Object oriented communication among platform-independent systems over networks using soap

• US 20060294253A1
• Filed: 08/28/2006
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Michael Linderman
• Original Assignee: Michael Linderman
• Inventors: Linderman, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,325,053 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 object oriented communication among platform independent systems over networks using SOAP, in which communications can be performed over the internet and through a firewall utilizing a single communications protocol. A simple object access communications protocol (SOAP) is utilized 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 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:

a read/write routine provided on the second side of the firewall, said read/write routine receiving a SOAP message from a underlying communication protocol server, wherein the SOAP message includes a SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request;

a network management application routine (NMA) provided on the second side of the firewall receiving the SOAP message from said read/write routine; and

a translator routine provided on the second side of the firewall, said translator box receiving said SOAP message and translating said SOAP message into a command and/or data for the network element.

2. The system for communicating as described in claim 1, comprising the underlying communication protocol implemented as HTTP.

3. The system for communicating as described in claim 1, further comprising the read/write routine receives the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request provided by an application source for building the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of the user request provided by a underlying communication protocol server on the first side of the firewall.

4. The system for communicating as described in claim 1, further comprising:

the read/write routine receives the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request provided by an application source for building the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of the user request provided by a underlying communication protocol server on the first side of the firewall, and provides wherein the SOAP message parsed from the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol.

5. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network element agent routine (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall parses said SOAP message to produce SOAP packets received from said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall and sends said SOAP packets to said translator routine.

6. A computer program, executable on a first side of a firewall and accessing an application source for communication with a network element located on a second side of the firewall, the system comprising:

program code that builds a SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request;

program code that transmits said SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol to a underlying communication protocol server capable of providing transmissions according to an underlying communication protocol; and

a routine that parses the SOAP message from said SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol.

7. The computer program for communicating as described in claim 6, wherein the underlying communication protocol is implemented as HTTP.

8. The computer program for communicating as described in claim 6, further comprising the SOAP envelope providing translation of the soap message into a command and/or data for building of said user request as a command and/or data for the network element on the second side of the firewall.

9. The computer program for communicating as described in claim 6, further comprising instructions to receive the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request provided by the application source for building the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of the user request.

10. 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, the system comprising:

a routine provided in the application source for building an SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol of a user request;

a routine for providing said SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol to a underlying communication protocol server on the first side of the firewall;

a routine for receiving said SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol from the underlying communication protocol server;

a routine for parsing a SOAP message from the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol by parsing the SOAP portion of the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol to produce the SOAP message;

a network management application routine (NMA) provided on the second side of the firewall receiving said SOAP message from a read/write routine on the second side of the firewall, the NMA; and

a translator routine provided on the second side of the firewall, said translator routine receiving said SOAP message and translating said SOAP message into a command and/or data for the network element.

11. The system for communicating as described in claim 10, comprising the underlying communication protocol implemented as HTTP.

12. The system in accordance with claim 10, comprising the routine for parsing the SOAP message from the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol on the first side of the firewall.

13. The system in accordance with claim 10, comprising the routine for parsing the SOAP message from the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol on the second side of the firewall.

14. The system in accordance with claim 10, wherein the network element agent routine (NEA) provided on the second side of the firewall parses said SOAP message to produce SOAP packets received from said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall and sends said SOAP packets to said translator routine.

15. The system in accordance with claim 10, further including a network element discovery routine (NED) routine for receiving said SOAP message from said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall, said SOAP message including network configuration data.

16. The system in accordance with claim 15, wherein said network configuration data includes port, card, slot and shelf information for a network element.

17. The system in accordance with claim 10, wherein said translator routine translates said SOAP message into a command and/or data understood by the network element.

18. The system in accordance with claim 10, comprising the routine for parsing the SOAP message from the SOAP envelope over underlying communication protocol, provided on the first side of the firewall.

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, the system comprising:

means for receiving, through a underlying communication protocol server, a underlying communication protocol-simple object access protocol (underlying communication protocol-SOAP) packet of a user request with a computer program routine to drive a user request formatted as a simple object access protocol (SOAP) encoded request message;

means, provided on the second side of the firewall, for parsing a SOAP portion of said underlying communication protocol-SOAP packet to produce a corresponding SOAP message;

means for transmitting said corresponding SOAP message to a network management application routine (NMA) provided on the second side of the firewall;

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

means for parsing said SOAP encoded requests received by said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall in said NEA which encompasses data needed to complete a single network element transaction;

means for encoding in said NEA, said corresponding SOAP message to produce SOAP packets;

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

means for translating said SOAP packets into an appropriate command and/or data for the network element; and

means for transmitting said command and/or data to the network element located on the second side of the firewall.

20. The system for communicating as described in claim 19, comprising the underlying communication protocol implemented as HTTP.

21. The system in accordance with claim 19 further comprising means for transmitting in a SOAP encoded request a network element configuration data from said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall to a network element discovery routine (NED).

22. The system in accordance with claim 21, wherein said network configuration data comprises at least one of port, card, slot and shelf information.

23. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means for modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall.

24. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means for transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

25. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising:

means for modifying said user request prior to sending said request to said NMA provided on the second side of the firewall; and

means for transmitting said user request to a database for storage.

26. The system in accordance with claim 19, the application source for communicating with a plurality of network elements located on the second side of the firewall, further including:

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

means for transmitting said SOAP encoded requests to a proper NEA.

27. The system in accordance with claim 26, further including:

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

means for transmitting said SOAP packets to a proper network element.

28. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means for translating said SOAP packets into an appropriate command and/or data in said translator routine understood by the network element.

29. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means for transmitting said command and/or data from said translator routine to said network element over the world wide web.

30. The system in accordance with claim 19, further comprising means for transmitting said command and/or data from said translator routine to said network element over a network.

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

a routine provided in the application source, building a SOAP attribute over a communication protocol;

a routine providing the SOAP attribute over the communication protocol to a network element;

a routine receiving the SOAP attribute from the network element; and

a routine for parsing a SOAP message from the SOAP attribute by parsing the SOAP portion of the SOAP attribute to produce the SOAP message.

32. The system of claim 31 comprising a routine translating the SOAP message into corresponding command and/or data for the network element.

33. The system of claim 31 comprising means for transmitting SOAP commands and data over signaling and network communication protocols, between network elements.

34. The system of claim 31, further comprising a translator routine, said translator routine receiving said SOAP message and translating said SOAP message into a command and/or data for the network element.