Synchronization of controlled device state using state table and eventing in data-driven remote device control model

• US 6,725,281 B1
• Filed: 11/02/1999
• Issued: 04/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Zintel, William Michael, Christian, Brian S., Christian, Bradford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, VIET DUY
• Application Number:
  US09/432,853
• Time in Patent Office: 1,631 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/203, 709/206, 709/217, 709/219, 709/223, 709/224, 709/250, 709/318, 709/328
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Controlled devices according to a device control model maintain a state table representative of their operational state. Devices providing a user control point interface for the controlled device obtain the state table of the controlled device, and may also obtain presentation data defining a remoted user interface of the controlled device and device control protocol data defining commands and data messaging protocol to effect control of the controlled device. These user control devices also subscribe to notifications of state table changes, which are distributed from the controlled device according to an eventing model. Accordingly, upon any change to the controlled device'"'"'s operational state, the eventing model synchronizes the device'"'"'s state as represented in the state table across all user control devices.

Claims

1. A distributed computing network having at least one computing device, the distributed computing network comprising:

a controlled computing device;

a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device;

a user controller device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device to effect a change in the operational state of the controlled computing device represented in the state table;

a user control point module in the user controller device operating to obtain a copy of the state table of the user controller device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table; and

an event source module in the controlled computing device operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing user controller device upon a change to the state table representing the operational state of the controlled computing device, wherein the change notifications represent the respective change in the state table, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing user controller device.

2. The distributed computing network of claim 1 further comprising:

the state table having a plurality of entries, wherein each entry of the state table comprises at least a variable identifier, a type and a current value;

at least one entry of the state table being of a type of data buffer, and containing a file as its current value;

whereby a change to the current value of said at least one entry effects a file transfer from the controlled device to said any subscribing user control device.

3. The distributed computing network of claim 1 wherein the controlled computing device is an embedded computing device.

4. The distributed computing network of claim 1, further comprising a computer-readable medium controlled computing device having encoded thereon the state table representing the operational state of the controlled computing device, the state table comprising:

a plurality of entries, each entry comprising;

a variable identifier; and

a current value.

5. The distributed computing network of claim 4 wherein each entry of the state table further comprises:

a variable type;

a designation of legal values; and

a designation of a default value.

6. The distributed computing network of claim 5 wherein the variable type can include a data buffer containing a file, whereby transmission of the state table between devices effects transfer of the file.

7. In a distributed computing network having a controlled computing device, a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device, a user controller device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device and communicating with the controlled computing device via a device control protocol to effect remote operational control of the controlled computing device, a user control point module in the user controller device operating to obtain the state table of the user controller device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table, and an event source module operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing user controller device upon a change to the operational state of the controlled computing device, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing user controller device, a method of maintaining data representing a current state of the controlled computing device at the user controller device, the method comprising:

responsive to a controlled device state subscription request of the user controller device per a subscription eventing model, distributing an initial controlled computing device state event having a predefined initial sequence number and data defining a present state of the controlled computing device to the user controller device;

upon changes in the controlled device state, distributing controlled computing device state update events having sequence numbers assigned according to a sequential order following the predefined initial sequence number and data defining said changes to the user controller device; and

in response to a renewed controlled device state subscription request, recommencing distributing the initial controlled computing device state event and controlled computing device state update events to the user controller device so as to permit the user controller device to reinitialize to the controlled computing device'"'"'s present state upon failure to receive the controlled computing device state update events in sequential order of their assigned sequence numbers.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the predefined initial sequence number is zero.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the data in the initial controlled computing device state event is a complete state table defining the controlled computing device'"'"'s present state, and the data in the controlled computing device state update events define updates in part of the state table.

10. A controlled computing device operational in accordance with the method of claim 7.

11. In a distributed computing network having a controlled computing device, a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device, a user controller device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device and communicating with the controlled computing device via a device control protocol to effect remote operational control of the controlled computing device, a user control point module in the user controller device operating to obtain the state table of the user controller device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table, and an event source module operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing user controller device upon a change to the operational state of the controlled computing device, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing user controller device, a method of maintaining data representing a current state of the controlled computing device at the controller computing device, the method comprising:

sending from the user controller device a state subscription request conforming to a subscription eventing model by which the controlled computing device distributes sequentially numbered state events to subscribing devices commencing with an initial state event that conveys a full data representation of a state of the controlled computing device and continuing with state update events that convey partial updates of the controlled computing device state;

upon receiving the initial state event, initializing storage at the user controller device of a representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state with the full data representation in the initial state event;

upon receiving state update events, updating the storage with the partial updates; and

upon a failure to receive a state update event in accordance with their sequential numbering, repeating the actions of sending the state subscription request, initializing the storage and updating the storage.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the sequential numbering of the state events begins with a predefined initial sequence number.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the data representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state is in the form of a state table.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

producing a user control interface display at the user controller device based at least in part on the representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state in the storage.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

sending from the user controller device a control command for an operation of the controlled computing device depending at least in part on the representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state in the storage.

16. A user controller device operational in accordance with the method of claim 11.

17. A computer readable software carrying medium having computer software carried thereon for implementing a peer networking control protocol for a plurality of control point computing devices in a distributed data communications network to effect control of a controlled computing device, the distributed data communications network having the controlled computing device, a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device, a control point computing device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device and communicating with the controlled computing device via a device control protocol to effect remote operational control of the controlled computing device, a user control point module in the control point computing device operating to obtain the state table of the control point computing device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table, and an event source module operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing control point computing device upon a change to the operational state of the controlled computing device, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing control point computing device, the computer software comprising:

a subscription registration program module operative when executed on the controlled computing device to register, in response to a subscription request of the control point computing device, such device as a subscribing control point computing device to receive state events from the controlled computing device;

a state eventing program module operative when executed on the controlled computing device to distribute state events to the subscribing control point computing device, and further operative to assign sequence numbers to the state events in sequential order, the state events commencing with an initial state event having data for initializing a controlled computing device state table stored at the subscribing control point computing device to reflect a then present state of the controlled computing device, the state events continuing with state update events having data for updating the controlled computing device state table to reflect a changed state of the controlled computing device; and

the subscription registration program module further operative in response to a renewed subscription request of the subscribing control point device to cause the state eventing program module to recommence distributing a further sequence of initial state event and state update events to the subscribing control point computing device so as to permit the subscribing computing device to reinitialize its stored controlled computing device state table after failure to receive the state update events in sequence.

18. A computer readable software carrying medium having computer software carried thereon for implementing a peer networking control protocol for a plurality of control point computing devices in a data communications network to effect control of a controlled computing device, the data communications network having the controlled computing device, a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device, a control point computing device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device and communicating with the controlled computing device via a device control protocol to effect remote operational control of the controlled computing device, a user control point module in the control point computing device operating to obtain the state table of the control point computing device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table, and an event source module operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing control point computing device upon a change to the operational state of the controlled computing device, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing control point computing device, the computer software comprising:

a state subscriber program module operative when executed on a control point computing device to communicate from the control point computing device a state subscription request conforming to a subscription eventing model of the peer networking control protocol by which the controlled computing device distributes sequentially numbered state events to subscribing devices commencing with an initial state event that conveys a full data representation of a state of the controlled computing device and continuing with state update events that convey partial updates of the controlled computing device state;

a controlled device state storage initialization program module operative when executed on the control point computing device to in response to the initial state event to initialize storage at the control point computing device of a data structure representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state according to the full data representation in the initial state event;

a controlled device state update program module operative when executed on the control point computing device to in response to the state update events to update the data structure representation in the storage according to the partial updates in the state update events; and

a sequence validation program module operative when executed on the control point computing device to detect a failure to receive any of the state events as per their sequential numbering, and operative upon detecting such failure to cause the state subscriber program module to communicate a renewal state subscription request from the control point computing device so as to re-commence distribution of sequentially numbered state events with a renewed initial state event from the controlled computing device in conformance with the subscription eventing model and thereby effect re-initialization of the data structure representation by the controlled device state storage initialization program module.

19. The computer readable software carrying medium of claim 18 further comprising:

a user control interface display program module operative when executed on the control point computing device to display a user control interface display at the control point computing device based at least in part on the stored data structure representation of the controlled computing device'"'"'s state.

20. A peer networking state eventing and control protocol method for effecting state-concurrent multi-master control of a controlled computing device by a plurality of control point computing devices communicating on a data communications network, the data communications network having the controlled computing device, a state table maintained by the controlled computing device and representing an operational state of the controlled computing device, a control point computing device having user input/output capability for presenting a user perceptible device control interface for remote user interaction with the controlled computing device and communicating with the controlled computing device via a device control protocol to effect remote operational control of the controlled computing device, a user control point module in the control point computing device operating to obtain the state table of the control point computing device and subscribe to change notifications of the state table, and an event source module operating according to an eventing model to distribute the change notifications to any subscribing control point computing device upon a change to the operational state of the controlled computing device, so as to thereby synchronize the user perceptible device control interface with the changed operational state among said any subscribing control point computing device, the method comprising:

from a plurality of the control point computing devices, receiving state eventing subscription requests;

responsive to the state eventing subscription requests, registering subscriptions of the respective control point computing devices to state events from the controlled computing device;

communicating state events having information descriptive of a state of the controlled computing device to the respective control point computing devices of the registered subscriptions;

receiving a control command from a control point computing device instructing the controlled computing device to perform a specified operation affecting the state of the controlled computing device;

responsive to the control command, performing the specified operation; and

communicating further state events having information descriptive of the state of the controlled computing device after the specified operation is performed to the respective control point computing devices of the registered subscriptions, whereby the plurality of control point computing devices having registered subscriptions can maintain concurrent storage of data representing the state of the controlled computing device.

21. The peer networking state eventing and control protocol method of claim 20 further comprising:

responsive to a state eventing subscription request of a control point computing device, communicating an initial state event having data defining a full data structure representation of the state of the controlled computing device upon registering the subscription of the control point computing device;

upon changes in the state of the controlled computing device, communicating state update events having data defining changes to the data structure representation of the state of the controlled computing device, wherein the initial state event and state update events have sequence numbers assigned in sequential order; and

in response to a renewed state eventing subscription request, repeating the communicating of initial state event and state update events, whereby the control point computing device can reinitialize storage of the data structure representation of the state of the controlled computing device after failure to receive the state update events in sequential order of their assigned sequence numbers.

22. The peer networking state eventing and control protocol method of claim 20 further comprising assigning the sequence number of the initial state event and state update events commencing with a predefined sequence number for the initial state event.