Auto-waking of a suspended OS in a dockable system

• US 9,026,709 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2011
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Z124 LLC (Flexis)
• Original Assignee: Z124 LLC (Flexis)
• Inventors: Reeves, Brian, Reeves, Paul, Teltz, Richard, Reeves, David, Sirpal, Sanjiv, Tyghe, Chris, Yusupov, Alisher, Chincisan, Octavian, Liu, Wuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Zaman, Faisal M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Kim T.
• Application Number:
  US13/217,130
• Publication Number:
  US 20120084481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,350 Days
• Field of Search: 710301-306, 713300-340, 713/2
• US Class Current: 710/303
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/14 Handling requests for interconnection or transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45575 Starting, stopping, suspending or resuming virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4418 Suspend and resume; Hibernate and awake
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

A mobile computing device with a mobile operating system and desktop operating system running concurrently and independently on a shared kernel without virtualization. The mobile operating system provides a user experience for the mobile computing device that suits the mobile environment. The desktop operating system provides a full desktop user experience when the mobile computing device is docked to a secondary terminal environment. The desktop operating system may be suspended when the mobile computing device is not docked with a secondary terminal environment and resumed when the mobile computing device is docked with a secondary terminal environment that provides a desktop computing experience. The mobile computing device may be a smartphone running the Android mobile OS and a full desktop Linux OS distribution on a modified Android kernel.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a mobile computing device to multiple user environments, the method comprising:

before determining whether the mobile computing device is docked with a secondary terminal environment, starting a mobile operating system in a first execution environment on a shared kernel;

after starting the mobile operating system, establishing, by the mobile operating system, a second execution environment on the shared kernel;

starting, by the mobile operating system, a desktop operating system in the second execution environment;

after starting the desktop operating system, determining whether the mobile computing device is docked with a secondary terminal environment;

determining that the mobile computing device is not docked with a secondary terminal environment;

suspending, in response to determining that the mobile computing device is not docked with a secondary terminal environment, the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system;

after suspending the desktop operating system, detecting, in the shared kernel, a docking event of the mobile computing device with the secondary terminal environment;

notifying, by the shared kernel, the mobile operating system of the docking event;

determining, by the mobile operating system, that a user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with one of the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system;

resuming, in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system, the desktop operating system from a suspended condition by the mobile operating system, wherein the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system run concurrently on the shared kernel; and

in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the mobile operating system, if the desktop operating system is not in the suspended condition, suspending the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system comprises:

receiving, in a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a notification of the docking event from the shared kernel; and

determining, by the desktop monitor service, that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of resuming the desktop operating system from the suspended condition comprises:

sending, by a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a call to a remotable object;

receiving, in a daemon process of the desktop operating system, the call to the remotable object, the call to the remotable object including an action to be performed by the daemon process to resume the desktop operating system, wherein the daemon process continues to run while other processes of the desktop operating system are in the suspended condition; and

performing the action in the daemon process of the desktop operating system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment includes receiving, by a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, an indicator of the user experience profile of the secondary terminal environment from a dock connector.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the step of determining the user experience profile of the secondary terminal environment is based on predetermined criteria associated with one or more input or output devices of the secondary terminal environment; and

the predefined criteria include a resolution of a display device of the secondary terminal environment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the predefined criteria include character input device type criteria.

7. The method of claim 1, further including associating the desktop operating system with the docked secondary terminal environment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the docked secondary terminal environment includes a display device, a keyboard, and a pointing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user experience profile of one or more secondary terminal environments is selectable by a user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment includes determining a user experience profile for the secondary terminal environment based on past selections made by a user of user experiences for secondary terminal environments.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after resuming the desktop operating system, providing a mobile computer user experience by the mobile operating system through a screen of the mobile computer device;

while providing the mobile computer user experience, concurrently providing a desktop computer user experience by the desktop operating system through a display device of the docked secondary terminal environment;

accepting, by the desktop operating system, inputs from input devices of the docked secondary terminal environment; and

ignoring, by the mobile operating system, inputs from input devices of the docked secondary terminal environment.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the docked secondary terminal environment associated with the mobile operating system includes a tablet device with a touch-screen display.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing a mobile computer user experience by the mobile operating system through the touch-screen display of the tablet device, wherein a frame buffer of the mobile operating system is configured for the resolution of touch-screen display and drives a video signal to the touch-screen display, and wherein the desktop operating system is suspended; and

accepting, by the mobile operating system, inputs from input devices of the docked secondary terminal environment.

14. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a memory;

a display screen;

a processor in communication with the memory and the display screen, the processor operable to;

start a mobile operating system in a first execution environment on a shared kernel;

after starting the mobile operating system, establish, by the mobile operating system, a second execution environment on the shared kernel;

start, by the mobile operating system, a desktop operating system in the second execution environment;

after starting the desktop operating system, determine whether the mobile computing device is docked with a secondary terminal environment;

after starting the desktop operating system, determine that the mobile computing device is not docked with the secondary terminal environment;

suspend, in response to determining that the mobile computing device is not docked with a secondary terminal environment, the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system;

after suspending the desktop operating system, detect, in the shared kernel, a docking event of the mobile computing device with the secondary terminal environment;

notify, by the shared kernel, the mobile operating system of the docking event;

determine, by the mobile operating system, that a user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with one of the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system;

resume, in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system, the desktop operating system from a suspended condition by the mobile operating system, wherein the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system run concurrently on the shared kernel; and

in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the mobile operating system, if the desktop operating system is not in the suspended condition, suspend the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system.

15. The mobile computing device as defined in claim 14, wherein determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system comprises:

receiving, in a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a notification of the docking event from the shared kernel; and

determining, by the desktop monitor service, that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system.

16. The mobile computing device as defined in claim 14, wherein resuming the desktop operating system from the suspended condition comprises:

sending, by a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a call to a remotable object;

receiving, in a daemon process of the desktop operating system, the call to the remotable object, the call to the remotable object including an action to be performed by the daemon process to resume the desktop operating system, wherein the daemon process continues to run while other processes of the desktop operating system are in the suspended condition; and

performing the action in the daemon process of the desktop operating system.

17. The mobile computing device as defined in claim 14, wherein the processor is further operable to:

after resuming the desktop operating system, provide a mobile computer user experience by the mobile operating system through the display screen of the mobile computer device; and

provide a desktop computer user experience by the desktop operating system through a display device of the docked secondary terminal environment while concurrently providing the mobile computer user experience.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions executable by a processor, the computer-executable instructions causing the processor to execute a method for configuring a mobile computing device to multiple user environments, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

instructions to start a mobile operating system in a first execution environment on a shared kernel;

after starting the mobile operating system, instructions to establish, by the mobile operating system, a second execution environment on the shared kernel;

instructions to start, by the mobile operating system, a desktop operating system in the second execution environment;

after starting the desktop operating system, instructions to determine whether the mobile computing device is docked with a secondary terminal environment;

after starting the desktop operating system, instructions to determine that the mobile computing device is not docked with the secondary terminal environment;

instructions to suspend, in response to determining that the mobile computing device is not docked with a secondary terminal environment, the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system;

after suspending the desktop operating system, instructions to detect, in the shared kernel, a docking event of the mobile computing device with the secondary terminal environment;

instructions to notify, by the shared kernel, the mobile operating system of the docking event;

instructions to determine, by the mobile operating system, that a user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with one of the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system;

instructions to resume, in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system, the desktop operating system from a suspended condition by the mobile operating system, wherein the desktop operating system and the mobile operating system run concurrently on the shared kernel; and

in response to determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the mobile operating system, if the desktop operating system is not in the suspended condition, instructions to suspend the desktop operating system by the mobile operating system.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 18, wherein determining that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system comprises:

receiving, in a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a notification of the docking event from the shared kernel; and

determining, by the desktop monitor service, that the user experience profile of the docked secondary terminal environment is associated with the desktop operating system.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 19, wherein resuming the desktop operating system from the suspended condition comprises:

sending, by a desktop monitor service of the mobile operating system, a call to a remotable object;

receiving, in a daemon process of the desktop operating system, the call to the remotable object, the call to the remotable object including an action to be performed by the daemon process to resume the desktop operating system, wherein the daemon process continues to run while other processes of the desktop operating system are in the suspended condition; and

performing the action in the daemon process of the desktop operating system.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 18, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions to provide, after resuming the desktop operating system, a mobile computer user experience by the mobile operating system through a display screen of the mobile computer device; and

instructions to provide a desktop computer user experience by the desktop operating system through a display device of the docked secondary terminal environment while concurrently providing the mobile computer user experience.