Cross-environment communication using application space API

• US 9,063,798 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2013
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Z124 LLC (Flexis)
• Original Assignee: Z124 LLC (Flexis)
• Inventors: Benedek, Laszlo Csaba, Chincisan, Octavian
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Andy
• Assistant Examiner(s): SEYE, ABDOU K
• Application Number:
  US14/068,662
• Publication Number:
  US 20140059566A1
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/548 Object oriented; Remote method invocation [RMI] non-remote method invocation G06F9/449

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 mobile user experience while the desktop operating system provides a full desktop user experience when the mobile computing device is docked to a secondary terminal environment. Applications of the desktop operating system communicate with applications and services of the mobile operating system through a cross-environment communication framework. The cross-environment communication framework may include application programming interfaces through which categories of applications can communicate across a multiple operating system computing environment through category-specific remote communication calls. The mobile computing device may be a smartphone running the Android mobile operating system and a full desktop Linux distribution on a modified Android kernel.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

opening a first instance of a first application within a first operating system running on a mobile computing device;

determining, the processor, that the first application is in a first application state;

detecting, the processor, a docking event of the mobile computing device with a secondary terminal environment;

opening a second application within a second operating system running on the mobile computing device, the second application also executing the first instance simultaneously with the first application, wherein the first and second applications are of a specific category of application, wherein the first application is a mobile application and the second application is a desktop application;

instantiating, by the first application running within a within the first operating system, a method of an application programming interface of the first operating system, the method implementing a sink for a predetermined remote communication request;

requesting, by the method of the application programming interface, an extended inter-process communication interface;

instantiating, by the first operating system, the extended inter-process communication interface;

registering, by the first operating system, the extended inter-process communication interface to receive the predetermined remote communication request directed to the first application;

receiving, by the first operating system, a request to instantiate a proxy for the predetermined remote communication request within a in the second application running within the second operating system, the first and second operating systems running concurrently on a shared kernel;

passing, by the first operating system, a reference to the extended inter-process communication interface to the second application, wherein the proxy in the second application is linked to the sink of the first application;

receiving, by the processor, an input to the second application;

processing, by the sink of the first application, a request from the proxy of the second application; and

determining, by the processor, that the first application is in a second application state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined remote communication request is specific to a category of applications that includes the first and second applications.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sink obtains a connected endpoint of an inter-process communication interface instantiated by a remote communication service of the first operating system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving, by the first operating system, a request to instantiate a second proxy for the predetermined remote communication request within a third application;

and

passing, by the first operating system, the reference to the extended inter-process communication interface to the third application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the registering of the extended inter-process communication interface by the first operating system includes associating the inter-process communication with a name key of the application.

6. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a memory;

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor operable to;

execute a first operating system and a second operating system, the first and second operating systems running concurrently on a shared kernel;

open a first instance of a first application within the first operating system;

determine that the first application is in a first application state;

detect a docking event of the mobile computing device with a secondary terminal environment;

open a second application within the second operating system, the second application also executing the first instance simultaneously with the first application, wherein the first and second applications are of a specific category of application, wherein the first application is a mobile application and the second application is a desktop application;

instantiate, by the first application, a sink for a predetermined remote communication request;

instantiate, by the second application a proxy for the predetermined remote communication request; and

establish a remote communication service of the first operating system, the remote communication service establishing a connection between the proxy and the sink through an extended inter-process communication interface;

receive an input to the second application;

process, by the sink of the first application, a request from the proxy of the second application; and

determine, by the processor, that the first application is in a second application state.

7. The mobile computing device of claim 6, wherein the sink comprises a method of an application programming interface of the first operating system.

8. The mobile computing device of claim 7, wherein the application programming interface is provided within an application space of the first operating system.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 7, wherein the application programming interface comprises classes of sinks, the classes of sinks associated with categories of applications.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 7, wherein the application programming interface comprises a java archive file.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 7, wherein the method of the application programming interface requests the extended inter-process communication interface from the remote communication service.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 6, wherein the remote communication service registers the sink to receive inter-process communication through the extended inter-process communication interface.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 12, wherein upon registration by the remote communication service, the extended inter-process communication interface is pushed by the remote communication service.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 6, wherein the first operating system comprises an Android mobile operating system and the second operating system comprises a Linux operating system.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that cause a processor to execute a method, the method comprising the steps of:

opening a first instance of a first application within a first operating system running on a mobile computing device;

determining, by the processor, that the first application is in a first application state;

detecting, by the processor, a docking event of the mobile computing device with a secondary terminal environment;

opening a second application within a second operating system running on the mobile computing device, the second application also executing the first instance simultaneously with the first application, wherein the first and second applications are of a specific category of application, wherein the first application is a mobile application and the second application is a desktop application;

instantiating, by the first application running within a within the first operating system, a method of an application programming interface of the first operating system, the method implementing a sink for a predetermined remote communication request;

requesting, by the method of the application programming interface, an extended inter-process communication interface;

instantiating, by the first operating system, the extended inter-process communication interface;

registering, by the first operating system, the extended inter-process communication interface to receive the predetermined remote communication request directed to the first application;

receiving, by the first operating system, a request to instantiate a proxy for the predetermined remote communication request in the second application running within a within the second operating system, the first and second operating systems running concurrently on a shared kernel;

passing, by the first operating system, a reference to the extended inter-process communication interface to the second application, application, wherein the proxy in the second application is linked to the sink of the first application;

receiving, by the processor, an input to the second application;

processing, by the sink of the first application, a request from the proxy of the second application; and

determining, by the processor, that the first application is in a second application state.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the predetermined remote communication request is specific to a category of applications that includes the first and second applications.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the sink obtains a connected endpoint of an inter-process communication interface instantiated by a remote communication service of the first operating system.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, by the first operating system, a request to instantiate a second proxy for the predetermined remote communication request within a third application; and

passing, by the first operating system, the reference to the extended inter-process communication interface to the third application.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein:

applications running within the first operating system use the method of the application programming interface for inter-process communication; and

applications running within the second operating system use a second method of a second application programming interface of the second operating system for inter-process communication.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, by the first operating system, a first remote communication request through the extended inter-process communication interface, the first remote communication request directed to the first application, the first remote communication request including a first data parcel;

translating, in the first operating system, the first remote communication request into a second remote communication request, wherein the translating includes unparceling the first data parcel and reparceling data into a second data parcel included in the second remote communication request; and

sending, by the first operating system, the second remote communication request to the first application.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first remote communication request is a synchronous remote communication request and the second remote communication request is an asynchronous remote communication request.