Techniques for facilitating communications between isolated processes executing within a web browser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11822604-B2
Application number	US-202117306298-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2021
Priority date	May 30, 2018
Publication date	Nov 21, 2023
Grant date	Nov 21, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a technique for enabling isolated processes executing within a web browser to distribute information to one another. The method can be implemented by a first process executing within the web browser, and include the steps of (1) receiving, from a child process executing within the web browser, a first request to subscribe to a topic, (2) in response to identifying that the child process is not subscribed to the topic: updating a topic map to indicate that the child process is subscribed to the topic, and (3) in response to identifying that the first process is associated with the parent process: issuing, to the parent process, a second request for the first process to subscribe to the topic. Also disclosed herein is a method for enabling a first process executing within a web browser to access services provided by other processes executing within the web browser.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by at least one processor included in a computing device, cause the computing device to enable a first process executing within a web browser to access services provided by other processes executing within the web browser, by carrying out steps that include, at the first process:
receiving, from a child process, a request to register a service;
updating a service map associated with the first process to reflect that the service is accessible via the child process;
determining whether the first process is associated with a parent process;
in response to determining that the first process is associated with the parent process:
issuing, to the parent process, a second request to register the service;

receiving, from a process, a connection request directed to the service;
identifying, based on the service map, that the service is accessible via the child process; and
forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process provides the connection request to the service.

2. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising:
forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process directly or indirectly provides the connection request to the service;
receiving, from the child process, a connection acknowledgement that corresponds to the connection request;
forwarding the connection acknowledgement to the process;
receiving, from the process, a message addressed to the service; and
forwarding the message to the child process, wherein the child process directly or indirectly provides the message to the service.

3. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the request to register the service includes:
a name for the service; and
a unique identifier (ID) for a process that implements the service.

4. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the process that implements the service is:
the child process itself, or
an additional process that is a child to the child process.

5. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the request to register the service further includes:
a name for the child process.

6. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein updating the service map comprises:
adding, to the service map, an entry that establishes an association between (1) the name for the child process, and (2) the name for the service and the unique ID for the child process.

7. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a condition to implement a second service at the first process;
identifying whether the first process is associated with the parent process; and
in response to identifying that the first process is associated with the parent process:
issuing, to the parent process, a third request to register the second service.

8. A computing device configured to enable a first process executing within a web browser to access services provided by other processes executing within the web browser, the computing device comprising:
at least one processor;
and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to implement a first process executing within the web browser configured to:
receiving, from a child process, a request to register a service;
updating a service map associated with the first process to reflect that the service is accessible via the child process;
determining whether the first process is associated with a parent process;
in response to determining that the first process is associated with the parent process:
issuing, to the parent process, a second request to register the service;

receiving, from a process, a connection request directed to the service;
identifying, based on the service map, that the service is accessible via the child process; and

forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process provides the connection request to the service.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the first process executing within the web browser is further configured to:
forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process directly or indirectly provides the connection request to the service;
receiving, from the child process, a connection acknowledgement that corresponds to the connection request;
forwarding the connection acknowledgement to the process;
receiving, from the process, a message addressed to the service; and
forwarding the message to the child process, wherein the child process directly or indirectly provides the message to the service.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the request to register the service includes:
a name for the service; and
a unique identifier (ID) for a process that implements the service.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the first process executing within the web browser is further configured to:
the child process itself, or
an additional process that is a child to the child process.

12. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the request to register the service further includes:
a name for the child process.

13. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein updating the service map comprises:
adding, to the service map, an entry that establishes an association between (1) the name for the child process, and (2) the name for the service and the unique ID for the child process.

14. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the first process executing within the web browser is further configured to:
identifying a condition to implement a second service at the first process;
identifying whether the first process is associated with the parent process; and
in response to identifying that the first process is associated with the parent process:
issuing, to the parent process, a third request to register the second service.

15. A method for a first process executing within a web browser to access services provided by other processes executing within the web browser, the method comprising, at a first process executing within the web browser:
receiving, from a child process, a request to register a service;
updating a service map associated with the first process to reflect that the service is accessible via the child process;
determining whether the first process is associated with a parent process;
in response to determining that the first process is associated with the parent process:
issuing, to the parent process, a second request to register the service;
receiving, from a process, a connection request directed to the service;
identifying, based on the service map, that the service is accessible via the child process; and

forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process provides the connection request to the service.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
forwarding the connection request to the child process, wherein the child process directly or indirectly provides the connection request to the service;
receiving, from the child process, a connection acknowledgement that corresponds to the connection request;
forwarding the connection acknowledgement to the process;
receiving, from the process, a message a

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Kapke Eric T
• Kirsch Brian E
• Kakes William E
• Calvo Ramiro

Classifications

• G06F16/9027 Primary

  Trees · CPC title

• G06F9/54

  Interprogram communication · CPC title

• G06F16/951

  Indexing; Web crawling techniques · CPC title

• G06F9/542 Primary

  Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications · CPC title

• G06F9/546

  Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues · CPC title