Method and system for on demand downloading of module to enable remote control of an application program over a network

Abstract

The system and method is disclosed for remotely controlling an application program over a network. The system includes an application interception module and remote display module. The remote display module is transported across the network and executed on the user system in response to a user's request to provide on-demand remote control of an application program. The application interception module captures an I/O stream generated by an application program, converts it to remote control protocol messages and transports them across a network to the remote display module executing in the user system. The remote display module converts the remote control protocol messages to system calls compatible with the operating system environment for the users computer. Likewise, the remote display module converts system calls to the local resource interface in the user's computer to remote control protocol messages which are transported across the network to the application interception module. The application interception module interface converts the remote control protocol messages to system calls for the application program. In this manner, output from the application program is provided to the user's computer and input actions at the user's computer are provided to the application program. Preferably, the remote display modules and application programs are presented through HTTP servers over a network to a user's system which uses a browser having a JAVA interpreter to execute the remote display module and convert the remote control protocol messages.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to remote execution of computer programs, and, more particularly, to remote execution of computer programs over a network.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONSelling computer software for home and business applications is a major market. In the retail market, competition is fierce in getting a program, sometimes called titles, before a consumer to be considered in the purchasing decision. Shelf space for new titles is extremely limited and every title for every publisher simply cannot be displayed. Consequently, software publishers look for other channels that can be used to get titles before consumers.One of the other channels used by software publishers or manufacturers is direct advertising in computer publications. Another channel is direct marketing to potential consumers of computer software. However, accurate information about the programs is difficult to obtain through these channels. For example, the advertising copy may concentrate on th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Most preferably, the PTOM is used to reduce the latency in the communication time associated with networks. Most Internet users couple to the Internet through a telephone twisted pair line. The bandwidth for this type of communication conduit is relatively narrow. To reduce response times, the PTOM has an associated cache memory in which data about the system in which the RDM is executing are stored. The PTOM parses system calls received from the AIM to determine whether the call is requesting information stored in the cache memory. If the information is stored in the cache memory, the information is retrieved and returned to the application. In this way, the time associated with the transmission of the system call to and the receipt of the response from the RDM is avoided.

Problems solved by technology

Shelf space for new titles is extremely limited and every title for every publisher simply cannot be displayed.

However, accurate information about the programs is difficult to obtain through these channels.

For example, the advertising copy may concentrate on the features provided by the software and, because space is limited, not disclose all the hardware and support software required for executing the advertised program.

This, in turn, may lead the consumer to view advertising information for all software products with a measure of skepticism.

While demonstration software more fully informs consumers about the capability and user friendliness of the software, it does suffer from an important limitation--timelines.

If the demonstration version of the program is shipped on a diskette, the consumer may be busy when it arrives and simply never attempt to install the demonstration version for evaluation.

While this approach reduces the time between the consumer's request for the software and its delivery, it still requires the consumer to contact the download facility for a copy of the program in response to advertising in a publication.

Since the consumer's computer may not be accessible at the time that the publication is read, the consumer's interest may wane before she uses her computer system again.

While the Internet, HTTP and HTML provide a commercially viable marketplace for software advertising and product demonstration, there are still limitations that restrain the effectiveness of this type of marketing once the consumer leaves the manufacturer's server site with the demonstration product.

As a result, the consumer may not be able to install the demonstration program properly and the program may abort its execution as a result.

Just as unproductive, the consumer may become so frustrated during the installation procedure that he simply postpones the activation of the program and there is no way of ensuring the consumer later activates the program for the demonstration.

Even if the consumer installs the program with relative ease, the consumer's unfamiliarity with the capabilities of the demonstrated program may lead the user to improperly evaluate the program.

All of these possibilities negatively impact the likelihood that a consumer will make a decision to purchase the software.

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