U.S. patent application number 12/471148 was filed with the patent office on 2009-10-29 for system and method for building and execution of platform-neutral generic services' client applications.
This patent application is currently assigned to Research In Motion Limited. Invention is credited to Viera Bibr, Brindusa L. Fritsch, Bryan R. Goring, Robert Kline, Michael Shenfield, Kamen B. Vitanov.
Application Number | 20090271501 12/471148 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32685426 |
Filed Date | 2009-10-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090271501 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shenfield; Michael ; et
al. |
October 29, 2009 |
System and Method for Building and Execution of Platform-Neutral
Generic Services' Client Applications
Abstract
A system and method of building component applications are
provided. Component applications are executed on terminal devices,
which communicate with a schema-based service via a network and the
Internet. The component applications comprise data components,
presentation components, and message components, which are written
a structured definition language such as XML code. The component
applications further comprise workflow components which can be
written as a series of and are embedded in the XML code.
Inventors: |
Shenfield; Michael;
(Mississauga, CA) ; Bibr; Viera; (Mississauga,
CA) ; Fritsch; Brindusa L.; (Mississauga, CA)
; Goring; Bryan R.; (Mississauga, CA) ; Kline;
Robert; (Mississauga, CA) ; Vitanov; Kamen B.;
(Mississauga, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GOWLING LAFLEUR HENDERSON LLP (RIM)
160 ELGIN STREET, SUITE 2600
OTTAWA
ON
K1P 1C3
CA
|
Assignee: |
Research In Motion Limited
Waterloo
ON
|
Family ID: |
32685426 |
Appl. No.: |
12/471148 |
Filed: |
May 22, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10745120 |
Dec 23, 2003 |
7555538 |
|
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12471148 |
|
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60436011 |
Dec 26, 2002 |
|
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60503665 |
Sep 17, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 69/329 20130101;
H04L 29/06 20130101; G06F 8/60 20130101; H04L 67/42 20130101; H04L
67/04 20130101; H04L 67/34 20130101; G06F 9/465 20130101; H04L
67/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/219 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method of interacting with a web service by a wireless device
over a wireless network, the method comprising: sending from the
wireless device a request network message to the web service to
establish communication between the web service and the wireless
device; receiving at the wireless device a component application in
response to the request network message, the component application
program comprising a plurality of components: a first set of the
components having metadata descriptors expressed in a structured
definition language having a number of pre-defined elements
representing specific attributes of a resource of the wireless
device defining how a runtime environment of the wireless device
configures the component application program; and a second set of
the components being expressed as a series of scripted instructions
coupled to the metadata descriptors defining a workflow of the
component application program the workflow comprising a workflow
component for defining an action to be performed when messages
arrive at the wireless device; the components being configured for
provisioning by a runtime environment of the wireless device, the
runtime environment to produce an executable version of the
component application program configuring the wireless device as a
client of the web service; wherein the execution of the executable
version facilitates a subsequent exchange of data over the wireless
network between the web service and the wireless device.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the runtime environment
provides an interface for the executable version to the
functionality of a processor and an associated operating system of
an infrastructure of the wireless device and is provided by a
component framework providing a set of common services to component
applications.
3. The method according claim 2, wherein the executable version of
the component application executes in an application container,
which is a part of component framework.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the runtime environment
is configured for implementing capabilities comprising any of:
provide communications for sending a network message to the
service, provide data input by a user of the device for supplying
data content for a network message associated with the service,
provide data presentation in response to a network message
associated with the service, provide data storage services for
maintaining local client data in a memory of the device, and/or
provide an execution environment for a programming language for
coordinating operation of the components in the executable
version.
5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising dynamically
generating the component descriptors for client application
messages and associated data from metadata defined for the
service.
6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising a data
component in the first set of component definitions, the
data-components for describing a format of the data entities used
by the program.
7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising at least one
message component in the first set of component definitions, each
message component describing a format of the messages used by the
program to communicate over the network with the service.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising a
presentation component in the first set of components, the
presentation components for defining the appearance and behavior of
the component application program as presented on a user interface
of the device.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow component
in the second set of components defines processing that occurs when
an action is to be performed as specified by one of the first set
of components.
10. The method according to claim 2, further comprising executing
the executable version by the metadata based execution model, the
model configured for keeping the metadata definitions in the
structured definition language for parsing during execution.
11. The method according to claim 2, further comprising executing
the executable version by the metadata based execution model, the
model configured for using a native representation of structured
definition language nodes during execution.
12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising sending a
network message initiated by interaction of a user of the device
with a user interface element, the network message comprising data
entities created by the workflow component corresponding to the
user interface element.
13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising specifying
a client type of the device in the network message for providing
the presentation component as platform specific for a predefined
runtime environment.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the network message
is configured according to the message component for comprising the
data entities based on the structured definition language.
15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising receiving
a response network message comprising message data related to the
data entities, the response network message configured for
subsequent presentation of the message data on a user interface of
the device, wherein the message data is formatted based on the
structured definition language.
16. The method according to claim 2, wherein the set of common
services include one or more of: a communication service; a
presentation service; a persistence service; an access service; a
provisioning service; and an utility service.
17. The method according to claim 8, wherein each message component
uniquely maps to a message described by a schema-definition of the
service.
18. The method according to claim 7, wherein the workflow component
supports a correlation between messages.
19. The method according to claim 2, wherein the workflow component
defines application flow through a set of rules for operations on
the first set of components.
20. A wireless device configured for interacting over a wireless
network with a web service using an executable version of a
component application program comprising a plurality of components,
the wireless device comprising; a device infrastructure for
operating the wireless device comprising a processor and an
associated memory for executing the executable version; a user
interface coupled to the device infrastructure having an input
device and an output device configured for communication with the
executable version; a network connection interface coupled to the
device infrastructure and configured for communicating with the
network; and a runtime environment for processing the component
application program to generate the executable version for
configuring the device as a client of the web service, the runtime
environment configured for processing a first set of the components
having metadata descriptors expressed in a structured definition
language having a number of pre-defined elements representing
specific attributes of a resource of the wireless device for
defining configuration information of the component application
program and a second set of the components being expressed as a
series of scripted instructions coupled to the metadata descriptors
for defining a workflow of the component application program, the
workflow component defining an action to be performed when messages
arrive at the wireless device; wherein the execution of the
executable version facilitates a subsequent exchange of data over
the wireless network between the web service and the wireless
device.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/745,120 filed Dec. 23, 2003 which
claims the benefit of U.S. provisional 60/1436,011, filed Dec. 26,
2002, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by
reference, and further claims the benefit of U.S. provisional
60/1503,665, filed Sep. 17, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is
herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This application relates generally to communication of
services over a network to a device.
[0003] There is a continually increasing number of terminal devices
in use today, such as mobile telephones, PDAs with wireless
communication capabilities, personal computers, self service kiosks
and two-way pagers. Software applications which run on these
devices increase their utility. For example, a mobile phone may
include an application which retrieves the weather for a range of
cities, or a PDA may include an application that allows a user to
shop for groceries. These software applications take advantage of
the connectivity to a network in order to provide timely and useful
services to users. However, due to the restricted resources of some
devices, and the complexity of delivering large amounts of data to
the devices, developing software applications for a variety of
devices remains a difficult and time-consuming task.
[0004] Currently, devices are configured to communicate with Web
Services through Internet based Browsers and/or native
applications. Browsers have the advantage of being adaptable to
operate on a cross-platform basis for a variety of different
devices, but have a disadvantage of requesting pages (screen
definitions in HTML) from the Web Service, which hinders the
persistence of data contained in the screens. A further
disadvantage of Browsers is that the screens are rendered at
runtime, which can be resource intensive. Native applications have
the advantage of being developed specifically for the type of
device platform, thereby providing a relatively optimized
application program for each runtime environment. However, native
applications have disadvantages of not being platform independent,
thereby necessitating the development multiple versions of the same
application, as well as being relatively large in size, thereby
taxing the memory resources of the device. Further, application
developers need experience with programming languages such as Java
and C++ to construct these hard coded native applications. There is
a need for application programs that can be run on client devices
having a wide variety of runtime environments, as well as having a
reduced consumption of device resources.
[0005] The systems and methods disclosed herein provide a component
based application environment to obviate or mitigate at least some
of the above presented disadvantages.
SUMMARY
[0006] Current application programs are not adaptable to be run on
clients having a wide variety of runtime environments, and can
undesirably consume too much of device resources. Browsers are an
application program that have a disadvantage of requesting pages
(screen definitions in HTML) from a Web Service, which hinders the
persistence of data contained in the screens. A further
disadvantage of Browsers is that the screens are rendered at
runtime, which can be resource intensive. Native applications are a
further example of current application programs which have
disadvantages of not being platform independent, thereby
necessitating the development multiple versions of the same
application, as well as being relatively large in size, thereby
taxing the memory resources of the device. Contrary to current
application programs, a system of building and executing platform
neutral generic schema defined services through component
applications is provided. The system comprises component
applications which execute on the devices, which communicate with
network service via a network such as the Internet. The component
applications comprise one or more data components, presentation
components, and/or message components, which are written in a
structured definition language such as XML code. The component
applications can further comprise workflow components which contain
a series of instructions such as written in a subset of ECMAScript,
and, in certain implementations, can be embedded in the XML code. A
method of building component applications is also provided. The
method comprises steps of creating data components, creating
presentation components, and creating message components. The data,
presentation, and message components can be written in a structured
definition language such as XML. The method further comprises tying
together the data, presentation, and message components with
workflow components written in a scripting language such as
ECMAScript or a subset of ECMAScript.
[0007] A method of interacting with a schema-defined service by a
terminal device over a network is provided herein. The method
comprising sending from the wireless device a request network
message to the web service to establish communication between the
web service and the wireless device; receiving at the wireless
device a component application in response to the request network
message, the component application program comprising a plurality
of components: a first set of the components having metadata
descriptors expressed in a structured definition language having a
number of pre-defined elements representing specific attributes of
a resource of the wireless device defining how a runtime
environment of the wireless device configures the component
application program; and a second set of the components being
expressed as a series of scripted instructions coupled to the
metadata descriptors defining a workflow of the component
application program the workflow comprising a workflow component
for defining an action to be performed when messages arrive at the
wireless device; the components being configured for provisioning
by a runtime environment of the wireless device, the runtime
environment to produce an executable version of the component
application program configuring the wireless device as a client of
the web service; wherein the execution of the executable version
facilitates a subsequent exchange of data over the wireless network
between the web service and the wireless device.
[0008] A wireless device configured for interacting over a wireless
network with a web service using an executable version of a
component application program comprising a plurality of components
is disclosed. The wireless device comprising a device
infrastructure for operating the wireless device comprising a
processor and an associated memory for executing the executable
version; a user interface coupled to the device infrastructure
having an input device and an output device configured for
communication with the executable version; a network connection
interface coupled to the device infrastructure and configured for
communicating with the network; and a runtime environment for
processing the component application program to generate the
executable version for configuring the device as a client of the
web service, the runtime environment configured for processing a
first set of the components having metadata descriptors expressed
in a structured definition language having a number of pre-defined
elements representing specific attributes of a resource of the
wireless device for defining configuration information of the
component application program and a second set of the components
being expressed as a series of scripted instructions coupled to the
metadata descriptors for defining a workflow of the component
application program, the workflow component defining an action to
be performed when messages arrive at the wireless device; wherein
the execution of the executable version facilitates a subsequent
exchange of data over the wireless network between the web service
and the wireless device.
[0009] A computer program product for configuring a terminal device
for interacting over a network with a schema-based service using an
executable version of a component application including a plurality
of components is also provided. The computer program product
comprises: a computer readable medium; a runtime environment module
stored on the computer readable medium for coordinating execution
of the executable version for configuring the device as a client of
the service, the runtime environment configured for interaction
with a first set of the components having descriptors expressed in
a structured definition language and a second set of the components
being expressed as a series of instructions; wherein the execution
of the executable version provides for a subsequent exchange of
information over the network between the service and the
device.
[0010] In addition, a server configured for providing a
schema-based service for interacting with a terminal device over a
network is disclosed. The server comprises: a network interface for
receiving a request network message to establish communication
between the service and the device; a component application program
coupled to the network interface for sending in response to the
request network message, the component application program
including a plurality of components, a first set of the components
having descriptors expressed in a structured definition language
and a second set of the components being expressed as a series of
instructions, the components being configured for provisioning by a
runtime environment of the device to produce an executable version
of the component application program configuring the device as a
client of the service; wherein execution of the executable version
provides for a subsequent exchange of information over the network
between the service and the device.
[0011] A terminal device configured for interacting over a network
with a schema-based service using an executable version of a
component application program including a plurality of components
is also disclosed. The device comprises; an infrastructure means
for operating the device to execute the executable version; a user
interface means coupled to the infrastructure means configured for
communication with the executable version; a network interface
coupled to the device infrastructure and configured for
communicating with the network; and a runtime means for
coordinating execution of the executable version for configuring
the device as a client of the service, the runtime means configured
for interaction with a first set of the components having
descriptors expressed in a structured definition language and a
second set of the components being expressed as a series of
instructions; wherein the execution of the executable version
provides for a subsequent exchange of information over the network
between the service and the device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] These and other features will become more apparent in the
following detailed description in which reference is made to the
appended drawings wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network system;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a generic terminal device of
FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a component framework of the
device of FIG. 2;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a component application program
of FIG. 2;
[0017] FIG. 4a shows a representative application packaging and
hosting model for the system of FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 4b is a model of a client runtime of the device of FIG.
1;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of building the
wireless component application of FIG. 4;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for communicating between
the device and a schema defined service of FIG. 1;
[0021] FIG. 7 shows an example method of implementing the component
application program of FIG. 4;
[0022] FIG. 8 shows a further example method of implementing the
component application program of FIG. 4; and
[0023] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a further example of the device
of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION
Network System
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, a network system 10 comprises a
plurality of generic terminal devices 100 for interacting with one
or more generic schema defined services provided by a network
server 106, via a coupled Wide Area Network (WAN) 104 such as but
not limited to the Internet. These generic terminal devices 100 can
be such as but not limited to personal computers 116, wireless
devices 101, PDAs, self-service kiosks and the like. The generic
services provided by the server 106 can be Web Services and/or
other services such as but not limited to SQL Databases, IDL-based
CORBA and RMI/IIOP systems, Legacy Databases, J2EE, SAP RFCs, and
COM/DCOM components. Further, the system 10 can also have a gateway
server 112 for connecting the desktop terminals 116 via a Local
Area Network (LAN) 114 to the server 106. Further, the system 10 an
also have a wireless network 102 for connecting the wireless
devices 101 to the WAN 104. It is recognized that other devices and
computers (not shown) could be connected to the web server 106 via
the WAN 104 and associated networks other than as shown in FIG. 1.
The generic terminal devices 100, wireless devices 101 and personal
computers 116 are hereafter referred to as the devices 100 for the
sake of simplicity. Web services are selected for the following
description of the system 10, for the sake of simplicity. However,
it is recognized that other generic schema defined services could
be substituted for the web services, if desired. Further, the
networks 102, 104, 112 of the system 10 will hereafter be referred
to as the network 104, for the sake of simplicity.
[0025] Referring again to FIG. 1, the devices 100 transmit and
receive requests/response messages 105, respectively, when in
communication with the web services of the server 106. The devices
100 can operate as web clients of the web services by using the
requests/response messages 105 in the form of message header
information and associated data content, for example requesting and
receiving product pricing and availability from an on-line
merchant. The web service is an example of a system with which
client application programs 302 (see FIG. 2) on the communication
devices 100 interact via the wireless network 104 in order to
provide utility to users of the communication devices 100. The
messages 105 sent between the communication devices 100 and the web
service could traverse a message-map service (not shown) which
converts the messages 105 between the differing formats used by the
devices 100 and the web service.
[0026] For satisfying the appropriate requests/response messages
105, the web server 106 can communicate with an application server
110 through various protocols (such as but not limited to HTTP and
component API) for exposing relevant business logic (methods) to
client application programs 302 (see FIG. 2) once provisioned on
the devices 100. The application server 110 can also contain the
web server 106 software, such that the web server 106 can be
considered a subset of the application server 110. The application
programs 302 of the device 100 can use the business logic of the
application server 110 similarly to calling a method on an object
(or a function). It is recognized that the client application
program 302 can be downloaded/uploaded in relation to the
application server 110, through the messages 105 via the network
104, directly to the devices 100. It is further recognized that the
devices 100 can communicate with one or more web servers 106 and
associated application servers 110 via the networks 104. It is also
recognized that the devices 100 could be directly coupled to the
application servers 110, thereby bypassing the web servers 106, if
desired.
Server Environment
[0027] Referring to FIG. 1, the web server 106 provides information
messages 105 which are used by the client application programs 302
(see FIG. 2) on the devices 100. Alternatively, or in addition, the
web server 106 may receive and use the information messages 105
provided by the client application programs 302 executed on the
devices 100, or perform tasks on behalf of client application
programs 302 executed on the devices 100. The web service can be
defined as a software service of the web server 106, which can
implement an interface such as expressed using Web Services
Description Language (WSDL) registered in Universal Discovery
Description and Integration (UDDI) in a web services registry, and
can communicate through messages 105 with client devices 100 by
being exposed over the network 104 through an appropriate protocol
such as the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). In some
implementations, SOAP is a specification that defines the XML
format for the messages 105, including a well-formed XML fragment
enclosed in SOAP elements. Other parts of SOAP specify how to
represent program data as XML and how to use SOAP to do Remote
Procedure Calls (RPC). These optional parts of SOAP are used to
implement RPC-style applications where a SOAP request message 105
containing a callable function, and the parameters to pass to the
function, is sent from the client device 100, and the server 106
returns the response message 105 with the results of the executed
function. SOAP also supports document style applications where the
SOAP message 105 is a wrapper around an XML document. A further
optional part of SOAP defines the HTTP binding (i.e. header),
whereas some SOAP implementations support MSMQ, MQ Series, SMTP, or
TCP/IP transport protocols. Alternatively, the web service may use
other known communication protocols, message 105 formats, and the
interface may be expressed in other web services languages than
described above.
[0028] In general, web services come as a replacement for legacy
Browser-based and Client-Server TCP/IP connected infrastructure and
applications. Originally started as a generic machine-to-machine
(M2M) communication protocol, web services are becoming a standard
for any service-to-service (S2S) or service to consumer (S2C)
communications. Based on a set of standard protocols (e.g. WSDL,
SOAP, UDDI), web services can provide a platform neutral
communication pipe, for example XML-based, that can support
synchronous and/or asynchronous communication messages 105. The
system 10 of FIG. 1 relates preferably to the S2C model and deals
with the consumer of the web service operating from some generic
terminal device 100. Accordingly, the services supplied by the
server 106 are utilized by the user of the devices 100 over the
network 104.
Client Environment
[0029] Referring to FIG. 2, the component applications 302 are
transmitted via the network 104 and loaded into a memory module 210
of a device infrastructure 204 of the device 100. Alternatively,
the component applications 302 may be loaded via a serial
connection, a USB connections, or a short-range wireless
communication system such as IR, 802.11(x) Bluetooth.TM. (not
shown). Once loaded onto the device 100, the component applications
302 can be executed by a component framework 206 on the device 100,
which converts the component applications 302 into native code,
which is executed by a processor 208 in the device infrastructure
204. Alternatively, the component applications 302 may be executed
as native code or interpreted by another software module or
operating system on the device 100. In any event, the component
applications 302 are run in a terminal runtime environment provided
by the device 100.
[0030] Referring again to FIG. 1, the client runtime environment
provided by the devices 100 can be configured to make the devices
100 operate as web clients of the web services (of the web server
106). It is recognized that the client runtime environment can also
make the devices 100 clients of any other generic schema-defined
services supplied by the server 106. The client runtime environment
of the devices 100 is preferably capable of generating, hosting and
executing the client application programs 302 (which are in the
form of component applications--see FIG. 4 and description herein
below) on the device 100. Further, specific functions of the client
runtime environment can include such as but not limited to support
for language, coordinating memory allocation, networking,
management of data during I/O operations, coordinating graphics on
an output device of the devices 100 and providing access to core
object oriented classes and supporting files/libraries. Examples of
the runtime environments implemented by the devices 100 can include
such as but not limited to Common Language Runtime (CLR) by
Microsoft and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) by Sun
Microsystems.
[0031] The terminal runtime environment of the devices 100
preferably supports the following basic functions for the resident
executable versions of the client application programs 302 (see
FIG. 2), such as but not limited to:
[0032] provide a communications capability to send messages 105 to
the Web Services of the web server 106 or messages 105 to any other
generic schema defined services connected via the network 104 to
the devices 100;
[0033] provide data input capabilities by the user on an input
device of the devices 100 to supply data parts for Web Services'
outgoing messages 105 (messages to the service) of the web server
106;
[0034] provide data presentation or output capabilities for Web
Services' response messages 105 (incoming messages) or uncorrelated
notifications of the web server 106 on the output device;
[0035] provide data storage services to maintain local client data
in the memory module 210 (see FIG. 2) of the device 100; and
provide an execution environment for a scripting language for
coordinating operation of the application components 400, 402, 404,
406 (see FIG. 4) of the client application programs 302.
[0036] Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 4a, the client runtime (for
example provided by the component framework 206) loads the metadata
contained in the component 400, 402, 404, 406 definitions and the
builds the executable version of the application program 302 on the
device 100, via an application container 300. For example, there
are two operational models for client runtime: template-based
native execution and metadata-based execution. With the
template-based native execution model the runtime hosts data,
message, and screen templates 500 pre-built on the device 100 using
the native code. When the application program 302 definition is
loaded, the client environment provided by the component framework
206 fills the templates 500 with metadata-defined parameters from
the components 400, 402, 404 and builds the executable client
application program 302 in the native format. The workflow script
(for example ECMAScript) of the workflow component 406 could be
either converted to native code or executed using an appropriate
script interpreter 502 (e.g., ECMAScript Interpreter) to a native
code redirector 504, where the redirector 504 interprets calls to
the scripting language into operations on native components through
a native runtime engine 506. With the metadata-based execution, the
runtime environment of the component framework 206 either keeps
component 400, 402, 404, 406 definitions in XML (for example),
which are parsed during execution time or uses native
representation of XML (for example) nodes. During execution, the
native runtime engine 506 operates on definitions of the components
400, 402, 404, 406 rather than on native component entities. It is
recognized that the template based approach can be more performance
efficient over the metadata based execution, but can require a more
sophisticated execution environment and more memory resources.
[0037] Therefore, the native client terminal runtime environment
provides an interface for the client application programs 302 to
the device 100 functionality of the processor 208 and associated
operating system of the device infrastructure 204. The runtime
environment preferably supplies a controlled, secure and stable
environment on the device 100, in which the component application
programs 302 execute. The runtime environment provisions the
definitions of the components 400, 402, 404, 406 to create the
actual web client specific for each respective device
infrastructure 204 of the devices 100. It is recognized for the
sake of simplicity that the following description hereafter will
refer to the client runtime environment being provided by the
component framework 206, as an example only.
Communication Device
[0038] Referring to again to FIG. 2, the devices 100 are devices
such as but not limited to mobile telephones, PDAs, two-way pagers
or dual-mode communication devices (see FIG. 9). The devices 100
include a network connection interface 200, such as a wireless
transceiver or a wired network interface card or a modem, coupled
via connection 218 to a device infrastructure 204. The connection
interface 200 is connectable during operation of the devices 100 to
the network 104, such as to the wireless network 102 by wireless
links (e.g., RF, IR, etc.), which enables the devices 100 to
communicate with each other and with external systems (such as the
web server 106) via the network 104 and to coordinate the
requests/response messages 105 between the client application
programs 302 and the servers 106, 110 (see FIG. 1). The network 104
supports the transmission of data in the requests/response messages
105 between devices and external systems, which are connected to
the network 104. The network 104 may also support voice
communication for telephone calls between the devices 100 and
devices which are external to the network 104. A wireless data
transmission protocol can be used by the wireless network 102, such
as but not limited to DataTAC, GPRS or CDMA.
[0039] Referring again to FIG. 2, the devices 100 also have a user
interface 202, coupled to the device infrastructure 204 by
connection 222, to interact with a user (not shown). The user
interface 202 includes one or more user input devices such as but
not limited to a QWERTY keyboard, a keypad, a trackwheel, a stylus,
a mouse, a microphone and the user output device such as an LCD
screen display and/or a speaker. If the screen is touch sensitive,
then the display can also be used as the user input device as
controlled by the device infrastructure 204. The user interface 202
is employed by the user of the device 100 to coordinate the
requests/response message messages 105 over the system 10 (see FIG.
1) as employed by client application programs 302 of a component
framework 206, further described below.
[0040] Referring again to FIG. 2, operation of the device 100 is
enabled by the device infrastructure 204. The device infrastructure
204 includes the computer processor 208 and the associated memory
module 210. The computer processor 208 manipulates the operation of
the network interface 200, the user interface 202 and the component
framework 206 of the communication device 100 by executing related
instructions, which are provided by an operating system and client
application programs 302 located in the memory module 210. Further,
it is recognized that the device infrastructure 204 can include a
computer readable storage medium 212 coupled to the processor 208
for providing instructions to the processor and/or to load/update
client application programs 302 in the memory module 210. The
computer readable medium 212 can include hardware and/or software
such as, by way of example only, magnetic disks, magnetic tape,
optically readable medium such as CD/DVD ROMS, and memory cards. In
each case, the computer readable medium 212 may take the form of a
small disk, floppy diskette, cassette, hard disk drive, solid state
memory card, or RAM provided in the memory module 210. It should be
noted that the above listed example computer readable mediums 212
can be used either alone or in combination.
Component Framework of Device
[0041] Referring again to FIG. 2, the component framework 206 of
the device 100 is coupled to the device infrastructure 204 by the
connection 220. The client runtime environment the device 100 is
provided by the component framework 206, and is preferably capable
of generating, hosting and executing the client application
programs 302 (which are in the form of component applications--see
below) from meta-data definitions. Therefore, component framework
206 provides the native client runtime environment for the client
application programs 302 and is an interface to the device 100
functionality of the processor 208 and associated operating system
of the device infrastructure 204. The component framework 206
provides the runtime environment by preferably supplying a
controlled, secure and stable environment on the device 100, in
which the component application programs 302 execute in an
application container 300, for example. The application container
300 can be referred to as a smart host container for the client
application program 302, and can be responsible for analyzing
message meta-data (of the messages 105--see FIG. 1) and for
updating the representation of the meta-data in the memory module
210.
[0042] Referring to FIG. 3, the component framework 206 can be used
to execute the client application programs 302 (such as Web Service
client applications) within the terminal runtime environment and
can support access to Web Service operations of the web servers 106
and associated application servers 110 (see FIG. 1), via the
request/response messages 105. The component application programs
302 comprise software applications which are executed by the
component framework 206. The component framework 206 creates the
application container 300 for each component 400, 402, 404, 406
(see FIG. 4) of the application program 302, each time that the
component application program 302 is executed. The application
container 300 loads the components 400, 402, 404, 406 of the
application program 302 and can create native code which is
executed by the processor 208 in the device infrastructure 204. The
component framework 206 therefore provides the host application
containers 300 for provisioning the definitions of the components
400, 402, 404, 406 to create the actual web client specific for
each respective device infrastructure 204 of the communication
devices 100,116. The application container can provision the
component application 302 as per the template-based native
execution and metadata-based execution models as described
above.
[0043] Referring again to FIG. 3, the component framework 206 can
also provide framework services 304 (a standard set of generic
services) to the client application programs 302, in the event
certain services are not included as part of the components 400,
402, 404, 406 (see FIG. 4) or received as separate components (not
shown) as part of the component application program 302. The
application program 302 has communications 214 with the application
container 300, which coordinates communications 216 with the
framework services 304, as needed. The framework services 304 of
the component framework 206 coordinate communications via the
connection 220 with the device infrastructure 204. Accordingly,
access to the device infrastructure 204, user interface 202 and
network interface 200 is provided to the client application
programs 302 by the component framework 206. In addition, the
client application programs 302 can be suitably virus-resistant,
since the application containers 300 can control and validate all
access of the communications 214, 216 of the component framework
206 to and from the client application programs 302. It is
recognized that a portion of the operating system of the device
infrastructure 204 (see FIG. 2) can represent the application
container 300.
[0044] Referring again to FIG. 3, the below described components
400, 402, 404, 406 (see FIG. 4) of the application program 302,
once provisioned on the communication device 100,116 are given
access to the predefined set of framework services 304 by the
application containers 300 of the component framework 206. The
framework services 304 include such as but not limited to a
communication service 306, a presentation service 308, a
persistence service 310, an access service 312, a provisioning
service 314 and a utility service 316. The communication service
306 manages connectivity between the component application programs
302 and the external system 10, such as the messages 105 and
associated data sent/received in respect to the web service (by the
communication service 306) on behalf of the component applications
302. The presentation service 308 manages the representation of the
component application programs 302 as they are output on the output
device of the user interface 202 (see FIG. 2). The persistence
service 310 allows the component application programs 302 to store
data in the memory module 210 (see FIG. 2) of the device
infrastructure 204. The access service 312 provides the component
application programs 302 access to other software applications
which are present on the communication device 100,116. The
provisioning service 314 manages the provisioning of software
applications on the communication device 100,116. Application
provisioning can include requesting and receiving new and updated
component application programs 302, configuring component
application programs 302 for access to services which are
accessible via the network 104, modifying the configuration of
component application programs 302 and services, and removing
component application programs 302 and services. The utility
service 316 is used to accomplish a variety of common tasks, such
as performing data manipulation in the conversion of strings to
different formats.
[0045] It is recognized that the framework services 304 of the
communication device 100 can provide functionality to the component
application programs 302, which can include the services described
above. As a result, the component application programs 302 can have
access to the functionality of the communication device 100 without
having to implement it. The component framework 206 of the device
100 (see FIG. 2) has only preferably one copy of the code which
implements these services present in the framework services 304,
regardless of the number of component application programs 302
which are present, thereby minimizing code duplication of the
framework services 304. Further, unlike ordinary applications where
all service requests or service API calls are programmed by
developers in the native code, the component definitions 400, 402,
404 and workflow 406 describe service requests using a structured
definition language such as XML and the set of instructions such as
ECMAScript. The structured definition language provides a
non-procedural definition of the application's user interface 202,
persistent storage and communications with the Web Service, while
the instructions provide the procedural component linkage. The
Client runtime environment interprets these definitions 400, 402,
404 into the native calls to supported services.
Component Application Program
[0046] Referring to FIG. 2, the Web Service (for example) client
application programs 302 are executed within the terminal runtime
environment of the component framework 206 and support access to
Web Service operations provided by the server 106 (see FIG. 1).
WSDL and SOAP protocol definitions clearly imply a messages/data
pattern. In a WSDL Web Service definition, the operations are
defined using the notion of messages and data parts, which are used
to define the Web Service client application programs 302 as a set
of the related data 400 and the message 404 components (see FIG.
4).
[0047] Referring to FIG. 4, a block diagram of the component
application program 302 comprises the data components 400, the
presentation components 402 and the message components 404, which
are coordinated by workflow components 406 through communications
214 with the application container 300. The structured definition
language can be used to construct the components 400, 402, 404 as a
series of metadata records, which consist of a number of
pre-defined elements representing specific attributes of a resource
such that each element can have one or more values. Each metadata
schema typically has defined characteristics such as but not
limited to; a limited number of elements, a name of each element,
and a meaning for each element. Example metadata schemas include
such as but not limited to Dublin Core (DC), Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules (AACR2), Government Information Locator Service
(GILS), Encoded Archives Description (EAD), IMS Global Learning
Consortium (IMS), and Australian Government Locator Service (AGLS).
Encoding syntax allows the metadata of the components 400, 402, 404
to be processed by the device infrastructure 204 (see FIG. 2), and
encoding schemes include such as but not limited to XML, HTML,
XHTML, XSML, RDF, Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC), and
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
[0048] Referring again to FIG. 4, the data components 400 define
data entities which are used by the component application program
302. Examples of data entities which data components 400 may
describe are orders, users, and financial transactions. Data
components 400 define what information is required to describe the
data entities, and in what format the information is expressed. For
example, the data component 400 may define such as but not limited
to an order which is comprised of a unique identifier for the order
which is formatted as a number, a list of items which are formatted
as strings, the time the order was created which has a date-time
format, the status of the order which is formatted as a string, and
a user who placed the order which is formatted according to the
definition of another one of the data components 400. Since data
parts (elements) are usually transferred from message 105 to
message 105 according to Web Services choreography rules,
preferably there is persistence of data components 400. Data
components 400 may be dynamically generated according to Web
Service(s) choreography definitions (if available) or defined by
the application designer based on complex type definitions and/or
message correlation information.
[0049] Referring again to FIG. 4, the message components 404 define
the format of messages used by the component application program
302 to communicate with external systems such as the web service.
For example, one of the message components 404 may describe such as
but not limited to a message for placing an order which includes
the unique identifier for the order, the status of the order, and
notes associated with the order. Message component 404 definitions
written in the structured definition language can uniquely
represent (and map to) WSDL messages, and can be generated
dynamically at runtime. Accordingly, the dynamic generation can be
done for the component definitions for client application messages
105, and associated data content, from standard Web Service
metadata in the definition language used to express the web service
interface, for example such as but not limited to WSDL and BPEL.
Web Services messages 105 are defined within the context of
operation and there is defined correlations between the message
components 404 in the component application program 302 definition.
This correlation could be done using predefined message parameters
and/or through separate workflow components 406, as further defined
below.
[0050] Referring again to FIG. 4, the presentation components 402
define the appearance and behavior of the component application
program 302 as it displayed by the user interface 202. The
presentation components 402 can specify GUI screens and controls,
and actions to be executed when the user interacts with the
component application 302 using the user interface 202. For
example, the presentation components 402 may define screens,
labels, edit boxes, buttons and menus, and actions to be taken when
the user types in an edit box or pushes a button. The majority of
Web Service consumers use a visual presentation of Web Service
operation results, and therefore provide the runtime environment on
their devices 100 capable of displaying user interface screens.
[0051] Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 4b, it is recognized that in the
above described client component application program 302
definitions hosting model, the presentation components 402 may vary
depending on the client platform and environment of the device 100.
For example, in some cases Web Service consumers do not require a
visual presentation. The application definition of the components
400, 402, 404, 406 of the component application program 302 can be
hosted in a Web Service registry in a metadata repository 700 as a
bundle of platform-neutral data 400, message 404, workflow 406
component descriptors with a set of platform-specific presentation
component 402 descriptors for various predefined client runtimes
(i.e. specific component frameworks 206--see FIG. 2). When the
discovery or deployment request message 105 is issued the client
type should be specified as a part of this request message 105. In
order not to duplicate data, message, and workflow metadata while
packaging component application programs 302 for different client
platforms of the devices 100, application definitions can be hosted
on the application server 110 (for example) as a bundle of
platform-neutral component definitions linked with different sets
of presentation components 403a, 403b, 403c, representing the
different supported user interfaces 202 of the devices 100. It is
also recognized that a standard presentation component 402 can be
used in the event the specific device 100 is not explicitly
supported, thereby providing at least a reduced set of presentation
features. When a user makes a discovery or download request message
105, the client runtime type of the devices 100 is validated and
the proper bundle is constructed for delivery by the web server 106
to the device 100 over the network 104. For those Web Service
consumers, the client application programs 302 could contain
selected presentation components 403a,b,c linked with the data 400
and message 404 components through the workflow components 406,
thereby providing a customized component application 302.
[0052] Referring again to FIG. 4, the workflow components 406 of
the component application program 302 define processing that occurs
when an action is to be performed, such as an action specified by a
presentation component 402 as described above, or an action to be
performed when messages 105 (see FIG. 1) arrive from the system 10.
Presentation workflow and message 105 processing are defined by the
workflow components 406. The workflow components 406 are written as
a series of instructions in a programming language or a scripting
language, such as but not limited to ECMAScript, and can be
compiled into native code and executed by the application container
300, as described above. An example of the workflow components 406
may be to assign values to data, manipulate screens, or send the
message 105. The workflow component 406 supports a correlation
between the messages 105 and defines application flow as a set of
rules for operations on the other components 400, 402, 404.
Multiple workflow components can be defined with respect to a given
application program 302. Such additional workflow components,
similar to the multiple presentation components 403a, 403b, 403c,
can define differing work flows based upon different supported
capabilities or feature of particular devices 100.
[0053] ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) Script is
a standard script language, wherein scripts can be referred to as a
sequence of instructions that is interpreted or carried out by
another program rather than by the computer processor. Some other
example of script languages are Perl, Rexx, VBScript, JavaScript,
and Tcl/Tk. The scripting languages, in general, are instructional
languages that are used to manipulate, customize, and automate the
facilities of an existing system, such as the devices 100. In such
systems, useful functionality is already available through the user
interface 202 (see FIG. 2), and the scripting language is a
mechanism for exposing that functionality to program control. In
this way, the device 100 is said to provide the host runtime
environment of objects and facilities which completes the
capabilities of the scripting language.
[0054] Specifically, EMCAScript is an object-oriented programming
language for performing computations and manipulating computational
objects within the host runtime environment. ECMAScript can be used
as a Web scripting language, providing a mechanism to perform
server 106,110 computation as part of the Web-based client-server
architecture of the system 10 (see FIG. 1). ECMAScript provides
core scripting capabilities for a variety of host runtime
environments, and therefore the core scripting language can be
considered platform neutral for a number of particular host runtime
environments. The component framework 206 (see FIG. 2) can provide
the ECMAScript host runtime environment for client-side computation
of the devices 100, such as but not limited to; objects that
represent windows, menus, pop-ups, dialog boxes, text areas,
anchors, frames, history, cookies, and input/output. Further, the
host runtime environment of the component framework 206 provides a
means to attach scripting code to events such as but not limited to
change of focus, page and image loading, unloading, error, and
abort, selection, form submission, and mouse actions. The scripting
code appears within the workflow components 406, combines user
interface elements and fixed and computed text and images, and is
reactive to user interaction on the user interface 202. The web
server 106 (see FIG. 1) provides a different host environment for
server-side computation including objects representing requests,
clients, and files, and mechanisms to lock and share data. By using
the client side and server side scripting together, it is possible
to distribute computation between the client devices 100 and the
servers 106,110 while providing a customized user interface 202 for
the Web-based component application programs 302.
[0055] ECMAScript also defines a set of built-in operators which
may not be, strictly speaking, functions or methods. ECMAScript
operators include such as but not limited to various unary
operations, multiplicative operators, additive operators, bitwise
shift operators, relational operators, equality operators, binary
bitwise operators, binary logical operators, assignment operators,
and the comma operator. ECMAScript syntax resembles Java syntax,
however, ECMAScript syntax is relaxed to enable it to serve as an
easy-to-use scripting language for developers. For example, a
variable in ECMAScript is not required to have its type declared
nor are types associated with properties, and defined functions are
not required to have their declarations appear textually before
calls to them. It is recognized that in a class-based
object-oriented programming language, in general, state is carried
by instances, methods are carried by classes, and inheritance is
only of structure and behavior. In ECMAScript, the state and
methods are carried by objects, and structure, behavior, and state
are all inherited.
Component Application Program Example
[0056] Accordingly, referring to FIG. 4, the client application
programs 302 can be defined as a set of platform-neutral component
definitions, namely for data 400 and message 404 components, and
presentation components 402 using XML (or any other suitable
structured definition language). The workflow components 406 can be
defined using ECMAScript (or any other suitable platform-neutral
scripting language). The client runtime environment of the
component framework 206 (see FIG. 2) can generate component
templates based on meta-definitions, as further described below,
when the components 400, 402, 404, 406 of the component application
program 302 are provisioned on the device 100. With a large variety
of terminal runtime environments, the cross-platform standards such
as XML or ECMAScript can be used to define application component
metadata instead of pre-building the component application programs
302. This delayed binding can allow generic application definitions
of the component application programs 302 to be run on a wide
variety of terminal system environments, represented by various
different devices 100.
[0057] Expressing the data 400, message 404, and presentation 402
components using XML or its derivatives, and the workflow component
406 using the ECMAScript language or its subset, can allow an
application developer to abstract the Web Service client from any
specific platform or environment and implement in principle
"develop once run everywhere" applications. The following example
shows how a Web Services client application program 302 could be
expressed using a structured definition language, such as but not
limited to XML, and a platform neutral scripting/programming
language, such as but not limited to ECMAScript, defined
components:
Example XML Data Components 400
TABLE-US-00001 [0058] <data name=''Order''> <item
name=''orderId'' type=''Number'' key="true"/> <item
name="items'' type=''String" array=''true''/> <item
name=''user'' comp=''true'' compName=''User''/> <item
name=''orderStatus'' type=''String''/> </data> ...
Example XML Message Components 404
TABLE-US-00002 [0059] <msg name="ordConfirmation''
type="response" action="mhConfirmation''> <part
name="orderId'' type=''String"/> <part name="status''
type=''String"/> </msg> ...
Example XML Presentation Components 402
TABLE-US-00003 [0060] <screen name=''scrConfirmation''
title="Order Confirmation'' param=''Order''> <layout
type=''vertical''> <widget type=''label'' value=''Order
Confirmation Result:''/> < widget type=''edit''
value=''@Order.orderStatus''/> </layout> ... <menu>
<item label=''Continue'' navigate=''@scrMain''/> ...
</menu> </screen> ...
Example ECMAScript Workflow Components 406
TABLE-US-00004 [0061] <actions> <function
name="mhConfirmation"> key = ordConfirmation.orderId; order =
Order.get(key); order.orderStatus = ordConfirmation.status;
scrConfirmation.display(order); </function> ...
</actions>
[0062] Referring to FIG. 4, as given above, it can be seen that the
message components 404 relay the required data for the input and
output of the messages 105. The corresponding data components 400
coordinate the storage of the data in the memory module 210 (see
FIG. 2) of the device 100 for subsequent presentation on the user
interface 202 (see FIG. 2) by the presentation components 402. The
workflow components 406 coordinate the transfer of data between the
data 400, presentation 402, and message 404 components.
[0063] There are a number of potential advantages to the component
application model as described above. For example, there is a
minimized need for a mediator in the service protocol between
client runtime and service endpoint. Unlike browser-based
applications that require a Web Server to host additional
components (e.g. servlets, JSP, ASP, etc.) to connect HTML pages
data/requests with a service endpoint, the component application
model allows end-to-end direct connectivity between the client
runtime of the device 100 and the service endpoint using Web
Service (on the server 106) message component definitions.
[0064] Further, the component application model combines the
simplicity of browser-based applications with the efficiency of
native application execution. Unlike browser applications,
rendering screens at runtime is minimized as the whole application
302 definition is downloaded preferably at once and the client
runtime environment can generate a native representation of
application screens. Additionally, requesting of pages (screen
definitions in HTML) from the server is minimized, as the component
application model architecture is based on message components 404
that contain data.
[0065] Further, the component application architecture can provide
a relatively small application download size (consisting of
component definitions only) as compared to hard coded native
applications, and an effective data storage and persistence model.
The client runtime is capable of storing and updating atomic data
entities directly vs. manipulating rendered presentations such as
HTML pages for browser applications.
[0066] Further, the component application architecture can provide
a platform-neutral model. Unlike native applications uniquely
developed for a specific client runtime, the applications 302 built
using widely adopted standards such as XML and ECMAScript could be
reused on a large variety of platforms and truly implement the
principle "write once run everywhere". Further, the combination of
non-procedural and procedural application definitions can greatly
reduce programming time and effort.
Operation of Component Application Model
[0067] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of building the
wireless component application 302 for subsequent communication
over the network 104 to the device 100. Referring as well to FIG.
3, the method begins with step 600 of creating the data components
400 for defining data entities such as users and orders. The method
continues with step 602 of creating presentation components 402 for
defining user-interface elements such as screens, buttons, menus
and images. The method continues with step 604 of creating message
components 402 for defining messages formats which are sent to
external systems such as web services on the server 106 (see FIG.
1). The components 400, 402, 404 are expressed in the structured
definition language such as but not limited to one based on XML.
The method concludes with step 606 of tying together the data 400,
presentation 402 and message 404 components with workflow
components 406 in order to define the behavior of the application
302. The workflow components 406 are written based on a scripting
language such as a subset of ECMAScript, which is described above.
The method of building a wireless component application 302 may
include fewer or more steps that those shown in FIG. 5.
[0068] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, operation 800 of the interaction
between the devices 100 and the web service of the web server 106
is shown. The web service receives 802 the request message 105
requesting that the device 100 begin communications with the web
service. The web service uploads 804 the required components 400,
402, 404, 406 (if any) of the component application 302 to the
device 100, in order to support subsequent information exchange
between the web service and the device 100. The device receives the
transmitted component application 302 and proceeds to provision 806
the components 400, 402, 404, 406 by the runtime environment, in
order to configure the device as a web client of the web service,
by producing an executable version of the component application
302. The user of the device 100 inputs 808 data into the user
interface 202 (see FIG. 2) of the device 100 for subsequent sending
810 to the web service as a request message 105 for receiving web
service operations. The web service processes the request message
105 and sends 812 the appropriate response message 105 including
data for subsequent output on the user interface 202. The device
100 receives 814 the message 105 containing the data and the
executable version of the component application 302 outputs the
data appropriately on the user interface 202. Further data exchange
816 is performed between the device 100 and the web service as per
above, or the exchange is terminated 818 and the executable version
of the component application 302 is either saved in the memory 210
(see FIG. 2) or is deleted from the runtime environment as
desired.
[0069] Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 7, for example, operation 900
shows when the device 100 receives 902 the response message 105
containing message data, the appropriate workflow component 406
interprets 904 the data content of the message 105 according to the
appropriate message component 404. The workflow component 406 then
processes 906 the data content and inserts 910 the data into the
corresponding data component 400 for subsequent storage 912 in the
memory module 210 (see FIG. 2). Further, if needed, the workflow
component 406 also inserts 908 the data into the appropriate
presentation component 402 for subsequent display 914 on the user
interface 202 (see FIG. 2).
[0070] Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 8 operation 1000 shows data
input 1002 for an action, such as pushing a button or selecting a
menu item, which the user performed 1003 on a user-interface
element through the user interface 202 (see FIG. 2). The relevant
workflow component 406 interprets 1004 the input data according to
the appropriate presentation component 404 and creates 1006 data
entities which are defined by the appropriate data components 400.
The workflow component 406 then populates 1010 the data components
400 with the input data provided by the user for subsequent storage
1012 in the memory module 210 (see FIG. 2). Further, the workflow
component 406 also inserts 1008 the input data into the appropriate
message component 404 for subsequent sending 1014 of the input data
as data entities to the web service in the message 105, as defined
by the message component 404.
[0071] It is recognized that component applications 302 which are
created using the methods described above can require less time to
create than hard coded applications, since the component
applications 302 do not use full programming languages, but rather
use standards-based technologies such as XML and ECMAScript, which
are comparatively simple and easy to learn. The methods can result
in component applications 302 in which the user-interface 202 and
the definition of the data are decoupled. This decoupling allows
for modification of any component 400, 402, 404, 406 in the
component application 302 without affecting and requiring
substantial changes to other components 400, 402, 404, 406 in the
application 302, and thus can facilitate maintenance of the
component applications 302, including modification and updating of
the component applications 302 on the device 100.
[0072] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a dual-mode mobile
communication device 710, which is a further example of the device
100 of FIGS. 1 and 6. The dual-mode mobile communication device 710
includes a transceiver 711, a microprocessor 738, a display 722,
Flash memory 724, RAM memory 726, auxiliary input/output (I/O)
devices 728, a serial port 730, a keyboard 732, a speaker 734, a
microphone 736, a short-range wireless communications sub-system
740, and may also include other device sub-systems 742. The
transceiver 711 preferably includes transmit and receive antennas
716, 718, a receiver 712, a transmitter 714, one or more local
oscillators 713, and a digital signal processor 720. Within the
Flash memory 724, the dual-mode mobile communication device 710
preferably includes a plurality of software modules 724A-724N that
can be executed by the microprocessor 738 (and/or the DSP 720),
including a voice communication module 724A, a data communication
module 724B, and a plurality of other operational modules 724N for
carrying out a plurality of other functions.
[0073] The dual-mode mobile communication device 710 is preferably
a two-way communication device having voice and data communication
capabilities. Thus, for example, the dual-mode mobile communication
device 710 may communicate over a voice network, such as any of the
analog or digital cellular networks, and may also communicate over
a data network. The voice and data networks are depicted in FIG. 9
by the communication tower 719. These voice and data networks may
be separate communication networks using separate infrastructure,
such as base stations, network controllers, etc., or they may be
integrated into a single wireless network.
[0074] The communication subsystem 711 is used to communicate with
the voice and data network 719, and includes the receiver 712, the
transmitter 714, the one or more local oscillators 713 and may also
include the DSP 720. The DSP 720 is used to send and receive
signals to and from the transmitter 714 and receiver 712, and is
also utilized to receive control information from the transmitter
714 and to provide control information to the receiver 712. If the
voice and data communications occur at a single frequency, or
closely-spaced set of frequencies, then a single local oscillator
713 may be used in conjunction with the transmitter 714 and
receiver 712. Alternatively, if different frequencies are utilized
for voice communications versus data communications, then a
plurality of local oscillators 713 can be used to generate a
plurality of frequencies corresponding to the voice and data
networks 719. Although two antennas 716, 718 are depicted in FIG.
9, the dual-mode mobile communication device 710 could be used with
a single antenna structure. Information, which includes both voice
and data information, is communicated to and from the communication
module 711 via a link between the DSP 720 and the microprocessor
738. The detailed design of the communication subsystem 711, such
as frequency band, component selection, power level, etc., is
dependent upon the communication network 719 in which the dual-mode
mobile communication device 710 is intended to operate. For
example, a dual-mode mobile communication device 710 intended to
operate in a North American market may include a communication
subsystem 711 designed to operate with the Mobitex.TM. or
DataTAC.TM. mobile data communication networks and also designed to
operated with any of a variety of voice communication networks,
such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, etc., whereas a device 710 intended
for use in Europe may be configured to operate with the General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS) data communication network and the GSM
voice communication network. Other types of data and voice
networks, both separate and integrated, may also be utilized with
the dual-mode mobile communication device 710.
[0075] Depending upon the type of network or networks 719, the
access requirements for the dual-mode mobile communication device
710 may also vary. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC data
networks, mobile devices are registered on the network using a
unique identification number associated with each device. In GPRS
data networks, however, network access is associated with a
subscriber or user of a mobile device. A GPRS device typically
requires a subscriber identity module ("SIM"), which is required in
order to operate a dual-mode mobile communication device on a GPRS
network. Local or non-network communication functions (if any) may
be operable, without the SIM, but a dual-mode mobile communication
device will be unable to carry out any functions involving
communications over the data network 719, other than any legally
required operations, such as 911 emergency calling.
[0076] After any required network registration or activation
procedures have been completed, the dual-mode mobile communication
device 710 may then send and receive communication signals,
including both voice and data signals, over the network 719 (or
networks). Signals received by the antenna 716 from the
communication network 719 are routed to the receiver 712, which
provides for signal amplification, frequency down conversion,
filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provide analog to
digital conversion. Analog to digital conversion of the received
signal allows more complex communication functions, such as digital
demodulation and decoding to be performed using the DSP 720. In a
similar manner, signals to be transmitted to the network 719 are
processed, including modulation and encoding, for example, by the
DSP 720 and are then provided to the transmitter 714 for digital to
analog conversion, frequency up conversion, filtering,
amplification and transmission to the communication network 719 (or
networks) via the antenna 718. Although a single transceiver 711 is
shown in FIG. 9 for both voice and data communications, it is
possible that the dual-mode mobile communication device 710 may
include two distinct transceivers, a first transceiver for
transmitting and receiving voice signals, and a second transceiver
for transmitting and receiving data signals.
[0077] In addition to processing the communication signals, the DSP
720 also provides for receiver and transmitter control. For
example, the gain levels applied to communication signals in the
receiver 712 and transmitter 714 may be adaptively controlled
through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in the DSP
720. Other transceiver control algorithms could also be implemented
in the DSP 720 in order to provide more sophisticated control of
the transceiver 711.
[0078] The microprocessor 738 preferably manages and controls the
overall operation of the dual-mode mobile communication device 710.
Many types of microprocessors or microcontrollers could be used
here, or, alternatively, a single DSP 720 could be used to carry
out the functions of the microprocessor 738. Low-level
communication functions, including at least data and voice
communications, are performed through the DSP 720 in the
transceiver 711. Other, high-level communication applications, such
as a voice communication application 724A, and a data communication
application 724B may be stored in the Flash memory 724 for
execution by the microprocessor 738. For example, the voice
communication module 724A may provide a high-level user interface
operable to transmit and receive voice calls between the dual-mode
mobile communication device 710 and a plurality of other voice
devices via the network 719. Similarly, the data communication
module 724B may provide a high-level user interface operable for
sending and receiving data, such as e-mail messages, files,
organizer information, short text messages, etc., between the
dual-mode mobile communication device 710 and a plurality of other
data devices via the network 719. In the dual-mode mobile
communication device 710, a component framework 206 as described
above may also be implemented as a software module or application,
or incorporated into one of the software modules 724A-724N.
[0079] The microprocessor 738 also interacts with other dual-mode
mobile communication device subsystems, such as the display 722,
Flash memory 724, random access memory (RAM) 726, auxiliary
input/output (I/O) subsystems 728, serial port 730, keyboard 732,
speaker 734, microphone 736, a short-range communications subsystem
740 and any other dual-mode mobile communication device subsystems
generally designated as 742.
[0080] Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 9 perform
communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may
provide resident or on-device functions. Notably, some subsystems,
such as keyboard 732 and display 722 may be used for both
communication-related functions, such as entering a text message
for transmission over a data communication network, and
device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list or
other PDA type functions.
[0081] Operating system software used by the microprocessor 738 is
preferably stored in a persistent store such as Flash memory 724.
In addition to the operating system, which controls all of the
low-level functions of the dual-mode mobile communication device
710, the Flash memory 724 may include a plurality of high-level
software application programs, or modules, such as a voice
communication module 724A, a data communication module 724B, an
organizer module (not shown), or any other type of software module
724N. The Flash memory 724 also may include a file system for
storing data. These modules are executed by the microprocessor 738
and provide a high-level interface between a user of the dual-mode
mobile communication device and the mobile device. This interface
typically includes a graphical component provided through the
display 722, and an input/output component provided through the
auxiliary I/O 728, keyboard 732, speaker 734, and microphone 736.
The operating system, specific dual-mode mobile communication
device software applications or modules, or parts thereof, may be
temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as RAM 726 for
faster operation. Moreover, received communication signals may also
be temporarily stored to RAM 726, before permanently writing them
to a file system located in the persistent store 724.
[0082] An exemplary application module 724N that may be loaded onto
the dual-mode mobile communication device 710 is a personal
information manager (PIM) application providing PDA functionality,
such as calendar events, appointments, and task items. This module
724N may also interact with the voice communication module 724A for
managing phone calls, voice mails, etc., and may also interact with
the data communication module for managing e-mail communications
and other data transmissions. Alternatively, all of the
functionality of the voice communication module 724A and the data
communication module 724B may be integrated into the PIM
module.
[0083] The Flash memory 724 preferably provides a file system to
facilitate storage of PIM data items on the dual-mode mobile
communication device 710. The PIM application preferably includes
the ability to send and receive data items, either by itself, or in
conjunction with the voice and data communication modules 724A,
724B, via the wireless network 719. The PIM data items are
preferably seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updated, via the
wireless network 719, with a corresponding set of data items stored
or associated with a host computer system, thereby creating a
mirrored system for data items associated with a particular
user.
[0084] The dual-mode mobile communication device 710 may also be
manually synchronized with a host system by placing the dual-mode
mobile communication device 710 in an interface cradle, which
couples the serial port 730 of the dual-mode mobile communication
device 710 to the serial port of the host system. The serial port
730 may also be used to enable a user to set preferences through an
external device or software application, or to download other
application modules 724N for installation. This wired download path
may be used to load an encryption key onto the dual-mode mobile
communication device 710, which is a more secure method than
exchanging encryption information via the wireless network 719.
[0085] Additional application modules 724N may be loaded onto the
dual-mode mobile communication device 710 through the network 719,
through an auxiliary I/O subsystem 728, through the serial port
730, through the short-range communications subsystem 740, or
through any other suitable subsystem 742, and installed by a user
in the Flash memory 724 or RAM 726. Such flexibility in application
installation increases the functionality of the dual-mode mobile
communication device 710 and may provide enhanced on-device
functions, communication-related functions, or both. For example,
secure communication applications may enable electronic commerce
functions and other such financial transactions to be performed
using the dual-mode mobile communication device 710.
[0086] When the dual-mode device 710 is operating in a data
communication mode, a received signal, such as a text message or a
web page download, will be processed by the transceiver 711 and
provided to the microprocessor 738, which will preferably further
process the received signal for output to the display 722, or,
alternatively, to an auxiliary I/O device 728. A user of the
dual-mode mobile communication device 710 may also compose data
items, such as email messages, using the keyboard 732, which is
preferably a complete alphanumeric keyboard laid out in the QWERTY
style, although other styles of complete alphanumeric keyboards
such as the known DVORAK style may also be used. User input to the
dual-mode mobile communication device 710 is further enhanced with
a plurality of auxiliary I/O devices 728, which may include a
thumbwheel input device, a touchpad, a variety of switches, a
rocker input switch, etc. The composed data items input by the user
may then be transmitted over the communication network 719 via the
transceiver 711.
[0087] When the dual-mode mobile communication device 710 is
operating in a voice communication mode, the overall operation of
the dual-mode mobile communication device 710 is substantially
similar to the data mode, except that received signals are
preferably be output to the speaker 734 and voice signals for
transmission are generated by a microphone 736. Alternative voice
or audio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording
subsystem, may also be implemented on the dual-mode mobile
communication device 710. Although voice or audio signal output is
preferably accomplished primarily through the speaker 734, the
display 722 may also be used to provide an indication of the
identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call, or other
voice call related information. For example, the microprocessor
738, in conjunction with the voice communication module and the
operating system software, may detect the caller identification
information of an incoming voice call and display it on the display
722.
[0088] A short-range communications subsystem 740 is also included
in the dual-mode mobile communication device 710. For example, the
short-range communications subsystem 740 may include an infrared
device and associated circuits and components, or a short-range
wireless communication module such as a Bluetooth.TM. module or an
802.11 module to provide for communication with similarly-enabled
systems and devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that
"Bluetooth" and 802.11 refer to sets of specifications, available
from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
relating to wireless personal area networks and wireless LANs,
respectively.
[0089] Although the disclosure herein has been drawn to one or more
exemplary systems and methods, many variations will be apparent to
those knowledgeable in the field, and such variations are within
the scope of the application. For example, although XML and a
subset of ECMAScript are used in the examples provided, other
languages and language variants may be used to define component
applications 302.
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