Method and system for facilitating the integration of a plurality of dissimilar systems

• US 20020169842A1
• Filed: 04/01/2002
• Published: 11/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Irving S. Rappaport
• Original Assignee: Centegy Corp.
• Inventors: Christensen, Mitchell T., Sojka, Danny R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,143,190 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/12 Applying verification of the received information cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

The present invention is related to a method and system for facilitating the integration of a plurality of dissimilar systems by allowing networks of integration framework installations and/or other compatible B2B servers to inter-operate across corporate enterprise boundaries to integrate the disparate systems operating within each corporate enterprise.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating the integration of a plurality of dissimilar systems, comprising the steps of:

connecting one or more interoperating integrated framework installations across corporate domains;

mapping between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

translating data formats between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

correlating events between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

supporting all non-application-specific services between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations; and

supporting the integration of any two applications between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations without any customization.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said connecting one or more interoperating integrated framework installations across corporate domains includes certifying authority using digital certificates.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said translating data formats between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations includes using data formats recognizable across multiple systems, including XML format.

4. A system for facilitating the integration of a plurality of dissimilar host systems each having an application programming interface, comprising:

an integration framework for connecting one or more interoperating integrated framework installations across corporate domains without customization;

business logic for mapping between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

translation logic connected to said business logic for formatting data between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

correlation logic for correlating events between between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations;

integration logic for providing all non-application-specific services and integrating any application between said one or more interoperating integrated framework installations.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said business logic includes:

logic for processing events and data received from one host system and forwarded to one or more other host systems;

logic for processing requests from other host systems involving interaction with said one host system; and

logic for processing responses sent from one host system to another host system.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein said translation logic includes:

logic for translating specific data from said one host system into a format recognizable by other host systems, including XML format.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein each integration framework includes:

a business logic processing unit;

a host adapter application connected to said business logic processing unit for enabling said business logic processing unit to interact with a host system to which it is connected; and

integration services for providing system level services to said host adapter application and said business logic processing unit and for supporting remote administration for installation of additional host adapter applications and business logic processing units.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said host adapter application includes:

a first layer exposing said host system application programming interface and converting said application programming interface to a Java application programming interface;

a second layer defining higher-level business objects that involve multiple calls to said first layer for simplifying scripting of said business logic processing unit; and

a third layer that wraps said first and second layers with code for making said first and second layers accessible to the environment of said business logic processing unit.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said host adapter application is re-useable with little or no customization.

10. The system of claim 4 wherein said integration logic provides system level services including network access, agent mangement, XML processing, agent administration, installation and configuration, and comunnication services for handling sending and receiving requests between agents.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said communications services support SSL based encruption of outgoing messages and certificate based remote partner and message authentication.