Object oriented communications system over the internet

• US 20020032790A1
• Filed: 07/09/2001
• Published: 03/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ganas LLC
• Original Assignee: Lab 7 Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Linderman, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,136,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0209 Architectural arrangements, e.g. perimeter networks or demilitarized zones
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system for communication over the internet and through a firewall utilizing a single communications protocol. A simple object access communications protocol (SOAP) is utilized. This protocol is an XML/HTTP based protocol for sending messages from one object to another across the internet in a platform independent manner. This type of protocol can be utilized to control network elements provided at various locations.

Claims

1. A method for communicating between an application source located on a first side of a firewall and a network element located on a second side of the firewall, comprising the steps of:

providing the application source with an applet to drive a user request, said applet provided by a web server included on the first side of the firewall;

sending said user request to a read/write server provided on the second side of the firewall;

creating a hypertext transfer protocol-simple object access protocol (HTTP-SOAP) packet of said user request;

transmitting said HTTP-SOAP to network management application (NMA) server provided on the second side of the firewall;

building an appropriate nodal model of said user request in said NMA;

sending SOAP encoded requests from said NMA to a network element agent (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall;

parsing said SOAP encoded requests received by said NMA in said NEA which encompasses data needed to complete a single nodal transaction;

encoding in said NEA, said SOAP packets;

transmitting said SOAP packets to a translator box associated with the network element, said translator box located on the second side of the firewall;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the network element; and

transmitting said command to the network element located on the second side of the firewall.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, further including the step of providing said web server at a localized location with respect to the application source.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1 further including the step of transmitting in a SOAP encoded request a network element configuration data from said NMA to a network element discovery network (NED).

4. The method in accordance with claim 3, wherein said network configuration data comprises port, card, slot and shelf information.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further including the step of modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

7. The method in accordance with claim 5, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1 for communicating with a plurality of network elements, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of NEAs, each of said NEAs controlling at least one of the network elements; and

transmitting said SOAP encoded requests to the proper NEA.

9. The method in accordance with claim 8, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of translator boxes, each of said translator boxes controlling at least one of the network elements; and

transmitting said SOAP packets to the proper network element.

10. The method in accordance with claim 1, further including the step of translating said SOAP packets into an appropriate command in said translator box understood by the network element.

61. The method in accordance with claim 1, further including the step of translating in said translator box an appropriate command from the network element into a SOAP packet.

11. A method for communicating between an application source located on a first side of a firewall and an application located on a second side of the firewall, comprising the steps of:

providing the application source with an applet to drive a user request, said applet provided by a web server included on the first side of the firewall;

sending said user request to a read/write server provided on the second side of the firewall;

creating a hypertext transfer protocol-simple object access protocol (HTTP-SOAP) of said user request;

transmitting said HTTP-SOAP to network management application (NMA) server provided on the second side of the firewall;

building an appropriate nodal model of said user request in said NMA;

sending SOAP encoded requests from said NMA to a network element agent (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall;

parsing said SOAP encoded requests received by said NMA in said NEA which encompasses data needed to complete a single nodal transaction;

encoding in said NEA SOAP packets;

transmitting said SOAP packets to a translator box associated with the application, said translator box located on the second side of the firewall;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the application; and

transmitting said command to the application located on the second side of the firewall.

12. The method in accordance with claim 11, further including the step of providing said web server at a localized location with respect to the application source.

13. The method in accordance with claim 11, further including the step of modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA.

14. The method in accordance with claim 11, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

15. The method in accordance with claim 13, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

16. The method in accordance with claim 11, for communicating with a plurality of applications, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of NEAs, each of said NEAs controlling at least one of the applications; and

transmitting said SOAP encoded requests to the proper NEA.

17. The method in accordance with claim 16, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of translator boxes, each of said translator boxes controlling at least one of the applications; and

transmitting said SOAP packets to the proper applications.

18. The method in accordance with claim 11, further including the step of translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command in said translation box understood by the application.

20. The system in accordance with claim 19, further including a network element agent (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall for parsing said HTTP-SOAP envelope received from said NMA and sending the parsed HTTP-SOAP envelope to said translator box.

21. The system in accordance with claim 19 when said translator box includes a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

22. The system in accordance with claim 20 when said translator box includes a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

23. The system in accordance with claim 20, further including a network element discovery network (NED) for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said NMA, said HTTP-SOAP envelope including network configuration data.

24. The system in accordance with claim 23, wherein said network configuration data includes port, card, slot and shelf information for a network element.

25. The system in accordance with claim 19, wherein said translator box translates said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command understood by the network element.

27. The system in accordance with claim 26, further including a network element agent (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall for parsing said HTTP-SOAP envelope received from said NMA at sending the parsed HTTP-SOAP envelope to said translator box.

28. The system in accordance with claim 26 wherein said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

29. The system in accordance with claim 27 wherein said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

30. The system in accordance with claim 26, wherein said translator box translates said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command understood by the application.

54. The system in accordance with claim 12, wherein said network configuration data includes port, card, slot and shelf information for a network element.

62. The method in accordance with claim 11, further including the step of translating in said translator box an appropriate command from the application into a SOAP packet.

63. The system in accordance with claim 19, wherein said translator box receives an appropriate command from the network element for translation into a HTTP-SOAP envelope.

64. The system in accordance with claim 26, wherein said translator box receives an appropriate command from the application for translation into a HTTP-SOAP envelope.

19. A system for communicating between an application source located on a first side of a firewall and a network element located on a second side of the firewall, comprising:

means provided in the application source for building an HTTP-SOAP envelope of a user request;

a web server provided on the first side of the firewall for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope;

a read/write server provided on the second side of the firewall receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said web server;

a network management application (NMA) server provided on the second side of the firewall receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and building an appropriate nodal model of said user request; and

a translator box provided on the second side of the firewall, said translator box receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and translating said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command for the network element.

26. A system for communicating between an application source located on a first side of a firewall and an application located on a second side of the firewall, comprising:

means provided in the application source for building an HTTP-SOAP envelope of a user request;

a web server provided on the first side of the firewall for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope;

a read/write server provided on the second side of the firewall receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said web server;

a network management application (NMA) server provided on the second side of the firewall receiving said HTTPSOAP envelope and building an appropriate nodal model of said user request; and

a translator box provided on the second side of the firewall, said translator box receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and translating said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command for the application.

31. A method for communicating between an application source and a network element, comprising the steps of:

providing the application source with an applet to drive a user request, said applet provided by a web server;

sending said user request to a read/write server;

creating a hypertext transfer protocol-simple object access protocol (HTTP-SOAP) of said user request;

transmitting said HTTP-SOAP to network management application (NMA) server;

building an appropriate nodal model of said user request in said NMA;

sending SOAP encoded requests from said NMA to a network element agent (NEA);

parsing said SOAP encoded requests received by said NMA in said NEA which encompasses data needed to complete a single nodal transaction;

encoding in said NEA, SOAP packets;

transmitting said SOAP packets to a translator box associated with the network element;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the network element; and

transmitting said command to the network element.

32. The method in accordance with claim 31, further including the step of providing said web server at a localized location with respect to the application source.

33. The method in accordance with claim 31 further including the step of transmitting in a SOAP encoded request a network element configuration data from said NMA to a network element discovery network (NED).

34. The method in accordance with claim 33, wherein said network configuration data comprises port, card, slot and shelf information.

35. The method in accordance with claim 31, further including the step of modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA.

36. The method in accordance with claim 31, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

37. The method in accordance with claim 35, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

38. The method in accordance with claim 31 for communicating with a plurality of network elements, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of NEAs, each of said NEAs controlling at least one of the network elements; and

transmitting said SOAP encoded requests to the proper NEA.

39. The method in accordance with claim 38, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of translator boxes, each of said translator boxes controlling at least one of the network elements; and

transmitting said SOAP packets to the proper network element.

65. The method in accordance with claim 31, further including the step of translating in said translator box an appropriate command from the network element into a SOAP packet.

41. A method for communicating between an application source and an application, comprising the steps of:

providing the application source with an applet to drive a user request;

sending said user request to a read/write server;

creating a hypertext transfer protocol-simple object access protocol (HTTP-SOAP) of said user request;

transmitting said HTTP-SOAP to network management application (NMA) server;

building an appropriate nodal model of said user request in said NMA;

sending SOAP encoded requests from said NMA to a network element agent (NEA);

parsing said SOAP encoded requests received by said NMA in said NEA which encompasses data needed to complete a single nodal transaction;

encoding in said NEA, SOAP packets;

transmitting said SOAP packets to a translator box associated with the application;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the application; and

transmitting said command to the application.

40. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of translating said SOAP packet into an appropriate command in said translator box understood by the network element.

42. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of providing said web server at a localized location with respect to said web browser.

43. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA.

44. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

45. The method in accordance with claim 43, further including the step of transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

46. The method in accordance with claim 41, for communicating with a plurality of applications, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of NEAs, each of said NEAs controlling at least one of the applications; and

transmitting said SOAP encoded requests to the proper NEA.

47. The method in accordance with claim 46, further including the steps of:

including a plurality of translator boxes, each of said translator boxes controlling at least one of the applications; and

transmitting said SOAP packets to the proper applications.

48. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of translating said SOAP packet into an appropriate command in said translator box understood by the application.

50. The system in accordance with claim 48, further including a network element agent (NEA) for parsing said HTTP-SOAP envelope received from said NMA and sending the parsed HTTP-SOAP envelope to said translator box.

51. The system in accordance with claim 48 when said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

52. The system in accordance with claim 49 when said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

53. The system in accordance with claim 49, further including a network element discovery network (NED) for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said NMA, said HTTP-SOAP envelope including network configuration data.

55. The system in accordance with claim 47, wherein said translator box translates said HTTP-SOAP envelope into an appropriate command understood by the network element.

57. The system in accordance with claim 56, further including a network element agent (NEA) for parsing said HTTP-SOAP envelope received from said NMA at sending the parsed HTTP-SOAP envelope to said translator box.

58. The system in accordance with claim 56 wherein said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

59. The system in accordance with claim 57 wherein said translator box induces a protocol virtual machine (PVM) for understanding object access protocol.

60. The system in accordance with claim 56, wherein said translator box translates said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command understood by the application.

66. The method in accordance with claim 41, further including the step of translating in said translator box an appropriate command from the application into a SOAP packet.

67. The system in accordance with claim 49, wherein said translator box receives an appropriate command from the network element for translation into a HTTP-SOAP envelope.

68. The system in accordance with claim 56, wherein said translator box receives an appropriate command from the application for translation into a HTTP-SOAP envelope.

70. The method in accordance with claim 69, further including the step of including a protocol virtual machine in said translator box for translating a native command generated by said network element into a HTTP-SOAP packet.

71. The method in accordance with claim 69, further including the step of providing a firewall between said web server and said translator box.

49. A system for communicating between an application source and a network element, comprising:

means provided in the application source for building an HTTP-SOAP envelope of a user request;

a web server for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope;

a read/write server receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said web server;

a network management application (NMA) server receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and building an appropriate nodal model of said user request; and

a translator box, said translator box receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and translating said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command for the network element.

56. A system for communicating between an application source and an application, comprising:

means provided in the application source for building an HTTP-SOAP envelope of a user request;

a web server for receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope;

a read/write server receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope from said web server;

a network management application (NMA) server receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and building an appropriate nodal model of said user request; and

a translator box said translator box receiving said HTTP-SOAP envelope and translating said HTTP-SOAP envelope into a command for the application.

69. A method for communicating between an application source and a network element comprising the steps of:

providing the application source with an applet to drive a user request, said applet provided by a web server;

transmitting said user request to a translator box associated with the network element, said translator box including a simple object access protocol (SOAP) server;

creating a HTTP-SOAP packet of said user request in said translator box;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the network element; and

transmitting said commercial to the network element.

72. A method for communicating between first and second application sources, comprising the steps of:

providing the first application source with an applet to drive a user request, said applet provided by a web server;

transmitting said user request to a translator box associated with the second application source, said translator box including a simple object access protocol (SOAP) server;

creating a HTTP-SOAP packet of said user request in said translator box;

translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the second application source; and

translating said command to the second application.

73. The method in accordance with claim 72, further including the step of including a protocol virtual machine in said translator box for translating a native command generated by the second application into a HTTP-SOAP packet.

74. The method in accordance with claim 72, further including the step of providing a firewall between said web server and said translator box.

75. A system for communicating between an application source and a network element, comprising:

a web server for providing the application source with an applet for driving a user request; and

a translator box including a simple object access protocol (SOAP) server, said translator box including means for creating a HTTP-SOAP packet of said user device and means for translating said SOAP packet into the appropriate command for the network element.