-in and a corresponding client side plug-in at the client computing system, both of the server side plug-in and the corresponding client side plug-in being associated with a common plug-in name, the method comprising:

an act of establishing, over a terminal server session, a static virtual channel between the server side plug-in at the terminal server and the corresponding client side plug-in at the client in response to a server side plug-in request which sends the common plug-in name to the client side plug-in, the static virtual connection being identified by the common plug-in name;

an act of establishing a dynamic virtual channel between an instance of the server side plug-in and an instance of the client side plug-in in response to the server side plug-in request, the request being received at a listener for the client side plug-in, the listener spawning an instance of the client side plug-in which communicates with a newly-spawned instance of the terminal server plug-in to negotiate and establish the dynamic virtual channel which includes a correspondingly agreed-upon unique identifier;

receiving lower layer data from the terminal server, the lower layer data corresponding to lower layers of a communication stack, the lower layer data encapsulating static virtual channel data that includes a unique identifier and application data which were previously encapsulated by the terminal server, such that the application data and the unique identifier are transmitted together within the static virtual channel data from the terminal server;

unencapsulating the static virtual channel data from the lower layer data;

unencapsulating the unique identifier and the application data from the static virtual channel data;

comparing the unique identifier to a channel mapping to identify the dynamic virtual channel corresponding to the application data; and

sending the application data to the plug-in corresponding to the dynamic virtual channel.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the one or more storage media comprises system memory of the client computing system.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the one or more storage media comprises the client computing system.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein, wherein the method further includes:

an act of the client computing system receiving a new channel request over the terminal server session via the static virtual channel to create a new dynamic virtual channel between a client side plug-in at the client computing system and a corresponding server side plug-in at the terminal server, the new channel request including the common plug-in name of the client side plug-in;

an act of forwarding the new channel request to a listener and the listener creating an instance of the client side plug-in, in response to receiving the new channel request;

an act of the client computing system sending a channel accept to the terminal server, the channel accept indicative of the listener creating the instance of the client side plug-in;

establishing the virtual channel over a terminal server session between the instance of the client side plug-in and a corresponding instance of the server side plug-in at the terminal server; and

an act of the terminal server agreeing to the unique identifier for the established new dynamic virtual channel, the unique identifier usable by the client computing system to forward communication from the instance of the client side plug-in to the instance of the server side plug-in via the new dynamic virtual channel.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the unique identifier differs from the common plug-in name of the client side plug-in.