Method and system for distributed processing of applications on host and peripheral devices

Claim 1

A distributed data processing system having a host computer coupled by way of a network to one or more peripheral devices, the system comprising: a peripheral device database coupled to the network, and containing information concerning a profile of the capabilities for each of the one or more peripheral devices coupled to the network; a host computer comprising: a first network interface coupled to the network and suitable for bi-directional transmission of data between the host computer and the network; a first virtual machine instruction processor capable of executing one or more virtual machine instructions; a storage device coupled to the first virtual machine instruction processor; an application having one or more virtual machine instructions stored in the storage device; a determination mechanism embedded in the application stored on the storage device which queries the peripheral device database based upon a predetermined criteria and selects which peripheral device should execute at least a portion of the application wherein said at least a portion of the application includes at least one virtual machine instruction; and a download mechanism coupled to the first network interface capable of transferring an application to one of the peripheral devices for execution; and a peripheral device comprising: a second network interface coupled to the network and suitable for bi-directional transmission of data between the peripheral device and the network; and a second virtual machine instruction processor coupled to the second network interface and capable of executing one or more virtual machine instructions wherein following receipt from said host computer of said least a portion of said application including at least one virtual machine instruction for said peripheral device, said virtual machine instruction processor executes said at least a portion of the application including said one virtual machine instruction.

Claim 11

A method of distributing the processing of an application between a host computer and one or more peripheral devices coupled to a network, the method comprising: collecting information concerning the capabilities of each of the one or more peripheral devices coupled to the network; executing an application comprising one or more virtual instructions on a host computer having a first virtual machine instruction processor wherein the application has a predetermined criteria for one or more peripheral devices; querying the collected information concerning the capabilities for each of the one or more peripheral devices using the predetermined criteria for one or more peripheral devices; selecting which peripheral device should execute at least a portion of the application based on information obtained in response to the query wherein said at least a portion of the application includes at least one virtual machine instruction; transferring said at least a portion of the application to the peripheral device selected for executing the application; establishing a bi-directional communication between the selected peripheral device and the host computer for transmitting and receiving real-time information associated with the peripheral device and the host computer; and executing the at least a portion of the application on a second virtual machine instruction processor coupled to the selected peripheral device.

Claim 12

A method of distributing the processing of an application between a host computer and one or more peripheral devices coupled to a network, the method comprising: collecting information concerning the capabilities of each of the one or more peripheral devices coupled to the network; executing an application comprising one or more virtual instructions on a host computer having a first virtual machine instruction processor wherein the application has a predetermined criteria for one or more peripheral devices; querying the collected information concerning the capabilities for each of the one or more peripheral devices using the predetermined criteria for one or more peripheral devices; selecting which peripheral device should execute at least a portion of the application based on information obtained in response to the query wherein said at least a portion of the application includes at least one virtual machine instruction; transferring said at least a portion of the application to the peripheral device selected for executing the application; establishing a bi-directional communication between the selected peripheral device and the host computer for transmitting and receiving real-time information associated with the peripheral device and the host computer; and executing the at least a portion of the application on a second virtual machine instruction processor coupled to the selected peripheral device.