Patent Description:
At present, a variety of terminal (Terminal in English) products, also known as user equipments (User Equipment in English, UE for short), are available on the market, and appear in multiple forms, such as a mobile phone, a tablet (Tablet in English) computer, a desktop computer, and a television (Television in English, TV for short). Hardware capabilities, such as a screen size and screen resolution, of these user equipments are different. In addition, software capabilities, such as a supported media format and an operating system, may also be different. A same type of user equipments, such as mobile phones, may even differ in software and hardware capabilities.

Because hardware capabilities are inconsistent, most applications (application, APP for short) cannot be automatically compatible. To improve a resource utilization ratio of a user equipment and experience of users using different user equipments, designers provide different software versions, such as a mobile phone version or a tablet computer version, for different types of user equipments. For example, after a mobile phone of a user downloads an application from an application server, if the user wants to apply the application to a tablet computer of the user, the user manually needs to further download a corresponding version on the tablet computer; and if the user wants to apply the application to a TV of the user, the user needs to further download another corresponding version on the TV manually.

For a same application, different versions need to be manually selected to be downloaded for different user equipments. The foregoing method for downloading an application is not flexible enough. Prior art document <CIT> discloses a viral application distribution facilitates distribution of an application among users and increases likelihood of downloading the application by the users. More specifically, a first device may receive information of an application from a second device through a short-range communication channel. The information may comprise identification information of the application without any personally identifiable information of the second device to protect privacy of a user of the second device. A version of the application that is compatible with the first device is determined by searching a catalog using the identification information of the application. The compatible version of the application may then be downloaded or obtained by the first device. Prior art document <CIT> discloses methods and devices for restoring digital goods previously acquired and associated with an application. Prior art document <CIT> discloses a system for managing mobile telephone content that provides a locker to a user. When the system receives a request from the user to download the mobile telephone content to the user's mobile telephone, the system retrieves the content based on the user's current mobile telephone attributes for the user's mobile telephone. Prior art document <CIT> discloses a mechanism for improving the procedure for a first communication device to send a message to a second de-vice, the message comprising a link to an application server where the second device is requested to perform download an application.

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a user equipment, and an application server for downloading an application, so as to solve a problem that flexibility of downloading an application is relatively poor.

According to a first aspect, a method for downloading an application is provided, including: after learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment, sending, by a first user equipment that has an association relationship with the second user equipment, to an application server, a downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment, where the downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment; and receiving, by the first user equipment, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment and is sent by the application server.

In a first possible implementation manner, the learning, by a first user equipment that has an association relationship with a second user equipment, an application downloaded by the second user equipment includes: receiving, by the first user equipment, a downloading notification sent by the second user equipment, and learning, by the first user equipment, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment; or receiving, by the first user unit, a downloading notification sent by the application server, and learning, by the first user equipment, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, before the learning, by a first user equipment that has an association relationship with a second user equipment, an application downloaded by the second user equipment, the method further includes: generating, by the first user equipment, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or receiving, by the first user equipment, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server or the first user equipment.

With reference to the first aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment is generated according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

With reference to the first aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the capability information of the first user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

According to a second aspect, a method for downloading an application is provided, including: receiving, by a second user equipment, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches capability information of the second user equipment and is sent by an application server in response to a downloading request sent by the second user equipment; and sending, by the second user equipment, a downloading notification to a first user equipment that has an association relationship with the second user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of the application received by the second user equipment.

In a first possible implementation manner, before the receiving, by a second user equipment, a downloading request sent by an application server in response to the second user equipment, the method further includes: sending, by the second user equipment, the downloading request to the application server, where the downloading request carries the capability information of the second user equipment.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, before the sending, by the second user equipment, a downloading notification to a first user equipment that has an association relationship with the second user equipment, the method further includes: generating, by the second user equipment, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or receiving, by the second user equipment, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server or the first user equipment.

With reference to the second aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment is generated according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

With reference to the second aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the capability information of the second user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

According to a third aspect, a method for downloading an application is provided, including: sending, by an application server, a downloading notification to a first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of an application downloaded by a second user equipment, where the second user equipment has an association relationship with the first user equipment; receiving, by the application server, a first downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment, where the first downloading request is sent by the first user equipment according to the downloading notification, and the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment; and sending, by the application server, an application to the first user equipment for downloading, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

In a first possible implementation manner, before the sending, by an application server, a downloading notification to a first user equipment, the method further includes: receiving, by the application server, a second downloading request sent by the second user equipment, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment; and sending, by the application server, an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, before the sending, by an application server, a downloading notification to a first user equipment, the method further includes: generating, by the application server, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or receiving, by the application server, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the first user equipment or the second user equipment.

According to a fourth aspect, a user equipment is provided, including a sending unit and a first receiving unit, where the sending unit is configured to: after the user equipment learns an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, send, to an application server, a downloading request for the application downloaded by the another user equipment, where the downloading request carries capability information of the user equipment; and the first receiving unit is configured to receive an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment and is sent by the application server based on the downloading request sent by the sending unit.

In a first possible implementation manner, a second receiving unit is further included, where the second receiving unit is configured to receive a downloading notification sent by the another user equipment, so that the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit is further configured to receive a downloading notification sent by the application server, so that the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the user equipment further includes a generating unit, where the generating unit generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the second receiving unit receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the generating unit generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the capability information, used by the sending unit, of the user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

According to a fifth aspect, a user equipment is provided, including a first receiving unit and a first sending unit, where the first receiving unit is configured to receive an application to be downloaded, where the application matches capability information of the user equipment and is sent by an application server in response to a downloading request sent by the user equipment; and the first sending unit is configured to send a downloading notification to another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the another user equipment of the application received by the first receiving unit.

In a first possible implementation manner, a second sending unit is further included, where the second sending unit is configured to send the downloading request to the application server, where the downloading request carries the capability information of the user equipment.

With reference to the fifth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, a generating unit and a second receiving unit are further included, where the generating unit is configured to generate the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit is further configured to receive an association relationship between a first user equipment and a second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the second receiving unit is configured to receive an association relationship between a first user equipment and a second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

According to a sixth aspect, an application server is provided, including a first sending unit and a first receiving unit, where the first sending unit is configured to send a downloading notification to a first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of an application downloaded by a second user equipment, where the second user equipment has an association relationship with the first user equipment; the first receiving unit is configured to receive a first downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment, where the first downloading request is sent by the first user equipment according to the downloading notification sent by the first sending unit, and the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment; and the first sending unit is further configured to send, based on the first downloading request received by the first receiving unit, an application to the first user equipment for downloading, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

In a first possible implementation manner, a second receiving unit and a second sending unit are further included, where the second receiving unit is configured to receive a second downloading request sent by the second user equipment, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment; and the second sending unit is configured to send an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request received by the second receiving unit, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, a generating unit is further included, where the generating unit is configured to generate the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or the first receiving unit receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the first user equipment, or the second receiving unit receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the second user equipment.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the foregoing possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the generating unit generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

By using the foregoing technical solutions, after learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment that has an association relationship with a first user equipment, the first user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the first user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments.

The following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart of a method <NUM> for downloading an application according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention. The method <NUM> is executed by a user equipment and includes the following content:.

The application in this specification is a product that is provided for a user equipment by a software developer, a service operator, or the like. An application matching capability information of a specific user equipment may be an application that is used as a different version of a product.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment that has an association relationship with a first user equipment, the first user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the first user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

As a different embodiment, the method <NUM> may further include the following content:
Optionally, that a first user equipment that has an association relationship with a second user equipment learns an application downloaded by the second user equipment includes that: the first user equipment receives a downloading notification sent by the second user equipment, and learning, by the first user equipment, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment; or a first receiving unit user unit receives a downloading notification sent by the application server, and the learning, by the first user equipment, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment.

Optionally, before a first user equipment that has an association relationship with a second user equipment learns an application downloaded by the second user equipment, the method further includes that: the first user equipment generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or the first user equipment receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server or the first user equipment.

Optionally, the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment is generated according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

Optionally, the capability information of the first user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

As a different embodiment, the method <NUM> may further include the following content:
Optionally, before a second user equipment receives a downloading request sent by an application server in response to the second user equipment, the method further includes that: the second user equipment sends the downloading request to the application server, where the downloading request carries the capability information of the second user equipment.

Optionally, before the second user equipment sends a downloading notification to a first user equipment that has an association relationship with the second user equipment, the method further includes that: the second user equipment generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or the second user equipment receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server or the first user equipment.

Optionally, the capability information of the second user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart of a method <NUM> for downloading an application according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention. The method <NUM> is executed by an application server and includes the following content:.

As a different embodiment, the method <NUM> may further include the following content:
Optionally, before an application server sends a downloading notification to a first user equipment, the method further includes that: the application server receives a second downloading request sent by the second user equipment, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment; and the application server sends an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

Optionally, before an application server sends a downloading notification to a first user equipment, the method further includes that: the application server generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or the application server receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the first user equipment or the second user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic interaction diagram of a method <NUM> for downloading an application according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention. To facilitate description of interaction between a user equipment and an application server <NUM>, in this embodiment, two different user equipments <NUM> and <NUM> are identified only by using first and second. However, there may be more than two user equipments in the embodiment of the present invention. A scenario in which the method <NUM> is applied may include one first user equipment, one second user equipment, and an application server; may include one first user equipment, multiple second user equipments and an application server; may include multiple first user equipments, one second user equipment, and an application server; or may include multiple first user equipments, multiple second user equipments, and an application server. When there are multiple first user equipments or multiple second user equipments, flexibility of downloading an application by a user equipment can be improved, and more prominently, a lot of labor is saved. The method <NUM> includes the following content:
S410: A second user equipment has established an association relationship with a first user equipment.

According to the foregoing association relationship, the second user equipment establishes an association with another device such as the first user equipment. The association relationship may be generated and stored by any user equipment; the association relationship may be generated by one of the user equipments and sent to another user equipment, an application server, or the like; or the association relationship may be generated by another device such as an application server and then sent to a user equipment, and is stored by the user equipment. In an implementation manner, after a device using the method provided in the embodiment of the present invention establishes an association relationship between devices, the foregoing association relationship can be interacted, updated, or unified by using signaling between the devices.

In addition, there are multiple methods for generating an association relationship. The association relationship between the second user equipment and the first user equipment may be generated according to one or more pieces of the following information, for example, account information and a hardware device identifier. For example, the second user equipment and the first user equipment that use common account information can be associated by using information of an account for logging in to, for example, an application server. For another example, the second user equipment and the first user equipment can be associated according to an association list by using a hardware device identifier of the second user equipment and a hardware device identifier of the first user equipment, for example, an international mobile equipment identity (International Mobile Equipment Identity, IMEI for short) of a mobile phone or a tablet computer, a hardware address of a desktop computer, that is, a MAC (Media Access Control) address, or a factory serial number of the foregoing device.

S420: The second user equipment sends a second downloading request to an application server after selecting a product, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment.

Herein, the second user equipment first selects a to-be-downloaded product from an electronic market (Market), where the product is an application provided by a service provider or manufacturer by using the background application server.

S430: The application server sends an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

The application server can provide various user equipments with multiple applications for downloading and/or installation. For a same application, the application server provides different versions of the same application according to different hardware capability information of user equipments, for example, a screen size, screen resolution, or a supported media format, and/or according to different software capability information of user equipments, for example, an operating system.

S440: The second user equipment learns, by querying the association relationship, the first user equipment that has the association relationship with the second user equipment.

The second user equipment may query the association relationship generated by the second user equipment, or may request the association relationship from another device or automatically receive the association relationship from another device that generates the association relationship.

S450: The second user equipment sends a downloading notification to the first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of the application downloaded by the second user equipment.

The second user equipment notifies the first user equipment of the downloaded application. For example, a mobile phone and a TV access a same network, and the mobile phone notifies the TV by using network signaling, where the signaling carries a name of an application downloaded by the mobile phone. In another scenario, after the mobile phone and the TV are connected in a wireless manner, for example, the mobile phone and the TV are paired by using a Bluetooth technology, and the application downloaded by the mobile phone is notified to the TV by using Bluetooth signaling.

S460: After learning, according to the foregoing downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment, the first user equipment sends a first downloading request to the application server, where the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment.

S470: The application server sends an application to be downloaded to the first user equipment in response to the first downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

For example, after a mobile phone used as a second user equipment downloads a new application that matches capability information of the mobile phone, the mobile phone sends a notification to an associated first user equipment, for example, a television, where the notification is used to notify the television of the application downloaded by the mobile phone. Afterward, the television actively sends, to an application server, a downloading request carrying capability information of the television, and receives an application that matches the capability information of the television and is sent by the application server according to the downloading request. In this way, applications matching software capabilities and hardware capabilities of different user equipments enable the user equipments to use resources of the user equipments to a maximum extent, thereby improving user experience from one or several aspects such as a response speed and a presentation effect. Compared with that a first or first user equipment can only separately select to download or download an application, in the embodiment of the present invention, that a second user equipment can implement associated downloading with the second user equipment provides flexibility of downloading an application. Moreover, when there are multiple first user equipments or multiple second user equipments, in the embodiment of the present invention, labor can be greatly saved and flexibility of downloading an application can be improved, thereby improving convenience for a user.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment that has an association relationship with a first user equipment, the first user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the first user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment, thereby saving labor and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

<FIG> is a schematic interaction diagram of a method <NUM> for downloading an application according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention. Similar to <FIG>, for ease of description, <FIG> shows only an application server <NUM>, a first user equipment <NUM>, and a second user equipment <NUM>. There may be more than two user equipments in this embodiment, and an application scenario also includes the foregoing multiple situations. The method <NUM> includes the following content:
S510: An application server has stored an association relationship between a second user equipment and a first user equipment.

According to the foregoing association relationship, the second user equipment establishes an association with another device such as the first user equipment. The association relationship may be generated by a user equipment and stored by an application server; or the association relationship may be generated by an application server and then stored by a user equipment. In an implementation manner, after a device using the method provided in the embodiment of the present invention establishes an association relationship between devices, the foregoing association relationship can be interacted, updated, or unified by using signaling between the devices.

In addition, there are multiple methods for generating an association relationship. The association relationship between the second user equipment and the first user equipment may be generated according to one or more pieces of the following information, for example, account information and a hardware device identifier. For example, the second user equipment and the first user equipment that use common account information can be associated by using information of an account for logging in to, for example, an application server. For another example, the second user equipment and the first user equipment can be associated according to an association list by using a hardware device identifier of the second user equipment and a hardware device identifier of the first user equipment, for example, MAC.

S520: The second user equipment sends a second downloading request to the application server after selecting a product, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment.

S530: The application server sends an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

S540: The application server learns, by querying the stored association relationship, the first user equipment that has the association relationship with the second user equipment.

A difference from the second embodiment lies in that the application server in the third embodiment can store an association relationship. Herein, after sending, to the second user equipment, the application that matches the capability information, the application server may actively send a downloading notification to the first user equipment associated with the second user equipment.

S550: The application server sends a downloading notification to the first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of the application downloaded by the second user equipment.

The application server notifies the first user equipment of the downloaded application. For example, the downloading notification may be sent when the first user equipment logs in to the application server, or may be sent when the first user equipment is in a power-on state. A notification form or method is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

S560: After learning, according to the foregoing downloading notification, the application downloaded by the second user equipment, the first user equipment sends a first downloading request to the application server, where the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment.

S570: The application server sends an application to be downloaded to the first user equipment in response to the first downloading request, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

For example, after an application server provides an application for a mobile phone used as a second user equipment, where the application matches capability information of the second user equipment, the application server sends a notification to a first user equipment associated with the second user equipment, for example, a television, where the notification is used to notify the television of the application downloaded by the mobile phone. Afterward, the television actively sends, to the application server, a downloading request carrying capability information of the television, and receives an application that matches the capability information of the television and is sent by the application server according to the downloading request. In this way, applications matching software capabilities and hardware capabilities of different user equipments enable the user equipments to use resources of the user equipments to a maximum extent, thereby improving user experience from one or several aspects such as a response speed and a presentation effect. Compared with that a first or first user equipment can only separately select to download or download an application, in the embodiment of the present invention, that a second user equipment can implement associated downloading with the second user equipment provides flexibility of downloading an application. Moreover, when there are multiple first user equipments or multiple second user equipments, in the embodiment of the present invention, labor can be greatly saved and flexibility of downloading an application can be improved, thereby improving convenience for a user.

<FIG> are schematic block diagrams of a user equipment <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, the user equipment <NUM> may include a sending unit <NUM> and a first receiving unit <NUM>.

After the user equipment learns an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, the sending unit <NUM> sends, to an application server, a downloading request for the application downloaded by the another user equipment, where the downloading request carries capability information of the user equipment.

The first receiving unit <NUM> receives an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment and is sent by the application server based on the downloading request sent by the sending unit.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, the user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment, thereby saving labor and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

As a different implementable manner, as shown in <FIG>, the user equipment <NUM> may further include a second receiving unit <NUM> and a generating unit <NUM>.

The second receiving unit <NUM> receives a downloading notification sent by the another user equipment, so that the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit <NUM> further receives a downloading notification sent by the application server, so that the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment.

The generating unit <NUM> generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit <NUM> receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the second receiving unit <NUM> receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

The generating unit <NUM> generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

The capability information, used by the sending unit <NUM>, of the user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

The user equipment <NUM> may be one of the following apparatuses: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, and a television, and implements Embodiments <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>. For brevity, specific details are not described herein again.

As shown in <FIG>, the user equipment <NUM> may include a receiving unit <NUM> and a first sending unit <NUM>.

The first receiving unit <NUM> receives an application to be downloaded, where the application matches capability information of the user equipment and is sent by an application server in response to a downloading request sent by the user equipment.

The first sending unit <NUM> sends a downloading notification to another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the another user equipment of the application received by the first receiving unit.

As a different implementable manner, as shown in <FIG>, the user equipment <NUM> may further include a second sending unit <NUM>, a generating unit <NUM>, and a second receiving unit <NUM>.

The second sending unit <NUM> sends the downloading request to the application server, where the downloading request carries the capability information of the user equipment.

The generating unit <NUM> is configured to generate the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the first receiving unit <NUM> is further configured to receive an association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the second receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive an association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

The capability information, used by the first receiving unit <NUM>, of the user equipment includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, the user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

<FIG> are schematic block diagrams of an application server <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, the application server <NUM> includes a first sending unit <NUM> and a first receiving unit <NUM>.

The first sending unit <NUM> sends a downloading notification to a first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of the application downloaded by a second user equipment, where the second user equipment has an association relationship with the first user equipment.

The first receiving unit <NUM> receives a first downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment, where the first downloading request is sent by the first user equipment according to the downloading notification sent by the first sending unit, and the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment.

The first sending unit <NUM> further sends, based on the first downloading request received by the first receiving unit, an application to be downloaded to the first user equipment, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

The embodiment of the present invention provides an application server for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by a second user equipment that has an association relationship with a first user equipment, the first user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the first user equipment and from the application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

As a different implementable manner, as shown in <FIG>, the application server <NUM> may further include a second receiving unit <NUM>, a second sending unit <NUM>, and a generating unit <NUM>.

The second receiving unit <NUM> receives a second downloading request sent by the second user equipment, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment.

The second sending unit <NUM> sends an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request received by the second receiving unit, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

The generating unit <NUM> generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment.

Alternatively, the first receiving unit <NUM> receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the first user equipment, or the second receiving unit <NUM> receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the second user equipment.

The generating unit <NUM> generates the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

The application server <NUM> implements Embodiments <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>. For brevity, specific details are not described herein again.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a user equipment <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention.

The user equipment <NUM> includes a receiving device <NUM>, a sending device <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>.

According to different user equipments and different manners of communicating with other devices, the receiving device <NUM> may include any proper apparatus such as a network interface card or a serial port card, or may be a wireless receiver or the like that is configured to receive a signal between devices and send the received signal to the processor.

According to different user equipments and different manners of communicating with other devices, an output device <NUM> may include any proper apparatus such as a network interface card and an interface card, or may be a wireless transmitter or the like that is configured to send a signal received from the processor to another device.

The memory <NUM> may include a RAM and a ROM, or may be any fixed storage medium, or may be a removable storage medium, and is configured to store a program that can execute the embodiment of the present invention or data to be processed in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, an association relationship between user equipments.

The processor <NUM> is configured to execute the program of the embodiment of the present invention, where the program is stored by the memory; and perform bi-directional communication with another device by using a bus, for example, responding to a downloading notification, sending a downloading request, and downloading an application that matches capability information of a user equipment.

During application downloading, the user equipment <NUM> used as an apparatus actively selecting to download an application, for example, the foregoing second user equipment, executes the following content in the embodiment of the present invention:.

The output device is configured to: after the processor of the user equipment learns an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, send, to an application server, a downloading request for the application downloaded by the another user equipment, where the downloading request carries capability information of the user equipment.

The receiving device is configured to receive an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment and is sent by the application server based on the downloading request sent by the output device.

The receiving device is configured to receive a downloading notification sent by the another user equipment, so that the processor of the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment; or the receiving device is further configured to receive a downloading notification sent by the application server, so that the processor of the user equipment learns, according to the downloading notification, the application downloaded by the another user equipment.

The processor generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the receiving device receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the receiving device receives the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

During application downloading, the user equipment <NUM> used as an apparatus that is notified to download an application, for example, the foregoing first user equipment, executes the following content in the embodiment of the present invention:.

An input device is configured to receive an application to be downloaded, where the application matches capability information of the user equipment and is sent by an application server in response to a downloading request sent by the user equipment; and the output device is configured to send a downloading notification to another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the another user equipment of the application received by the input device.

The output device is configured to send the downloading request to the application server, where the downloading request carries the capability information of the user equipment.

The processor is configured to generate the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment; or the input device is further configured to receive an association relationship between a first user equipment and a second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the application server, or the input device is configured to receive an association relationship between a first user equipment and a second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the another user equipment.

The processor generates the association relationship between the user equipment and the another user equipment according to at least one piece of the following information: account information and a hardware device identifier.

The capability information of the user equipment <NUM> includes one or more pieces of the following information: an operating system, a screen size, screen resolution, and a supported media format.

The user equipment <NUM> implements Embodiments <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> in the foregoing. For brevity, specific details are not described herein again. The embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with the user equipment, the user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the user equipment and from an application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of an application server <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present invention.

The application server <NUM> includes a receiving device <NUM>, a sending device <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>.

According to different user equipments and different manners of communicating with other devices, an output device <NUM> may include any proper apparatus such as a network interface card and an interface card, or may be a wireless transmitter that is configured to send a signal received from the processor to another device.

The memory <NUM> may include a RAM and a ROM, or any fixed storage medium, or a removable storage medium, and is configured to store a program that can execute the embodiment of the present invention or data to be processed in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, an association relationship between user equipments.

The processor <NUM> is configured to execute the program of the embodiment of the present invention, where the program is stored by the memory; and perform bi-directional communication with another device by using a bus, for example, generating a downloading notification, responding to a downloading request, and selecting an application that matches capability information of a user equipment.

The output device is configured to send a downloading notification to a first user equipment, where the downloading notification is used to notify the first user equipment of an application downloaded by a second user equipment, where the second user equipment has an association relationship with the first user equipment; the input device is configured to receive a first downloading request for the application downloaded by the second user equipment, where the first downloading request is sent by the first user equipment according to the downloading notification sent by the output device, and the first downloading request carries capability information of the first user equipment; and the output device is further configured to send, based on the first downloading request received by the input device, an application to the first user equipment for downloading, where the application matches the capability information of the first user equipment.

The input device is configured to receive a second downloading request sent by the second user equipment, where the second downloading request carries capability information of the second user equipment; and the output device is configured to send an application to be downloaded to the second user equipment in response to the second downloading request received by the input device, where the application matches the capability information of the second user equipment.

The processor is configured to generate the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or the input device receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the first user equipment, or the input device receives the association relationship between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, where the association relationship is generated and sent by the second user equipment.

The application server <NUM> implements Embodiments <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> in the foregoing. For brevity, specific details are not described herein again. The embodiment of the present invention provides an application server for downloading an application. After learning an application downloaded by another user equipment that has an association relationship with a user equipment, the user equipment can automatically obtain, by providing capability information of the user equipment and from the application server, an application to be downloaded, where the application matches the capability information of the user equipment, thereby saving manual operation and improving flexibility of downloading an application.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or a part of the processes of the apparatuses in the embodiments may be implemented by a computer program instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program runs, the processes of the apparatuses in the embodiments are performed. The storage medium may include: a magnetic disk, an optical disc, a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), or a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM).

Claim 1:
A first electronic device, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the first electronic device to:
establish (S410) an association relationship with a second electronic device, wherein the association relationship is based at least in part on common account information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device for logging in to an application server;
download (S430), according to capability information of the first electronic device, a first version of an application from a provider to the memory;
establish a wireless connection between the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and
send (S450), in response to the first electronic device downloading the first version of the application from the provider, a notification associated with the application to a second electronic device via a wireless connection between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the notification notifies the second electronic device that the application is installed by the first electronic device and is configured to trigger the second electronic device to download a second version of the application, and wherein the second version of the application has a same application functionality as the first version of the application downloaded by the first electronic device.