EP1360581A2 - Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet - Google Patents

Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet

Info

Publication number
EP1360581A2
EP1360581A2 EP01964281A EP01964281A EP1360581A2 EP 1360581 A2 EP1360581 A2 EP 1360581A2 EP 01964281 A EP01964281 A EP 01964281A EP 01964281 A EP01964281 A EP 01964281A EP 1360581 A2 EP1360581 A2 EP 1360581A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
file
application
server
determining whether
local
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP01964281A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Joe Wallace Duran
Ann Marie Laubach
Lawrence Seligman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Motorola Mobility LLC
Original Assignee
Motorola Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Motorola Inc filed Critical Motorola Inc
Publication of EP1360581A2 publication Critical patent/EP1360581A2/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
    • G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
    • G06F9/46—Multiprogramming arrangements
    • G06F9/50—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
    • G06F9/5005—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] to service a request
    • G06F9/5027—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] to service a request the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
    • G06F9/5055—Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU] to service a request the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
    • G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
    • G06F9/46—Multiprogramming arrangements
    • G06F9/54—Interprogram communication
    • G06F9/547—Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F2209/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F9/00
    • G06F2209/54—Indexing scheme relating to G06F9/54
    • G06F2209/549—Remote execution

Definitions

  • the present invention is related in general to communication systems, and more particularly to an improved method and system for remote execution of an application with local display and control.
  • PDAs personal digital assistants
  • Windows CE Windows CE
  • Windows CE and Palm Pilot devices owe much of their value to their portability, which is greatly enhanced by wireless internet connections. These connections are inherently slower than most wireline connections, so downloading an email attachment, such as a typical PowerPoint file of 500 KB or greater, can be quite time consuming, especially when the connection is through a lower bandwidth wireless WAN service such as Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD). Any technique that can allow users to view, edit, and otherwise manipulate such attachments without actually downloading the attachment may be of great benefit.
  • CDPD Cellular Digital Packet Data
  • Thin client techniques for remote execution of computer programs while the results are viewed locally are in common use.
  • Products such as PC anywhere from Symantec Corporation, Unix X-Windows, and Citrix MetaFrame provide the capability of using one computer as the screen and keyboard for another, remotely located computer. These products are often called “thin client” because the client computer contains a relatively small amount of software, typically just enough to act as a remote keyboard, mouse, and display.
  • the application software runs on a remote computer, usually a server, or the user's desktop computer.
  • Thin client technology and wireless connectivity are useful for mobile computing because they allow a user to carry lightweight devices with long battery life, for example, hand held PCs, yet still have the ability to run virtually any application. However, since there are occasions when connections are not available, for example on airplanes, it is also desirable to have some local computing capability.
  • Lightweight devices incorporating operating systems such as
  • Windows CE or the Palm Operating System are capable of running thin client software and controlling the execution of programs on a remote server. This solves the problem of downloading large files, and of being unable to view and manipulate certain hie types locally.
  • a remote server can provide all of a user' s computing needs, including email.
  • the user can operate the lightweight terminal device as a remote screen and keyboard to control the email software and any application programs necessary for viewing, editing, or manipulating email attachments.
  • the drawback of operating exclusively in a thin client mode is the user has no locally stored information. When a communications link is not available, such as when on an airplane, the user does not have access to any of the data. In particular, the user cannot read, answer, or compose email while disconnected.
  • the prior art requires that, if a user reads his email locally and notices that it has an attachment that he wants to read, he must then open a session on a thin client server.
  • the thin client server must contain both the necessary application software and an email client.
  • the email client, running on the thin client server must be configured for that user to fetch the same email message, with the attachment, from the user's mail server. He must then read the email message again, and select the attachment to open it.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram depicting an exemplary network layout in accordance with the method and system of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the mail access server /mail copy process in accordance with the method and system of the present invention
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the mail access server/attachment process in accordance with the method and system of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the intelligent application manager on the client device invoked when the user selects an email attachment in accordance with the method and system of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 a block diagram depicting an exemplary network layout in accordance with the method and system of the present invention is shown.
  • the user may be carrying a client device 102, such as a mobile terminal, that does not contain the application software necessary to open the file.
  • the user may not wish to suffer the waiting time, transmission costs, and local storage consumption needed to download the file.
  • the present invention provides the user the opportunity to see the name, type, and size of the attached file in the usual manner, and the opportunity to select it easily for remote execution on a remote server.
  • the user controls the file' s viewing and execution in normal thin-client fashion from the terminal being carried.
  • the user' s lightweight terminal 102 running Windows CE, contains an IMAP4 compliant email client, which the user always runs as the terminal' s local mail client.
  • client device 102, mail access server 104, application server 106, and mail server 108 are coupled to each other, preferably via communications networks such as the internet 110 and wireless WAN 112. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the technique described herein will also be of benefit for users employing low bandwidth wireline connections.
  • the present invention provides an intermediate server, or mail access server 104, preferably set up so that larger attachments are never actually downloaded to the user' s terminal 102.
  • a preferred embodiment of the overall operation is as follows.
  • the user terminal or client 102 has a text file, named remote.ica and following the Citrix convention, contains the following entries:
  • the attachment When the client device 102 receives an email sent with an attachment, the attachment is filtered. That is, the attachment is delivered to the client device 102 only if it passes a set of rules (filters), preferably based on size and format.
  • the filters may be predetermined, or may be customizable by the user. For instance, a 3KB Microsoft Word file typically will be delivered to the client device 102, whereas a 200KB PowerPoint file typically will not be delivered.
  • a pointer is appended to the end of the associated message. For instance, a typical message delivered to the client device 102 may look like the following:
  • the attached file indicator, Wonderplan.pdf .voc in the above example, indicates that an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file was attached to the message, that it is 2.2 Mbytes in size, and that it was not actually delivered to the client device.
  • PDF Adobe Portable Document Format
  • the " .voc" extension is linked to the intelligent application manager program on the terminal, through the File
  • the intelligent application manager program checks whether there is a local application program capable of opening the file. If so, the user is asked to select whether to download the file for local execution or to view it by remote invocation and execution. If there is no appropriate local application program, remote invocation begins immediately, in the following manner.
  • the actual IP address of a Citrix MetaFrame server with Adobe® Acrobat® Reader software installed is inserted as the Application Server IP address in Line #A of remote.ica above.
  • the location of AcroRd32.exe (the executable code for the reader) is inserted in Line #B
  • the Working Directory location is inserted in Line #C. This information is obtained from the application server table maintained on the mail access server 104 and downloaded periodically to the client device 102. Table 1 below is an example.
  • the file to be viewed (the PDF file, in this example) is copied from the mail access server 104, using well known mail protocols such as IMAP4, and placed into the MAILTEMP directory on the MetaFrame or application server 106.
  • the application program, wficaCE.exe is then started on the client device 102 with remote.ica as its argument. This causes the Citrix ICA remote terminal software to begin running on the client, acting as a remote screen and keyboard to control the pdf reader running on the MetaFrame server, opening the file Wonderplan.pdf. The user can read and control Wonderplan.pdf. This has two advantages.
  • the user is able to view the attachment without having had to download it to the client device 102, which may result in a considerable reduction in the number of bits sent to the client device 102. It also means that the user can start viewing the attachment much sooner than if he had to wait for a download to complete.
  • the user can view attachments for which there is no associated client software. For example, as of this writing, there is no PDF viewer available for Windows CE client devices.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the mail access server/mail copy process in accordance with the method and system of the present invention.
  • the mail server is checked for email.
  • a determination is made whether there is new mail. If there is not new mail, then flow proceeds to block 206 where a delay occurs and thereafter, flow reverts back to block 202. If there is new mail, then flow proceeds to block 208, wherein the email is copied. Thereafter at block 210, a determination is made whether there are any attachments. If there are not any attachments, flow proceeds to block 212, wherein the mail is sent to the client device.
  • the attachment size is compared with a predetermined maximum attachment size, which may be user specified.
  • MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the mail access server /attachment process in accordance with the method and system of the present invention.
  • the step of receiving the email UID and attachment name from the intelligent application manager on the client device is performed.
  • the attachment is copied from the mail server.
  • the file name extension of the attachment is read.
  • the extension in the application server table is located.
  • a determination is made whether the extension is found. If the extension is not found, then at block 312 an error code is sent to the client. If the extension is found, then at block 314 the attachment is moved to a temporary directory on the application server containing the application program associated with the file name extension. Thereafter at block 316, an attachment copy completed indicator is sent to the client.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a functional flow diagram depicting the intelligent application manager on the client device invoked when the user selects an email attachment in accordance with the method and system of the present invention.
  • a determination is made whether there is a local application that can open the attachment. If there is not a local application that can open the attachment, then flow proceeds to block 404 as discussed below. If there is a local application that can open the attachment, flow proceeds to block 406, wherein a determination is made whether the attachment body is stored on the device. If the attachment body is stored on the device, then at block 408 the file is opened with the application. If the attachment body is not stored on the device, then at block 410 the user is asked whether he/she wants to download the attachment.
  • the user response is determined. If the user responded yes, then at block 414 the file is download from the mail server, and at block 416, the file is opened with the application. If the user responded no, then at block 418 the mail access server is signaled to copy the attachment from the mail server to the remote application server containing the proper application. Thereafter at block 420, the system waits for a response indicating whether the attachment was copied. At block 422, a determination is made whether the attachment was copied. If the attachment was not copied, then at block 424 flow proceeds to the error handler. If the attachment was copied, then at block 426 the application server IP address and application location is inserted into the thin client configuration file. Thereafter, at block 428, the thin client software is launched.
  • the present invention allows users to keep local copies of email messages received, and to invoke automatically remote server-resident application software as necessary in order to open and read various files sent as attachments to email messages. That is, while reading email using a mail client resident on a lightweight terminal, the user may click on a pointer to the attached file and cause the appropriate application to be launched on the server. In this case, the pointer appears to the user to be essentially the normal name or icon that a mail system uses to indicate the presence of an attachment. The results are viewed on the terminal using the usual " thin client" methods. If the attached file has been downloaded and the application software is available locally (i.e. in the lightweight terminal), the appropriate application is launched locally. Otherwise, whenever a usable communications link is available, the application is launched on a server.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
  • Computer And Data Communications (AREA)

Abstract

Cette invention permet à des utilisateurs de conserver des copies locales de fichiers reçus, notamment des messages de courrier électronique, et d'appeler, le cas échéant, un logiciel d'application résidant dans un serveur à distance afin d'ouvrir et de lire divers fichiers envoyés en annexe aux messages de courrier électronique.
EP01964281A 2000-08-23 2001-08-21 Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet Ceased EP1360581A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US64445200A 2000-08-23 2000-08-23
US644452 2000-08-23
PCT/US2001/026121 WO2002017068A2 (fr) 2000-08-23 2001-08-21 Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1360581A2 true EP1360581A2 (fr) 2003-11-12

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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EP01964281A Ceased EP1360581A2 (fr) 2000-08-23 2001-08-21 Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1360581A2 (fr)
AU (1) AU2001285158A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2002017068A2 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9292280B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2016-03-22 Google Inc. Systems and methods for multi-tiered format registration for applications
US9489430B2 (en) 2013-05-14 2016-11-08 Google Inc. System and method for identifying applicable third-party applications to associate with a file

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AU2001285158A1 (en) * 2000-08-23 2002-03-04 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus for remote execution of an application with local display and control
US8402005B2 (en) * 2001-03-27 2013-03-19 Intel Corporation Systems and methods for creating self-extracting files
FR2847359A1 (fr) * 2002-11-15 2004-05-21 Abdel Malek Boussalem Architecture pour applications mobiles avec terminal sans-fil simplifie
EP1494153B1 (fr) * 2003-07-04 2005-09-28 France Telecom Procédé de lancement d'un opérateur de traitement d'objets contenus dans un message multimédia et terminal de télécommunication associé
US9811528B2 (en) 2010-12-09 2017-11-07 Yosef Benraz Systems and methods for providing continuing access to a remote computer program

Citations (3)

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US5630067A (en) * 1994-07-29 1997-05-13 International Business Machines Corporation System for the management of multiple time-critical data streams
GB2336083A (en) * 1998-02-06 1999-10-06 Ibm Computer method and system for object management
WO2002017068A2 (fr) * 2000-08-23 2002-02-28 Motorola, Inc. Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5832219A (en) * 1994-02-08 1998-11-03 Object Technology Licensing Corp. Distributed object networking service

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5630067A (en) * 1994-07-29 1997-05-13 International Business Machines Corporation System for the management of multiple time-critical data streams
GB2336083A (en) * 1998-02-06 1999-10-06 Ibm Computer method and system for object management
WO2002017068A2 (fr) * 2000-08-23 2002-02-28 Motorola, Inc. Technique d'execution a distance d'une application avec visualisation et commande locales et dispositif a cet effet

Non-Patent Citations (2)

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Title
ALEXEY RUDENKC ET AL: "Saving Portable Computer Battery Power through Remote Process Execution", MOBILE COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS REVIEW, vol. 2, no. 1, 1 January 1998 (1998-01-01), pages 19 - 26, XP055091324, DOI: 10.1145/584007.584008 *
See also references of WO0217068A3 *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9292280B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2016-03-22 Google Inc. Systems and methods for multi-tiered format registration for applications
US9489430B2 (en) 2013-05-14 2016-11-08 Google Inc. System and method for identifying applicable third-party applications to associate with a file

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2002017068A3 (fr) 2003-09-12
WO2002017068A2 (fr) 2002-02-28
AU2001285158A1 (en) 2002-03-04

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