Patent Publication Number: US-8527787-B2

Title: Location based policy system and method for changing virtual computing environments

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. 
     No. 11/961,854, entitled “LOCATION BASED POLICY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANGING COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS,” which was filed on Dec. 20, 2007 and is now U.S. patent, Ser. No. 8,161,299. 
     This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/004,111 entitled, “DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF POWER SAVING USING LOCATION SENSING MODULES,” Attorney Docket No. P-70212-US, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and filed on Dec. 20, 2007. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is generally related to ubiquitous computing. More particularly, the present invention is related to a system and method for changing computing environments based on location. 
     2. Description 
     People carry mobile devices, such as, but not limited to, laptops, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), and mobile internet devices (MIDs), everywhere in today&#39;s society. The mobile devices may be used in almost every location or environment, such as, for example, at the office, in an automobile or other form of transportation, at an airport, at home, and other establishments. In each of these environments, the mobile device may be used differently depending on the location of the mobile device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art(s) to make and use the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number. 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a mobile platform  100  having components that enable the mobile platform to recognize its surroundings and change its computing environment based on location according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary diagram illustrating sensory attributes of a mobile device for providing human-like sensory characteristics that aid in determining the location/environment of the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a sensory &amp; location determination engine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary diagram illustrating dynamic virtualization for active location according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating a method for policy engine flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the relevant art(s) with access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which embodiments of the present invention would be of significant utility. 
     Reference in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment” or “another embodiment” of the present invention means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” appearing in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
     Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for enabling a mobile platform, such as, for example, a laptop, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), etc. to recognize its surroundings and change its computing environment according to its location. This is accomplished by incorporating a sensory &amp; location determination engine (SLDE) and a policy engine (PE) on the mobile platform. 
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a mobile platform  100  having components that enable the mobile platform to recognize its surroundings and change its computing environment based on location according to embodiments of the present invention. Mobile platform  100  comprises, inter alia, a sensory &amp; location determination engine (SLDE)  102  and a policy engine (PE)  104 . SLDE  102  is coupled to PE  104 . 
     SLDE  102  aggregates various sensor data, such as, but not limited to, audio, video, and GPS (Global Positioning System), and uses the sensor data to determine the location of the mobile device. In embodiments of the present invention, SLDE  102  may even operate in a shutdown mode to enable location determination of the mobile platform at all times. This may be accomplished using the known technique of Always On. Although the present invention utilizes the current sensors of the mobile platform to determine location, other sensors, currently employed or to be employed in the future on mobile platforms, may also be used to determine location. 
     Policy engine  104  determines what applications need to be launched, what applications need to be closed/put in standby mode/hibernated/etc., and what core usage needs to be invoked. Furthermore, policy engine  104  utilizes dynamic virtualization to partition applications used for a current location from applications used in other locations. 
     Throughout the specification, reference is made to a mobile platform and a mobile device. A mobile device is a device that incorporates a mobile platform. Such devices may include a laptop computer, a UMPC, a MID, etc. 
     As previously indicated, embodiments of the present invention enable a mobile device to recognize its surroundings and change its computing environment based on its location/environment. Mobile devices are carried everywhere in today&#39;s society, but the usage for the mobile device may vary depending on the location/environment of the mobile device. For example, when the mobile device is in an office setting, it may be used for emails, office applications, collaboration with colleagues, such as, for example, instant messaging (IM), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) using an office call list, etc. When the mobile device is in an automobile setting, it may be used to stream music and video, provide driving instructions using a voice activated Global Positioning System (GPS), receive and send phone calls using, for example, VoIP via Bluetooth using a personal call list, etc. When the mobile device is in a living room of the user&#39;s home, it may be used for, but is not limited to, personal media file playback and VoIP using a personal call list. When the mobile device is in a study/office of the user&#39;s home, it may be used in a similar manner as the user&#39;s work office mode with the addition of personal banking, tax applications, and other personal user applications. Thus, depending on the location/environment of the mobile device, different usage models may be employed. 
     As previously indicated, sensory &amp; location determination engine (SLDE)  102  derives the location of the mobile device using sensor data from the mobile device. SLDE  102  captures various sensor inputs and determines the location of the mobile device.  FIG. 2  is an exemplary diagram  200  illustrating sensory attributes of a mobile device for providing human-like sensory characteristics that aid in determining the location/environment of the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Diagram  200  comprises a laptop mobile device  202  and a human figure head  204 . Laptop  202  is used as an example of the types of mobile devices that may be used. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to laptop mobile devices, and in fact, may use any mobile platform device that provides one or more sensory inputs to aid in determining the location of the mobile device. 
     Sensory attributes of mobile device  202  are contrasted with human sensory attributes of human figure head  204 . The sense of sight (vision) is provided by mobile device  202  using a web-cam  206 . Web-cam  206  may be used to obtain video input. Thus, web-cam  206  acts as the eyes  208  of human figure head  204  to provide sight to mobile device  202 . The sense of hearing is provided by mobile device  202  using microphone  210 . Microphone  210  may be used to receive audio input. Thus, microphone  210  acts as the ears  212  of human figure head  204  to provide the ability of hearing to mobile device  202 . The senses of hearing and feeling are provided by mobile device  202  using radio  214 . Radio  214  may include one or more of a WiFi radio, a Bluetooth radio, and a WiMAX radio. Radio  214  may be used to receive input signals that enable mobile device  202  to communicate with a network, such as, for example, the Internet or Intranet, wirelessly. 
     The processing power of mobile device  202  is compared with the human brain. The sensory inputs, as discussed above, are fed into the processor where they are processed to obtain the exact location of mobile device  202  in a manner similar to how a human brain might determine the exact location of the mobile platform utilizing the human senses as data input. 
     Sensory &amp; Location Determination Engine (SLDE)  102  aggregates the various sensory inputs and processes them to determine the location of mobile platform  100 .  FIG. 3  is an exemplary diagram illustrating the sensory &amp; location determination engine (SLDE)  102  according to an embodiment of the present invention. SLDE  102  comprises an input section  302 , a processing section  304 , and an output section  306 . Input section  302  is coupled to processing section  304 . Processing section  304  is coupled to output section  306 . 
     Input section  302  includes the sensory input data extracted by mobile platform  100  using the sensory components of mobile platform  100  discussed above with reference to mobile device  202  in  FIG. 2 . The input data includes video data from web cam  206 , WiFi radio/Bluetooth radio data from WiFi radio/Bluetooth radio  214 , audio data from microphone  210 , and GPS data from a built-in GPS  308  of mobile platform  100 . Although not shown, other inputs may also be used to aid in the determination of location. Such inputs may include, but are not limited to, temperature and orientation. Temperature may be obtained using thermal diodes from the mobile device and orientation may be obtained using accelerometers from the mobile device. 
     Processing section  304  aggregates all of the input data and determines the location of the mobile device. As shown in  FIG. 3 , processing section  304  receives video input from web cam  206  and compares the video input to data stored in a web cam database  310  to determine the location. For example, if mobile device  100  is in a car, the mobile platform may recognize car components captured via web cam  206 , such as, for example, a dashboard, car seats, steering wheel, etc by comparing the captured video inputs with stored video data representative of generic objects found in a car or actual objects found in the user&#39;s car. 
     Processing section  304  receives radio input from a radio, such as, for example, a WiFi radio, a WiMax radio, a Bluetooth radio, etc., and compares the radio input signal with radio signals in a radio database  312  to determine the location of the incoming radio signal. For example, mobile platform may discern whether the radio input signal is from the user&#39;s office network, home network, car network, or some other network to aid in determining the location of the mobile device. For example, if the received radio signal matches a radio signal stored in radio database  312  that is representative of the user&#39;s office network, then the mobile device may be located at the user&#39;s office. 
     Processing section  304  receives audio input via microphone  210 , which is processed using an audio card (not shown). Processing section  304  may check to see if the audio is indicative of high or low background noise. For example, if the background noise is high, the mobile device may be located in an airport and if the background noise is low, the mobile device may be located in a home study/office. 
     In instances where mobile platform  100  includes a built in GPS, processing section  304  may also receive GPS coordinate inputs. The GPS coordinates may be used to determine the location of the mobile device in a manner well known to those skilled in the relevant art(s). Also, if the coordinates are rapidly changing, the GPS coordinates may indicate that the location is a moving automobile, plane, train, or some other form of transportation. If the coordinates are changing, but at a slower pace, SLDE  102  may determine that the user is carrying the mobile device as the user moves (i.e., walks, runs, etc.). 
     Processing section  304  may use one or more of the inputs to determine the location of the mobile device. For example, processing section  304  may use input from web cam  206 , radio  214 , and GPS  308  to determine that the mobile device is located in a moving automobile. In another example, processing section  304  may use radio input signals to determine that the radio signal is a home radio signal and then use web cam  206  to determine that the mobile device is located in the living room of the user&#39;s home. In yet another example, processing section  304  may use input from web cam  206  to determine that the mobile device is located in the kitchen of the home by comparing video of a refrigerator, microwave, oven, etc. to generic or actual user entries in the web cam database  310  resembling kitchen appliances. 
     Output section  306  outputs the location of the mobile platform. Some of the locations that may be determined include, but are not limited to, an office conference room, an office cube, a home living room, a home study/office, a home kitchen, an airport, a plane, and an automobile, just to name a few. 
     As previously indicated, based on the location of the mobile platform, policy engine  104  determines what applications need to be launched, what applications need to be closed/put in standby/hibernated/etc., and what core usage needs to be invoked. For example, if one has moved from the office to the car, applications to be activated may include, but are not limited to, a voice activated GPS, an audio streaming media player, and VoIP using Bluetooth. Applications to be closed/put in standby/hibernated/etc. may include MS Outlook, MS Office, and other applications used only in an office setting. In one embodiment, when a mobile device is being operated in an office environment, all cores may be invoked, but when the mobile device is moved from an office setting to a car, for example, a single core may be invoked because the charging capabilities of the mobile device may not exist in the car. 
     As previously indicated, policy engine  104  employs dynamic virtualization to partition applications that are not currently in use to a low power state virtual partition, and to move applications that are currently needed to a virtual active partition. Policy engine  104  also provides core management to optimally allocate core usage for the virtual partitions. This ensures optimal power usage based on core allocation and the environment in which the mobile device is being operated. For example, if the mobile device is in an environment in which it cannot be connected to a power outlet, such as, for example, an automobile, the mobile device may need to be operated in a low power state to conserve the available battery power. This may include shutting down cores to maximize the available battery power of the mobile device. In another example, if the mobile device is in a location in which electrical power outlets are known to be readily available, such as, for example, in the office or in the home, all cores may be activated. Thus, with embodiments of the present invention, the environment/location and virtual partitioning work together to determine optimal core usage for the mobile device. 
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary diagram  400  illustrating dynamic virtualization for core management according to an embodiment of the present invention. Diagram  400  shows a plurality of virtual partitions (Virtual Partition  1 , Virtual Partition  2  . . . Virtual Partition n) and a plurality of cores (Core  1 , Core  2  . . . Core n). Virtual Partition  1  may be designated as an active virtual partition. The active virtual partition (Virtual Partition  1 ) comprises active applications for the current location/environment. For example, if the device is in a car environment, active applications in Virtual Partition  1  may include, but are not limited to, media streaming applications for playing music and/or movies in the car, a voice activated GPS system, and a VoIP application for Bluetooth operations. If the device is in a living room environment, active applications in Virtual Partition  1  may include, but are not limited to, media streaming applications for playing music, movies, videos, and pictures, a VoIP application for receiving telephone calls, and an Internet program for surfing Web content. If the device is in an office environment, such as for example, a work office environment, active applications in Virtual Partition  1  may include, but are not limited to, office applications, an IM application, a VoIP application, an Internet application for interfacing with the Intranet and the Internet, etc. 
     Virtual Partition  2  may be designated as a hibernate virtual partition for applications in which an existing state needs to be maintained. In one embodiment, the hibernate virtual partition (Virtual Partition  2 ) may include all applications that are not being utilized in the active virtual partition (Virtual Partition  1 ). In an alternative embodiment, there may be more than two virtual partitions (Virtual Partition  1  . . . Virtual Partition n, shown in phantom). For example, there may be an active partition for active applications used in the current environment, a hibernate partition for applications that need to retain an existing state of last use, but are not currently being used in the current environment, and a closed virtual partition for applications that are not being used in the current environment and were closed or need to be closed without retaining an existing state. Other virtual partitions may also be employed, such as, but not limited to, a standby virtual partition. 
     In yet another embodiment of the present invention, virtual partitions may be implemented based on location. For example, Virtual Partition  1  may include all applications used in a car, Virtual Partition  2  may include all applications used in a work office, Virtual Partition  3  may include all applications used in a home office, Virtual Partition  4  may include all applications used in a living room, Virtual Partition  5  may include all applications used in a kitchen, etc. In this embodiment, the active virtual partition is the virtual partition in which the mobile device is located. 
     In one embodiment, certain cores may be dedicated to certain virtual partitions. For example, in one embodiment, a majority of cores may be dedicated to the active virtual partition while a minority of cores may be dedicated to the hibernate virtual partition and/or any remaining partitions. In yet another embodiment, cores may be allocated based solely on the environment. For example, if the environment is an office environment, all cores may be allocated for the active partition with no core allocation for the hibernate partition or all but one core may be allocated for the active partition with one core allocated to the hibernate partition. 
     In another example, if the environment is an automobile, maybe one or two cores are allocated for the active partition and one or two cores are allocated for the hibernate partition. In yet another embodiment, the policy may be no more cores than can be sustained, no less cores than what is necessary. For example, maybe it takes a user of a mobile device two (2) hours to get to work and the mobile device can maintain two cores for two hours using battery power, but only one core is needed to run the active applications, then only one core will be allocated for the active virtual partition. Thus, core management is based on many factors, such as, but not limited to, location/environment, virtual partition usage, length of time to be used, etc. 
       FIG. 5  is an exemplary flow diagram  500  describing a method for policy engine management operations according to an embodiment of the present invention. The invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein with respect to flow diagram  500 . Rather, it will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the teachings provided herein that other functional flow diagrams are within the scope of the invention. The process begins with block  502 , where the process immediately proceeds to decision block  504 . 
     In decision block  504 , it is determined whether a location change has been detected. As previously indicated, a location change is determined using SLDE  102  by processing one or more sensor inputs. If a location change has not been detected, the process remains at decision block  504 . If a location change has been detected, the process proceeds to decision block  506 . 
     In decision block  506 , it is determined whether the current location needs a power adjustment (i.e., core usage adjustment). If the current location needs a power adjustment, the process proceeds to block  508 . 
     In block  508 , policy engine  102  may allocate core usage based on location/environment, the number of virtual partitions, the types of virtual partitions being used, the length of time to be used, etc. For example, if the current location is a car and the previous location was the office, then a lower power state is needed for the car environment than was used for the office environment since charging capabilities may not exist in the car and fewer applications are running in the car than were running in the office. The process then proceeds to decision block  510 . 
     Returning to decision block  506 , if it is determined that the current location does not need a power adjustment, then the process proceeds to decision block  510 . For example, if the current location is a car and the previous location was the living room, and the power state for the car is approximately equivalent to the power state for the living room, then no power adjustment may be necessary. 
     In decision block  510 , it is determined whether virtual partitions need to be created. If virtual partitions need to be created, then the process proceeds to block  512 . 
     In block  512 , virtual partitions are created (if they do not already exist). In one embodiment, a virtual partition is created for the current location and a virtual partition is created for the hibernate locations. Other embodiments of the present invention are not limited to two virtual partitions. As previously indicated, other virtual partitions may also be created. For example, in one embodiment, a closed virtual partition may also be created for applications that no longer need to retain an existing state. After the virtual partitions are created, the process proceeds to block  514 . 
     Returning to decision block  510 , if it is determined that virtual partitions do not need to be created, the process proceeds to block  514 . 
     In block  514 , it is determined which applications need to be placed in the virtual partitions. For example, it is determined which applications need to be placed in the active virtual partition and which applications need to be placed in the hibernate virtual partition for all of the remaining locations. In embodiments where more than two (2) virtual partitions are used, a determination may be made as to what applications belong in each of the virtual partitions. Also, in embodiments of the invention, many applications may transcend location/environment boundaries. For example, a VoIP application may be used in the office environment, in the car environment, and in the home environment, and therefore, would be placed in the active partition for each of these locations/environments. There also may be different versions of an application for different locations/environments. In this instance, the appropriate version would be placed in the appropriate virtual partition. The process then proceeds to block  516 . 
     In block  516 , all applications are moved to their designated virtual partitions. The process then proceeds to block  518 . 
     In block  518 , applications in the various virtual partitions are processed according to the virtual partition in which they were placed. For example, applications moved to the hibernate virtual partition are hibernated and applications moved to the active partition are launched. If additional virtual partitions are used and have applications placed in them, then the applications are processed accordingly. For example, if a closed virtual partition is created, applications placed in that virtual partition that need to be closed are closed. The process then proceeds back to decision block  504  to determine whether a location/environment change has occurred. 
     Certain aspects of embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In fact, in one embodiment, the methods may be implemented in programs executing on programmable machines such as mobile or stationary computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), set top boxes, cellular telephones and pagers, and other electronic devices that each include a plurality of processor cores, a storage medium readable by the processor cores (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and one or more output devices. Program code is applied to the data entered using the input device to perform the functions described and to generate output information. The output information may be applied to one or more output devices. One of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that embodiments of the invention may be practiced with various computer system configurations, including multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. 
     Each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a processing system. However, programs may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be compiled or interpreted. 
     Program instructions may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processing system that is programmed with the instructions to perform the methods described herein. Alternatively, the methods may be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the methods, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components. The methods described herein may be provided as a computer program product that may include a machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions that may be used to program a processing system or other electronic device to perform the methods. The term “machine readable medium” or “machine accessible medium” used herein shall include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a sequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that causes the machine to perform any one of the methods described herein. The terms “machine readable medium” and “machine accessible medium” shall accordingly include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic disks, and a carrier wave that encodes a data signal. Furthermore, it is common in the art to speak of software, in one form or another (e.g., program, procedure, process, application, module, logic, and so on) as taking an action or causing a result. Such expressions are merely a shorthand way of stating the execution of the software by a processing system to cause the processor to perform an action or produce a result. 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.