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Microsoft patents browser trick to run heavy tasks in isolated tabs

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Microsoft describes a method where a standard web page connects to a secure, isolated browser tab to perform heavy calculations. The system uses a middleman page to pass messages between the two tabs, allowing the secure tab to handle tasks like video encoding or machine learning that the main page cannot access directly.

Why it mattersThis could help web developers run demanding tasks like AI inference inside a browser without compromising the security of the main page.

In the filing’s own words

A device establishes a communications channel between a first web application executing within a first browsing context that is not cross-origin isolated and a second web application executing within a second browsing context that is cross-origin isolated. This includes loading a proxy page within a third browsing context of the web browser, the loading being initiated by the first browsing context, and loading a worker instance using a script provided by the proxy page. Content of the proxy page is served from an origin associated with the second web application. The device passes a first message through the communications channel from the first web application to the second web application. The first message requests the performance of a compute job by the second web application. The device also passes, from the second web application to the first web application, a second message that comprises a result of the compute job.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method implemented on a computer system that includes a processor system, the method comprising: establishing a communications channel between 1) a first web application executing within a first browsing context of a web browser, and 2) a second web application executing within a second browsing context of the web browser, wherein, the first browsing context is not cross-origin isolated, the second browsing context is cross-origin isolated, and establishing the communications channel includes: loading a proxy page within a third browsing context of the web browser, loading of the proxy page being initiated by the first browsing context, wherein content of the proxy page is served from an origin associated with the second web application; and loading a worker instance using a script provided by the proxy page; passing a first message through the communications channel from the first web application to the second web application, the first message requesting performance of a compute job by the second web application, wherein, the compute job is one of video encoding, machine learning training, machine learning inference, or a blockchain operation, and the compute job relies on an API (Application Programming Interface) that is inaccessible by the first web application based on the first browsing context not being cross-origin isolated, and that is accessible by the second web application based on the second browsing context being cross-origin isolated; and passing a second message through the communications channel from the second web application to the first web application, the second message comprising a result of the compute job.

Facts

Company
Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
Official title
Accelerating in-browser tasks of an unprivileged web application
Patent number
US12754980B2
Application number
18458667
Filed
Aug 30, 2023
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
19

Classified under

G06F 21/128 Physics & computingG06F 16/986 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.