Virtual Machine Monitor Composite Window List Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties navigating between applications in a virtual machine environment, as there is no direct mechanism to interact with or launch host or guest OS applications simultaneously, requiring continuous swapping between separate windows.
Innovation Solution
A composite window list managed by the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) integrates the configuration, focus, geometry, and Z-order of windows across host and guest OSes, allowing host and guest application windows to appear in a single display, providing a seamless user interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If separate windows are used for host and guest OS applications, then application compatibility is maintained, but user navigation becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges host OS application windows and guest OS application windows into a single integrated display area. The VMM captures windows from both host and guest OSes and presents them together in one unified display, eliminating the need for users to switch between separate windows and reducing navigation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) acts as an intermediary between the host OS, guest OS, and the display system. It intercepts window creation requests from both host and guest OSes, manages them through a composite window list, and presents them unified to the user, thereby resolving the navigation difficulty without affecting application compatibility.
2Ease of operation
If a unified display is implemented, then user interface simplicity is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The VMM serves as an intermediary layer that abstracts the complexity of managing multiple OS windows. It introduces a composite window list data structure and intercepts window management requests, handling the integration logic centrally while keeping the host and guest OSes unchanged, thus managing complexity in a controlled manner.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite window list that is a copy or representation of the actual window states from both host and guest OSes. This composite list allows the VMM to manage and present windows in a unified manner without directly modifying the underlying OS window management systems, thereby simplifying the integration process.
3Ease of operation
If application windows are integrated, then ease of operation is improved, but window management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the window management system into distinct components: a composite window list that tracks all windows, individual window capture mechanisms for host and guest OSes, and a presentation layer that renders windows in unified order. This segmentation allows each component to handle specific tasks independently, managing complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The VMM implements feedback mechanisms where window management actions (creation, movement, focus changes) from both host and guest OSes are captured and reflected in the composite window list. This feedback loop ensures that the unified display accurately reflects the actual window states, maintaining consistency while enabling integrated interaction.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention includes systems for and methods of visually integrating application windows in a virtual machine environment. Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system for and method of visually integrating application windows of host and guest operating system in a virtual machine environment in order to reduce difficulties that the users of computers experience in navigating between applications in a virtual machine environment. The present invention accomplishes this by using a composite window list in the virtual machine monitor (VMM) to manage the configuration, the focus, the geometry, the Z-order of the windows across guest and host operating systems, and the arrangement of doppelgangers (virtual application windows, in this case) in a way that allows host and guest application windows to appear integrated in a single display window.