System and method for delivering last mile computing over light from a plurality of network edge locations

Abstract

Last mile computing is a cost effective system and method for delivering subscription based multimedia computing, wherein processing is done at network edge and the computed multimedia information is transported over light to be presented on remote end devices. The network edges can include a campus data center location, a metro data center location, a rural data center location, and a traditional telecommunication central office location. The computed multimedia information can deliver data, voice and video services. The last mile computing system enables subscribers to choose and perform last mile computing in a plurality of operating system environments: the system's native master operating system environment; Microsoft operating systems environments; Apple-Macintosh operating systems environments; Unix and Linux operating systems environments; and in other commercially available Legacy operating systems environments. Last mile computing systems are interconnected in a local domain architecture and local domains in turn are interconnected in an inter domain architecture over optically enabled communication networks. Such interconnected last mile computing domains provides a means for delivering last mile services ubiquitously. Subscribers can request last mile services from a last mile computing system regardless of their home location.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a macro processing component operable to:
 allocate processing to a client device to enable computing of multimedia content from a plurality of network-edge locations; and 
 designate a portion of allocated processing to execute a master operating system operable to enable subscriber selection of an operating system from a plurality of available operating systems to perform the computing; and 
   an optical transceiver coupled to the macro processing component that is operable to:
 receive computed multimedia content; 
 convert the computed multimedia content to light form; and 
 transmit the computed multimedia content over a network to the client device. 
   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the multimedia content comprises one or more of audio, data, video, or voice. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the optical transceiver is further operable to multiplex a plurality of light signals of different wavelengths to enable distinct computing sessions with a plurality of client devices. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of available operating systems comprise one or more closed source operating systems and one or more open source operating systems. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the master operating system is executable by the allocated processing from a protected memory space of an allied resources subsystem communicatively coupled to the macro processing component. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the macro processing component and the optical transceiver are coupled within a common chassis. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the macro processing component is operable to allocate processing at a plurality of subscriber selectable levels. 
   
   
       8 . A method comprising:
 allocating processing power to a client device to enable computing of multimedia content from a plurality of network-edge locations; and   designating a portion of allocated processing power to execute a master operating system operable to enable subscriber selection of an operating system from a plurality of available operating systems to perform the computing;   converting computed multimedia content to light form; and   transmitting the computed multimedia content over a network for display at the client device.   
   
   
       9 . The method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the multimedia content comprises one or more of audio, data, video, or voice. 
   
   
       10 . The method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the transmitting is performed by an optical transceiver that is configured to multiplex a plurality of light signals of different wavelengths to enable delivery of the multimedia content to the client device. 
   
   
       11 . The method as recited in  claim 8 , further comprising:
 ascertaining a subscriber selection of one of the plurality of available operating systems; and   computing the multimedia content using a selected operating system.   
   
   
       12 . The method as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of available operating systems to perform the computing includes the master operating system. 
   
   
       13 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein allocating processing power comprises allocating the processing power at a subscriber selected level. 
   
   
       14 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 obtaining the master operating system from a protected portion of memory; and   executing the master operating system using the designated portion of the allocated processing power.   
   
   
       15 . A storage device storing instructions that, if executed by one or more components of a networking processing platform, cause the one or more components of the networking processing platform to perform a method comprising:
 allocating processing to a client device to enable computing of multimedia content from a plurality of network-edge locations;   designating a portion of the allocated processing to execute a master operating system operable to enable subscriber selection of an operating system from a plurality of available operating systems to perform the computing; and   generating computed multimedia content using a selected operating system executed via allocated processing.   
   
   
       16 . The storage device as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, if executed by one or more components of a networking processing platform, further cause the one or more components of the networking processing platform to perform a method comprising:
 converting computed multimedia content to light form; and   transmitting the computed multimedia content over a network to the client device.   
   
   
       17 . The storage device as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the multimedia content corresponds to one or more resources available from an allied resources subsystem component. 
   
   
       18 . The storage device as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, if executed by one or more components of a networking processing platform, further cause the one or more components of the networking processing platform to perform a method comprising:
 ascertaining a selected operating system from the plurality of available operating systems; and   loading an image of the selected operating system on top of the master operating system to perform the computing.   
   
   
       19 . The storage device as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, if executed by one or more components of a networking processing platform, further cause the one or more components of the networking processing platform to perform a method comprising:
 ascertaining a selected operating system as the master operating system; and   executing the master operating system to generate the computed multimedia content.   
   
   
       20 . The storage device as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, if executed by one or more components of a networking processing platform, further cause the one or more components of the networking processing platform to perform a method comprising:
 authenticating a subscriber to interact with one or more resources available from an allied resources subsystem component via the client device; and   obtaining the multimedia content from the allied resources subsystem component to perform the computing, wherein the multimedia content corresponds to the one or more resources.   
   
   
       21 . A memory device storing a master operating system that, if executed by a macro processing component, causes the macro processing component to perform a method comprising:
 generating an instance of one of a plurality of operating system environments for a client device responsive to a selection of the operating system environment received from the client device;   computing multimedia content for the client device in accordance with the selected operating system environment; and   communicating computed multimedia content to an optical transceiver coupled to the macro processing component to cause the optical transceiver to convert the computed multimedia content to light form for delivery over a network to the client device.   
   
   
       22 . The memory device as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the selected operating system environment comprises the master operating system. 
   
   
       23 . The memory device as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the selected operating system environment comprises a commercially available operating system. 
   
   
       24 . The memory device as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises:
 obtaining the multimedia content from an allied resources subsystem component, wherein the multimedia content corresponds to one or more resources made available to the client device by the allied resources subsystem component.   
   
   
       25 . The memory device as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the master operating system is configured to support a plurality of computing sessions with a plurality of client devices. 
   
   
       26 . An allied resources subsystem comprising:
 memory;   one or more resources available on a subscription basis residing in the memory; and   a communication interface operable to:
 receive a selection of resources for delivery to a client device; and 
 communicate selected resources to a network processing platform configured to cause the network processing platform to:
 compute multimedia content corresponding to the selected resources; and 
 convert the computed multimedia content to light form for delivery over a network to the client device. 
 
   
   
   
       27 . The allied resources subsystem as recited in  claim 26 , further comprising a master operating system residing in a protected portion of the memory for execution by the network processing platform. 
   
   
       28 . The allied resources subsystem as recited in  claim 27 , wherein the master operating system is executable from the protected portion of the memory to:
 generate an instance of one of a plurality of operating system environments for the client device responsive to a selection of the operating system environment received from the client device; and   cause the network processing platform to compute the multimedia content in accordance with the selected operating system environment.   
   
   
       29 . The allied resources subsystem as recited in  claim 26 , further comprising storage space having a plurality of portions each of which is assigned for exclusive use by a corresponding subscriber. 
   
   
       30 . The allied resources subsystem as recited in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more system resources comprise one or more of memory, storage, operating systems, or software applications.