Patent Application
20240004679
As network adapters become faster, compute processing overhead for processing data packets transmitted by network adapters increases. To increase network performance, virtual functions are used to bypass the kernel and transmit data packets from the network interface card into user space.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that the aspects disclosed herein have been made. Also, although relatively specific problems may be discussed, it should be understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background or elsewhere in this disclosure.
Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for multiplexing driver data paths. In examples, an application in user space of a virtual machine provides data packets to a driver multiplexer implemented in the user space of the virtual machine. The driver multiplexer determines whether a virtual function implemented in the user space of the virtual machine is available for transmitting the data packets. If the virtual function is available, the driver multiplexer uses a virtual function driver to provide the data packets to the virtual function. The virtual function provides the data packets to a physical network interface card of the device hosting the virtual machine. If the virtual function driver is unavailable, the driver multiplexer uses a raw socket driver implemented in the user space of the virtual machine to provide the data packets to a raw socket implemented in kernel space of the virtual machine. The raw socket provides the data packets to a network virtual client that is also implemented in the kernel space of the virtual machine. The network virtual client encapsulates the data packets and provides the encapsulated data packets to a virtual switch external to the virtual machine. The virtual switch provides the data packets to a physical network interface card of the device hosting the virtual machine.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additional aspects, features, and/or advantages of examples will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
Examples are described with reference to the following figures.
As the data transmission speed of network adapters increases, the overhead introduced by the kernel network stack becomes non-negligible. To increase network performance, solutions such as virtual functions (VFs) focus on bypassing the kernel and transmitting data packets from the network interface card into user space with minimal operating system (“OS”) interference. VFs are virtual instances of a physical network adapter that can be exposed inside virtual machines (VMs). A VM, as used herein, refers to a virtual computer system that emulates the functionality of a physical computer. VFs enable data packets to be sent from the hardware of a computing device that is hosting a VM (“host device”) directly into the VM, bypassing the host device kernel network stack. Poll Mode Drivers (PMDs) implemented in user space of the VM receive the data packets and transmit the data packets to an application executing in the VM. However, as a VF can be dynamically added to or removed from the VM at any time, a fallback data path for transmitting data packets to/from the VM is needed to prevent an immediate connectivity loss to the user space of the VM when the VF is removed.
The present disclosure provides a solution that increases reliability and performance as compared to previous solutions. In embodiments of the present disclosure, an application executing in the user space of a VM provides data packets to a driver multiplexer that is also implemented in the user space of the VM. The driver multiplexer determines whether a VF is available for transmitting the data packets. If the driver multiplexer determines a VF is available, the driver multiplexer uses a VF driver to provide the data packets to a VF in kernel space of the VM. A driver, as used herein, refers to a software component that enables an OS or an application to access hardware functions of a computing device without requiring the OS or application to have precise details about the hardware being used. The VF provides the data packets to a physical NIC of the host device hosting the VM.
If the driver multiplexer determines a VF is unavailable, the driver multiplexer uses a raw socket driver to provide the data packets to a raw socket in kernel space of the VM. A raw socket, as used herein, refers to an interface that provides an application direct access to data packets received at the Ethernet layer, thereby enabling the application to bypass the normal TCP/IP processing of the data packets. The raw socket provides the data packets to a network virtual client in the kernel space of the VM. The network virtual client encapsulates the data packets and provides the encapsulated data packets to a virtual switch external to the VM. In an example, the virtual switch is located in a virtual environment provided by a hypervisor of the host device. The virtual switch provides the data packets to a physical NIC of the host device.
Accordingly, the present disclosure describes a driver multiplexer that provides a single stable, performant data path. The driver multiplexer abstracts the complexities of managing the VF away from the application executing in the VM, which increases the performance of the application and the improves the management of the VF (as the driver multiplexer functions as a dedicated VF manager). Further, the driver multiplexer does not reconfigure or require the reconfiguration of the network virtual client, which, in some examples, is robust and has been proven effective and secure over time. Thus, the driver multiplexer enables continued use of a known, trusted network virtual client.
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Host physical resources 102 include processing hardware (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a video card), memory, persistent storage, a network interface, and the like. In examples, host physical resources 102 are directly accessible by host OS 104, host applications 106, and hypervisor 108, and are not directly accessible by VM(s) 110. Instead, VM(s) 110 indirectly access host physical resources 102 via a component of host device 100, such as hypervisor 108.
Host OS 104 provides software for performing various computing functions, such as executing host applications 106, executing hypervisor 108, scheduling tasks, and controlling peripherals (e.g., microphones, touch-based sensors, geolocation sensors, accelerometers, optical/magnetic sensors, gyroscopes, keyboards, and pointing/selection tools). Host OS 104 is configured to receive input data (e.g., audio input, touch input, text-based input, gesture input, and/or image input) from a user or a computing device. In some examples, the input data corresponds to user interaction with host applications 106 or hypervisor 108. In other examples, the input data corresponds to automated interaction with services or host applications 106, such as the automatic (e.g., non-manual) execution of scripts or sets of commands at scheduled times or in response to predetermined events.
Host applications 106 may be implemented locally on host device 100 or accessible remotely by host device 100 via a network, such as a private area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the like. Host applications 106 provide access to a set of software and/or hardware functionality. Examples of host applications 106 include applications and services relating to word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, document-reading, social media software or platforms, search engines, media software or platforms, multimedia players, content design software or tools, database software or tools, provisioning software, and alert or notification software.
Hypervisor 108 is software that creates, executes, and manages VM(s) 110 within an execution environment of host device 100. Hypervisor 108 exposes VM(s) 110 to one or more networks in order to enable VM(s) 110 to communicate amongst each other and to communicate with other devices or components of or external to host device 100. In examples, hypervisor 108 provides VM(s) 110 access to host physical resources 102 and/or the physical resources of computing devices external to host device 100.
VM(s) 110 are compute resources that use software instead of a physical computing device to execute and deploy applications. VM(s) 110 comprise guest OS 112A, 112B, and 112C (collectively referred to as “guest OS 112”). Each guest OS 112 comprises a kernel space and a user space. The kernel space is reserved for executing a privileged OS kernel, kernel extensions, and most device drivers. The user space is reserved for executing application software and non-privileged device drivers. In examples, guest OS 112 implements or has access to applications, such as described with respect to host applications 106. Each guest OS 112 may comprise or provide access to a different set of applications.
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Application 204 provides access to a set of software and/or hardware functionality, as described with respect to host applications 106. In examples, application 204 generates or receives data packets for input data associated with interaction with VM 202.
Data plane software library 206 facilitates the abstraction of kernel mode functionality of VM 202 to user space of VM 202. As one example, data plane software library 206 provides a set of data plane libraries and NIC PMDs for offloading TCP packet processing from the kernel space to the processes executing in the user space. A data plane, as used herein, refers to a part of a network through which data packets are transmitted. The offloading achieves higher computing efficiency and data packet throughput than can be achieved using the interrupt-driven processing provided in the kernel. Interrupt processing, as used herein, refers to a data processing method in which interrupt signal emitted by hardware or software alter (interrupt) the sequence a processor executes instructions.
Driver multiplexor 208 aggregates the available data paths for transmitting data packets generated or received by application 204 such that only a single available data path is visible to the data plane software library 206. Driver multiplexor 208 determines which data path to use to transmit data packets based on whether VF 220 is available to transmit the data packets. In various embodiments, the determination comprises evaluating a component registry comprising entries for registered or active components of VM 202, querying network virtualization client 218, and/or evaluating response messages (e.g., success, failure, acknowledge) received in response to providing data packets to VF 220, among other options. In examples, if VF 220 is determined to be available to transmit the data packets, driver multiplexor 208 selects the VF data path to transmit the data packets. If VF 220 is determined to be unavailable to transmit the data packets, driver multiplexor 208 selects the raw socket data path to transmit the data packets.
Raw socket driver 210 provides interfaces, such as APIs, that enable application 204 (and other components of the OS of VM 202) to access hardware functions of a computing device hosting VM 202. As one example, raw socket driver 210 creates and binds raw socket 214 to a specific data packet transmission queue used by VM 202, which enables data plane software library 206 and/or driver multiplexor 208 to send and receive data packets through raw socket 214. In such as example, raw socket driver 210 provides access to a raw socket data path (via raw socket 214) that is a synthetic data path (e.g., the entire data path is software). The synthetic data path causes computational overhead, which is a limiting factor to achieving a very low CPU utilization and very high packet rates.
VF driver 212 is shared across user space and kernel space of VM 202 and provides interfaces, as discussed with respect to raw socket driver 210. The interfaces provided by VF driver 212 enable data plane software library 206 and/or driver multiplexor 208 to communicate with VF 220. VF driver 212 provides access to a VF data path (via VF 220) that is a hardware data path. The hardware data path provides faster data transmission speed than available using synthetic data path. In examples, VF driver 212 and/or raw socket driver 210 are PMDs configured for fast packet processing and low latency by bypassing the kernel network stack of VM 202 and avoiding the performance overhead of interrupt processing.
Raw socket 214 receives and transmits data packets through the kernel space of VM 202. In examples, the data packets include raw Ethernet frames. A raw Ethernet frame refers to a data link layer protocol data unit that is transported using Ethernet physical layer transport mechanisms. Raw socket 214 transmits the raw Ethernet frames between user spaces and kernel space of VM 202.
Filter driver 216 enables access to data packets as the data packets are processed through the network stack of VM 202. As one example, filter driver 216 enables monitoring data packets and filtering the data packets based on specified criteria. Filter driver 216 also enables the modification of interactions between various drivers of VM 202.
Network virtualization client 218 is a virtual network device that provides networking functionality to a guest OS. As one example, network virtualization client 218 exposes a virtualized view of a physical network adapter on a host device by providing a miniport driver edge to the network stack of VM 202. The virtualized view corresponds to VF 220. Network virtualization client 218 encapsulates and/or decapsulates received data packets. As one example, for a data packet transmitted from application 204, network virtualization client 218 applies at least remote network driver encapsulation, virtual switch encapsulation, and VM bus encapsulation to the data packet. For a data packet transmitted to application 204, network virtualization client 218 applies at least VM bus decapsulation to the data packet, virtual switch decapsulation, and remote network driver decapsulation to the data packet.
VF 220 is a virtual instance of physical network adapter. In examples, VF 220 is a lightweight function, as the VF 220 comprises the necessary functionality for transmitting data packets while comprising a minimized set of configuration options. VF 220 enables data packets to be transmitted directly between hardware of a host device and user space of VM 202.
Virtual NIC 222 is a software NIC emulation that enables VM 202 to connect to a physical network via virtual switch 224. Virtual switch 224 is software that enables communication between VMs and connects VMs to physical networks. Virtual switch 224 may be bound to physical NIC 226. Physical NIC 226 is a physical resource of a host device and is outside the boundary of virtual environment 201. When bound to physical NIC 226, virtual switch 224 enables VM 202 to access a physical network accessible to the host device.
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Having described one or more devices and systems that may employ aspects of the present disclosure, one or more methods for performing these aspects will now be described. In examples, methods 500 and 600 may be executed by a device, such as host device 100, or a system, such as system 200 of
At operation 504, the driver multiplexer determines whether a VF for processing the data packets is available. The determination may comprise evaluating a component registry comprising entries for registered or active components of the guest environment, querying a network virtualization component, such as network virtualization client 218, and/or evaluating response messages (e.g., success, failure, acknowledge) received in response to attempting to provide data packets to a VF, such as VF 220. As one example, the driver multiplexer queries a network virtualization component that is configured to implement a VF to determine whether the VF (or the network virtualization component) is currently available. The network virtualization component provides a response to the query indicating whether the VF is available. As another example, the driver multiplexer provides one or more or the data packets or a test message to the VF. The driver multiplexer receives a status message (e.g., success, failure, acknowledge) indicating whether the data packets or test message was received by the VF.
If the driver multiplexer determines the VF is available, method 500 proceeds to operation 506. At operation 506, the data packets are provided to the VF using a VF driver, such as VF driver 212. In examples, the VF driver is shared across user space and kernel space of the guest environment and provides interfaces that enable the application to access hardware functions of a computing device hosting the guest environment (“host device”). The interfaces enable the data packets to be provided from the user space of the guest environment to the kernel space of the guest environment such that the data packets bypass the kernel network stack of the kernel space. In at least one example, the data packets are raw data packets that have not been encapsulated or have been minimally encapsulated.
At operation 508, the VF provides the data packets to a physical NIC. In examples, the VF transmits the data packets beyond the boundary of the guest environment to a physical NIC of a host device, such as physical NIC 226. The VF transmits the data packets such that the data packets bypass the kernel network stack of the host device. The physical NIC then transmits the data packets to a destination indicated by the application. The data packet data path described by operations 504, 506, and 508 constitutes a hardware data path that provides faster data transmission speed than available using the data packet data path described by operations 510, 512, 514, 516, and 518.
If, at operation 504, the driver multiplexer determines the VF is unavailable, method 500 proceeds to operation 510. In examples, the VF may be determined to be unavailable due to an operational failure of the VF or of the network virtualization component that is configured to implement the VF, an operational failure of a physical NIC of the host device, or maintenance performed on a component of the guest environment or host device (e.g., firmware updates, driver updates, settings modifications).
At operation 510, the data packets are provided to a raw socket, such as raw socket 214, using a raw socket interface, such as raw socket driver 210. In examples, the raw socket interface is implemented in user space of the guest environment and the raw socket is implemented in kernel space of the guest environment. In at least one example, the raw socket is associated with a filter mechanism, such as filter driver 216. The filter mechanism enables the data packets to be monitored and/or filtered as the data pockets are being transmitted via the raw socket.
At operation 512, the raw socket transmits the data packets to the network virtualization component. The network virtualization component performs one or more types of encapsulation on the data packets. As one example, the network virtualization component applies network driver encapsulation, virtual switch encapsulation, and VM bus encapsulation to the data packets.
At operation 514, the network virtualization component transmits the encapsulated data packets to a virtual NIC, such as virtual NIC 222. The virtual NIC is outside the boundary of the guest environment and facilitates communication between guest environments and between guest environments and physical networks. As one example, the virtual NIC is implemented in a virtual environment, such as virtual environment 201, of a host device and provides communication between the guest environment and a virtual switch. The virtual environment may be provided by a hypervisor or a similar hardware/software emulator component of a host device.
At operation 516, the virtual NIC transmits the encapsulated data packets to a virtual switch that is outside the boundary of the guest environment, such as virtual switch 224. In examples, the virtual switch is bound to a physical NIC of a host device.
At operation 518, the virtual switch transmits the encapsulated data packets to a physical NIC that is outside the boundary of the virtual environment in which the guest environment is implemented, such as physical NIC 226. The physical NIC transmits the data packets to a destination indicated by the application. The data packet data path described by operations 510, 512, 5124, 516, and 518 constitutes a synthetic data path that provides slower data transmission speed than available using the data packet data path described by operations 504, 506, and 508.
At operation 604, the physical NIC determines whether a VF for processing the encapsulated data packets is available. The determination may comprise evaluating a component registry comprising entries for registered or active components of a guest environment. For instance, a hypervisor that is managing the guest environment may maintain a registry file of every currently active component of the guest environment. Alternatively, the determination may comprise interacting with components within a guest environment, such as querying a network virtualization component, such as network virtualization client 218, evaluating response messages (e.g., success, failure, acknowledge) received in response to attempting to provide data packets to a VF, such as VF 220, or interfacing with a driver multiplexer, such as driver multiplexor 208. As one example, the physical NIC provides a request to the driver multiplexer. The request causes the driver multiplexer to provide a determination of whether the VF is available, as discussed with respect to operation 504 of
If the physical NIC determines the VF is available, method 600 proceeds to operation 606. At operation 606, the encapsulated data packets are provided to a VF implemented in kernel space of the guest environment. In some examples, the VF decapsulates the encapsulated data packets. Alternatively, the VF provides the encapsulated data packets to a component of the guest environment for decapsulation. For instance, the VF provides the encapsulated data packets to a network virtualization client, such as network virtualization client 218, and the network virtualization client decapsulates the encapsulated data packets. In such an example, the VF may be implemented in or separate from the network virtualization client. In other examples, the VF does not decapsulate or cause the decapsulation of the encapsulated data packets.
At operation 608, the VF provides the data packets to a driver multiplexer in the user space of a computing environment, such as driver multiplexor 208. In some examples, the VF provides encapsulated data packets to the driver multiplexer. In such examples, the driver multiplexer decapsulates the encapsulated data packets or provides the encapsulated data packets to a component of the guest environment for decapsulation, as described with respect to operation 606.
At operation 610, the driver multiplexer provides the data packets to an application in user space of the guest environment, such as application 204. In examples, the VF provides the data packets to the application such that the data packets bypass the network stack in the kernel space of the guest environment. The data packet data path described by operations 604, 606, 608, and 610 constitutes a hardware data path that provides faster data transmission speed than available using the data packet data path described by operations 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, and 622.
If, at operation 604, the physical NIC determines the VF is unavailable, method 600 proceeds to operation 612. In examples, the VF may be determined to be unavailable for various reasons, such as those described with respect to operation 504 of
At operation 614, the virtual switch transmits the encapsulated data packets to a virtual NIC, such as virtual NIC 222. The virtual NIC is implemented within a virtual environment, but is implemented outside the boundary of the guest environment.
At operation 616, the virtual NIC provides the encapsulated data packets to a network virtualization component, such as network virtualization component 218. The network virtualization component is implemented inside the boundary of the guest environment and performs one or more types of decapsulation on the encapsulated data packets. As one example, the network virtualization component applies VM bus encapsulation to the data packets virtual switch encapsulation, and network driver encapsulation. After decapsulation, the data packets may comprise raw Ethernet frames.
At operation 618, the network virtualization component provides the decapsulated data packets to a raw socket, such as raw socket 214, provided by a raw socket interface, such as raw socket driver 210. In examples, the raw socket interface is implemented in user space of the guest environment and the raw socket is implemented in kernel space of the guest environment.
At operation 620, the raw socket transmits the decapsulated data packets to a driver multiplexer in the user space of a computing environment, as described with respect to operation 608.
At operation 622, the driver multiplexer transmits the decapsulated data packets to an application in user space of the guest environment, such as application 204. In examples, the data packet data path described by operations 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, and 622 constitutes a synthetic data path that provides slower data transmission speed than available using the data packet data path described by operations 604, 606, 608, and 610.
The system memory 704 includes an operating system 705 and one or more program modules 706 suitable for running software application 720, such as one or more components supported by the systems described herein. The operating system 705, for example, is suitable for controlling the operation of the computing device 700.
Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library, other operating systems, or any other application program. This basic configuration is illustrated in
The term computer readable media as used herein includes computer storage media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, or program modules. The system memory 704, the removable storage device 707, and the non-removable storage device 710 are all computer storage media examples (e.g., memory storage). Computer storage media includes random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other article of manufacture which can be used to store information and which can be accessed by the computing device 700. Any such computer storage media may be part of the computing device 700. Computer storage media does not include a carrier wave or other propagated or modulated data signal.
Communication media may be embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” describes a signal that has one or more characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.
As stated above, a number of program modules and data files may be stored in the system memory 704. While executing on the processing system 702, the program modules 706 (e.g., application 720) perform processes including the aspects, as described herein. Other program modules that may be used in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure may include electronic mail and contacts applications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aided application programs, etc.
Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. For example, embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced via a system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of the components illustrated in
The computing device 700 may also have one or more input device(s) 712 such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound or voice input device, a touch or swipe input device, etc. Output device(s) 714 such as a display, speakers, a printer, etc. may also be included. The aforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. The computing device 700 includes one or more communication connections 716 allowing communications with other computing devices 740. Examples of suitable communication connections 716 include radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver circuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial ports.
If included, an optional side input element 815 allows further user input. The side input element 815 may be a rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element. In alternative aspects, mobile computing device 800 incorporates more or less input elements. For example, the display 805 may not be a touch screen in some embodiments.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the mobile computing device 800 is a mobile telephone, such as a cellular phone. The mobile computing device 800 may also include an optional keypad 835. Optional keypad 835 is a physical keypad or a “soft” keypad generated on the touch screen display.
In various embodiments, the output elements include the display 805 for showing a graphical user interface (GUI), a visual indicator 820 (e.g., a light emitting diode), and/or an audio transducer 825 (e.g., a speaker). In some aspects, the mobile computing device 800 incorporates a vibration transducer for providing the user with tactile feedback. In yet another aspect, the mobile computing device 800 incorporates input and/or output ports, such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device.
One or more application programs 866 may be loaded into the memory 862 and run on or in association with the operating system (OS) 864. Examples of the application programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, personal information management (PIM) programs, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, and so forth. The system 802 also includes a non-volatile storage area 868 within the memory 862. The non-volatile storage area 868 is used to store persistent information that should not be lost if the system 802 is powered down. The application programs 866 may use and store information in the non-volatile storage area 868, such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. A synchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system 802 and is programmed to interact with a corresponding synchronization application resident on a host computer to keep the information stored in the non-volatile storage area 868 synchronized with corresponding information stored at the host computer. As should be appreciated, other applications may be loaded into the memory 862 and run on the mobile computing device described herein (e.g., search engine, extractor module, relevancy ranking module, answer scoring module).
The system 802 has a power supply 870, which may be implemented as one or more batteries. The power supply 870 might further include an external power source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that supplements or recharges the batteries.
The system 802 also includes a radio interface layer 872 that performs the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency communications. The radio interface layer 872 facilitates wireless connectivity between the system 802 and the “outside world,” via a communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and from the radio interface layer 872 are conducted under control of the operating system 864. In other words, communications received by the radio interface layer 872 are disseminated to the application programs 866 via the OS 864, and vice versa.
The visual indicator (e.g., light emitting diode (LED) 820) is used to provide visual notifications, and/or an audio interface 874 is used for producing audible notifications via the audio transducer 825. In the illustrated embodiment, the visual indicator 820 is a light emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer 825 is a speaker. These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply 870 so that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the notification mechanism even though the processor(s) (e.g., processor 860 and/or special-purpose processor 861) and other components might shut down for conserving battery power. The LED may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes action to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audio interface 874 is used to provide audible signals to and receive audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to being coupled to the audio transducer 825, the audio interface 874 may also be coupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the microphone also serves as an audio sensor to facilitate control of notifications, as will be described below. The system 802 further includes a video interface 876 that enables an operation of a peripheral device port 830 (e.g., an on-board camera) to record still images, video stream, and the like.
A mobile computing device 800 implementing the system 802 may have additional features or functionality. For example, the mobile computing device 800 may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in
Data/information generated or captured by the mobile computing device 800 and stored via the system 802 may be stored locally on the mobile computing device 800, as described above, or the data may be stored on any number of storage media that may be accessed by the device via the radio interface layer 872 or via a wired connection between the mobile computing device 800 and a separate computing device associated with the mobile computing device 800, for example, a server computer in a distributed computing network, such as the Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information may be accessed via the mobile computing device 800 via the radio interface layer 872 or via a distributed computing network. Similarly, such data may be readily transferred between computing devices for storage and use according to well-known data transfer and storage means, including electronic mail and collaborative data sharing systems.
An input evaluation service 920 may be employed by a client that communicates with server device 902, and/or input evaluation service 920 may be employed by server device 902. The server device 902 provides data to and from a client computing device such as a personal computer 904, a tablet computing device 906 and/or a mobile computing device 908 (e.g., a smart phone) through a network 915. By way of example, the computer system described above may be embodied in a personal computer 904, a tablet computing device 906 and/or a mobile computing device 908 (e.g., a smart phone). Any of these embodiments of the computing devices may obtain content from the data store 916, in addition to receiving graphical data useable to be either pre-processed at a graphic-originating system, or post-processed at a receiving computing system.
Aspects of the present disclosure, for example, are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to aspects of the disclosure. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
The description and illustration of one or more aspects provided in this application are not intended to limit or restrict the scope of the disclosure as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and details provided in this application are considered sufficient to convey possession and enable others to make and use the best mode of claimed disclosure. The claimed disclosure should not be construed as being limited to any aspect, example, or detail provided in this application. Regardless of whether shown and described in combination or separately, the various features (both structural and methodological) are intended to be selectively included or omitted to produce an embodiment with a particular set of features. Having been provided with the description and illustration of the present application, one skilled in the art may envision variations, modifications, and alternate aspects falling within the spirit of the broader aspects of the general inventive concept embodied in this application that do not depart from the broader scope of the claimed disclosure.
