KR20070118785A - Method and apparatus for managing a state information of remote user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for managing state information of an RUI is provided to store the state information of the RUI without a server for storing the state information by storing the RUI state information in a client receiving a service through the RUI and restoring a previous state of the RUI with the stored state information hereafter. RUI state information is extracted from the client by a request of a user(406). The extracted state information is stored in the client using the service through the RUI(407). The stored state information is provided into devices in the UPnP network through a CDS(Content Device Service) of a UPnP A/V(Audio/Video) structure. The RUI state information, which is used for using the service of the server by a third client, is obtained from the third client. The obtained RUI state information is applied to the RUI of the client(412). The RUI state information includes at least one of a value inputted to a web form, A/V state information, cookie information, and a user ID.

Description

{Method and Apparatus for managing a State Information of Remote User Interface}

1 is a block diagram of a general UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) based remote user interface (Remote User Interface) network system.

2 illustrates a method of storing and recovering state information of a remote user interface in a typical UPnP network.

3 is a block diagram of a UPnP-based remote user interface network system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates a method of storing and recovering state information of a remote user interface in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram of a remote user interface client according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

6 illustrates an example of state information stored in a client according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

7 illustrates an example in which state information of a remote user interface is exposed in a content directory service (CDS) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a block diagram of a remote user interface server according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart of a method for storing state information of a remote user interface client in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a flowchart of a method for recovering state information of a remote user interface of a remote user interface client according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing status information of a remote user interface (RUI), and more particularly, to store and restore status information of a remote user interface in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network environment. An apparatus and method are provided.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) based remote user interface network system.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional UPnP-based remote user interface network system includes an RUI control point (CP) 11, an RUI client 12, and an RUI server 13. Here, the RUI CP 11 corresponds to a UPnP CP supporting a remote user interface, and the RUI client 12 and RUI server 13 correspond to a UPnP CD (Controlled Device) supporting a remote user interface.

As in a typical UPnP network, the RUI CP 11 discovers and controls the RUI client 12 and RUI server 13. The RUI client 12 and the RUI server 13 connected by the control of the RUI CP 11 request through a remote user interface according to an out-of-band remote protocol such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Extended Remoting Protocol (XRT), or the like. And process the response.

2 is a diagram illustrating a process of storing and restoring state information of a remote user interface in a conventional UPnP network.

Referring to FIG. 2, a process of storing and restoring state information of a remote user interface in the conventional UPnP includes the following steps. In particular, this process relates to the case of transferring the connection with the RUI server 24 from the RUI client 1 (22) to the RUI client 2 (23).

In step 201, the RUI CP 21 retrieves the on-going remote user interface connections by calling GetCurrentConnection () with RUI client 1 (22), and finds a connection with the RUI server 24 from it.

In step 202, the RUI CP 21 calls SetUILifetime () to the RUI server 24 to instruct the RUI server 24 to maintain a state of a remote user interface connection that is currently in progress.

In step 203, the RUI CP 21 terminates the current remote user interface connection by calling Disconnect () to the RUI client 1 (22).

In step 204, the RUI CP 21 calls Connect () to the RUI client 2 (23) to proceed with the remote user interface connection having a maintained state according to the instruction in step 202.

However, as described above, the prior art shown in FIG. 2 may be applied only to the remote protocol model in which all state information of the remote user interface is stored in the RUI server. However, in the case of a remote protocol model such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), due to the stateless nature, when the transaction processing any one request and response is completed, the state information of the remote interface is not stored. Most of the state information is managed by the RUI client because it disappears.

Therefore, the process of saving and restoring the state information of the remote user interface in the conventional UPnP can be applied to RDP, XRT, etc., which is a remote protocol model in which all state information of the remote user interface is stored in the RUI server. There is a problem that can not be applied to a remote protocol model having a stateless property such as HTTP managed by the RUI client.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method and apparatus for managing status information of a remote user interface in a UPnP network in which a server capable of storing status information does not exist separately, and a program for executing the method on a computer. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon is provided.

According to the present invention for solving the technical problem, a method for managing the status information of the remote user interface required to use the service provided from the server, the step of extracting the status information of the remote user interface at the request of the user ; And storing the extracted state information in a client using the service via the remote user interface.

According to a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for managing state information of the user interface provides the stored state information to devices of the UPnP network through a CDS (Content Directory Service) of the UPnP AV architecture. It further comprises the step.

According to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above technical problem, a method of using a service provided by a server by a client using a remote user interface includes a remote user interface used by a third client to use a service provided by the server. Obtaining status information of the third client from the third client; And applying the obtained state information to a remote user interface of the given client.

According to a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of acquiring the status information is characterized in that the step of obtaining through the Content Directory Service (CDS) of the UPnP AV architecture (architecture).

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a block diagram of a UPnP-based remote user interface network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a UPnP based remote user interface network system according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of RUI clients 31 to 32 and RUI servers 33 to 34.

RUI servers 33-34 are server devices that provide a remote user interface to RUI clients. Preferably, the HTML document is provided to the RUI clients 31 to 32 through a remote user interface application by HTTP. RUI clients 31 to 32 are devices that use a remote user interface provided by RUI servers.

The RUI clients 31 to 32 and the RUI servers 33 to 34 include an RUI control point for controlling the connection and disconnection of the remote user interface. However, the RUI clients 31 to 32 and the RUI servers 33 to 34 need not necessarily include the RUI control points therein, and the RUI clients 31 to 32 and the RUI have different control points. It is also possible to control the connection of the remote user interface between the servers 33 to 34.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing and recovering state information of a remote user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a method for storing and recovering state information of a remote user interface according to the present embodiment may be performed in a time-series process at the RUI client 1 42, the RUI client 2 43, and the RUI server 44. It consists of

In step 401 RUI client 1 42 receives a request for a particular remote user interface page from the user.

In step 402 RUI client 1 (41) requests the RUI server 44 the remote user interface page requested in step 401. In the case of a remote user interface using HTTP, a specific web page expressed in HTML corresponds to a remote user interface page requested by a client.

In step 403 the RUI server 44 provides the RUI client 1 41 with the remote user interface page requested in step 402. The embodiment is preferably configured such that a remote user interface page provided by the RUI server 44 is provided with means for the user to store state information of the remote user interface page, i.e. a save button.

In operation 404, the user transmits a command to the RUI client 1 42 to store state information of the page provided by the RUI server 44. If the remote user interface page provided from the RUI server 44 is provided with means for storing the state information by the user, such as the above-mentioned save button, the RUI client 1 42 is instructed to store the state information by clicking it. Can transmit

In step 405, the RUI client 1 42 requests the RUI server 44 to transmit the status information of the remote user interface of the RUI server 44, and in response, the RUI client 44 receives the status information of the RUI from the RUI server 44. Receive. In case of transmitting the status information of the document expressed in HTML using HTTP, HTTP GET message and Java script can be used as a method of transmitting and receiving the status information of the remote user interface. However, it can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that all remote user interface protocols for storing and restoring state information of RUI, in addition to HTTP GET message, can be applied to the present invention.

In step 406, the RUI client 1 42 reads from the page the status information of the remote user interface generated at the RUI client 1 42 by the user using the remote user interface page. For example, information such as a persistent cookie may be read as state information in RUI client 1.

In step 407 RUI client one 42 stores the state information obtained in steps 405 and 406 in a predetermined repository in RUI client one 42. In the state information, the input information of a web form, the state information of an audio / video, the state information of other web objects, etc., including the above-described cookie, may be obtained and stored from a server and a client. have.

In step 408, the RUI client 1 42 sends the UPnP AV network information via a CDS (Content Directory Service) on the UPnP AV architecture to the information about the remote user interface stored in the predetermined repository in the RUI client 1 42 in the step 407. To other devices on the screen. Preferably, the CDS includes the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information of the RUI client 1 (42), the URL information of the RUI server 44, and the state information of the URI. After that, when the user wants to use the remote user interface used through the RUI client 1 42 as it was, the user can access the RUI client 1 42 according to the stored URL information to acquire the state information. In addition, all information related to the remote user interface that can be provided to other clients on the network through the CDS can be included in the information exposed through the CDS. In addition, when the RUI client 1 42 does not have the CDS module inside the client, the RUI client 1 42 may provide status information of the remote user interface to other devices on the network through the CDS existing outside the client.

By exposing the status information of the remote user interface to other devices through the CDS, devices or applications that do not support the UPnP Remote UI can access the CDS through the AV control point on the UPnP AV architecture, Status information can be accessed.

Steps 409 and below are for the user 41 to recover the state of the remote user interface stored in RUI client 1 42 so that the remote user interface provided by the RUI server 44 via another client, RUI client 2 43, is provided. It shows the process using. For example, a user who received a video streaming service outside the home using a mobile phone may return to the home and restore the state previously by the state information stored in the mobile phone, and connect the video again using the digital TV.

In step 409, user 41 selects RUI client 2 43 to use the remote user interface used by RUI client 1 42 through another client.

In step 410, the RUI client 2 43 selected by the user 41 accesses a remote user interface page provided by the RUI server 44 using the URL of the RUI server 44 obtained through the CDS.

In operation 411, the RUI client 2 43 receives a remote user interface page capable of restoring a previous state using the state information from the RUI server 44. At this time, the URL information of the RUI client 1 (42) storing the state information stored in the CDS is also provided to the client 2 (43).

In operation 412, the RUI client 2 43 connects to the RUI client 1 42 using the URL information of the RUI client 1 42 provided from the RUI server 44 and stores the remote user interface stored in the RUI client 1 42. Obtain state information.

In operation 413, the RUI client 2 43 restores the remote user interface provided from the RUI server 44 to the state used by the RUI client 1 42 according to the state information obtained in operation 412.

If the user stops the remote user interface using RUI client 1 (42) without using another client, and later uses the same remote UI again using the same RUI client 1 (42). It is not necessary to go through the steps 409 and below, and can read the state information stored in the RUI client 1 42 and restore the previous state to use the remote user interface. For example, a user who receives a video streaming service outside the home by using a mobile phone may enter the home and restore the state previously by the state information stored in the mobile phone to connect the video again using the mobile phone.

5 is a block diagram of the RUI client 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the RUI client 5 according to the present invention includes an RUI CP module 51, an RUI CD module 52, a browser module 53, and a CDS module. The RUI Control Point module 51 and the RUI Controlled Device 52 are optional modules required when the RUI client 5 is present in an autonomous network such as a UPnP network. In addition, the RUI CP module 51 may exist outside the RUI client 5.

The RUI CP module 51 serves as a UPnP control point (CP) for discovering and controlling UPnP controlled devices on a UPnP network. In particular, according to the present invention, the RUI CP module 51 serves to discover the RUI server 6. The UPnP Remote UI network is a two box model if the RUI CP module 51 is included in the RUI client device, and a three box model if it is outside the RUI client.

The RUI CD module 52 advertises that the UPnP CD is a controlled device (UPnP CD) to other devices on the network, and thus plays the role of the UPnP CD under the control of the UPnP CP that has discovered this.

The browser module 53 receives a request for a remote user interface page from the user, and requests the RUI server 6 from it. A client module that displays a remote user interface page by rendering the remote user interface page obtained from the response to this request.

In particular, the browser module 53 may include a state storage module 531 or may be provided in the form of a plug-in. When the remote user interface page sent by the RUI server 8 to the RUI client 5 includes a means for storing state information, that is, a save button, which is a user interface for requesting storage of the state information, and the like. If so, the state information is stored in the state storage module 531 according to a user's operation such as a button click.

The CDS module 54 is a device on the UPnP AV architecture and generally serves to simply provide content information in the UPnP AV architecture. However, according to the present invention, in addition to the image, audio, and video provided by the conventional CDS, information about the remote user interface is provided to other devices on the network. CDS allows information on the remote user interface to be shared with devices on the UPnP AV network, thereby maximizing interoperability between devices on the network.

6 shows an example of status information according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the information stored in the state storage module of the RUI client 5 is stored using a Java script, and the web form input value, userid, Includes information such as password, playtime, playstate, and speed.

However, the information illustrated in FIG. 6 is merely an example, and all information representing the state of the remote user interface may be included in the script illustrated in FIG. 6 in addition to the illustrated information. In addition, although FIG. 6 illustrates a method for storing state information using JavaScript, all methods for storing state information in the state information storage module in the RUI client 5 are applicable to the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand.

7 illustrates an example of exposing information of a remote user interface in a CDS according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the URL addresses and names of the title, class, etc. shown in FIG. 7 are exemplary.

Referring to FIG. 7, xmlns: rui = "urn: schemas-rui-org: remoteui: saveduilist-1-0" is an XML schema declaration for defining the state information of the remote user interface in the CDS. Present the status information of the remote user interface to the CDS.

http-get: *: x-apllication / ce-html is the URL of a page containing information about the protocol used to recover the state of the remote user interface using the saved state information.

http: // RUIApp-IP-ADDR: PORT / CONNECT shows the URL of the RUI server 8. In order for the user to reuse the previous remote user interface on the same or another client, the URL information of the remote user interface page is required and provided through CDS.

http: // RUI1-IP-ADDress / saveduistate indicates the URL of the client where the state information of the remote user interface is stored. In order to use the status information of the remote user interface stored in the specific client on the UPnP network through the step 407, the predetermined client must know the URL information of the specific client in which the status information is stored in order to be used by the predetermined client on the network. The URL of the client where the information is stored is exposed.

8 is a configuration diagram of an RUI server 8 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the RUI server 8 includes an RUI CP module 81, an RUI CD module 82, an RUI server module 83, an RUI application module 84, and a state management module 85. The RUI Control Point module 81 and the RUI Controlled Device 82 are optional modules required when the RUI server 8 is present in an autonomous network such as a UPnP network. In addition, as in the case of the RUI client, the RUI CP module 81 may exist outside the RUI server 8.

The RUI CP module 81 serves as a UPnP CP for discovering and controlling UPnP devices on a network. The UPnP network is a two box model if the RUI CP module 81 is included in the RUI server 8, and a three box model if the CP module exists outside the RUI server 8.

The RUI CD module 82 is a module that allows RUI client access and shares information of the user interface with the RUI client according to a request of the RUI CP.

The RUI server module 83 is a module that receives a request for a predetermined application from the RUI client 5 and constructs a response as a remote user interface page according to the request to the RUI client 5.

The RUI application module 84 performs an application for the RUI page. In more detail, the RUI application module 84 performs processing for a predetermined remote user interface page requested by the RUI client 5 through the RUI server module 83. For example, when the RUI client 5 requests an audio or video service, the RUI client 5 provides a service to the RUI client 5 through a remote user interface application supporting A / V.

When the state manager 85 receives a request for storing state information from the RUI client 5, the state manager 85 grasps state information of the RUI server 8 and informs the RUI client 5.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing state information of an RUI client according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation 900, the RUI client connected to the RUI server through a predetermined remote user interface is requested to store state information from the user.

In step 902, the RUI client sends a message requesting status information of the RUI server to the RUI server. Preferably, transmitting the GET message of HTTP has been described above.

In step 904, the RUI client determines whether the RUI server has received state information. If the status information of the RUI server is not received because the status information may not be stored in the RUI server, the flow proceeds to step 908 to store only the URL and the status information of the RUI client.

In operation 906, the RUI client that receives the state information of the RUI server stores the state information of the RUI server in a state storage module inside the RUI client.

In operation 908, the RUI client stores state information in the RUI client, URL of the RUI server, and URL information of the RUI client in the state storage module. The URL of the RUI server is the information needed to later access the same remote user interface page, and the URL of the RUI client is needed to specify the RUI client to be provided with the status information needed to restore the state of the remote user interface to its previous state. Information.

In operation 910, the RUI client exposes state information of a remote user interface stored through a CDS inside or outside the RUI client.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a state information recovery method of a remote user interface of an RUI client according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 1002 the RUI client provides the user with a list of remote user interfaces available on the UPnP network. The list includes a remote user interface in which the state information is stored in the CDS and not known to the RUI client according to the present invention, and not stored in the CDS, but a remote user interface known to the RUI client through discovery and advertisement between RUI CPs. There can be.

In step 1004, the RUI client is provided with a remote user interface for recovering state information by accessing a predetermined RUI server on the network according to URL information stored in the CDS according to a user's request.

In step 1006, the RUI client connects to a specific client on the UPnP network that stores the state information needed to recover the remote user interface provided in step 1004. The URL of the client that stores the state information is stored in the CDS as the URL of the RUI server in step 1004. According to the URL, the client accesses a specific client on the network and provides the state information stored in the state storage module inside the client. Receive.

In step 1008, the RUI client restores the state of the previous remote user interface by referring to the state information provided in step 1006.

As described above, although the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which can be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Modifications are possible. Accordingly, the spirit of the invention should be understood only by the claims set forth below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications will fall within the scope of the invention. In addition, the system according to the present invention can be embodied as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of recording media include ROMs, RAMs, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of carrier waves (eg, transmission over the Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

According to the present invention, the state information by storing the state information of the remote user interface in the client using the service provided by the server through the remote user interface, and then recovers the previous state of the remote user interface using the stored state information. Status information can be saved without a separate server.

In particular, by providing the state information stored in the client to other devices on the network through the CDS (Content Directory Service) by the UPnP AV architecture (maximum) interoperability between the network devices.

Claims (5)

A method of managing status information of a remote user interface required to use a service provided from a server, Extracting state information of the remote user interface according to a user's request; And storing the extracted state information in a client using the service through the remote user interface. The method of claim 1, And providing the stored state information to devices of the UPnP network via a CDS (Content Directory Service) of the UPnP AV architecture. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information A method for managing status information of a remote user interface comprising at least one of a value input in a web form, audio status information, video status information, cookie information, a user ID, and a password. A method in which a client uses a service provided by a server using a remote user interface, Obtaining state information of a remote user interface used by a third client to use a service provided by the server from the third client; And Applying the obtained state information to a remote user interface of the predetermined client. The method of claim 4, wherein the obtaining of the state information And obtaining the content through a CDS (Content Directory Service) of the UPnP AV architecture.

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