Dynamic Subscription and Message Routing on a Topic between Publishing Nodes and Subscribing Nodes

• US 20080256553A1
• Filed: 06/25/2008
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aurea Software Incorporated (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Aurea Software Incorporated (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Inventors: Cullen, William
• Granted Patent: US 8,566,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• 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 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• 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 dynamic message routing on a topic between publishing nodes and subscribing nodes includes a plurality of message queues, at least one topic/node table, a subscribing module, a publishing module, and other modules to send messages between one or more publisher and one or more subscribers. These modules are coupled together by a bus in a plurality of nodes and provide for the dynamic message routing on a topic between publishing nodes and subscribing nodes. The message queues store messages at each node for delivery to subscribers local to that node. The topic/node table lists which clients subscribe to which topics, and is used by the other modules to ensure proper distribution of messages. The subscribing module is use to establish a subscription to a topic for that node. The publishing module is used to identify subscribers to a topic and transmit messages to subscribers dynamically. The other modules include various devices to optimize message communication in a publish/subscribe architecture operating on a distributed computing system. The present invention also includes a number of novel methods including: a method for publishing a message on a topic, a method for forwarding a message on a topic, a method for subscribing to messages on a topic, a method for automatically removing subscribers, a method for direct publishing of messages, and methods for optimizing message transmission between nodes.

Claims

1. A method for publishing a message in a publish/subscribe architecture having at least one publisher, a plurality of subscribers, and plurality of brokers, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the message and a topic at a broker;

identifying one or more subscribers for the topic received;

determining a path for sending the message; and

sending the message to the identified subscribers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is generated and assigned a topic by a client application program and the message and topic are sent by the client application program to the broker.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying one or more subscribers is performed by comparing the topic to names in a topic/node table.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of examining the message for delivery controls.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of examining the message for delivery controls, further comprises the step of determining whether the message is a duplicate, and deleting the message if it is a duplicate.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of examining the message for delivery controls, further comprises the step of determining whether the broker has permission to publish the message.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of examining the message for delivery controls, further comprises the steps of:

determining whether a routing queue can store the message;

determining whether buffers of the subscribers can store the message; and

wherein the step of sending the message is performed only if the routing queue can store the message and the buffers of the subscribers can store the message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of examining the message for delivery controls, further comprises the step of invoking flow control handling if the routing queue cannot store the message or the buffers of the subscribers cannot store the message.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of examining the message for delivery controls, further comprises the steps of:

determining whether there is a selector active;

if there is a selector active, comparing the selector to the message for a match; and

wherein the step of sending the message is performed only if the selector matches the message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the path for sending the message, further comprises the steps of:

determining a plurality of paths from the broker to the subscribers; and

selecting the best path for sending the message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of selecting the best path for sending the message use one criterion from the group of:

paths that have the fewest nodes to traverse, paths that are the shortest in distance, paths that are the fastest, paths with the least traffic, paths with the most available bandwidth, paths that have the fewest bottlenecks, and paths with best routing conditions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the path for sending the message further comprises the step of performing real-time adjustment of the path.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of performing real-time adjustment of the path further comprises the steps of:

monitoring connection between nodes;

determining whether any connections are not available; and

recalculating a best path for any subscribers affected by an unavailable connection.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the path for sending the message further comprises the steps of:

determining whether strict message ordering has been selected; and

ensuring ordered delivery of messages if strict message ordering has been selected.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of ensuring further comprises using a single path for message delivery.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of ensuring further comprises adding an order number to each message sent, and ordering the message according to the order number at the subscriber before presentation.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the path for sending the message further comprises the step of determining multiple paths to deliver the message from the broker to the subscriber.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of determining multiple paths further comprises the steps of:

monitoring bandwidth connections between nodes;

calculating an alternate path for sending messages from the broker to the subscriber for path using nodes with diminished bandwidth; and

sending message on the alternate path.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of calculating and sending the message on the alternate path are performed only if more bandwidth is needed for a subscriber.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether there are any local subscriber for the topic; and

sending the message directly from the broker to the local subscribers.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

identifying a cluster to which to send the message;

wherein step of determining a path for sending the message, determines a best path for sending the message to the identified cluster; and

wherein the step of sending the message is performed by sending the message to the identified cluster using the best path for sending the message to the identified cluster.