Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Oracle America, Inc.

Hideya Kawahara

Paul Vincent Byrne

Frank E Ludolph

William Frederick Foote

Nedim Fresko

Curtis Jyun Sasaki

Deron D Johnson

Arthur R Zingher

Dean R E Long

Peter W Madany

Kevin C Rushforth

Hans E Muller

Douglas Clay Twilleager

Bernd J Mathiske

Robert J Rocchetti

Jonathan I Schwartz

Daniel James Petersen

Robert Rochetti

Jeffrey P Kesselman

Kinsley Wong

Eitaro Nishijima

Daniel J Baigent

Brian D Nitz

Yoojin Hong

Carl I Gadener

Chester D Rose

Kanako Maeda

Akihiko Kusanagi

Paul V c/o Sun Microsystems Inc Byrne

William F Foote

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that organizes and consolidates the functionality of a portable device. During operation, the system tracks the usage of at least one application and at least one data file by a user of the portable device. Next, the system determines usage-context information from the tracked usage and generates a chronological log that includes the tracked usage and the usage-context information. Finally, the system displays the chronological log to the user in a manner which enables the user to use the usage-context information to access the functionality of the portable device.

Method and apparatus for organizing and consolidating portable device functionality

A scene manager, in response to detecting user input indicating an obscured window may initiate transparency assisted window focus and selection. The scene manager may cause the obscured window to be rendered fully opaque while causing any obscuring windows to be rendered highly, or at least partially, transparent allowing the contents of the obscured window to be at least partially visible through the transparent content of the obscuring windows. The scene manager may cause transparency-enabled applications to redraw obscuring windows to be highly transparent. Alternatively, the scene manager may utilize a graphics subsystem capable of rendering the obscuring windows highly transparent. The scene manager may be configured to cause obscuring windows to be rendered multiple times, each time with increasing levels of transparency so that the obscuring windows fade from opacity to transparency.

Transparency assisted window focus and selection

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates manipulation of three-dimensional (3D) objects displayed in a two-dimensional (2D) display. During operation, the system displays perspectively a 3D object in a 2D display based on a coordinate system with an X-axis along a horizontal direction on the 2D display, a Y-axis along a vertical direction on the 2D display, and a Z-axis along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the 2D display. The system further derives a 2D image from the 3D object and displays the derived image within a virtual 2D plane substantially parallel to the Z-axis, thereby allowing movement of the derived image within the virtual plane to reflect movement of the 3D object. The system also allows a user to manipulate the 3D object by manipulating the derived image within the virtual plane.

Enhanced UI operations leveraging derivative visual representation

A video encoder/adapter comprises a virtual display module for partial rendering of a software application image. The virtual display module presents to the software application a virtual display device upon which the software application window is displayed. From the virtual display device, the user identifies one or more portions of the virtual software application window that are to be rendered on the actual display device.

Partial window visibility

The disclosed embodiments automate context-compensated rendering of text in a graphical environment. In the disclosed embodiments, the system first receives a specification of the graphical environment that includes text to be rendered in the graphical environment. Next, the system determines the parameters of the local environment near the text (e.g., character size and perturbations for perspective and tilt, pixel density, adjacent (local or background) color and brightness, illumination and shadow effects, etc.). The system then dynamically renders text to compensate for those parameters, in order to display the text more clearly.

Automated context-compensated rendering of text in a graphical environment

Application boundary decomposition and dynamic grouping of application components may provide a user with a task-oriented, user-configurable, dynamic user interface. An operating system may include various individual application components and a user may be able to organize the application components to create custom task groupings for performing specific tasks. The components of a single task grouping may be displayed within a single task frame or border. Alternatively, the components may be displayed upon on the user's desktop without such a border along with other desktop icons. Application components may be dynamically rearranged, either by the user or automatically in response to user context changes or according to a priority relationship among the application components. Additionally, multiple application components may access a single shared copy of data and task groupings may be shared among different users using different computer systems.

Dynamic grouping of application components

Techniques for processing native events associated with tasks that are concurrently supported in a virtual machine are disclosed. The techniques allow the user of a virtual machine to concurrently perform tasks even if these tasks require processing of platform-specific (or native) events (e.g., platform-specific input). A smart event-dispatcher is used to dispatch native events to multiple tasks that are concurrently supported by the virtual machine. The smart event-dispatcher can determine which one of a plurality of concurrent tasks should receive the native event for processing. The determination can be made based on a variety of different criteria. In mobile devices, the foreground task is typically the only task that is displayed for the user of mobile devices at any given time. Thus, dispatching events to the foreground task is especially useful for a virtual machine that support a mobile device.

Processing events for concurrent tasks in a virtual machine

A system and method for communicating 3D branch graph data and updates to branch graph data between clients and a display server in a 3D window system. A client locally creates a branch graph. When the client ready to make the branch graph live remote, it sends the branch graph to the display server using at least one batch protocol request. The display server builds a copy of the branch graph and attaches it to a centralized scene graph that it manages. The client may subsequently induce detachment of the branch graph from the scene graph. The client may buffer up changes to the local branch graph when its remote counterpart (in the display server) is not attached to the scene graph. The buffered changes may be sent to the display server using at least one batch protocol request when the client is again ready to make the branch graph live remote.

Efficient communication in a client-server scene graph system

A system that interacts with objects in a user interface of a computer system. During operation, the system receives a selection of an object displayed within the user interface from a user, wherein the selected object contains a plurality of sub objects. In response to the selection, the system determines whether the user is moving the selected object with a specified motion. If so, the system performs a transformation on the selected object, wherein the transformation is associated with the specified motion.

Method and apparatus for interacting with objects in a user interface

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a zooming effect to provide additional display space to manage applications. In one mode of operation, the system presents an image of a computer desktop to the user on a display device. When the system receives a request from a user to provide additional display space in a display device for application management purposes, the system decreases the size of the computer desktop in the display device to provide an extended display area. The system then facilitates application management by displaying items useful for application management in this extended display area. By providing the extended display area, the system allows the user to access such items easily and efficiently without losing the context of the computer desktop.

Using a zooming effect to provide additional display space for managing applications

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates deploying components on a client. During operation, the system establishes a communication session through a network connection between the client and a server. Next, the system migrates components from the server to the client, wherein the components provide services and are able to use services provided by other components. Finally, the client installs the components on the client, thereby allowing the components to provide services on the client. Note that by supporting deployment of components on the client in this way, the system facilitates a unified component architecture across the client and the server.

Method and apparatus for providing a unified component architecture for client-side and server-side components

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system and a method for presenting a set of icons in a display so that the icons can be selected by a user via a keypad. During operation, the display presents a set of icons to the user. The user can then select an icon from the set of icons by entering input into the keypad. The set of icons are presented in the display such that the spatial layout of the set of icons is substantially the same as the layout of the keypad, resulting in an intuitive interface that allows the user to select desired choices quickly and easily.

Visual representation and other effects for application management on a device with a small screen

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates manipulating a 2D window within a three-dimensional (3D) display model. During operation, the system receives an input from a 2D pointing device, wherein the input specifies a 2D offset within a 2D display, and wherein the 2D display provides a view into the 3D display model. Next, the system uses the 2D offset to move a cursor to a position in the 2D display, and then determines if the cursor overlaps a window within the 3D display model. If so, the system determines a 2D position of the cursor with respect to a 2D coordinate system for the window, and communicates this 2D position to an application associated with the window. This enables a user of the 2D pointing device to interact with the application.

Method and apparatus for manipulating two-dimensional windows within a three-dimensional display model

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that enables a user interface manager to modify a scene graph for an application. During operation, the system receives the scene graph for the application, wherein the scene graph defines visual attributes for a user interface associated with application. Next, the system uses the scene graph to render a visual output for the user interface, and displays the visual output to a user of the application. The system also enables the user interface manager to modify the scene graph, whereby the user interface manager can produce visual effects for the user interface in addition to visual effects produced by the application.

Method and apparatus for implementing a scene-graph-aware user interface manager

Disclosed are apparatus and methods for controlling execution of a target software component within an isolated execution unit. In general terms, an intermediary software component is introduced within the isolated execution unit. This intermediary component program can initialize the isolated execution unit, and then start a target software component within the isolated execution unit. The intermediary component also establishes communication back to the parent (e.g., using an inter isolation communication). The intermediary component communicates with the target software component using the target component's unchanged API and mediates the communication back to the parent using the established inter isolation communication.

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Hideya Kawahara