Integrated user interface for consuming services across different distributed networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10129344-B2
Application number	US-201615264453-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2016
Priority date	Jun 19, 2014
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

User interface integration across multiple clouds is achieved by hosting UI extensions for different services in the same browser window. The UI extensions are initialized by a shell with any necessary security context for the corresponding cloud. The shell provides versioning so that the newest version of the UI is presented to users for all versions of a service. A connector in a local cloud provides translation between APIs across different clouds.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for providing a user interface on a display of a computing device that allows access to cloud services provided by multiple distinct cloud computing systems via the user interface, the method comprising:
displaying, via the user interface on the display of the computing device, a list of cloud services available to a user based on an identity of the user, the cloud services in the list being provided by the multiple distinct cloud computing systems;
receiving, via the user interface on the display of the computing device, a user input selecting a cloud service from the displayed list of cloud services; and
upon receiving the user input selecting the cloud service,
identifying, at the computing device, a cloud computing system corresponding to the selected cloud service from the multiple distinct cloud computing systems;
transmitting, from the computing device and via a computer network, an access request to the identified cloud computing system for accessing the selected cloud service provided by the identified cloud computing system;
receiving, from the cloud computing system via the computer network, an extension script associated with the selected cloud service, the extension script identifying a view model;
executing, with a processor of the computing device, the retrieved extension script at the computing device; and
surfacing or presenting, on the user interface, an interface object corresponding to the selected cloud service as specified by the view model in the executed extension script.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the list of cloud services includes:
displaying a webpage in a web browser;
executing a script in the webpage to identify (i) the list of cloud services to the user based on the user's subscriptions to the cloud services and (ii) an interface object associated with the list of cloud services; and
outputting, the list of cloud services in the interface object, as a part of the user interface.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:
identifying the cloud computing system includes identifying a network address at which the selected cloud service provided by the cloud computing system is accessible; and
transmitting the access request includes transmitting, via the computer network, the access request to the identified network address for accessing the selected cloud service provided by the identified cloud computing system.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the received extension script also includes a content retrieving script; and
the method further includes:
executing the content retrieving script to retrieve content via the computer network; and
outputting the retrieved content on the interface object corresponding to the selected cloud service as specified by the view model in the extension script.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
executing a script associated with a webpage in a web browser to provide the user interface, the executed script providing a shell configured to facilitate execution of extensions;
the received extension script also specifies a content source; and
the method further includes:
generating, at the shell, a request to retrieve content from the content source;
transmitting, via the computer network, the generated request to the content source; and
receiving, from the content source, the requested content in response to the transmitted content request; and
providing the received content to the interface object corresponding to the selected cloud service to be outputted to the user.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein:
generating, at the shell, the request to retrieve content from the content source includes generating, at the shell, an asynchronous JavaScript and XML (“AJAX”) call; and
transmitting the generated request includes transmitting, via the computer network, the generated AJAX call to the content source.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
associating the received content with the selected cloud service; and
subsequently, providing the received content to the interface object corresponding to the selected cloud service to be outputted to the user.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the cloud service is a first cloud service;
the cloud computing system is a first cloud computing system;
the interface object is a first interface object;
the method further includes:
receiving, via the same user interface, another user input selecting a second cloud service different than the first cloud service;
in response to receiving the another user input,
identifying a second cloud computing system corresponding to the second cloud service, the second cloud computing system being different than the first cloud computing system;
transmitting, via the computer network, another access request to the second cloud computing system for accessing the second cloud service;
receiving, from the second cloud computing system via the computer network, another extension script associated with the second cloud service, the another extension script identifying another view model different than the view model associated with the first cloud service; and
executing the received another extension script with the processor of the computing device and updating the user interface to display another interface object corresponding to the second cloud service as specified by the executed another view model without switching the user interface.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the cloud service is a first cloud service;
the cloud computing system is a first cloud computing system;
the interface object is a first interface object;
the user interface includes a webpage on a web browser; and
the method further includes:
receiving, via the webpage, another user input selecting a second cloud service different from the first cloud service;
in response to receiving the another user input,
identifying a second cloud computing system corresponding to the second cloud service;
transmitting, via the computer network, another access request to the second cloud computing system for accessing the second cloud service;
receiving, from the second cloud computing system, another extension script associated with the second cloud service, the another extension script identifying another view model different than the view model associated with the first cloud service; and
executing the received another extension script with the processor of the computing device and outputting, on the same webpage in the web browser, another interface object corresponding to the second cloud service as specified by the executed another view model without switching to a new webpage in the web browser.

10. A computing system for providing a user interface that allows access to cloud services provided by multiple distinct cloud via the same user interface, the computing system comprising:
a processor;
a display operatively coupled to the processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform a process comprising:
outputting, on the display, a webpage in a web browser;
receiving, via a webpage in a browser, a user input selecting a cloud service; and
in response to receiving the user input selecting the cloud service,
determining a cloud computing system associated with the selected cloud service from the multiple distinct cloud computing systems;
transmitting, from the computing system and via a computer network, an access request to the determined cloud computing system for accessing the selected cloud service provided by the determined cloud computing system;
retrieving, from the determined cloud comp

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Pogrebinsky Vladimir
• Tandon Manish
• Natarajan Shriram
• Zheng Jiewen
• Bartz Bradley

Classifications

• G06F9/45512

  Command shells · CPC title

• G06F9/5072 Primary

  Grid computing · CPC title

• G06F9/541

  via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications · CPC title

• H04L63/0815

  providing single-sign-on or federations · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title