Application Launcher Framework for Network Device OS Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional network devices lack integration of external applications with their operating system, leading to issues such as inability to recover crashed applications, lack of automatic restart during failovers, and user-manual management of applications.
Innovation Solution
An application launcher and management framework (ALM framework) that enables external applications to be executed and managed within the network device's operating system, monitoring application and device states to perform specified actions like restarting or flushing data during crashes or failovers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If external applications are executed on a network device without integration with the NOS, then the device can run third-party applications, but the applications cannot be automatically recovered or managed when crashes or failovers occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges external applications with the network operating system by integrating them into the same process management framework. The NOS process manager takes over responsibility for managing external applications, treating them similarly to native NOS applications. This integration enables the NOS to provide automatic recovery, failover handling, and centralized management capabilities to external applications, resolving the reliability issue while maintaining execution flexibility.
2Reliability
If redundant management modules are provided for high availability, then failover can occur to maintain network device functionality, but external applications are lost during failover and cannot be automatically restarted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the process manager continuously monitors the state of external applications and the status of management modules. During failover events, the process manager receives feedback about the failover occurrence and automatically responds by restarting external applications on the new active module. This closed-loop control ensures applications are restored without manual intervention, minimizing downtime while maintaining high availability.
3Device complexity
If the NOS is made unaware of external applications to maintain system simplicity, then the NOS remains easy to manage, but users must manually handle loading, launching, and management of applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the NOS process manager to automatically discover, load, launch, and manage external applications without requiring user intervention. The process manager self-services by monitoring application states, detecting crashes or failovers, and automatically taking corrective actions such as restarting applications. This automation eliminates the manual management burden on users while the NOS maintains its core simplicity by delegating application management to the existing process management infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
An application launcher and management framework (ALM framework) is provided for enabling and managing the execution of external applications (e.g., third party applications) on a network device. The ALM framework enables external applications to be executed and managed on a network device based upon configuration information specified for the external applications. In certain embodiments, the ALM framework enables an external application to be executed within the network device's network operating system (NOS) as if the application was provided as part of the NOS. By enabling the external application to be integrated with the network device's NOS, the ALM framework enables several services provided by the NOS to be made available to the external application.