JP2013054705A - Client device and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable cache control depending on execution states of applications.SOLUTION: In a client device that executes a plurality of applications using information on a server device, the states of the executed applications are managed. Then, when information on the server device is updated, control is performed so that update information is cached in a storage device depending on the state of an application using the information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a client device that executes a plurality of applications that use information of a server device and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, it has become possible to operate various applications by incorporating an application platform on which an application operates in an embedded device. In particular, a method for improving functions of embedded devices such as Web browsing, applications linked with mail and cloud services by accessing the Internet has become common.

  In the access to the Internet, a device for improving access possessed by a personal computer (PC) is also incorporated in the embedded device. For example, a cache mechanism for improving access, which is standard in browsers, that is, Web page information once accessed is held. A Web access cache mechanism that reduces the number of accesses by reusing retained data when re-accessing. Also, a cache control mechanism (for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1) that controls data reacquisition according to the access frequency.

JP 2008-252376 A

Google Sync <http://www.google.com/mobile/sync>

  However, in the above-described conventional technique, each application is devised, so that storage areas such as a nonvolatile memory and a storage device are required for each individual application for holding and maintaining the data to be cached.

  In addition, in an embedded device equipped with an application platform and having a function equivalent to a PC, an application operation by multitasking is also performed. Therefore, in the case of a device having only a relatively small display unit, an application that is not displayed and is not used by a user also accesses the network, updates individual cache information, and consumes more CPU resources. End up. As a result, there are problems that the frequency of access to the Internet increases and the overall operation becomes slow.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an apparatus and a method that enable cache control according to the execution state of an application.

The present invention is a client device that executes a plurality of applications using information of a server device,
Execution means for executing the plurality of applications;
Management means for managing the state of the application executed by the execution means;
Control means for controlling the update information to be cached in the storage device according to the state of the application using the information when the information of the server device is updated;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce consumption of CPU resources for information update and access to the Internet by suppressing cache information update of an application that is not displayed on the screen and is not used by a user. it can. As a result, the response speed of the entire system can be increased and the power consumption can be reduced.

The figure which shows an example of a structure of a cache information control system. (A) is a figure which shows the example of the table which manages the state of each application, (B) is a figure which shows the example of a response | compatibility with the state of an application, and an update counter value. 3 is a flowchart showing cache control processing in an execution state according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing cache control processing in a state change according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the table in a modification. The figure which shows the example of a response | compatibility with the state of an application, and update elapsed time. The figure which shows the example of a response | compatibility with the other state of an application, and an update counter value. 9 is a flowchart illustrating cache control processing in an execution state according to the second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating cache control processing in a state change according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
First, an example of the configuration of the cache information control system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the cache information control system 100 includes a client device 101, a server device 102, and an input device 103.

  The client apparatus 101 connects to the server apparatus 102 on the Internet via a network (not shown), receives information updated on the server apparatus 102, and stores it in a storage area in the client apparatus 101. The client apparatus 101 also includes a cache information control unit 104, an application status management unit 105, a system property management unit 106, a server communication unit 107, a cache data update management unit 108, a storage device 109, and a UI display unit 110. Furthermore, the client apparatus 101 includes a plurality of applications 111 to 113, an application execution unit 114, and an application life cycle management unit 115.

  The server device 102 stores various information such as character strings and image data, and provides information in response to a request from the client device 101. Note that a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), which is a unique value in the system, is assigned to each type of information.

  The input device 103 is for a user to input using a keyboard, a mouse, a touch sensor, or the like. The input from the input device 103 is displayed on the UI display unit 110 of the client device 101.

  The cache information control unit 104 of the client device 101 stores the information received from the server device 102 in the cache of the storage device 109. The application status management unit 105 manages an application state (for example, a start state, a start state, a stop state, a stop state, an uninstall state) for each application. An example of a table for managing the state of each application is shown in FIG.

  The system property management unit 106 manages system properties of the client apparatus 101. In the system property, an update counter value corresponding to the application state is defined. A correspondence example between the application state and the update counter value is shown in FIG. The update counter value is a counter upper limit value for determination when the cache information control unit 104 stores update information in the cache of the storage device 109.

  Specifically, when the information stored in the server apparatus 102 is updated and the cache information control unit 104 receives an information update notification from the server apparatus 102, the counter value corresponding to the application is incremented. For example, when the counter value corresponding to the application reaches the update counter value, it is determined that the update information of the information update notification is stored in the cache. Details of this determination process will be described later. Further, the information update notification is to notify the URI of information updated by the server apparatus 102.

  The server communication unit 107 transmits and receives information to and from the server device 102. The cache data update management unit 108 manages the information update notification received by the server communication unit 107 from the server device 102. The storage device 109 stores various information.

  The UI display unit 110 displays a user interface of each application and the system property management unit 106. The applications 111, 112, and 113 operate on the client device 101 and process information on the server device 102. The application execution unit 114 controls the execution of each application. The application life cycle management unit 115 manages the life cycle of the application.

  The life cycle includes installation of an application, uninstallation of an unnecessary application, execution of an installed application, stop of an application being executed, and the like.

  In the above configuration, a process from when the cache information control system 100 receives the information update notification from the server apparatus 102 to when the update information is stored in the storage device 109 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, a case where the execution state of an application that uses update information is in the activated state will be described. When the application state is activated, the cache information control unit 104 acquires system properties from the system property management unit 106 (S301). Note that the cache information control unit 104 only needs to acquire the system property once when the system is activated.

  Here, when information is updated in the server apparatus 102, an information update notification is transmitted from the server apparatus 102 to the server communication unit 107 (S302). The server communication unit 107 transfers the information update notification to the cache data update management unit 108 (S303). Here, the cache data update management unit 108 stores the information update notification in the storage device 109 (S304) and transmits it to the cache information control unit 104 (S305).

  On the other hand, the cache information control unit 104 identifies an application that uses the updated information (S306). In this case, since the identified application state is the activated state, the cache information control unit 104 acquires the activated state as the application execution state from the application status management unit 105 (S308).

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires an update counter value corresponding to the state of the application from the above-described property (S309). In this case, since the application state is the active state, as shown in FIG. 2B, the cache information control unit 104 acquires “1” as the update counter value.

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires a counter corresponding to the application from the storage device 109 from the storage device 109 (S310). The initial value of the counter is zero. Then, the cache information control unit 104 adds 1 to the counter (S311), and determines whether or not the counter has reached the update counter value (S312). If the determination process is No, the process proceeds to S316.

  Here, since the update counter value is “1”, the counter value has reached the update counter value (Yes in S312). As a result, the cache data update management unit 108 acquires update information corresponding to the latest information update notification, and acquires update information from the server apparatus 102 via the server communication unit 107 (S313). Then, the cache information control unit 104 stores the acquired update information in the storage device 109 (S314), and initializes the counter to zero (S315). Thereafter, the cache information control unit 104 stores the counter in the storage device 109 (S316).

  Next, a case where the execution state of an application that uses update information is in a stopped state will be described. In this case, processing is performed in the same manner as S301 to S306 when the application state is the active state. Here, since the application state is the stop state, the cache information control unit 104 acquires the stop state as the application execution state from the application status management unit 105 (S308).

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires an update counter value corresponding to the state of the application from the above-described property (S309). In this case, since the application state is the stopped state, the cache information control unit 104 acquires “10” as the update counter value, as shown in FIG.

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires a counter corresponding to the application from the storage device 109 (S310). Then, the cache information control unit 104 adds 1 to the counter (S311), and determines whether or not the counter value has reached the update counter value (S312). In this case, since the counter value has not reached the update counter value “10” (No in S312), the counter is stored in the storage device 109 as it is (S316).

  The above processing is executed when an application that uses update information is installed in the client apparatus 101 in advance. In addition, this process is not executed when the application is uninstalled.

  Next, processing performed by the cache information control unit 104 until update information is acquired from the server device 102 and stored in the storage device 109 when the application state changes will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, processing when the application state transitions from the uninstalled state to the activated state will be described. The cache information control unit 104 acquires system properties from the system property management unit 106 (S401).

  Next, when the application execution state transitions from the uninstalled state to the activated state, the application status management unit 105 receives a notification of change to the activated state from the application life cycle management unit 115 (S402). Then, the application status management unit 105 acquires the activation state as the application execution state from the system property and notifies the cache information control unit 104 of it (S403).

  On the other hand, the cache information control unit 104 acquires “1” as an update counter value corresponding to the activation state of the application from the system property (S404). Then, the cache information control unit 104 acquires a counter corresponding to the application from the storage device 109 (S405).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the update counter value acquired in S405 is “−1” (uninstalled state) (S406). In this case, since the update counter value is “1”, the process proceeds to S407. Proceed. In S407, it is determined whether or not the update counter value is “1” (active state) and there is an information update notification. If there is an information update notification, the process proceeds to S409. If there is no information update notification (No in S407), the process proceeds to S412.

  In S <b> 409, the cache data update management unit 108 acquires update information corresponding to the latest information update notification, and acquires update information from the server apparatus 102 via the server communication unit 107. Next, the cache data update management unit 108 stores the acquired update information in the storage device 109 (S410), and initializes the counter to zero (S411). Thereafter, the cache information control unit 104 stores the counter in the storage device 109 (S412).

  Next, processing when the application execution state transitions from the start state to the stop state will be described. Since the application state is changed to the stopped state in the processing of S401 to S405 described above, “10” is acquired as the update counter value from FIG. Then, it is determined No in the determination process of S406, No is determined in the determination process of S407, and the cache information control unit 104 stores the counter in the storage device 109 (S412), and ends this process.

  Next, the process when the application execution state transitions from the stopped state to the activated state executes the same process as that when the application execution state transitions from the uninstalled state to the activated state.

  Next, processing when the application execution state transitions from the stopped state to the uninstalled state will be described. Since the application state is changed to the uninstalled state in the processing of S401 to S405 described above, “−1” is acquired as the update counter value from FIG. And it determines with Yes by the determination process of S406, and complete | finishes this process.

  Note that, when the application state transition and the reception of update information are executed simultaneously, it is determined by the system property which processing is prioritized.

  According to the first embodiment, since the cache update frequency changes according to the execution state of the application, it is possible to reduce the resource consumption for the cache information update.

[Modification]
The cache information control unit 104 can identify data that is not used by the application due to a change in the execution state of the application. The cache information control unit 104 manages the application and the data used by the application using the application data management table shown in FIG. The cache information control unit 104 can identify data that is no longer used by an application from the application data management table, and can notify the cache data update management unit 108 to delete the data from the storage device 109. .

  A plurality of applications may use the same data stored in the storage device 109. As shown in FIG. 5, in the cache information control unit 104, a plurality of applications that use the data are associated with the data.

  Therefore, the cache information control unit 104 can identify data that has not been used by all applications due to a change in the execution state of each application. Therefore, it is possible to notify the cache data update management unit 108 to delete the data from the storage device 109.

  The update counter value described above may be changed to an update elapsed time that is an update time interval. FIG. 6 shows the correspondence between the application status and the update elapsed time. The cache information control unit 104 stores the update information corresponding to the latest information update notification in the storage device 109 for each update elapsed time acquired from the system property according to the execution state of the application. 108 is notified.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, each application is managed in the application execution state, but may be managed in the state of the user interface displayed by the application. In that case, the update counter values described above may be associated with each other as shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, the execution state of the application may be managed as the state of the application process. In that case, the update counter values described above may be associated with each other as shown in FIG.

[Embodiment 2]
Next, Embodiment 2 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, update information is acquired from the server device and stored in the cache according to the update elapsed time (in seconds) corresponding to the execution state of the application shown in FIG. The configuration of the cache information control system in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, processing from when the cache information control system 100 receives the information update notification from the server apparatus 102 to when the update information is stored in the storage device 109 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The processing from S801 to S808 shown in FIG. 8 is the same as the processing from S301 to S308 shown in FIG. 3, and processing related to the update elapsed time, which is a feature of the second embodiment, will be described.

  First, a case where the execution state of an application that uses update information is in the activated state will be described. In this case, the cache information control unit 104 acquires the update elapsed time corresponding to the application activation state from the system property (S809). Here, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the update elapsed time acquired by the cache information control unit 104 is zero.

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires the information update notification elapsed time corresponding to the application from the storage device 109 (S810). The information update notification elapsed time is a timer corresponding to each application, and measures the time until the information update is notified. Then, the cache information control unit 104 adds the elapsed time from the previous information update notification to the information update notification elapsed time (S811), and determines whether the information update notification elapsed time has reached the update elapsed time. Determine (812). If the determination process is No, the process proceeds to S816.

  Here, since the update elapsed time is zero, it is determined that the information update notification elapsed time has reached the update elapsed time (Yes in S812). As a result, the cache data update management unit 108 acquires update information corresponding to the latest information update notification, and acquires update information from the server apparatus 102 via the server communication unit 107 (S813). Then, the cache information control unit 104 stores the acquired update information in the storage device 109 (S814), and initializes the information update notification elapsed time to zero (S815). Thereafter, the cache information control unit 104 stores the information update notification elapsed time in the storage device 109 (S816).

  Next, a case where the execution state of an application that uses update information is in a stopped state will be described. In this case, since the execution state of the application is in the stopped state, the cache information control unit 104 acquires “60” as the update elapsed time from the system property as shown in FIG. 6B (S809).

  Next, the cache information control unit 104 acquires the information update notification elapsed time corresponding to the application from the storage device 109 (S810). Then, the cache information control unit 104 adds the elapsed time from the previous information update notification to the information update notification elapsed time (S811), and determines whether the information update notification elapsed time has reached the update elapsed time. Determination is made (S812). Here, if it has been reached, the process proceeds to S813 as in the case where the execution state of the above-described application is the startup state, but if not, the information update notification elapsed time is stored in the storage device 109 ( S816).

  The above processing is executed when an application that uses update information is installed in the client apparatus 101 in advance. In addition, this process is not executed when the application is uninstalled.

  Next, processing performed by the cache information control unit 104 until update information is acquired from the server device 102 and stored in the storage device 109 when the application state changes will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The processing from S901 to S903 shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the processing from S401 to S403 shown in FIG. 4, and processing relating to the update elapsed time, which is a feature of the second embodiment, will be described.

  First, processing when the application state transitions from the uninstalled state to the activated state will be described. As in the first embodiment, the process proceeds to S901 to S903, and the cache information control unit 104 acquires “0” as the update elapsed time for the activation state of the application from the system property (S904). The cache information control unit 104 acquires the application information update notification elapsed time from the storage device 109 (S905).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the information update notification elapsed time is “−1” (uninstalled state) (S906). In this case, since the update elapsed time is “0”, the process proceeds to S907. . In S907, it is determined whether or not the information update notification elapsed time has reached the update elapsed time and there is an information update notification. If there is an information update notification, the process proceeds to S909. If there is no information update notification (No in S907), the process proceeds to S912.

  In step S <b> 909, the cache data update management unit 108 acquires update information corresponding to the latest information update notification, and acquires update information from the server apparatus 102 via the server communication unit 107. Next, the cache data update management unit 108 stores the acquired update information in the storage device 109 (S910), and initializes the information update notification elapsed time to zero (S911). Thereafter, the cache information control unit 104 stores the information update notification elapsed time in the storage device 109 (S912).

  Next, processing when the application execution state transitions from the start state to the stop state will be described. Since the application state is changed to the stopped state in the processing of S901 to S905 described above, “60” is acquired as the update elapsed time from FIG. Then, it is determined No in the determination process of S906, No is determined in the determination process of S907, and the cache information control unit 104 stores the information update notification elapsed time in the storage device 109 (S912), and ends this process. .

  Next, the process when the application execution state transitions from the stop state to the start state executes the same process as when the application execution state transitions from the uninstall state to the start state.

  Next, processing when the application execution state transitions from the stopped state to the uninstalled state will be described. Since the application state is changed to the uninstalled state in the above-described processing of S901 to S905, “−1” is acquired as the update elapsed time from FIG. And it determines with Yes by the determination process of S906, and complete | finishes this process.

  Note that, when the application state transition and the reception of update information are executed simultaneously, it is determined by the system property which processing is prioritized.

  According to the second embodiment, since the cache update frequency changes according to the execution state of the application, it is possible to reduce the resource consumption for the cache information update.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (9)

A client device that executes a plurality of applications using information of a server device,
Execution means for executing the plurality of applications;
Management means for managing the state of the application executed by the execution means;
Control means for controlling the update information to be cached in the storage device according to the state of the application using the information when the information of the server device is updated;
A client device comprising:   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, when an application that uses information of the server device is managed as an activated state, the control unit controls the update information to be cached in the storage device. Client device.   The control means determines whether or not to cache the update information in the storage device when an application that uses the information of the server device is managed as a stopped state, and according to a result of the determination, The client device according to claim 1, wherein update information is controlled to be cached in the storage device.   The client apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination is performed based on a value of a counter that counts up the update of the information.   The client apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination is made based on an update elapsed time until the information is updated.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the update information to be cached in the storage device in accordance with a state of a user interface displayed by an application that uses the information of the server device. Client device.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control so that the update information is cached in the storage device in accordance with a state of a process in which an application using the information of the server device is executed. Client device. A method of controlling a client device that executes a plurality of applications using information of a server device,
An execution step of executing the plurality of applications;
A management step in which the management means manages the state of the application to be executed in the execution step;
A control step in which when the information of the server device is updated, the control means controls to cache the update information in the storage device according to the state of the application that uses the information;
A method for controlling a client device, comprising:   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the client apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 7.

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