Multi-environment operating system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9389877-B2
Application number	US-83898410-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2010
Priority date	Jul 20, 2009
Publication date	Jul 12, 2016
Grant date	Jul 12, 2016

Abstract

A device with multiple, co-existing, and independent environments interacting with a common kernel, and related methods of operation, are disclosed herein. In at least one embodiment, the device is a mobile device on which a run-time method is performed. The run-time method includes interpreting a first software application on a register-based virtual machine coupled to a kernel. The method additionally includes concurrently executing a second software application also coupled to the kernel, where the second software application is a compiled software application. The interpreting of the first software application is performed using a first library, and the executing of the second software application is performed using a second library.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A run-time method performed by mobile device, the method comprising:
interpreting a first software application on a register-based virtual machine coupled to a kernel; and
concurrently executing a second software application also coupled to the kernel, wherein the second software application is a compiled software application,
wherein the interpreting of the first software application is performed using a first library,
wherein the executing of the second software application is performed using a second library,
wherein the first library is comprised of first middleware of a first environment established on the device, wherein the second library is comprised of a second middleware of a second environment established on the device,
wherein the kernel is configured to allocate resources of the device by managing interactions between device hardware and each of the first middleware of the first environment and the second middleware of the second environment,
wherein each one of the first and second environment is configured to communicate directly with the kernel,
wherein each one of the first and second environments is configured to communicate directly with the other of the first and second environments and to provide status updates for processes that provide run-time status information,
wherein the first and second environments are configured to operate concurrently directly in relation to the kernel even if the other of the first and second environments is not present, and
wherein the second environment comprises a resource manager that is configured to communicate with the first environment and to manage a group of the resources of the device that are shared by the first environment and the second environment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first library is smaller than the second library.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second library is substantially POSIX compliant.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first library is bionic and the second library is glibc.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second software application includes C code or C++ code, and wherein the first software application is interpreted using a byte-code-interpreter.

6. A run-time method performed by a mobile device, the method comprising:
interpreting at least one first software application on a register-based virtual machine coupled to a kernel, wherein the at least one first software application and the register-based virtual machine are comprised in a first environment; and
concurrently executing at least one second software application also coupled to the kernel, wherein the second software application is a compiled software application and is comprised in a second environment,
wherein the kernel is configured to allocate resources of the device by managing interactions between device hardware and each of first middleware of the first environment and second middleware of the second environment,
wherein each one of the first and second environments is configured to communicate directly with the kernel,
wherein each one of the first and second environment is configured to communicate directly with the other of the first and second environments and to provide status updates for processes that provide run-time status information,
wherein each one of the first and second environments is capable of operation directly in relation to the kernel even if the other of the first and second environments is not present, and
wherein the second environment comprises a resource manager that is configured to communicate with the first environment and to manage a group of the resources of the device that are shared by the first environment and the second environment.

7. A device comprising:
at least one processing device; and
at least one storage device that stores computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions include:
first instructions that when performed by the at least one processing device establish a first environment that interacts with a kernel, wherein the first environment includes a first library and is configured for interpreting run-time interpreted code on a register-based virtual machine by way of the first library;
second instructions that when performed by the at least one processing device establish a second environment that interacts with the kernel, wherein the second environment includes a second library and is configured for executing pre-run-time compiled C/C++ code by way of the second library; and
third instructions that when performed by the at least one processing device establish the kernel,
wherein the first environment includes first middleware and the second environment includes second middleware,
wherein the kernel is configured to allocate resources of the device by managing interactions between device hardware and each of the first middleware of the first environment and the second middleware of the second environment,
wherein each one of the first and second environments is configured to communicate directly with the kernel,
wherein each one of the first and second environment is configured to communicate directly with the other of the first and second environments and to provide status updates for processes that provide run-time status information,
wherein each one of the first and second environments is capable of operation directly in relation to the kernel even if the other of the first and second environments is not present, and
wherein the second environment comprises a resource manager that is configured to communicate with the first environment and to manage a group of the resources of the device that are shared by the first environment and the second environment.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein each of the first and second middleware includes a respective application framework, wherein the first middleware includes the first library, and wherein the second middleware includes the second library.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the first library includes a bionic library and the second library includes a glibc library, wherein the kernel is a Linux based kernel, and wherein the kernel interfaces between at least one hardware device and each of the first and second middleware.

10. The device of claim 7 , wherein the second environment includes one of the following desktop environments: GNOME, Enlightenment, Xfce, Fluxbox, LXDE or KDE.

11. The device of claim 7 , wherein the second environment includes an X11 Window manager.

12. The device of claim 7 , wherein the second environment supports a multiplicity of logical memory partitions while the first environment is limited to only a single data partition in addition to a system area.

13. The device of claim 7 , wherein the second environment includes a Gstreamer multimedia framework.

14. The device of claim 7 , wherein the device is a mobile device, and wherein the second environment supports either a greater number of display resolutions or higher-level display resolutions than the first environment.

15. The device of claim 7 , wherein the first environment includes one or more of (a) includes a radio interface layer, (b) allows for the performing of GPS functioning, and (c) is released under an Apache license.

16. The device of claim 7 , further comprising a display, wherein the second instructions enable a first showing of a plurality of windows on the display but the first instructions only allow for a second showing of only a single window on the display.

17. A method for operating a device having a kernel,

Assignees

• Galicia Joshua D
• Carlyle Jeffrey C
• Tzakis Andrew N
• Google Technology Holdings LLC

Inventors

• Galicia Joshua D
• Carlyle Jeffrey C
• Tzakis Andrew N

Classifications

• G06F9/441 Primary

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