Determining connection feasibility and selection between different connection types

• US 10,171,333 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2015
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Avery, Kenytt D., Bader, Edward L., Gatewood, Patricia V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Keller, Michael A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Guzman, Javier O
• Application Number:
  US14/618,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20160234092A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,421 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

Application-level connection pre-testing of an available connection type of a number of different available connection types is performed by an application executed by a processor programmed to use the different available connection types and a number of different available service interfaces. Application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type are measured by the application. A determination is made as to whether the measured application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy a threshold application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with a service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by one of the different available service interfaces. The available connection type is selected in response to determining that the application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

by an application (i) executed by a processor and (ii) programmed as part of the application at an application level to pre-test and selectively use a plurality of different available connection types and service interfaces to communicate application-level data over one or more computer networks to a remote computing system;

performing real-time application-level connection pre-testing of an available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

measuring real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determining whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy a threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with a service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by one of the different available service interfaces;

selecting the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces; and

in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion, the application;

determining that an alternative service interface with an alternative service-level data transmission formatting option selected from a group consisting of text-based serialized data transmission formatting and binary-based serialized data transmission formatting provides satisfactory real-time application-level performance over the available connection type; and

selecting the alternative service interface with the alternative data transmission formatting option.

2. The method of claim 1, where:

in being specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces, the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option selected from the group consisting of the text-based serialized data transmission formatting and the binary-based serialized data transmission formatting; and

selecting the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the available service interfaces comprises the application;

selecting the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type are suitable for real-time transmission of data using the service-level data transmission formatting option.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion, the application:

measuring real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of an alternative available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determining whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces;

selecting the alternative available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion; and

issuing a recommendation to migrate one of the application and data processed by the application in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion.

4. The method of claim 1, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified granularly in accordance with a particular task, performed by the application, that utilizes connectivity with a service hosted by the remote computing system.

5. The method of claim 1, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion comprises one of a plurality of threshold real-time application-level connection performance criteria configured within an application-level connection pre-testing performance rule specified individually for the application in accordance with one of a plurality of real-time communication tasks performed by the application.

6. The method of claim 1, where measuring the real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type comprises one of:

where networking code operates directly under control of the application, implementing, by the application, application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code usable to pre-test real-time round-trip data transmission performance of the available connection type, and measuring, by the application, real-time round-trip data transmission time directly at the application using the implemented application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code;

where the application relies on another component to manage connection details, attempting to open, by the application, the available connection type prior to requesting a connection of the available connection type from the other component and measuring, by the application, a round-trip handshaking time for opening the attempted available connection type;

where the application connects via another component and application control for opening a new connection is not implemented by the application, measuring, by the application, elapsed time for an initial login operation to the remote computing system;

where the application is responsible for handling transmission control protocol (TCP) to parse hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messages, measuring, by the application, real-time TCP connectivity metrics;

where the application implements a higher-level protocol that provides real-time round-trip data transmission information, requesting, by the application, a trace of communications that returns a copy of a message sent, and measuring, by the application, a time for the copy of the message to be returned to the application;

or

where an object access protocol layer that supports communications implements an application programming interface (API) that allows a call from the application, using, by the application, the API to create a connection object and measuring, by the application, a duration of time for the API to acknowledge creation of the connection object.

7. A system, comprising:

a communication interface that provides access to a plurality of different available connection types and service interfaces; and

a processor programmed to execute an application programmed as part of the application at an application level to pre-test and selectively use, via the communication interface, the plurality of different available connection types and service interfaces to communicate application-level data over one or more computer networks to a remote computing system, the application being programmed when executed by the processor to;

perform real-time application-level connection pre-testing of an available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

measure real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determine whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy a threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance a service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by one of the different available service interfaces;

select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces; and

in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion, the application when executed by the processor is further programmed to;

determine that an alternative service interface with an alternative service-level data transmission formatting option selected from a group consisting of text-based serialized data transmission formatting and binary-based serialized data transmission formatting provides satisfactory real-time application-level performance over the available connection type; and

select the alternative service interface with the alternative data transmission formatting option.

8. The system of claim 7, where:

in being specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces, the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option selected from the group consisting of the text-based serialized data transmission formatting and the binary-based serialized data transmission formatting; and

in being programmed to select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the available service interfaces, the application when executed by the processor is programmed to;

select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type are suitable for real-time transmission of data using the service-level data transmission formatting option.

9. The system of claim 7, where the application when executed by the processor is further programmed to, in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion:

measure real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of an alternative available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determine whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces;

select the alternative available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion; and

issue a recommendation to migrate one of the application and data processed by the application in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion.

10. The system of claim 7, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified granularly in accordance with a particular task, performed by the application, that utilizes connectivity with a service hosted by the remote computing system.

11. The system of claim 7, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion comprises one of a plurality of threshold real-time application-level connection performance criteria configured within an application-level connection pre-testing performance rule specified individually for the application in accordance with one of a plurality of real-time communication tasks performed by the application.

18. The system of claim 7, where in being programmed to execute the application to measure the real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type, the application when executed by the processor is programmed to one of:

where networking code operates directly under control of the application, implement, by the application, application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code usable to pre-test real-time round-trip data transmission performance of the available connection type, and measure, by the application, real-time round-trip data transmission time directly at the application using the implemented application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code;

where the application relies on another component to manage connection details, attempt to open, by the application, the available connection type prior to requesting a connection of the available connection type from the other component and measure, by the application, a round-trip handshaking time for opening the attempted available connection type;

where the application connects via another component and application control for opening a new connection is not implemented by the application, measure, by the application, elapsed time for an initial login operation to the remote computing system;

where the application is responsible for handling transmission control protocol (TCP) to parse hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messages, measure, by the application, real-time TCP connectivity metrics;

where the application implements a higher-level protocol that provides real-time round-trip data transmission information, request, by the application, a trace of communications that returns a copy of a message sent, and measure, by the application, a time for the copy of the message to be returned to the application;

or

where an object access protocol layer that supports communications implements an application programming interface (API) that allows a call from the application, use, by the application, the API to create a connection object and measure, by the application, a duration of time for the API to acknowledge creation of the connection object.

12. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, where the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, and where the computer readable program code when executed on a computer causes the computer to;

execute an application programmed as part of the application at an application level to pre-test and selectively use a plurality of different available connection types and service interfaces to communicate application-level data over one or more computer networks to a remote computing system, and to;

perform real-time application-level connection pre-testing of an available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

measure real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determine whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy a threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with a service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by one of the different available service interfaces;

select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces; and

in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to execute the application to;

determine that an alternative service interface with an alternative service-level data transmission formatting option selected from a group consisting of text-based serialized data transmission formatting and binary-based serialized data transmission formatting provides satisfactory real-time application-level performance over the available connection type; and

select the alternative service interface with the alternative data transmission formatting option.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, where:

in being specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces, the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option selected from the group consisting of the text-based serialized data transmission formatting and the binary-based serialized data transmission formatting; and

in causing the computer to execute the application to select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the available service interfaces, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to execute the application to;

select the available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type are suitable for real-time transmission of data using the service-level data transmission formatting option.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, where the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to execute the application to, in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion:

measure real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of an alternative available connection type of the plurality of different available connection types;

determine whether the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion specified in accordance with the service-level data transmission formatting option utilized by the one of the different available service interfaces;

select the alternative available connection type in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion; and

issue a recommendation to migrate one of the application and data processed by the application in response to determining that the measured real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the alternative available connection type do not satisfy the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion is specified granularly in accordance with a particular task, performed by the application, that utilizes connectivity with a service hosted by the remote computing system.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, where the threshold real-time application-level connection performance criterion comprises one of a plurality of threshold real-time application-level connection performance criteria configured within an application-level connection pre-testing performance rule specified individually for the application in accordance with one of a plurality of real-time communication tasks performed by the application.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, where in causing the computer to execute the application to measure the real-time application-accessible performance characteristics of the available connection type, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to one of:

where networking code operates directly under control of the application, implement, by the application, application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code usable to pre-test real-time round-trip data transmission performance of the available connection type, and measure, by the application, real-time round-trip data transmission time directly at the application using the implemented application-level data transmission round-trip measurement code;

where the application relies on another component to manage connection details, attempt to open, by the application, the available connection type prior to requesting a connection of the available connection type from the other component and measure, by the application, a round-trip handshaking time for opening the attempted available connection type;

where the application connects via another component and application control for opening a new connection is not implemented by the application, measure, by the application, elapsed time for an initial login operation to the remote computing system;

where the application is responsible for handling transmission control protocol (TCP) to parse hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messages, measure, by the application, real-time TCP connectivity metrics;

where the application implements a higher-level protocol that provides real-time round-trip data transmission information, request, by the application, a trace of communications that returns a copy of a message sent, and measure, by the application, a time for the copy of the message to be returned to the application;

or

where an object access protocol layer that supports communications implements an application programming interface (API) that allows a call from the application, use, by the application, the API to create a connection object and measure, by the application, a duration of time for the API to acknowledge creation of the connection object.