Method and system for dynamic creation of service flows

• US 20060143229A1
• Filed: 12/28/2004
• Published: 06/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Creamer, Thomas E., Moore, Victor S., Katz, Neil A., Bou-Ghannam, Akram A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,606,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers

Abstract

A method (50) of dynamic creation of service flows includes exposing (51) a flow of a service being built to other service providers in a network, soliciting (52) for modification of at least a portion of the flow, and selectively enabling (56) other service providers to modify at least a portion of the flow. The step of soliciting can optionally include advertising (53) BPEL files to indicate flows or portions of flow that are modifiable by other services providers and tagging (54) such BPEL files to indicate such modifiable or reusable portions of the flow. The BPEL files can also be published (55) in a UDDI-like directory. New flows can be created by incorporating (57) the modifications into at least a portion of the flow. Optionally, solicitations for modifications can be removed (59) once the new flow is created.

Claims

1. A method of dynamic creation of service flows, comprising the steps of:

exposing at least a portion of a flow of a service being built to other service providers in a network;

soliciting for modification of at least the portion of the flow by other service providers; and

selectively enabling modifications of at least the portion of the flow modifiable by other service providers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of creating a new flow by incorporating the modifications into at least the portion of the flow.

3. The method claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the step removing any solicitation for modification once the new flow is created incorporating the modifications.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the step of enabling the creation of new flows by using at least a portion of the flow and at least a portion of the modifications to the flow.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises the step of deploying the new flow as a new service.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of soliciting comprises the step of advertising Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) files for the portion of the flow that can be modified by other service providers.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises the step of tagging the BPEL file to indicate portions of the flow which are available for reuse or modifiable by the other service providers.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of soliciting comprises the step of publishing the BPEL files in a Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)-like directory.

9. A system for dynamically creating a service flow using a network of service providers, comprising:

a processor coupled to the network of service providers, wherein the processor is programmed to;

expose at least a portion of a flow of a service being built to other service providers in the network;

solicit for modification of at least the portion of the flow by other service providers; and

selectively enable modifications of at least the portion of the flow modifiable by other service providers.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further programmed to create a new flow by incorporating the modifications into at least the portion of the flow.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor further programmed to remove any solicitation for modification once the new flow is created incorporating the modifications.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to enable the creation of new flows by using at least a portion of the flow and at least a portion of the modifications to the flow.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further programmed to deploy the new flow as a new service.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further programmed to solicit by advertising Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) files for the portion of the flow that can be modified by other service providers.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further programmed to tag the BPEL file to indicate portions of the flow which are available for reuse by the other service providers.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to solicit by publishing the BPEL files in a Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)-like directory.

17. A machine-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

exposing at least a portion of a flow of a service being built to other service providers in a network;

soliciting for modification of at least the portion of the flow by other service providers; and

selectively enabling modifications of at least the portion of the flow modified by other service providers.

18. The machine-readable storage of claim 17, wherein the machine-readable storage is further programmed to create a new flow by incorporating the modifications into at least the portion of the flow.

19. The method claim 17, wherein the machine-readable storage is further programmed to remove any solicitation for modification once the new flow is created incorporating the modifications.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the machine-readable storage is further programmed to solicit by advertising Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) files for the portion of the flow that can be modified by other service providers.