Abstract: This invention relates to a mobile communications device programmed to provide logging of messaging activity. In one implementation, the programme provides near real-time notification and control of mobile phone messaging. The notification is to a back-end logging system.

Abstract: This invention relates to a mobile communications device programmed to provide logging of telephony activity. In one implementation, the programme provides near real-time notification and control of mobile phone calls. The notification is to a back-end logging system.

Abstract: A wireless telecommunications device is configured so that it is capable of handling multiple instantiations of GSM control channels and thereby capable of holding multiple SIMs, can register each SIM with the network consecutively, and maintain idle network connections for each SIM using separate control channels. This allows calls and messages to be received on any registered SIM.

Abstract: An improved method of forming connections between Bluetooth devices is provided. A first device maintains a contacts database wherein the addresses of further Bluetooth devices are stored in the same records as the owners of those devices. When the first device wishes to connect to the device belonging to any persons in the contacts database, it simply retrieved the address from the database and starts sending Bluetooth packets; this eliminates the discovery and name request steps from the Bluetooth protocol, saving time and power.

Abstract: A computing device is operated in a manner which provides improved checking to determine whether or not an authentication certificate for a software application being loaded onto the device has been revoked. In the case of trusted certificate chains that contain no revocation information, the device checks using an AuthorityInfoAccess extension (AIA) as selected by the device. In the case of untrusted certificate chains, notably including self-signed certificates, the device is controlled so that it ignores any authentication revocation information provided with the software application and always uses information stored on the device.

Abstract: A computing device comprises an architecture 30 having a number of network connections which independently connect to different LANs and which each independently and separately allocate private IP addresses. The device includes an interface manager 32 which functions to apply a unique network ID extension (NID) to the network address for an incoming data packet to avoid ambiguities arising when any one or more of the different LANs unknowingly duplicates the private IP addresses used by one or more of the other LANs. The associations between the NIDs, the networks and the interfaces can be stored on any suitable storage means within the device, such as a hard disc drive 34. For an outgoing data packet, the applied NID is stripped from the packet by the interface manager 32 before being routed to a network connection and exiting the device onto one of the connected LANs.

Abstract: A computing device is arranged to use any possible permutation of methods available to it to authenticate a user, without needing to persistently store any unencrypted data that can be used in authentication, such data only ever being held in transient memory. A user of the device is provided with their own unique common protection key (CPK) which can be used to guard or encrypt sensitive data and functionality. Each authentication method is guaranteed to return a unique consistent identification sequence (CIS) each time it is employed by any specific user. When a user registers on the device, the CIS from each authentication method is used to generate a key which in turn is used to encrypt the CPK; this E(CPK) is then stored in a table indexed by user and authentication method. Neither the CPK nor any CIS are ever kept on the device except in transient memory. When authentication is sought, the CIS for each requested method is obtained and is used to regenerate the key that can be used to decrypt the E(CPK).

Abstract: A computing device filesystem is provided with separate presorted arrays of pointers to subdirectory and file entries along with the standard unsorted and mixed flat file lists which comprise directories in filesystems such as FAT. When included in boot ROMs on mobile battery operated devices, this enables a much shorter interval between power-on and the device reaching operational state (faster boot time) because it is no longer necessary to navigate through multiple layers of the directory tree and searching every entry in each branch for a matching filename. The new presorted arrays allow for matching entries to be located more efficiently by means of a simple binary search.

Abstract: A method of scanning for viruses in the memory of a computing device in which only memory pages marked as executable need to be scanned. The trigger for the scan can be either via an API that changes a page from writeable to executable, or via a kernel notification that an executable page has been modified. This invention is efficient, in that it makes much previous scanning of file systems redundant; this saves power and causes devices to execute faster. It is also more secure, as it detects viruses that other methods cannot reach, and does so at the point of execution.

Abstract: A computing device combines presence, profile, and preferences information of the originators and recipients of communications in such a way as to enable a communication session or sessions between the session originator and one or more recipients to be automatically set up over one or more channels of communication. The channel or channels that are selected are those that best fit the constraints expressed in the presence, profile, and preferences of the originators and recipients of communications.

Abstract: A computing device which runs non-pageable real time and pageable non-real time processes is provided with non-pageable real time and pageable non-real time versions of operating system services where the necessity to page in memory would block a real-time thread of execution. In one embodiment, a real time operating system service has all its code and data locked, and only supports clients that similarly have their code and data locked. This ensures that such a service will not block due to a page fault caused by client memory being unavailable. A non-real time operating system service does not have its data locked and supports clients whose memory can be paged out. In a preferred embodiment servers which are required to provide real time behaviour are multithreaded and arrange for requests from real time and non-real time clients to be serviced in different threads.

Abstract: Where a computing device is provided with executable programs in relatively slow non-volatile memory, such as ROM, the device performance can be improved by shadowing, a process by which those programs are copied into relatively fast volatile memory, such as RAM. Shadowing is often inefficient because code is copied that is too infrequently used to benefit from the procedure, wasting processing time and memory. The present invention determines which parts of the slow memory are most frequently accessed, either by profiling or by intimate knowledge of the working of the device, and then shadows only those pages of executable programs whose frequent use warrants it. In a preferred embodiment the most frequently used code areas are clustered together onto certain pages of the non-volatile memory and the least frequently used code areas are clustered onto other pages of non-volatile memory.

Abstract: A method and computing device is provided for converting between Chinese calendar dates and Julian day numbers in any specified date range using tables stored in the memory of the computing device containing the lengths of the months and which (if any) months are leap months, together with one or more reference pairs of Julian day numbers and Chinese date.

Abstract: A component of a computing device, such as the kernel of an operating system, is arranged to identify real time processes running on the device and transparently lock the memory owned by such processes to avoid them being paged out. The kernel is also able to inspect all inter-process communications originated by the real time threads running in such processes, in order to ascertain what other processes they invoke, and, if they have the potential to block a real time operation, the kernel is arranged to lock the areas of memory these processes reference. This procedure operates recursively, and ensures that page faults which might affect the operation of any real time process do not occur.

Abstract: A remote control framework enables a plurality of target devices to be controlled by a plurality of remote control devices irrespective of bearer types. In a preferred embodiment any target device may also act as a control device and any control device may also act as a target device. The framework also enables any application running on any target device to be controlled by any controller device.

Abstract: A computing device incorporating memory such as mobile SDRAM, which is capable of conserving energy by being operated in a low-power self-refresh mode, is enabled to identify those regions of memory which are allocated but inactive. These regions are collected into specific banks of memory so as to create banks of memory containing only inactive data and which can then be placed in self-refresh. This reduces the power consumed by the computing device, and improves the energy efficiency of the device.

Abstract: A remapping component is provided for facilitating a link between an executable and a function held in a new dynamic link library (DLL) in a computing device. The remapping component is provided with a relocation instruction arranged to update, upon loading, an export data table entry for the remapping component with the address location of the function in the new dynamic link library. In this way, the executable, when calling for the function at an address location in a known DLL, will automatically jump to the address location for the function in the new DLL. The additional subroutines usually associated with remapping DLLs can therefore be avoided, providing improved operation for the computing device.

Abstract: An intermediate software layer, which is preferably provided by a device manufacturer, processes a list of commands and actions provided by a generic application, and assigns them to various input mechanisms, and constructs appropriate menus to display on the screen of the device. Where the application supports multiple windows, views or panes the intermediate layer is able to distinguish which part of the application has the focus and adjust the actions resulting from user inputs accordingly. Hence, the computing device is operated in such a way that a generic application, not specifically designed for the device, is able to take advantage of those unique input methods that the particular device possesses. A preferred implementation is on devices such as mobile telephones, which have no fixed paradigm for providing input and whose keyboards (where they exist) have no fixed number of input buttons.

Abstract: Installable files installed on a first computing device are backed up to a second computing device and restored from the second device to the first device and/or a further device using the same means to verify the integrity of the files as used for the original installation of the files on the first device.

Abstract: A method of implementing USB Host functionality specifically designed to ensure a secure and resilient USB-On-The-Go implementation. A USB Hub Driver is configured so that it is able to nominate a portion of the USB topology to be transferred to the control of a peripheral driver or function driver. This nomination process generates a token that is associated with the nominated portion. The token is passed by the Hub Driver to the peripheral driver or function driver. The peripheral driver or function driver then uses the token to claim control over the nominated portion of the USB topology. The token can subsequently be transferred to other software entities as appropriate.