Method and apparatus for automatically sharing an application among a plurality of clients

• US 9,887,871 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2011
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Kyung-Tak, Kim, Wuk
• Primary Examiner(s): Eskandarnia, Arvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moreau, Austin
• Application Number:
  US13/995,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20130268627A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,241 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

A method for automatically sharing an application among a plurality of clients according to the present invention comprises the following processes: receiving, from a request client, an application share request signal for sharing an application with an object client; receiving information on the capability of the object client; determining whether the application for which sharing has been requested and the object client are compatible with each other using the receiving information on the capability of the object client; and providing the object client with the application for which sharing has been requested in accordance with the result of the determination.

Claims

1. A method of automatically sharing an application among a plurality of clients, the method comprising a sharing server configured to:

receive, from a requesting client, a share request signal for an application to be shared with a target client, the share request signal comprising information regarding an operating system of the requesting client;

receive capability information of the target client;

determine that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client if determining that a first operating system of the target client is different from a second operating system of the requesting client based on the capability information;

request and receive access information from the target client, the access information comprising credential information enabling access to an application provider of the target client;

convert the share request signal into a format that is executable by the application provider of the target client and send the converted share request signal and the access information to the application provider to request the corresponding application which is compatible in the target client;

replace the application to be shared with the compatible application received from the application provider;

send the compatible application along with information regarding the received share request signal to the target client; and

send, to the requesting client, a result of the application sharing comprising information included in the original share request signal and information regarding the replacement application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the share request comprises information regarding the second operating system, information regarding the application to be shared, and information regarding the target client.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein if determining that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client, requesting to provide the target client with the application, which is compatible in the target client, from an application provider of the target client comprises:

requesting and receiving access information to access the application provider of the target client from the target client; and

requesting to provide the target client with the application, which is compatible in the target client, from the application provider of the target client, using the access information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving capability information of the target client comprises:

determining whether the target client approves the share request; and

receiving the application to be shared if the target client approves the share request, and requesting and receiving the capabilities of the target client, including information of the first operating system, from a terminal capabilities manager server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the share request is received using XDCP (XDM Command Protocol).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving capability information of the target client comprises:

requesting the capability information of the target terminal from a terminal capabilities manager server in ccq-message (client capabilities query-message) of PAP (Push Access Protocol); and

receiving the capability information of the target client in ccq-response.

8. An apparatus for automatically sharing an application among a plurality of clients, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver for receiving from a requesting client a share request signal for an application to be shared with a target client, and for receiving capability information of the target client, the share request signal comprising information regarding an operating system of the requesting client;

a controller configured to determine that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client if determining that a first operating system of the target client is different from a second operating system of the requesting client based on the capability information,

request and receive access information from the target client, the access information comprising credential information enabling access to an application provider of the target client,

convert the share request signal into a format that is executable by the application provider of the target client and send the converted share request signal and the access information to the application provider to request the corresponding application, which is compatible in the target client,

replace the application to be shared with the compatible application received from the application provider;

send the compatible application along with information regarding the received share request signal to the target client; and

send, to the requesting client, a result of the application sharing comprising information included in the original share request signal and information regarding the replacement application.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the share request comprises information regarding the second operating system, information regarding the application to be shared, and information regarding at least one target client.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein if determining that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client, the controller is configured to request to provide the target client with the application, which is compatible in the target client, from an application provider of the target client, and

wherein if determining that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client, the controller is configured to request and receive access information to access the application provider of the target client from the target client, and request to provide the target client with the application, which is compatible in the target client, from the application provider of the target client, using the access information.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the target client approves the share request, receive the application to be shared if the target client approves the share request, and request and receive information of the first operating system from a terminal capabilities manager server.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the share request is received using XDCP (XDM Command Protocol).

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to request the capability information of the target terminal from the terminal capabilities manager server in ccq-message (client capabilities query-message) of PAP (Push Access Protocol) and receive the capability information of the target client in ccq-response.

15. A sharing method in a requesting client for automatic application sharing among a plurality of clients, the sharing method comprising:

receiving from a user a share request for providing a target client of the plurality of clients with a particular application;

generating an application share request message which corresponds to the received share request for the particular application;

sending the application share request message to a sharing server;

wherein the sharing server;

determines that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client by determining that a first operating system of the target client is different from a second operating system of the requesting client based on received capability information;

requests and receives access information from the target client, the access information comprising credential information enabling access to an application provider of the target client;

converts the share request signal into a format that is executable by the application provider of the target client and sends the converted share request signal and the access information to the application provider to request the corresponding application which is compatible in the target client;

replaces the application to be shared with the compatible application received from the application provider;

and sends the compatible application along with information regarding the received share request signal to the target client;

receiving, from the sharing server, an application share result; and

displaying the application share result, which indicates if the operating systems of the target client and the at least one particular target client of the plurality of clients are compatible.

16. The sharing method of claim 15, wherein the application share request message comprises information regarding the client'"'"'s operating system, information regarding the application to be shared, and information regarding the at least one particular target client.

17. The sharing method of claim 16, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.

18. The sharing method of claim 15, wherein the application share result further comprises information regarding an application share result at each target client and information regarding a shared application.

19. A sharing method in a target client for automatic application sharing among a plurality of clients, the sharing method comprising:

receiving from a sharing server a share request notification which notifies that there has been a share request for an application from a requesting client, the share request comprising information regarding an operating system of the requesting client;

displaying the share request notification;

notifying the sharing server that the share request is approved, based on an input of approval from a user; and

receiving from the sharing server the application requested to be shared;

wherein the sharing server;

determines that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client by determining that a first operating system of the target client is different from a second operating system of the requesting client based on received capability information;

requests and receives access information from the target client, the access information comprising credential information enabling access to an application provider of the target client;

converts the share request signal into a format that is executable by the application provider of the target client and sends the converted share request signal and the access information to the application provider to request the corresponding application which is compatible in the target client;

replaces the application to be shared with the compatible application received from the application provider;

and sends the compatible application along with information regarding the received share request signal to the target client.

20. The sharing method of claim 19, wherein the share request notification comprises information regarding the client and information regarding the application to be shared.

21. The sharing method of claim 20, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.

22. A requesting client device to be used for automatically sharing an application among a plurality of clients, the requesting client device comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with a sharing server;

a display unit that displays an application share request notification and an application share result;

a controller configured to generate the application share request message when a command to share an application has been received,

send the application share request message to the sharing server, the application share request message comprising information regarding an operating system of the requesting client;

control a share result to be displayed, when receiving the share result from the sharing server;

control an application share request notification to be displayed upon receipt from the sharing server; and

upon reception of approval for the share request, notify the sharing server of the approval and control the application requested to be shared to be received from the sharing server;

and wherein the sharing server;

determines that the application requested to be shared is not compatible in the target client by determining that a first operating system of the target client is different from a second operating system of the requesting client based on received capability information;

requests and receives access information from the target client, the access information comprising credential information enabling access to an application provider of the target client;

converts the share request signal into a format that is executable by the application provider of the target client and sends the converted share request signal and the access information to the application provider to request the corresponding application which is compatible in the target client;

replaces the application to be shared with the compatible application received from the application provider;

and sends the compatible application along with information regarding the received share request signal to the target client.

23. The client device of claim 22, wherein the application share request message comprises information regarding the first operating system, information regarding the application to be shared, and information regarding the at least one target client.

24. The client device of claim 23, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.

25. The client device of claim 22, wherein the share result further comprises information regarding an application share result at each target client and information regarding a shared application.

26. The client device of claim 22, wherein the share request notification comprises information regarding the application to be shared.

27. The client device of claim 26, wherein the information regarding the application to be shared comprises information about a title, identification, operating system, developer, address in which to access the application, and price of the application to be shared.