Method and apparatus for product lifecycle management in a distributed environment enabled by dynamic business process composition and execution by rule inference
First Claim
1. A system for supporting Product Lifecycle Management, comprising:
- a distributed service network topology;
a hierarchy of functional domains connected within said topology, each domain having a service ontology and one or more service composition schemas defined by said service ontology, each service composition schema modeling a business process in said domain;
wherein descriptions of services provided to each domain is published to a service repository by providers of said services, said descriptions conforming to at least one of said service composition schemas;
a business process proxy for each said service description, said proxy encapsulating internal processes of the provider of said services;
an event messaging protocol enabling service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition, each said business process being implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules; and
for each said business process a business flow manager enabling dynamic composition of said ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamic modification of said ad-hoc workflow as said business process executes, said business flow manager using a business rule inferencing framework for generating said ad-hoc workflows, said framework being able to stop execution of said workflow and regenerate said workflow in response to events distributed over said network topology using said messaging protocol, said framework also being able to detect conflicts in said workflows at composition time and at execution time.
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Abstract
A system and method for supporting Product Lifecycle Management over a distributed service network topology that connects a hierarchy of functional domains, each domain having a service ontology and one or more service composition schemas defined by the service ontology. Each service composition schema models a business process in its domain. Descriptions of services provided to each domain are published to a service repository by providers of the services, in conformity with one of the service composition schemas. There is a business process proxy provided by the service provider for each service description, which encapsulates for public access the internal processes of the service provider. The invention makes use of an event messaging protocol that enables service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition. Each business process is implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules. For each business process there is a business flow manager that dynamically composes ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamically modifies the ad-hoc workflow as the business process executes. The business flow manager uses backward-chain inferencing and then forward-chain inferencing to generate the ad-hoc workflows, based on user identification of a target task. The business flow manager is able to stop execution of the workflow and regenerate a workflow for remaining tasks in response to events received over the network from service providers, and is also able to detect conflicts in the workflows at composition time and at execution time.
647 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for supporting Product Lifecycle Management, comprising:
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a distributed service network topology;
a hierarchy of functional domains connected within said topology, each domain having a service ontology and one or more service composition schemas defined by said service ontology, each service composition schema modeling a business process in said domain;
wherein descriptions of services provided to each domain is published to a service repository by providers of said services, said descriptions conforming to at least one of said service composition schemas;
a business process proxy for each said service description, said proxy encapsulating internal processes of the provider of said services;
an event messaging protocol enabling service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition, each said business process being implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules; and
for each said business process a business flow manager enabling dynamic composition of said ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamic modification of said ad-hoc workflow as said business process executes, said business flow manager using a business rule inferencing framework for generating said ad-hoc workflows, said framework being able to stop execution of said workflow and regenerate said workflow in response to events distributed over said network topology using said messaging protocol, said framework also being able to detect conflicts in said workflows at composition time and at execution time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for supporting Product Lifecycle Management, comprising the steps of:
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determining one or more service ontologies, each said ontology belonging to a functional domain, said functional domains being organized in a hierarchy and connected over a distributed service network topology;
defining one or more service composition schemas from each said service ontology, each service composition schema modeling a business process in said service ontology'"'"'s domain, wherein descriptions of services provided to each domain is published to a service repository by providers of said services, said descriptions conforming to at least one of said service composition schemas;
for each said service description, encapsulating in a business process proxy by said service provider of one or more internal processes of the service provider, said proxy providing public access to said internal processes;
using an event messaging protocol to enable service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition, each said business process being implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules;
using said service repository to identify service providers for said tasks; and
for each said business process, using a business flow manager to dynamically compose said ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamically modify said ad-hoc workflow as said business process executes, said business flow manager using a business rule inferencing engine for generating said ad-hoc workflows, said framework being able to stop execution of said workflow and regenerate said workflow in response to events distributed over said network topology using said messaging protocol, said framework also being able to detect conflicts in said workflows at composition time and at execution time. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer readable medium containing code for supporting Product Lifecycle Management in a distributed environment, the code implementing the steps of:
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determining one or more service ontologies, each said ontology belonging to a functional domain, said functional domains being organized in a hierarchy and connected over a distributed service network topology;
defining one or more service composition schemas from each said service ontology, each service composition schema modeling a business process in said service ontology'"'"'s domain, wherein descriptions of services provided to each domain is published to a service repository by providers of said services, said descriptions conforming to at least one of said service composition schemas;
for each said service description, encapsulating in a business process proxy by said service provider of one or more internal processes of the service provider, said proxy providing public access to said internal processes;
using an event messaging protocol to enable service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition, each said business process being implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules;
using said service repository to identify service providers for said tasks; and
for each said business process, using a business flow manager to dynamically compose said ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamically modify said ad-hoc workflow as said business process executes, said business flow manager using a business rule inferencing engine for generating said ad-hoc workflows, said framework being able to stop execution of said workflow and regenerate said workflow in response to events distributed over said network topology using said messaging protocol, said framework also being able to detect conflicts in said workflows at composition time and at execution time.
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Specification