U.S. patent application number 13/399901 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-24 for foreground/background assortment of hidden windows.
This patent application is currently assigned to Z124. The applicant listed for this patent is Wuke Liu, Brian Reeves, Paul E. Reeves. Invention is credited to Wuke Liu, Brian Reeves, Paul E. Reeves.
Application Number | 20130024812 13/399901 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47506966 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130024812 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Reeves; Brian ; et
al. |
January 24, 2013 |
FOREGROUND/BACKGROUND ASSORTMENT OF HIDDEN WINDOWS
Abstract
Graphical navigation of foreground and background applications
running on a mobile computing device across multiple active user
environments, even when graphics information for background
applications is not maintained by a mobile operating system of the
mobile computing device. A last graphical representation of an
application screen may be captured as the application state is
transitioned from the foreground state to the background state. The
last graphical representation may be associated with a position in
an application activity stack representing foreground and
background mobile operating system applications. The navigation
techniques may be used in a computing environment with multiple
active user environments. A first active user environment may be
associated with the mobile operating system. A second active user
environment may be associated with the mobile operating system or a
desktop operating system running concurrently with the mobile
operating system on the mobile computing device.
Inventors: |
Reeves; Brian; (Hamilton,
CA) ; Reeves; Paul E.; (Oakville, CA) ; Liu;
Wuke; (Mississauga, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Reeves; Brian
Reeves; Paul E.
Liu; Wuke |
Hamilton
Oakville
Mississauga |
|
CA
CA
CA |
|
|
Assignee: |
Z124
Georgetown
KY
|
Family ID: |
47506966 |
Appl. No.: |
13/399901 |
Filed: |
February 17, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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61507199 |
Jul 13, 2011 |
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61507201 |
Jul 13, 2011 |
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61507203 |
Jul 13, 2011 |
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61507206 |
Jul 13, 2011 |
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61507209 |
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/810 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09G 5/14 20130101; G06F
3/1423 20130101; G06F 3/04842 20130101; G09G 2370/10 20130101; G09G
5/363 20130101; G09G 2370/04 20130101; G06F 3/0481 20130101; G09G
2370/022 20130101; G09G 2370/12 20130101; G09G 2370/06 20130101;
G06F 3/1454 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/810 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: running a first application on a first
operating system of a mobile computing device; displaying a first
application screen associated with the first application on an
active display device; receiving an application interaction state
change event indicating that a current interaction state of the
first application is to be changed from a foreground state to a
background state; generating a bitmap image corresponding to a
graphical representation of the first application screen; changing
the current interaction state of the first application from the
foreground state to the background state; associating the bitmap
image with a position within an application activity stack
corresponding to the application; receiving a user input command
related to the application activity stack; and displaying a
representation of the bitmap image within a graphical
representation of the application activity stack.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a user
command indicative of a selection of the bitmap image within the
graphical representation of the application activity stack; and
changing the current interaction state of the first application
from the background state to the foreground state.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device
comprises a first user environment, and wherein the graphical
representation of the application activity stack is presented on a
display of a second user environment, the second user environment
associated with a second operating system running concurrently with
the first operating system on a shared kernel of the mobile
computing device.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein an application model manager
maintains the application activity stack, the application activity
stack including applications that have been started by the user and
not actively closed by the user.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein a process associated with the
first application screen is suspended in response to the change in
the current interaction state of the first application from the
foreground state to the background state.
6. A method comprising: running a first application and a second
application concurrently on a first operating system of a mobile
computing device; displaying the first application on an active
display device; receiving an application interaction state change
event indicating that a current interaction state of the first
application is to be changed from a foreground state to a
background state; generating a bitmap image corresponding to a
graphical representation of an application screen associated with
the first application; changing the current interaction state of
the first application from the foreground state to the background
state; associating the bitmap image with a position within an
application activity stack corresponding to the application; and
displaying a graphical representation of the application activity
stack on a display device associated with a secondary terminal
environment, the secondary terminal environment connected to the
mobile computing device via a communications interface, the
graphical representation of the application activity stack
including the bitmap image.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the secondary terminal
environment is associated with a second operating system, the
second operating system running concurrently with the first
operating system on a shared kernel.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the displaying of the graphical
representation of the application activity stack is in response to
a user initiated event within the secondary terminal
environment.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the displaying of the graphical
representation of the application activity stack is in response to
a dock event, the dock event comprising connecting the mobile
computing device with the secondary terminal environment via the
communications interface.
10. The method of claim 5, wherein the bitmap image is generated
from graphical information maintained by a bitmap server within a
surface manager of the first operating system.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the bitmap server provides an
application level interface to the bitmap image data.
12. A mobile computing device, comprising: a first application
running on a first operating system of the mobile computing device,
the first application in a foreground state, wherein a first
application screen associated with the first application includes a
first set of surface information, the first application screen
actively displayed on a display device of the mobile computing
device; an activity manager service of the first operating system
that maintains a list of currently active applications; an
application model manager of the first operating system that
receives application state information from the activity manager
service; and a bitmap server module of the first operating system
that maintains references to active surfaces of the first
application, wherein, responsive to an application interaction
state change event indicating that a current interaction state of
the first application is to be changed from the foreground state to
a background state, the bitmap server module stores a copy of the
surface information of the first application screen.
13. The mobile computing device of claim 12, wherein, responsive to
the application interaction state change event, the first operating
system displays a transition animation based on the copy of the
surface information of the first application screen.
14. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein the transition
animation is displayed by an application space component of the
first operating system.
15. The mobile computing device of claim 12, wherein the first
operating system comprises a mobile operating system.
16. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the mobile
operating system includes a surface manager, and wherein the bitmap
server module is implemented as a class in the surface manager.
17. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the bitmap
server module provides references to the copy of the surface
information of the first application screen to the framework layer
of the mobile operating system.
18. The mobile computing device of claim 12, wherein the bitmap
server module creates a bitmap image from the copy of the surface
information of the first application screen.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field
[0002] This Application relates generally to the field of mobile
computing environments, and more particularly to supporting
application navigation in a mobile computing environment with
multiple active user environments.
[0003] 2. Relevant Background
[0004] Mobile communications devices are becoming ubiquitous in
today's society. For example, as of the end of 2008, 90 percent of
Americans had a mobile wireless device. Among the fastest growing
mobile communications devices are smartphones, that is, mobile
phones built on top of a mobile computing platform. Mobile
providers have launched hundreds of new smartphones in the last
three years based upon several different computing platforms (e.g.,
Apple iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile, and the
like). In the U.S., smartphone penetration reached almost 23% by
the middle of 2010, and over 35% in some age-groups. In Europe, the
smartphone market grew by 41% from 2009 to 2010, with over 60
million smartphone subscribers as of July 2010 in the five largest
European countries alone.
[0005] Smartphone computing platforms typically include a mobile
operating system ("OS") running on a mobile processor. While mobile
processors and mobile OSs have increased the capabilities of these
devices, smartphones have not tended to replace personal computer
("PC") environments (i.e., Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and the like)
such as desktop or notebook computers at least because of the
limited user experience provided. In particular, smartphones
typically have different processing resources, user interface
device(s), peripheral devices, and applications. For example,
mobile processors may have a different processor architecture than
PC processors that emphasizes features like low-power operation and
communications capabilities over raw processing and/or graphics
performance. In addition, smartphones tend to have smaller amounts
of other hardware resources such as memory (e.g., SRAM, DRAM, etc.)
and storage (e.g., hard disk, SSD, etc.) resources. Other
considerations typically include a smaller display size that limits
the amount of information that can be presented through a mobile OS
graphical user interface ("GUI") and different user input devices.
Use interface input device(s) for smartphones typically include a
small thumb-style QWERTY keyboard, touch-screen display,
click-wheel, and/or scroll-wheel. In contrast, laptop, notebook,
and desktop computers that use a desktop OS typically have a
full-size keyboard, pointing device(s), and/or a larger screen
area. As a result, mobile OSs typically have a different
architecture where some capabilities and features such as
communications, lower power consumption, touch-screen capability,
and the like, are emphasized over traditionally emphasized PC
capabilities such as processing speed, graphics processing, and
application multi-tasking
[0006] Because of the architecture differences, applications or
"Apps" designed for mobile OSs tend to be designed for tasks and
activities that are typical of a mobile computing experience (e.g.,
communications, gaming, navigation, and the like). For example,
over a third of all Android App downloads have been targeted
towards the gaming and entertainment categories while less than 20%
of downloads fall under the tools and productivity categories. In
addition, many applications that are common on PC platforms are
either not available for mobile OSs or are available only with a
limited features set.
[0007] For example, many smartphones run Google's Android operating
system. Android runs only applications that are specifically
developed to run within a Java-based virtual machine runtime
environment. In addition, while Android is based on a modified
Linux kernel, it uses different standard C libraries, system
managers, and services than Linux. Accordingly, applications
written for Linux do not run on Android without modification or
porting. Similarly, Apple's iPhone uses the iOS mobile operating
system. Again, while iOS is derived from Mac OS X, applications
developed for OS X do not run on iOS. Therefore, while many
applications are available for mobile OSs such as Android and iOS,
many other common applications for desktop operating systems such
as Linux and Mac OS X are either not available on the mobile
platforms or have limited functionality. As such, these mobile OSs
provide
[0008] Accordingly, smartphones are typically suited for a limited
set of user experiences and provide applications designed primarily
for the mobile environment. In particular, smartphones do not
provide a suitable desktop user experience, nor do they run most
common desktop applications. For some tasks such as typing or
editing documents, the user interface components typically found on
a smartphones tend to be more difficult to use than a full-size
keyboard and large display that may be typically found on a PC
platform.
[0009] As a result, many users carry and use multiple computing
devices including a smartphone, laptop, and/or tablet computer. In
this instance, each device has its own CPU, memory, file storage,
and operating system. Connectivity and file sharing between
smartphones and other computing devices involves linking one device
(e.g., smartphone, running a mobile OS) to a second, wholly
disparate device (e.g., notebook, desktop, or tablet running a
desktop OS), through a wireless or wired connection. Information is
shared across devices by synchronizing data between applications
running separately on each device. This process, typically called
"synching," is cumbersome and generally requires active management
by the user.
SUMMARY
[0010] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to
providing the mobile computing experience of a smartphone and the
appropriate user experience of a secondary terminal environment in
a single mobile computing device. A secondary terminal environment
may be some combination of visual rendering devices (e.g., monitor
or display), input devices (e.g., mouse, touch pad, touch-screen,
keyboard, etc.), and other computing peripherals (e.g., HDD,
optical disc drive, memory stick, camera, printer, etc.) connected
to the computing device by a wired (e.g., USB, Firewire,
Thunderbolt, etc.) or wireless (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.)
connection. In embodiments, a mobile operating system associated
with the user experience of the mobile environment and a desktop
operating system associated with the user experience of the
secondary terminal environment are run concurrently and
independently on a shared kernel.
[0011] According to one aspect consistent with various embodiments,
a mobile computing device includes a first operating system. A
first application is running on the mobile operating system. A
first application screen, associated with the first application, is
displayed on an active display device. For example, the application
screen may be displayed on a display of the mobile computing
device. A process for managing application graphics associated with
the application includes receiving an application interaction state
change event indicating that a current interaction state of the
first application is to be changed from a foreground state to a
background state, generating a bitmap image corresponding to a
graphical representation of the first application screen, changing
the current interaction state of the first application from the
foreground state to the background state, associating the bitmap
image with a position within an application activity stack
corresponding to the application, receiving a user input command
related to the application activity stack, and displaying a
representation of the bitmap image within a graphical
representation of the application activity stack. The process may
include receiving a user command indicative of a selection of the
bitmap image within the graphical representation of the application
activity stack, and changing the current interaction state of the
first application from the background state to the foreground
state.
[0012] According to other aspects consistent with various
embodiments, the mobile computing device may define a first user
environment, and the graphical representation of the application
activity stack may be presented on a display of a second user
environment. The second user environment may be associated with a
second operating system running concurrently with the first
operating system on a shared kernel of the mobile computing device.
The application activity stack may be maintained by an application
model manager. The application activity stack may include
applications that have been started by the user and not actively
closed by the user. A process associated with the first application
screen may be suspended in response to the change in the current
interaction state of the first application from the foreground
state to the background state.
[0013] According to other aspects consistent with various
embodiments, a mobile computing device includes a first application
and a second application running concurrently on a first operating
system. A process for managing application graphics may include
displaying the first application on an active display device,
receiving an application interaction state change event indicating
that a current interaction state of the first application is to be
changed from a foreground state to a background state, generating a
bitmap image corresponding to a graphical representation of an
application screen associated with the first application, changing
the current interaction state of the first application from the
foreground state to the background state, associating the bitmap
image with a position within an application activity stack
corresponding to the application, and displaying a graphical
representation of the application activity stack on a display
device associated with a secondary terminal environment, the
secondary terminal environment connected to the mobile computing
device via a communications interface, the graphical representation
of the application activity stack including the bitmap image.
[0014] According to other aspects consistent with various
embodiments, the secondary terminal environment may be associated
with a second operating system running concurrently with the first
operating system on a shared kernel of the mobile computing device.
Displaying of the graphical representation of the application
activity stack may be in response to a user initiated event within
the secondary terminal environment and/or a dock event. The dock
event may include connecting the mobile computing device with the
secondary terminal environment via the communications interface.
The bitmap image may be generated from graphical information
maintained by a bitmap server within a surface manager of the first
operating system. The bitmap server may provide an application
level interface to the bitmap image data.
[0015] According to other aspects consistent with various
embodiments, a mobile computing device includes a first operating
system and a display device. A first application screen, associated
with a first application running on the first operating system, is
displayed on the display device. The first application may be
considered to be in a foreground state. The first operating system
includes an activity manager that maintains a list of currently
running applications, an application model manager of the first
operating system that receives application state information from
the activity manager service, and a bitmap server module that
maintains references to active surfaces of the first application.
The bitmap server module may store a copy of the surface
information of the first application screen responsive to an
application interaction state change event indicating that a
current interaction state of the first application is to be changed
from the foreground state to a background state. The first
operating system may display a transition animation based on the
copy of the surface information of the first application screen.
The transition animation may be displayed by an application space
component of the first operating system. The first operating system
may be a mobile operating system. The mobile operating system may
include a surface manager module, and the bitmap server module may
be implemented as a class in the surface manager module. The bitmap
server module may provide references to the copy of the surface
information of the first application screen to the framework layer
of the mobile operating system. The bitmap server module may create
a bitmap image from the copy of the surface information of the
first application screen.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in
referenced figures of the drawings, in which like numbers refer to
like elements throughout the description of the figures.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a computing environment that provides
multiple user computing experiences, according to various
embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary system architecture for a
mobile computing device, according to various embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates an operating system architecture for a
computing environment, according to various embodiments.
[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates an operating system architecture for a
computing environment, according to various embodiments.
[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates aspects of a kernel for a computing
environment, according to various embodiments.
[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates an operating system architecture for a
computing environment, according to various embodiments.
[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates a computing environment with multiple
active user environments, according to various embodiments.
[0024] FIG. 8 illustrates a computing environment including a
mobile computing device, according to various embodiments.
[0025] FIG. 9 illustrates aspects of cross-environment assortment
of application windows, according to various embodiments.
[0026] FIG. 10 illustrates aspects of graphical cross-environment
application navigation, according to various embodiments.
[0027] FIG. 11 illustrates aspects of a computing architecture
supporting cross-environment application navigation and assortment,
according to various embodiments.
[0028] FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram for managing graphical
navigation in a computing environment, according to various
embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] The present disclosure is generally directed to managing
navigation of foreground and background applications in a computing
environment with multiple active user environments. More
particularly, applications or "Apps" may be running on a mobile
operating system ("OS") of a mobile computing device that generally
defines a first active user environment. The mobile OS typically
presents a single active application (i.e., foreground application)
at a time through a graphical user interface ("GUI") of the mobile
operating system. Other applications may be running on the mobile
operating system but not actively displayed (i.e., background
applications). Commonly, processes of background applications
related to displaying graphics information and accepting user input
are suspended or paused by the mobile operating system. While some
of these processes may save an instance state of application data
before being paused or suspended, the mobile OS typically does not
update or maintain graphical information for these processes while
the application is in the background. Navigation among foreground
and background applications running on the mobile OS on the mobile
computing device typically consists of navigating away from the
foreground application (e.g., back to a home screen, etc.) before
selecting an icon associated with a background application.
[0030] In a computing environment with multiple active user
environments, it may be desirable to present user interfaces for
multiple concurrent applications within an active user environment
of the computing environment. Additionally, it may be desirable to
graphically browse and/or navigate through applications running on
a first operating system through a second active user environment.
For example, cross environment application browsing and/or
navigation using preview representations of application screens may
allow faster cross-environment application navigation as they
provide a visual representation of an application state.
[0031] In disclosed embodiments with multiple active user
environments, a mobile computing device running a mobile operating
system defines a first active user environment. A second active
user environment may be connected to the mobile computing device.
Mobile OS applications may be accessed from and actively displayed
through the second active user environment. In embodiments, the
second active user environment may be associated with a second
operating system (e.g., a desktop operating system) running on the
mobile computing device.
[0032] Disclosed embodiments present a seamless computing
experience in a computing environment with multiple active user
environments by automatically presenting application screens across
user environments in certain conditions. Other disclosed
embodiments support graphical navigation of foreground and
background applications of the mobile operating system across
multiple active user environments. For example, preview screens of
foreground and background applications running on the mobile
operating system may be displayed within the second active user
environment to allow a user to navigate quickly between
applications running on the mobile operating system. Disclosed
techniques allow graphical cross-environment application navigation
even where the mobile operating system does not maintain graphical
information for background applications of the mobile OS. For
example, graphical and/or user input processes of background
applications may be paused, stopped, suspended, and/or killed. In
various embodiments, a last graphical representation of a mobile OS
application is captured before the application is moved from a
foreground state to a background state and graphical information
and/or user input processes of the application are paused or
suspended. The last graphical representation for mobile OS
applications may be maintained as bitmap images or graphics surface
information. While the foreground/background application navigation
techniques presented in the disclosure are discussed with reference
to a mobile computing device and various docked terminal
environments, the disclosure may, in various embodiments, be
applied to other computing devices (e.g., laptop computers, tablet
computers, desktop computers, etc.) and is not intended to be
limited to handheld mobile computing devices unless otherwise
explicitly specified.
[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates a computing environment 100 that provides
multiple user computing experiences through multiple active user
environments, according to various embodiments. A first active user
environment 115 of computing environment 100 is defined by
display(s) 116, touch screen sensor(s) 117, and/or I/O devices 118
of mobile computing device 110. The display(s) 116 may be operative
to display a displayed image or "screen." As used herein, the term
display is intended to connote device hardware, whereas screen is
intended to connote the displayed image produced on the display. In
this regard, a display is physical hardware that is operable to
present a screen to the user. A screen may encompass a majority of
one or more displays. For instance, a screen may occupy
substantially all of the display area of one or more displays
except for areas dedicated to other functions (e.g. menu bars,
status bars, etc.). A screen may be associated with an application
and/or an operating system executing on the mobile computing device
110. For instance, applications may have various kinds of screens
that are capable of being manipulated as will be described further
below.
[0034] When mobile computing device 110 is operated as a
stand-alone mobile device, active user environment 115 presents a
typical mobile computing user experience. In this regard, mobile
computing device 110 typically includes mobile telephony
capabilities and user interaction features suited to a mobile
computing use model. For example, mobile computing device 110 may
present a graphical user interface ("GUI") suited to active user
environment 115 including display(s) 116, touch-screen sensor(s)
117, and/or I/O device(s) 118. The user may interact with
application programs (i.e., "Apps") running on mobile computing
device 110 through an application screen including various
interactive features (e.g., buttons, text fields, toggle fields,
etc.) presented on display(s) 116. In some instances, the user
interacts with these interactive features by way of I/O device(s)
118. In other instances, the user interacts with these features by
way of touch-screen sensor(s) 117 using gestures and symbols that
are input to touch screen sensor(s) 117 using the user's fingers or
a stylus. In yet other instances, the user interacts with these
features using a combination of I/O device(s) 118 and touch-screen
sensor(s) 117.
[0035] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary hardware system architecture
for mobile computing device 110, according to various embodiments.
Mobile computing device 110 includes mobile processor 114 with one
or more CPU cores 204 and external display interface 220.
Generally, mobile computing device 110 also includes memory 206,
storage devices 208, touch-screen display controller 212 connected
to touch-screen display(s) 116 and/or touch-screen sensor(s) 117,
I/O devices 118, power management IC 214 connected to battery 216,
cellular modem 218, communication devices 222, and/or other devices
224 that are connected to processor 114 through various
communication signals and interfaces. I/O devices 118 generally
includes buttons and other user interface components that may be
employed in mobile computing device 110. For example, I/O devices
118 may include a set of buttons, (e.g., back, menu, home, search,
etc.), off-screen gesture area, click-wheel, scroll-wheel, QWERTY
keyboard, etc. Other devices 224 may include, for example, GPS
devices, LAN connectivity, microphones, speakers, cameras,
accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and/or MS/MMC/SD/SDIO
card interfaces. External display interface 220 may be any suitable
display interface (e.g., VGA, DVI, HDMI, wireless, etc.).
[0036] One or more sensor devices of the mobile computing device
110 may be able to monitor the orientation of the mobile computing
device with respect to gravity. For example, using an
accelerometer, gyroscope, inclinometer, or magnetometer, or some
combination of these sensors, mobile computing device 110 may be
able to determine whether it is substantially in a portrait
orientation (meaning that a long axis of the display(s) 116 are
oriented vertically) or substantially in a landscape orientation
with respect to gravity. These devices may further provide other
control functionality by monitoring the orientation and/or movement
of the mobile computing device 110. As used herein, the term
orientation sensor is intended to mean some combination of sensors
(e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, inclinometer, magnetometer, etc.)
that may be used to determine orientation of a device with respect
to gravity and is not intended to be limited to any particular
sensor type or technology.
[0037] Processor 114 may be an ARM-based mobile processor. In
embodiments, mobile processor 114 is a mobile ARM-based processor
such as Texas Instruments OMAP3430, Marvell PXA320, Freescale
iMX51, or Qualcomm QSD8650/8250. However, mobile processor 114 may
be another suitable ARM-based mobile processor or processor based
on other processor architectures such as, for example, x86-based
processor architectures or other RISC-based processor
architectures.
[0038] While FIG. 2 illustrates one exemplary hardware
implementation 112 for mobile computing device 110, other
architectures are contemplated as within the scope of the
invention. For example, various components illustrated in FIG. 2 as
external to mobile processor 114 may be integrated into mobile
processor 114. Optionally, external display interface 220, shown in
FIG. 2 as integrated into mobile processor 114, may be external to
mobile processor 114. Additionally, other computer architectures
employing a system bus, discrete graphics processor, and/or other
architectural variations are suitable for employing aspects of the
present invention.
[0039] Returning to FIG. 1, mobile computing device 110 may be
docked with a secondary terminal environment 140. Secondary
terminal environment 140 may be some combination of visual
rendering devices (e.g., monitor or display) 140, I/O devices
(e.g., mouse, touch pad, touch-screen, keyboard, etc.) 146, and
other computing peripherals (e.g., HDD, optical disc drive, memory
stick, camera, printer, GPS, accelerometer, etc.) 148 connected to
mobile computing device 110 by connecting port 142 on secondary
terminal environment 140 with port 120 on mobile computing device
110 through interface 122. Interface 122 may be some combination of
wired (e.g., USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt, HDMI, VGA, etc.) or
wireless (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, Wireless HDMI, etc.) interfaces.
While secondary terminal environments may have some processing or
logic elements such as microcontrollers or other application
specific integrated circuits ("ASICs"), they typically do not have
a processor that runs a separate instance of an operating
system.
[0040] Secondary terminal environments that define a second user
environment may be suited for one or more of various use models,
depending on the components that make up the secondary terminal
environment. Some secondary terminal environments may be associated
with a user computing experience that is similar to the user
computing experience of the mobile computing device 110, while
others may provide a user computing experience more traditionally
associated with desktop computing. For example, secondary terminal
environment 140 may be a device that includes a display 144 with a
corresponding touch-screen sensor 146 that serves as the primary
user input for the device. This type of secondary terminal
environment may be called a tablet-style secondary terminal
environment. While a tablet-style secondary terminal environment
may have a larger touch-screen display than mobile computing device
110, the user experience of this type of secondary terminal
environment may be similar in some ways to the user experience of
mobile computing device 110. Specifically, it may be convenient for
a user to interact with applications displayed on this type of
secondary terminal environment through similar gesture-based
techniques (i.e., touching, swiping, pinching, etc.) and/or virtual
keyboards as they might use on mobile computing device 110. In one
embodiment known as a "Smart Pad," a tablet-style secondary
terminal environment includes a 10.1-inch diagonal (1280.times.800
resolution) touch-enabled display, standard set of buttons (e.g.,
back, menu, home, search, etc.), one or more cameras, and an
off-screen gesture area. A tablet-style secondary terminal
environment may include other peripheral devices 148 that may be
used to influence the configuration of applications presented to
the user on the tablet-style secondary terminal environment. For
example, a tablet-style secondary terminal environment may include
a GPS receiver, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and/or
other sensors for determining its location and/or orientation.
[0041] Another type of secondary terminal environment is a laptop
or notebook-style secondary terminal environment. A notebook-style
secondary terminal environment generally includes a display screen
144, keyboard and pointing device(s) 146, and/or other peripheral
devices 148 in a clam-shell type enclosure. In embodiments, a
laptop or notebook-style secondary terminal environment may be
known as a "Smart Display" or "LapDock." Because this type of
secondary terminal environment includes a larger display, keyboard,
and pointing device(s), it typically has a user computing
experience associated with a desktop computing experience. In this
regard, this type of secondary terminal environment may not have a
similar user experience profile to mobile computing device 110. A
notebook-style secondary terminal environment may include other
peripheral devices that may be used to influence the configuration
of applications presented to the user on the secondary terminal
environment. For example, a notebook-style secondary terminal
environment may include a GPS receiver, accelerometer, gyroscope,
magnetometer, and/or other sensors for determining its location
and/or orientation.
[0042] The various secondary terminal environments may also include
a variety of generic input/output device peripherals that make up a
typical desktop computing environment. The I/O devices may be
connected through a docking hub (or "dock cradle") that includes
port 142 and one or more device I/O ports for connecting various
commercially available display monitors 144, I/O devices 146,
and/or other peripheral devices 148. For example, a docking hub may
include a display port (e.g., VGA, DVI, HDMI, Wireless HDMI, etc.),
and generic device ports (e.g., USB, Firewire, etc.). As one
example, a user may connect a commercially available display,
keyboard, and pointing device(s) to the docking hub. In this way,
the user may create a secondary terminal environment from a
combination of input/output devices. Commonly, this secondary
terminal environment will be suited to a desktop computing
experience. In particular, this type of secondary terminal
environment may be suited to a computing experience designed around
the use of a pointing device(s) and physical keyboard to interact
with a user interface on the display.
[0043] In embodiments, mobile computing device 110 includes
multiple operating systems running concurrently and independently
on a shared kernel. Concurrent execution of a mobile OS and a
desktop OS on a shared kernel is described in more detail in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/217,108, filed Aug. 24, 2011,
entitled "MULTI-OPERATING SYSTEM," herein incorporated by
reference. In this way, a single mobile computing device can
concurrently provide a mobile computing experience through a first
user environment associated with a mobile OS and a desktop
computing experience through a second user environment associated
with a full desktop OS.
[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates OS architecture 300 that may be employed
to run mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 concurrently on mobile
computing device 110, according to various embodiments. As
illustrated in FIG. 3, mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 are
independent operating systems running concurrently on shared kernel
320. Specifically, mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 are considered
independent and concurrent because they are running on shared
kernel 320 at the same time and may have separate and incompatible
user libraries, graphics systems, and/or framework layers. For
example, mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 may both interface to
shared kernel 320 through the same kernel interface 322 (e.g.,
system calls, etc.). In this regard, shared kernel 320 manages task
scheduling for processes of both mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160
concurrently.
[0045] In addition, shared kernel 320 runs directly on mobile
processor 114 of mobile computing device 110, as illustrated in
FIG. 3. Specifically, shared kernel 320 directly manages the
computing resources of processor 114 such as CPU scheduling, memory
access, and I/O. In this regard, hardware resources are not
virtualized, meaning that mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 make
system calls through kernel interface 322 without virtualized
memory or I/O access. Functions and instructions for OS
architecture 300 may be stored as computer program code on a
tangible computer readable medium of mobile computing device 110.
For example, instructions for OS architecture 300 may be stored in
storage device(s) 208 of mobile computing device 110.
[0046] As illustrated in FIG. 3, mobile OS 130 has libraries layer
330, application framework layer 340, and application layer 350. In
mobile OS 130, applications 352 and 354 run in application layer
350 supported by application framework layer 340 of mobile OS 130.
Application framework layer 340 includes manager(s) 342 and
service(s) 344 that are used by applications running on mobile OS
130. Libraries layer 330 includes user libraries 332 that implement
common functions such as I/O and string manipulation, graphics
functions, database capabilities, communication capabilities,
and/or other functions and capabilities.
[0047] Application framework layer 340 may include a window
manager, activity manager, package manager, resource manager,
telephony manager, gesture controller, and/or other managers and
services for the mobile environment. Application framework layer
340 may include a mobile application runtime environment that
executes applications developed for mobile OS 130. The mobile
application runtime environment may be optimized for mobile
computing resources such as lower processing power and/or limited
memory space.
[0048] Applications running on mobile OS 130 may be composed of
multiple application components that perform the functions
associated with the application, where each component is a separate
process. For example, a mobile OS application may be composed of
processes for displaying graphical information, handling user
input, managing data, communicating with other
applications/processes, and/or other types of processes.
[0049] As illustrated in FIG. 3, desktop OS 160 has libraries layer
360, framework layer 370, and application layer 380. In desktop OS
160, applications 382 and 384 run in application layer 380
supported by application framework layer 370 of desktop OS 160.
Application framework layer 370 includes manager(s) 372 and
service(s) 374 that are used by applications running on desktop OS
160. For example, application framework layer 370 may include a
window manager, activity manager, package manager, resource
manager, and/or other managers and services common to a desktop
environment. Libraries layer 360 may include user libraries 362
that implement common functions such as I/O and string
manipulation, graphics functions, database capabilities,
communication capabilities, and/or other functions and
capabilities.
[0050] As described above, mobile operating systems typically do
not use the same graphics environment as desktop operating systems.
Specifically, graphics environments for mobile OSs are designed for
efficiency and the specific user input devices of a mobile
computing environment. For example, display devices of mobile
computing devices are typically too small to present multiple
active application screens at the same time. Accordingly, most
mobile OS GUIs present a single active application screen that
consumes all or substantially all of the active area of the display
of the mobile computing device. In addition, presenting a single
active application screen at a time allows the mobile OS to shut
down or suspend graphical and/or user interaction processes of
background applications. Shutting down or suspending background
application processes conserves power which is critical to
providing long battery life in a mobile computing device.
[0051] In contrast, graphics environments for desktop OSs are
designed for flexibility and high performance. For example, desktop
OSs typically provide a multi-tasking user interface where more
than one application screen may be presented through the desktop OS
GUI at the same time. Graphics information for multiple
applications may be displayed within windows of the GUI of the
desktop operating system that are cascaded, tiled, and/or otherwise
displayed concurrently in overlapping or non-overlapping fashion.
This type of graphical environment provides for greater flexibility
because multiple applications may be presented through multiple
active application screens. While only a single application may
have the input focus (i.e., the application to which input such as
keyboard entry is directed), switching back and forth between
applications does not require resuming or restarting the
application and rebuilding the application screen. Commonly,
switching input focus back and forth between active applications
may involve selecting an application window or switching the focus
to an application window by placing the mouse pointer over the
application window. In this regard, desktop OSs typically maintain
graphics information (i.e., graphics and user input processes
continue to run) for all running applications, whether the
application screens associated with the applications are active or
not (e.g., in the background, etc.). However, maintaining multiple
active application screens requires greater processing and system
resources.
[0052] Accordingly, mobile OS 130 and desktop 160 may be
independent operating systems with incompatible user libraries,
graphics systems, and/or application frameworks. Therefore,
applications developed for mobile OS 130 may not run directly on
desktop OS 160, and applications developed for desktop OS 160 may
not run directly on mobile OS 130. For example, application 352,
running in application layer 350 of mobile OS 130, may be
incompatible with desktop OS 160, meaning that application 352
could not run on desktop OS 160. Specifically, application 352 may
depend on manager(s) 342, service(s) 344, and/or libraries 332 of
mobile OS 130 that are either not available or not compatible with
manager(s) 372, service(s) 374, and/or libraries 362 of desktop OS
160.
[0053] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, desktop OS
160 runs in a separate execution environment from mobile OS 130.
For example, mobile OS 130 may run in a root execution environment
and desktop OS 160 may run in a secondary execution environment
established under the root execution environment. Processes and
applications running on mobile OS 130 access user libraries 332,
manager(s) 342 and service(s) 344 in the root execution
environment. Processes and applications running on desktop OS 160
access user libraries 362, manager(s) 372 and service(s) 374 in the
secondary execution environment.
[0054] The most widely adopted mobile OS is Google's Android. While
Android is based on Linux, it includes modifications to the kernel
and other OS layers for the mobile environment and mobile
processors. In particular, while the Linux kernel is designed for a
PC (i.e., x86) CPU architecture, the Android kernel is modified for
ARM-based mobile processors. Android device drivers are also
particularly tailored for devices typically present in a mobile
hardware architecture including touch-screens, mobile connectivity
(GSM/EDGE, CDMA, Wi-Fi, etc.), battery management, GPS,
accelerometers, and camera modules, among other devices. In
addition, Android does not have a native X Window System nor does
it support the full set of standard GNU libraries, and this makes
it difficult to port existing GNU/Linux applications or libraries
to Android.
[0055] Apple's iOS operating system (run on the iPhone) and
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 are similarly modified for the mobile
environment and mobile hardware architecture. For example, while
iOS is derived from the Mac OS X desktop OS, common Mac OS X
applications do not run natively on iOS. Specifically, iOS
applications are developed through a standard developer's kit
("SDK") to run within the "Cocoa Touch" runtime environment of iOS,
which provides basic application infrastructure and support for key
iOS features such as touch-based input, push notifications, and
system services. Therefore, applications written for Mac OS X do
not run on iOS without porting. In addition, it may be difficult to
port Mac OS X applications to iOS because of differences between
user libraries and/or application framework layers of the two OSs,
and/or differences in system resources of the mobile and desktop
hardware.
[0056] In one embodiment consistent with OS architecture 300, an
Android mobile OS and a full Linux OS run independently and
concurrently on a modified Android kernel. In this embodiment, the
Android OS may be a modified Android distribution while the Linux
OS ("Hydroid") may be a modified Debian Linux desktop OS. FIGS. 4-6
illustrate Android mobile OS 430, Android kernel 520, and Hydroid
OS 660 that may be employed in OS architecture 300 in more detail,
according to various embodiments.
[0057] As illustrated in FIG. 4, Android OS 430 includes a set of
C/C++ libraries in libraries layer 432 that are accessed through
application framework layer 440. Libraries layer 432 includes the
"bionic" system C library 439 that was developed specifically for
Android to be smaller and faster than the "glibc" Linux C-library.
Libraries layer 432 also includes inter-process communication
("IPC") library 436, which includes the base classes for the
"Binder" IPC mechanism of the Android OS. Binder was developed
specifically for Android to allow communication between processes
and services. Other libraries shown in libraries layer 432 in FIG.
4 include media libraries 435 that support recording and playback
of media formats, surface manager 434 that manages access to the
display subsystem and composites graphic layers from multiple
applications, 2D and 3D graphics engines 438, and lightweight
relational database engine 437. Other libraries that may be
included in libraries layer 432 but are not pictured in FIG. 4
include bitmap and vector font rendering libraries, utilities
libraries, browser tools (i.e., WebKit, etc.), and/or secure
communication libraries (i.e., SSL, etc.).
[0058] Application framework layer 440 of Android OS 430 provides a
development platform that allows developers to use components of
the device hardware, access location information, run background
services, set alarms, add notifications to the status bar, etc.
Framework layer 440 also allows applications to publish their
capabilities and make use of the published capabilities of other
applications. Components of application framework layer 440 of
Android mobile OS 430 include activity manager 441, resource
manager 442, window manager 443, dock manager 444, hardware and
system services 445, desktop monitor service 446, multi-display
manager 447, and remote communication service 448. Other components
that may be included in framework layer 440 of Android mobile OS
430 include a view system, telephony manager, package manager,
location manager, and/or notification manager, among other managers
and services.
[0059] Applications running on Android OS 430 run within the Dalvik
virtual machine 431 in the Android runtime environment 433 on top
of the Android object-oriented application framework. Dalvik
virtual machine 431 is a register-based virtual machine, and runs a
compact executable format that is designed to reduce memory usage
and processing requirements. Applications running on Android OS 430
include home screen 451, email application 452, phone application
453, browser application 454, and/or other application(s)
("App(s)") 455. Each application may include one or more
application components including activities which define
application screens through which the user interfaces with the
application. That is, activities are processes within the Android
runtime environment that manage user interaction through
application screens. Other application components include services
for performing long-running operations or non-user interface
features, content providers for managing shared data, and broadcast
receivers for responding to system broadcast messages.
[0060] The Android OS graphics system uses a client/server model. A
surface manager ("SurfaceFlinger") is the graphics server and
applications are the clients. SurfaceFlinger maintains a list of
display ID's and keeps track of assigning applications to display
ID's. In one embodiment, mobile computing device 110 has multiple
touch screen displays 116. In this embodiment, display ID 0 is
associated with one of the touch screen displays 116 and display ID
1 is associated with the other touch screen display 116. Display ID
2 is associated with both touch screen displays 116 (i.e., the
application is displayed on both displays at the same time).
[0061] For each display device associated with a display ID,
Android maintains a graphics context and frame buffer associated
with the display device. In one embodiment, display ID's greater
than 2 are virtual displays, meaning that they are not associated
with a display physically present on mobile computing device
110.
[0062] Graphics information for Android applications and/or
activities includes windows, views, and canvasses. Each window,
view, and/or canvas is implemented with an underlying surface
object. Surface objects are double-buffered (front and back
buffers) and synchronized across processes for drawing.
SurfaceFlinger maintains all surfaces in a shared memory pool which
allows all processes within Android to access and draw into them
without expensive copy operations and without using a server-side
drawing protocol such as X-Windows. Applications always draw into
the back buffer while SurfaceFlinger reads from the front buffer.
SurfaceFlinger creates each surface object, maintains all surface
objects, and also maintains a list of surface objects for each
application. When the application finishes drawing in the back
buffer, it posts an event to SurfaceFlinger, which swaps the back
buffer to the front and queues the task of rendering the surface
information to the frame buffer.
[0063] SurfaceFlinger monitors all window change events. When one
or more window change events occur, SurfaceFlinger renders the
surface information to the frame buffer for one or more displays.
Rendering includes compositing the surfaces, i.e., composing the
final image frame based on dimensions, transparency, z-order, and
visibility of the surfaces. Rendering may also include hardware
acceleration (e.g., OpenGL 2D and/or 3D interface for graphics
processing hardware). SurfaceFlinger loops over all surface objects
and renders their front buffers to the frame buffer in their Z
order.
[0064] FIG. 5 illustrates modified Android kernel 520 in more
detail, according to various embodiments. Modified Android kernel
520 includes touch-screen display driver 521, camera driver(s) 522,
Bluetooth driver(s) 523, shared memory allocator 524, IPC driver(s)
525, USB driver(s) 526, WiFi driver(s) 527, I/O device driver(s)
528, and/or power management module 530. I/O device driver(s) 528
includes device drivers for external I/O devices, including devices
that may be connected to mobile computing device 110 through port
120. Modified Android kernel 520 may include other drivers and
functional blocks including a low memory killer, kernel debugger,
logging capability, and/or other hardware device drivers.
[0065] FIG. 6 illustrates Hydroid OS 660 in more detail, according
to various embodiments. Hydroid is a full Linux OS that is capable
of running almost any application developed for standard Linux
distributions. In particular, libraries layer 662 of Hydroid OS 660
includes Linux libraries that support networking, graphics
processing, database management, and other common program
functions. For example, user libraries 662 may include the "glibc"
Linux C library 664, Linux graphics libraries 662 (e.g., GTK,
OpenGL, etc.), Linux utilities libraries 661, Linux database
libraries, and/or other Linux user libraries. Applications run on
Hydroid within an X-Windows Linux graphical environment using
X-Server 674, window manager 673, and/or desktop environment 672.
Illustrated applications include word processor 681, email
application 682, spreadsheet application 683, browser 684, and
other application(s) 685.
[0066] The Linux OS graphics system is based on the X-windows (or
"X11") graphics system. X-windows is a platform-independent,
networked graphics framework. X-windows uses a client/server model
where the X-server is the graphics server and applications are the
clients. The X-server controls input/output hardware associated
with the Linux OS such as displays, touch-screen displays,
keyboards, pointing device(s), etc. In this regard, X-windows
provides a server-side drawing graphics architecture, i.e., the
X-server maintains the content for drawables including windows and
pixmaps. X-clients communicate with the X-server by exchanging data
packets that describe drawing operations over a communication
channel. X-clients access the X communication protocol through a
library of standard routines (the "Xlib"). For example, an X-client
may send a request to the X-server to draw a rectangle in the
client window. The X-server sends input events to the X-clients,
for example, keyboard or pointing device input, and/or window
movement or resizing. Input events are relative to client windows.
For example, if the user clicks when the pointer is within a
window, the X-server sends a packet that includes the input event
to the X-client associated with the window that includes the action
and positioning of the event relative to the window.
[0067] Because of the differences in operating system frameworks,
graphics systems, and/or libraries, applications written for
Android do not generally run on Hydroid OS 660 and applications
written for standard Linux distributions do not generally run on
Android OS 430. In this regard, applications for Android OS 430 and
Hydroid OS 660 are not bytecode compatible, meaning compiled and
executable programs for one do not run on the other.
[0068] In one embodiment, Hydroid OS 660 includes components of a
cross-environment communication framework that facilitates
communication with Android OS 430 through shared kernel 520. These
components include IPC library 663 that includes the base classes
for the Binder IPC mechanism of the Android OS and remote
communications service 671.
[0069] In one embodiment, Hydroid OS 660 is run within a chrooted
(created with the `chroot` command) secondary execution environment
created within the Android root environment. Processes and
applications within Hydroid OS 660 are run within the secondary
execution environment such that the apparent root directory seen by
these processes and applications is the root directory of the
secondary execution environment. In this way, Hydroid OS 660 can
run programs written for standard Linux distributions without
modification because Linux user libraries 662 are available to
processes running on Hydroid OS 660 in the chrooted secondary
execution environment.
[0070] Referring back to FIG. 1, mobile computing device 110 may
associate a connected secondary terminal environment 140 with
desktop OS 160. In this configuration, computing environment 100
presents a first computing experience through a first active user
environment 115 associated with mobile OS 130, and, concurrently, a
second computing experience through the second active user
environment 140 associated with desktop OS 160.
[0071] FIG. 7 illustrates a computing environment 700 with multiple
active user environments, according to various embodiments. In
computing environment 700, the mobile computing device 110 presents
a first active user environment associated with the mobile OS 130
that includes touch-screen display(s) 116 and other I/O devices 118
of mobile computing device 110. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the user
interface 750 of the mobile OS 130 is displayed on touch-screen
display 116. In computing environment 700, mobile computing device
110 is docked to a second active user environment 140 through dock
interface 122. The second active user environment 140 includes
display monitor 144, keyboard 146-1, and/or pointing device 146-2.
In this regard, the second active user environment 140 provides a
desktop-like computing experience. When docked through dock
interface 122, the mobile computing device 110 may associate
desktop OS 160 with the second active user environment 140 such
that the user interface 780 of the desktop OS 160 is displayed on
the display 144 of the second active user environment 140. As
illustrated in FIG. 7, mobile computing device 110 is connected to
components of the second user environment 140 through a dock cradle
141 and/or dock cable 143. However, dock interface 122 may include
different connectors including other wired or wireless connections
to components of the second active user environment 140.
[0072] As described above, the first active user environment
defined by mobile computing device 110 and the second active user
environment 140 may provide different computing experiences. In
addition, mobile OS 130 and desktop OS 160 may have different sets
of available applications, meaning that at least some applications
available on mobile OS 130 are not available on desktop OS 160 and
vice-versa. As such, the configuration of computing environment 700
provides the advantages of two separate active user environments
suited to different computing experiences. However, in some
instances the user may wish to access various Apps and/or
capabilities of one operating system through the active user
environment associated with a different operating system. For
example, the user may wish to access mobile telephony, location
awareness capabilities, and/or other applications and/or services
of mobile OS 130 through the second active user environment 140
associated with desktop OS 160.
[0073] Because the graphics environments of mobile and desktop OSs
are often different, an application running on mobile OS 130 may
not be displayed within the user environment associated with
desktop OS 160 by re-directing the graphics information from the
graphics server of the mobile OS 130 to the graphics server of the
desktop OS 160. However, various techniques may be used to display
application screens of applications running on mobile OS 130 within
a console window of secondary user environment 140 associated with
desktop OS 160. These techniques are described in more detail in
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/246,665, filed Sep. 27, 2011,
entitled "INSTANT REMOTE RENDERING," the entire contents of which
are incorporated herein for all purposes. Accordingly, one or more
application screens displayed in windows 782, 784, and/or 786 of
computing environment 700 may correspond to applications running on
mobile OS 130.
[0074] Consider that initially a user is interacting with mobile
computing device 110 in an undocked state. FIG. 8 shows a computing
environment 800 which illustrates mobile computing device 110 in an
undocked state with multiple applications running on mobile OS 130,
according to various embodiments. In computing environment 800,
desktop OS 160 may be in a suspended state.
[0075] A first application 832 may be running on mobile OS 130 and
displayed through application screen 852 on display 116 of the
first active user environment 115 defined by mobile computing
device 110. Other applications may be running on mobile OS 130 but
not actively displayed. For example, application 834 may represent
an application that has been started by the user and not explicitly
closed. In this instance, the first application 832 is in a
foreground interaction state and application 834 is in a background
interaction state. In one instance, the user may have started
application 834 in the foreground and subsequently started
application 832, which then replaced application 834 as the
foreground application. In this instance, when application 834 is
moved to the background of the first active user environment 115,
it may be paused, stopped, and/or suspended. This means that mobile
OS 130 does not continue to process instructions or pass user input
to processes associated with application 834 beyond instructions
that may be needed to put the application into the paused, stopped,
and/or suspended state. In addition, some processes associated with
application 834 may be stopped or killed. For example, mobile OS
130 may destroy an application screen process associated with a
suspended or stopped application if the corresponding memory is in
demand for other processes. Accordingly, application screen
processes for applications such as application 834 may not be
depended on for graphics information once the application is in a
background state.
[0076] In a computing system with only one active user environment
115 defined by mobile computing device 110, pausing, stopping,
and/or suspending background applications is preferred because it
reduces processing requirements related to applications that are
not being actively interacted with by the user. For example, the
user may not be able to interact with more than one application
through the first active user environment 115 defined by mobile
computing device 115. The user can switch between applications
(i.e., change the interaction states of applications) using several
techniques including returning to a home screen and selecting the
desired application. Processes associated with background
applications, including application screen processes, may be
restarted or resumed when the application is returned to the
foreground state.
[0077] Embodiments are directed to providing a seamless workflow
when mobile computing device 110 is docked with a secondary
terminal environment by providing configurable cross-environment
application screen behavior. FIG. 9 shows computing environment
800a which illustrates automatic cross-environment assortment of
application screens, according to various embodiments. For example,
in FIG. 9, mobile computing device 110 is docked to secondary
terminal environment 140 through interface 122. Upon docking with
secondary terminal environment 140, mobile computing device 110 may
recognize that secondary terminal environment 140 has a user
experience profile associated with desktop OS 160. Accordingly,
desktop OS 160 may be unsuspended and associated with secondary
terminal environment 140 to provide a second active user
environment through which the user can interact with desktop OS
160.
[0078] To provide a more seamless user experience, one or more
applications running on mobile OS 130 may be configured to be
automatically displayed on display 144 of the second active user
environment 140 using the cross-environment display techniques
described above when mobile computing device 110 is docked. That
is, one or more applications may have a user preference setting
that determines if the application should be displayed within a
second user environment when the mobile computing device 110
detects a docked condition. The user preference setting may include
multiple settings according to different user experience profiles
of various secondary terminal environments. For example, user
settings may determine that an application should be automatically
displayed across user environments for a first type of secondary
terminal environment (e.g., desktop-like secondary terminal
environment), and display of the application maintained on the
first user environment for a second type of secondary terminal
environment (e.g., tablet-like secondary terminal environment).
[0079] In the embodiment according to FIG. 9, applications 832 and
834 are displayed on display 144 of the second active user
environment 140 automatically when the mobile computing device 110
is docked. Specifically, a first console application 962 displays
application screen 952 associated with application 832 within
console window 972 on display 144. Likewise, a second console
application 964 displays application screen 954 associated with
application 834 within console window 974 on display 144.
Assortment of console windows within the second active user
environment 140 may occur in a variety of ways according to user
preferences. In FIG. 9, console windows 972 and 974 are tiled
horizontally on display 144. However, other window assortment
configurations may be chosen by the user by selecting configuration
settings. For example, assortment of console windows for
cross-environment application display may be done by cascading
console windows or other display layering and/or tiling techniques.
In embodiments, window assortment configurations may be
independently set according to user experience profiles of various
secondary terminal environments.
[0080] Once mobile computing device 110 is docked, the multiple
active user environments may be used in a variety of ways to
provide a seamless computing experience. In one configuration, the
user may interact with mobile OS 130 including applications
available on mobile OS 130 through a first active user environment
115. At the same time, the user may interact with desktop OS 160
including applications available on desktop OS 160 through the
second active user environment 140. The user may interact with
applications available on mobile OS 130 through the active user
environment associated with desktop OS 160 using the
cross-environment application display techniques described
above.
[0081] To access applications available on mobile OS 130 from the
active user environment associated with desktop OS 160, the user
may want to browse other applications available on mobile OS 130
through the second active user environment 140. In embodiments,
menu icons or other elements of the GUI of desktop OS 160 may be
used to browse and access applications available on mobile OS 130.
In some embodiments, the user may want to browse all running
applications on mobile OS 130 (i.e., applications that are in a
foreground interaction state and other applications that the user
may have opened on mobile OS 130 and not explicitly shut down).
However, the lack of maintained or updated graphics information for
background applications in mobile OS 130 presents issues for
graphical cross-environment navigation and access of applications
running in mobile OS 130 from the active user environment
associated with desktop OS 160.
[0082] Embodiments are directed to supporting graphical browsing
and navigation in a computing environment with multiple active user
environments. FIG. 10 shows computing environment 800b which
illustrates cross environment application preview and navigation of
foreground and background applications, according to various
embodiments. In computing environment 800b, mobile OS 130 and
desktop OS 160 run concurrently on shared kernel 320 of mobile
computing device 110. Mobile OS 130 is associated with the first
active user environment 115 through which the user may interact
with application screens of applications running on mobile OS 130.
Desktop OS 160 is associated with the second active user
environment 140 through which the user may interact with
application screens of applications running on desktop OS 160. A
first application screen 852, associated with a first application
832 running on mobile OS 130, is displayed on a display 116 of the
first active user environment 115. That is, the first application
832 is in a foreground interaction state on the first active user
environment 115. A second application screen 1054, associated with
a second application 834 running on mobile OS 130, is displayed on
the display 144 of the second user environment 140. Specifically,
application screen 1054 is displayed within a console window 1062
associated with a console application 1060 running on desktop OS
160, as described above.
[0083] In computing environment 800b, other applications may be
running on mobile OS 130 but not actively displayed. For example,
applications 1036, 1038, and/or 1040 may represent applications
that have been started by the user and not explicitly closed as
described above. In this instance, applications 1036, 1038, and/or
1040 may be paused, stopped, and/or suspended by mobile OS 130. As
described above, this means that application screen processes
associated with these applications may be stopped, killed, or
otherwise not maintained by mobile OS 130. As such, graphical
information for application screen processes associated with these
applications may not be maintained while the applications are in
the paused, stopped, and/or suspended state.
[0084] In embodiments, mobile OS 130 includes functionality for
capturing a last graphical representation of applications before
the application is swapped from a foreground interaction state to a
background interaction state. For example, mobile OS 130 may
capture a bitmap image and/or a copy of surface information for a
current state of an application screen of a foreground application
just before the application is transitioned to the background
(i.e., before the interaction state change from the foreground
state to the background state). In embodiments, the last graphical
representation is captured in a bitmap server of the mobile OS as
described in more detail below.
[0085] In embodiments, mobile OS 130 maintains an application
activity stack 1042 that includes a list of applications that have
been started on mobile OS 130 and not explicitly closed. For
example, application activity stack 1042 may include place-holders
for applications 832, 834, 1036, 1038, and 1040. Place-holders in
application activity stack 1042 for applications 832 and 834 (i.e.,
applications that are in the foreground) may be references to the
application processes. As such, to provide a graphical
representation of the application, mobile OS 130 may use the
current graphics and/or surface information from the application
screen process associated with the application. The place-holder
for applications 1036, 1038, and/or 1040 (i.e., applications
currently in the background of mobile OS 130) may include a
reference to the last graphical representation captured by mobile
OS 130.
[0086] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the last graphical representation
may be used to provide a graphical browsing feature within desktop
OS 160 of preview screens associated with background applications
of mobile OS 130. Specifically, desktop OS 160 may present a
preview window 1070 that shows preview screens associated with
applications in application activity stack 1042. For example,
preview screen 1072 may show a preview representation of a
currently active application screen 852 associated with application
832. Preview screen 1074 may also show a preview representation of
a currently active application screen 1054 associated with a
currently active application 834 that is displayed within a console
window 1062 associated with a console application 1060 of desktop
OS 160 as described above. Additionally, preview window 1070 may
show preview screens for background applications of mobile OS 130.
For example, preview window 1070 may present preview screens 1076,
1078, and/or 1080 that represent last graphical representations of
application screens associated with background applications 1036,
1038, and/or 1040. Mobile OS 130 may capture these last graphical
representations and store them with a list of applications (e.g.,
via application activity stack 1042, etc.) that are currently
running (i.e., started by the user and not explicitly closed).
[0087] Preview window 1070 may be activated within desktop OS 160
in a variety of ways. As illustrated in FIG. 10, preview window
1070 may be activated by selecting a menu icon 1066 with a mouse
pointer 1064 within the GUI of mobile OS 160. Upon receiving a user
input indicating that a preview window is to be displayed, desktop
OS 160 queries mobile OS 130 for a list of applications on the
application activity stack and the associated graphical preview
representations. In response to the query, mobile OS 130 returns a
list corresponding to the application activity stack and provides
desktop OS 160 with the graphical preview representations
associated with application in the list. For example, mobile OS 130
may return a bitmap image for the preview screens or a pointer to a
shared memory location that includes the preview screen graphics
information.
[0088] The user may select preview screens within preview window
1070 to reconfigure the active application screens. For example,
the user may select preview screen 1072 to switch the currently
displayed user environment for application 832 from the first
active user environment 115 to the second active user environment
140. The user may select any of preview screens 1076, 1078, or 1080
to resume the corresponding application 1036, 1038, or 1040 within
the second active user environment 140. That is, selecting one of
preview screens 1076, 1078, or 1080 will open a new console window
on display 144 (and corresponding console application running on
desktop OS 160) and resume the corresponding application, with a
restarted or resumed application screen associated with the
application displayed within the new console window on display 144.
Accordingly, the user can graphically browse and navigate running
applications of mobile OS 130 through preview window 1070 of
desktop OS 160, even where those applications are in a background
state and graphical information for associated preview screens is
unavailable.
[0089] As described above, embodiments include an Android mobile OS
430 and a full Linux desktop OS 660 ("Hydroid") running on a
modified Android kernel 520. These embodiments may include a window
position control feature within the Android OS 430 that includes
functionality for managing application preview screens and
providing application preview screen data to components with
Hydroid OS 660. FIG. 11 illustrates components of the window
position control system 1100 of Android OS 430 that implement
window position control features allowing the user to view and
navigate through applications using multiple displays and/or
multiple active user environments. The components of window
position control system 1100 include services, managers, and/or
application level components of Android OS 430.
[0090] The offscreen gesture controller 1104 ("OSGC") and the
navigation manager 1110 are user interface components that
manipulate a linear model of the Android OS application stack by
way of an intermediary known as the application model manager 1112.
The application model manager 1112 provides methods to both examine
and modify the linear model using the Android activity manager
service 441 to do this. In effect the application model manager
1112 transforms the stack view of Android OS 430 to the linear view
presented in the navigation manager 1110. Both the OSGC 1104
together with the transition controller 1106 and the navigation
manager 1110 manipulate snapshot views of application screens. The
navigation manager 1110 may use bitmap images of application
screens, while the OSGC 1104 works with live (or apparently live)
application screens themselves. To support both of these components
the bitmap server 1114 provides mechanisms for rapid capture
restore manipulation of the application image screens via JNI calls
to C++ code designed to minimize image data transfers.
[0091] The bitmap server 1114 is a class that resides in the
Android surface manager (i.e., SurfaceFlinger) 434. The bitmap
server 1114 provides a highly efficient mechanism to manipulate
windows such that the window position control system 1100 can
provide intuitive visual effects for application browsing and
navigation. The bitmap server 1114 provides an interface to the
Java layers (e.g., application layer 450, runtime environment 431)
such that window manipulation may be controlled from within Java
layers.
[0092] The bitmap server 1114 maintains a handle and reference to
all active surfaces so that window animations can be applied to any
active surfaces and created based on the data within the active
surface. When a surface is destroyed by SurfaceFlinger, the bitmap
server persists a copy of the surface data so that it can be used
to provide window animations for those applications that are no
longer active. The bitmap server 1114 also provides bitmap images
of surface data to the application model manager and destroys
resources (references to surfaces, and persisted surface data) when
invoked to do so by the application model manager. The bitmap
server 1114 also creates window transition graphics from surface
data including arranging window surfaces in a particular Z-order
and/or creating new surfaces from rectangle coordinates of existing
surfaces for transitions.
[0093] The offscreen gesture controller 1104 provides
interpretations of user gestures, utilizing a factory class to
create various types of transition objects to provide the on-screen
visual effects corresponding types of gesture being performed. More
particularly, the offscreen gesture controller may be a class in an
existing system service that receives motion events from the window
manager service 443 and processes them. Upon detecting the
beginning of an offscreen gesture the offscreen gesture controller
may invoke the transition controller factory to create an instance
of the appropriate transition controller type. The offscreen
gesture controller may filter out motion events with unintentional
offscreen gestures are not processed, record statistics for all
motion events within the scope of the gesture should so that
gesture velocity may be calculated, and pass "move" motion events
to the current transition controller so they can process the events
and direct the required visual animation. Upon receiving a response
from the current transition controller indicating it cannot
continue movement in a given direction, the offscreen gesture
controller may invoke the transition controller factory 906 to
create a new instance of a transition controller so that gesture
processing can continue. Upon receipt of an up motion event the
offscreen gesture controller may invoke the completion method of
the current transition controller to automatically complete the
transition. Upon completion of the transition invoke, the window
manager service 443 may freeze the display so the configuration
changes can be processed by applications without unwanted visual
effects.
[0094] The transition controller factory 906 may receive
invocations from the off-screen gesture controller 904 to create
instances of transition controllers. Upon invocation to create a
transition controller instance, the transition controller factory
may retrieve state data and handles to application surface data
from the application model manager 912. For example, the transition
controller factory may retrieve state data and handles to graphical
information for applications that are visible, for applications
that will become visible due to the transition, and/or on which
display the relevant applications are visible and the type of
information for each application (e.g., application display
properties). Upon invocation from the offscreen gesture controller
904, the transition controller factory creates a transition
controller of the appropriate type based on the direction of the
gesture, which applications are visible (at the top of the stack),
which application screen will become visible because of window
movement, and/or on which display the application screen is
intended to be visible. The transition controller factory 906 may
be a class residing in an existing mobile OS system service. In one
embodiment, the transition controller factory 906 is a class of the
Android OS 430 system service.
[0095] FIG. 12 illustrates a process flow 1200 for
cross-environment application navigation using a captured last
graphical representation of an application screen, according to
various embodiments. In a first block 1202 of process flow 1200, a
first application is run on a first operating system of a mobile
computing device. At a second block 1204, a first application
screen associated with the application is displayed on an active
display device. For example, the application screen may be
displayed on a display device of the mobile computing device that
defines a first active user environment. At block 1206, an
application interaction state change event is received that
indicates the current interaction state for the first application
is to be changed from a foreground to a background state. For
example, another application running on the first operating system
may be started or swapped to the foreground on the display device.
As described above, a transition controller may be invoked by the
transition controller factory 906 to handle the interaction state
change.
[0096] At block 1208, the first operating system captures a
graphical representation of the first application screen. For
example, the first operating system may include a bit-map server in
a surface manager that captures a bit-map representation of the
active application screen surfaces. At block 1210, the interaction
state of the first application is changed from the foreground state
to the backgrounds state. At this stage, processes associated with
the first application screen may be paused, stopped, and/or
suspended by the first operating system. The first operating system
may maintain the first application on an application activity
stack, and, at block 1212, the first operating system associates a
position of the application activity stack with the captured
bit-map image.
[0097] At block 1214, an input command is received related to the
application activity stack. The input command may be received
within a second active user environment. The second active user
environment may be associated with the first operating system or a
second operating system running concurrently with the first
operating system on a shared kernel of the mobile computing device.
At block 1216, a representation of the bitmap image is displayed
within a graphical representation of the application activity
stack. The graphical representation of the application activity
stack may be displayed across active user environments to allow
cross-environment graphical navigation of foreground and background
applications of the mobile operating system.
[0098] The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of
illustration and description. Furthermore, the description is not
intended to limit embodiments of the invention to the form
disclosed herein. While a number of exemplary aspects and
embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art
will recognize certain variations, modifications, permutations,
additions, and sub-combinations thereof.
[0099] The various operations of methods described above may be
performed by any suitable means capable of performing the
corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware
and/or software component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not
limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit
(ASIC), or processor.
[0100] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described may be implemented or performed with a general
purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a
field programmable gate array signal (FPGA), or other programmable
logic device (PLD), discrete gate, or transistor logic, discrete
hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform
the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be
a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any
commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or
state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination
of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a
microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such
configuration.
[0101] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection
with the present disclosure, may be embodied directly in hardware,
in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination
of the two. A software module may reside in any form of tangible
storage medium. Some examples of storage media that may be used
include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash
memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a
removable disk, a CD-ROM and so forth. A storage medium may be
coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information
from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the
alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. A
software module may be a single instruction, or many instructions,
and may be distributed over several different code segments, among
different programs, and across multiple storage media.
[0102] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more actions
for achieving the described method. The method and/or actions may
be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope
of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of actions
is specified, the order and/or use of specific actions may be
modified without departing from the scope of the claims.
[0103] The functions described may be implemented in hardware,
software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in
software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions
on a tangible computer-readable medium. A storage medium may be any
available tangible medium that can be accessed by a computer. By
way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media
can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk
storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices,
or any other tangible medium that can be used to carry or store
desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures
and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used
herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,
digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray.RTM. disc
where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs
reproduce data optically with lasers.
[0104] Thus, a computer program product may perform operations
presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may
be a computer readable tangible medium having instructions tangibly
stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable
by one or more processors to perform the operations described
herein. The computer program product may include packaging
material.
[0105] Software or instructions may also be transmitted over a
transmission medium. For example, software may be transmitted from
a website, server, or other remote source using a transmission
medium such as a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,
digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology such as
infrared, radio, or microwave.
[0106] Further, modules and/or other appropriate means for
performing the methods and techniques described herein can be
downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or base
station as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to
a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the
methods described herein. Alternatively, various methods described
herein can be provided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a
physical storage medium such as a CD or floppy disk, etc.), such
that a user terminal and/or base station can obtain the various
methods upon coupling or providing the storage means to the device.
Moreover, any other suitable technique for providing the methods
and techniques described herein to a device can be utilized.
[0107] Other examples and implementations are within the scope and
spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to
the nature of software, functions described above can be
implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware,
firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features
implementing functions may also be physically located at various
positions, including being distributed such that portions of
functions are implemented at different physical locations. Also, as
used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of
items prefaced by "at least one of indicates a disjunctive list
such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C"
means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).
Further, the term "exemplary" does not mean that the described
example is preferred or better than other examples.
[0108] Various changes, substitutions, and alterations to the
techniques described herein can be made without departing from the
technology of the teachings as defined by the appended claims.
Moreover, the scope of the disclosure and claims is not limited to
the particular aspects of the process, machine, manufacture,
composition of matter, means, methods, and actions described above.
Processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,
methods, or actions, presently existing or later to be developed,
that perform substantially the same function or achieve
substantially the same result as the corresponding aspects
described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims
include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture,
compositions of matter, means, methods, or actions.
* * * * *