Shell Sessions Message Protocol for Remote Command Execution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current remote command-line shell protocols are inefficient and prone to errors due to their character-by-character approach, leading to mistaken command executions, lack of early mistake recognition, and incompatibility across platforms and languages, resulting in inefficiencies and interoperability issues.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a message-oriented protocol that binds commands as structured units, separates input and output streams, and models shell operations as messages rather than characters, allowing for platform-agnostic and secure command execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a character-by-character protocol is used for remote shell execution, then basic remote command execution is enabled, but network efficiency deteriorates and error recognition is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous character stream into discrete command units bounded by specific delimiters (e.g., '@' for command start, '#' for command end). This segmentation allows the receiving system to process complete commands as atomic units rather than character-by-character, enabling early error detection when a command unit is incomplete or malformed, while improving network efficiency through bulk transmission of delimited command blocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary validation of command units at the delimiter boundaries before full execution. The system checks whether complete command units have been received and validates their structure before processing, enabling early mistake recognition without waiting for the entire interaction sequence to complete, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and time loss.
2Reliability
If character-by-character input processing is used, then simple protocol implementation is achieved, but command execution correctness deteriorates due to mistaken command recognition
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces delimiter characters as intermediaries between the command input and execution processing. These delimiters (@, #, etc.) act as markers that clearly separate command units from other input streams, allowing the system to reliably identify command boundaries without complex parsing logic. This intermediary mechanism ensures command execution correctness while keeping the protocol implementation relatively simple through straightforward delimiter-based recognition.
3Adaptability or versatility
If platform-specific character sequences are used, then native shell functionality is maintained, but interoperability across platforms deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal delimited command format that can encapsulate platform-specific shell commands while maintaining a consistent protocol structure across different platforms. The delimiter-based command units can carry any platform-specific syntax (Unix, Windows, etc.) within a standardized transport format, enabling a single protocol implementation to work across multiple platforms while preserving native shell functionality through proper command translation and execution at the target platform.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein are based on the principle that shells execute commands as units of characters sent within a message. Accordingly, embodiments herein provide for establishing a remote processing session for commands by using a binding mechanism that binds a series of commands to a remote shell using a message rather than a binary stream of data. More specifically, embodiments herein provided for a mechanism of encapsulating both a command and a binding mechanism (e.g., a shell identifier and/or shell token) into a single message. Accordingly, the binding mechanism can be used throughout the lifetime of the session and allows for modeling the shell processor session (its lifetime) as a series of commands, rather than as a series of characters. In addition, note that because the binding mechanism for the shell sessions is sent within messages, the problems associated with binary or character-by-character establishment of current shell sessions are overcome.