Cross-environment application compatibility for single mobile computing device

• US 9,160,796 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2011
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Padmanabhan, Kavita
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCINTOSH, ANDREW T
• Application Number:
  US13/251,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20120089906A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,471 Days
• Field of Search: 715/255
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45537 Provision of facilities of other operating environments, e.g. WINE I/O emulation G06F13/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/399 using two or more bit-mapped memories, the operations of which are switched in time, e.g. ping-pong buffers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A seamless cross-environment workflow is provided in a multi-operating system computing environment. The multi-operating system computing environment may include a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system running concurrently and independently on a mobile computing device. Two or more application programs, running in independent operating systems, share user interaction state information including user data, user settings, and/or application context information. Interaction state information may be shared for applications that are used primarily to access and edit local user content as well as applications that communicate to a remote server or access and navigate other remote content (e.g., Internet-based application, browser, etc.). 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 document file with a first application running on a first operating system, a user content of the document file representing a stored document state;

accepting user input in the first application, the first application having, as a result of responding to the user input, a first user interaction state, the first user interaction state including a modified document state;

storing application state information representing the first user interaction state within a first computing environment, the application state information including application context information;

releasing a file lock of the document file by the first application without saving the modified document state to the document file;

after releasing the file lock, opening, by a second application running on a second operating system, the document file;

accessing, by the second application, the application state information associated with the first user interaction state; and

applying, by the second application, the application context information to present an interaction state of the second application that is substantially similar to the first user interaction state, wherein the first operating system is a mobile operating system and the second operating system is a desktop operating system;

wherein each of the mobile operating system and the desktop operating system run concurrently and independently on a shared kernel of the mobile computing device; and

wherein the shared kernel manages task scheduling for processes of each of the mobile operating system and the desktop operating system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application context information includes a hint to a temporary file that represents changes between the stored document state and the modified document state.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising opening, by the second application, a temporary document file created by the first application, the temporary document file representing changes between the stored document state and the modified document state.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first application is displayed within a first user environment and the second application is displayed within a second user environment, wherein the mobile operating system is associated with the user experience of a mobile environment and the desktop operating system is associated with the user experience of a desktop environment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the mobile computing device is a mobile telephony device in communication with a second device, the second device providing the desktop environment associated with the desktop operating system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the application context information includes at least one user interaction state parameter not represented in the document file.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the application context information includes information associated with a non-completed user action.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the application context information includes information associated with a current user selection of user content information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the application context information is stored in a database accessed by the first and second applications through an application programming interface.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the opening of the document file by the second application is in response to detecting a docking event of a mobile device.

11. A computing device including a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for a physical processor, the instructions, when executed, causing the processor to perform steps comprising:

opening a document file with a first application running on a first operating system, a user content of the document file representing a stored document state;

accepting user input in the first application, the first application having, as a result of responding to the user input, a first user interaction state, the first user interaction state including a modified document state;

storing application state information representing the first user interaction state within the first computing environment, the application state information including application context information;

releasing a file lock of the document file by the first application without saving the modified document state to the document file;

after releasing the file lock, opening, by a second application running on a second operating system, the document file;

accessing, by the second application, the application state information associated with the first user interaction state; and

applying, by the second application, the application context information to present an interaction state of the second application that is substantially similar to the first user interaction state, wherein the first operating system is a mobile operating system and the second operating system is a desktop operating system; and

wherein each of the mobile operating system and the desktop operating system run concurrently and independently on a shared kernel of the mobile computing device;

wherein the shared kernel manages task scheduling for processes of each of the mobile operating system and the desktop operating system.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the application context information includes a hint to a temporary file that represents changes between the stored document state and the modified document state.

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform the step of opening, by the second application, a temporary document file created by the first application, the temporary document file representing changes between the stored document state and the modified document state.

14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the first application is displayed within a first user environment and the second application is displayed within a second user environment, wherein the mobile operating system is associated with the user experience of a mobile environment and the desktop operating system is associated with the user experience of a desktop environment.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the mobile computing device is a mobile telephony device in communication with a second device, the second device providing the desktop environment associated with the desktop operating system.

16. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the application context information includes at least one user interaction state parameter not represented in the document file.

17. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the application context information includes information associated with a non-completed user action.

18. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the application context information includes information associated with a current user selection of user content information.

19. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the application context information is stored in a database accessed by the first and second applications through an application programming interface.

20. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the opening of the document file by the second application is in response to detecting a docking event of the computing device.