Guest Application Display Without Polling or Buffer Copying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for displaying guest applications on host operating systems incur substantial processing overhead due to polling and copying of drawing buffers, as the host OS lacks timely information on guest application frame completion.
Innovation Solution
A buffer provision application (BPA) allocates a drawing buffer for guest applications within the host OS, allowing direct frame data drawing and reducing the need for polling and copying by facilitating access to the buffer for composite display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the host OS periodically polls the guest application to determine when a frame is complete, then the host OS can obtain the guest application's drawing buffer, but substantial processing costs are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the guest application notifies the host OS when frame drawing is complete. The buffer provision application receives notifications from the guest application about frame completion status, eliminating the need for continuous polling by the host OS. This feedback loop allows the host OS to efficiently obtain the drawing buffer only when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The guest application autonomously manages its own drawing buffer completion status by notifying the host OS when drawing is complete. Instead of the host OS continuously checking (polling) the guest application, the guest application self-services by主动 notifying the host OS of frame completion, thereby reducing the processing overhead on the host OS.
2Ease of operation
If the host OS performs a copy of the guest application's local drawing buffer to the host OS's back buffer, then the guest application frame can be displayed on the device screen, but substantial processing costs are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a buffer provision application that acts as an intermediary to manage buffer sharing between the guest application and host OS. Instead of direct copying from guest application buffer to host OS back buffer, the system establishes a shared buffer mechanism where the buffer provision application allocates and manages the drawing buffer, reducing the need for frequent memory copy operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer provision application serves as an intermediary between the guest application and the host OS display system. It manages the drawing buffer allocation and coordinates frame transfer, eliminating the need for the host OS to directly poll and copy buffers from the guest application. This intermediary layer streamlines the buffer management process and reduces processing overhead.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the guest application executes within an emulator that emulates its expected OS environment, then the guest application can execute properly, but difficulties are experienced when attempting to allow the guest application to draw to a screen of the computing device
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer provision application acts as an intermediary layer between the emulator/guest application and the host OS display system. It manages the drawing buffer and coordinates frame transfer, bridging the gap between the emulated environment and the host display hardware. This intermediary simplifies the integration complexity by providing a standardized interface for buffer management.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer provision application provides universal buffer management functionality that works across different guest operating systems and emulator configurations. It establishes a common interface for frame buffer sharing that is independent of the specific guest OS, thereby reducing display integration complexity while maintaining cross-platform execution capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media for buffer provision application ("BFA") are described. The BPA may facilitate display of a guest application executing in a host operating system ("host OS"). The host OS may provide for execution of a guest application, such as through use of an emulator configured to emulate a guest OS environment. The BFA may provide a drawing buffer for use by the guest application. The drawing buffer may be caused to be allocated within the host OS by the BFA. The BFA may then cause the allocated buffer to be provided to the guest application so that the guest application may draw frame data directly to the drawing buffer. The BFA may then facilitate access to the drawing buffer by the host OS when compositing drawing buffer data with other drawing data of the host OS. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.