Method and system for providing remote access to a state of an application program

• US 10,334,042 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2018
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Original Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Inventors: Thomas, Monroe Milas, McFadzean, David Bruce, Beauregard, Michael, Scherger, Derek
• Primary Examiner(s): Wasel, Mohamed
• Application Number:
  US15/868,173
• Publication Number:
  US 20180234495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 530 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

A method and system for providing remote access to a state of an application executing on a remote server. A client computer includes a client remote access program that is used to connect to a server remote access program. At the client computer, a client difference program having encoded data indicative of a change of a state of the application last received from the server computer is generated and transmitted to the server remote access program. At the server computer, the client difference program is executed to update the state of the application and a server difference program is generated having encoded a difference between the updated state of the application and the state of the application last sent to the client computer. The server difference program is transmitted to the client computer to update the state of the application since it was last received from the server computer.

Claims

1. A method of providing remote access to an application program executing on a server computing device comprising:

executing a server remote access program on the server computer computing device that communicates with the application program;

establishing a remote connection over a network between the server remote access program and a client remote access program executing on a client computing device;

determining changes in state of the application program made by execution of the application program at the server computing device or interaction with the application program at the client computing device;

communicating a difference program over the remote connection that contains data representing the changes in a state of the application program, the difference program capturing the changes in the state of the application program since the state of the application was last received by the server computing device or the client computing device; and

synchronizing the change in the state of the application program between the server computing device and the client computing device using the difference program.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the change in the state of the application program in accordance with user inputs received at the client computing device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

encoding data indicative of the change in the state of the application program in the difference program; and

communicating the difference program from the client computing device to the server computer.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the change in the state of the application program in accordance with execution of the application program.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

encoding data indicative of the change in the state of the application program in the difference program; and

communicating the difference program from the server computer to the client computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an updated state of the application program at the client computing device using the difference program.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing, over the network, a second remote connection at the server computer with at least one second client computing device to provide the remote access to the application program;

communicating, over the remote connection, the difference program further containing data representing a change in the state of the application program made by the at least one second client computing device, the difference program further capturing changes in the state of the application program since the state of the application program was last received by the at least one second client computing device; and

synchronizing, between the server computer, the client computing device and the at least one second client computing device, the change in the state of the application program using the difference program.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying an updated state of the application program at the client computing device and the at least one second client computing device using the difference program.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

encoding data indicative of a change in the state of the application program in the difference program; and

communicating the difference program among the server computer, the client computing device and the at least one second client computing device using the difference program.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the synchronizing further comprises processing encoded data in the difference program.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the encoded data are indicative of at least one of a path to the change in the state of the application program, a type of the change, and a value of the change.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating view data of the state of the application program.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising generating the view data in accordance with hardware capabilities of the client computing device.

14. A method of providing remote access to an application program executing on a server computing device comprising:

executing a server remote access program on the server computer computing device that communicates with the application program;

establishing plural remote connections over a network between the server remote access program and client remote access programs that each are executing on respective client computing devices;

determining changes in state of the application program made by execution of the application program at the server computing device or interaction with the application program at the client computing devices;

communicating a difference program over the remote connections that contains data representing the changes in a state of the application program, the difference program capturing the changes in the state of the application program since the state of the application was last received by the server computing device or the client computing devices; and

synchronizing the change in the state of the application program between the server computing device and the client computing devices using the difference program.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying an updated state of the application program at the client computing devices using the difference program.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

encoding data indicative of a change in the state of the application program in the difference program; and

communicating the difference program among the server computer and the client computing devices.