SERVICE MOBILITY FOR COMPOSED COMPONENTS

• US 20080320497A1
• Filed: 06/25/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Tarkoma, Sasu, Prehofer, Christian
• Granted Patent: US 8,046,429 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/319
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence

Abstract

A system and method for exchanging components between platforms is described. As a user terminal changes location or preferences, the user terminal may be provided with a new platform that supports desired services. A method and system that relates to migrating one or more components that provide composite services from one communication platform to another is described. A user terminal may receive one or more composite services provided by two or more components existing on platform. As the user terminal switches from one platform to another, the platforms attempt to provide the same services to the user with little to no interruption. Various aspects relate to shifting one or more components from the first platform to the second platform to provide local support for the services desired by the user terminal.

Claims

1. A process for migrating components for a user terminal among platforms comprising:

constructing a model of a target structure of components among one or more platforms; and

coordinating handover of components between the platforms while preserving the state of the components.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said constructing a model further comprises:

obtaining an agreement between platforms hosting the components of the model of the target structure;

obtaining constraints regarding the components; and

constructing the model based on the constraints of the components.

3. The process according to claim 1, said coordinating comprising:

transferring components based on the model from an old platform to a new platform;

activating a new configuration of subcomponents based on said model; and

informing a user and other session end points about a new service and that the new service is active.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein all of the components migrate from an old platform to a new platform.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the components remains on the old platform and a composite service provided by the components includes both the component on the old platform and a component on the new platform.

6. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether components are covered in a service agreement between the old and the new platforms; and

stopping the handover process if components are not covered by the service agreement.

7. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a user terminal has undergone a change in service the last T seconds; and

stopping the handover process if the user terminal has undergone a change in the last T seconds.

8. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a better configuration of components exists than a current configuration of components; and

stopping the handover process if a better configuration does not exist.

9. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a number of components;

determining an overlap of components in new and old platforms;

creating a set of components that only exist in the old platform; and

creating a set of components that exist in both platforms.

10. The process according to claim 9, further comprising:

creating a set of components that are covered by a service agreement; and

creating a set of candidate components that are covered by the service agreement and exist on the new platform.

11. The process according to claim 10, further comprising:

determining if the service agreement allows reconfiguration of components; and

identifying each component that can be reconfigured as a member of a reconfigurable set.

12. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

generating a new composite service configuration with a set of components; and

determining a cost value for said composite service configuration.

13. The process according to claim 12, further comprising:

comparing two or more new composite service configurations based on cost values; and

selecting a configuration with a minimum cost value.

14. The process according to claim 13, wherein the cost value includes a determination of an end-to-end delay of information flow, a determination of a delay to the terminal signal flow, a determination of an expected load on application servers hosting components, a determination of a locality of components, and a determination of a number of components.

15. The process according to claim 13, wherein the cost values include a determination of weighted cost values.

16. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

locking an old configuration of components;

locking a new configuration of components;

activating the new configuration;

tearing down the old configuration; and

completing handover.

17. The process according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending a lock to a first component;

propagating the lock to a sub component; and

repeating the propagation of the lock for all subcomponents.

18. The process according to claim 17, further comprising:

acknowledging the lock through sending the acknowledgment upstream via a pathway followed by the lock.

19. A system for handling migration of components from a first platform to a second platform comprising:

a first component on the first platform;

a second component on the first platform; and

a user terminal receiving a composite service from the combination of said first and second components,

wherein at least one of the first component and the second component migrates to the second platform and provides said composite service to said user terminal using said at least one of the first component and the second component located on the second platform.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the user terminal switches between the first platform and a second platform based on a change in preferences.

21. The system according to claim 19, wherein the user terminal switches between the first platform and the second platform based on a change in location of the user terminal.

22. A user terminal that receives a service from a first platform and a second platform comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with the platforms; and

a processor that exchanges information with the platforms,

wherein the user terminal receives composite services from components that migrate between the first platform and the second platform based on a change of the user terminal.

23. The user terminal according to claim 22, wherein the change is a change in location.

24. The user terminal according to claim 22, wherein the change is a change in preference.

25. A system that migrates components used by a user terminal among platforms comprising:

means for constructing a model of a target structure of components among one or more platforms; and

means for coordinating handover of components between the platforms while preserving the state of the components.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein said means for constructing a model further comprises:

means for obtaining an agreement between platforms hosting the components of the model of the target structure;

means for obtaining constraints regarding the components; and

means for constructing the model based on the constraints of the components.

27. The system according to claim 25, said means for coordinating comprising:

transferring components based on the model from an old platform to a new platform;

activating a new configuration of subcomponents based on said model; and

informing a user and other session end points about a new service and that the new service is active.

28. A computer-readable medium having a program stored thereon, said program for causing one or more computer systems to execute a process for migrating components for a user terminal among platforms comprising:

constructing a model of a target structure of components among one or more platforms; and

coordinating handover of components between the platforms while preserving the state of the components.

29. The computer-readable medium according to claim 28, wherein said constructing a model further comprises:

obtaining an agreement between platforms hosting the components of the model of the target structure;

obtaining constraints regarding the components; and

constructing the model based on the constraints of the components.

30. The computer-readable medium according to claim 28, said coordinating comprising:

transferring components based on the model from an old platform to a new platform;

activating a new configuration of subcomponents based on said model; and

informing a user and other session end points about a new service and that the new service is active.

31. A server for handling migration of components from a first platform to a second platform, the server comprising:

an input that receives information regarding a first component on the first platform, a second component on the first platform, and a user terminal that receives a composite service from the combination of said first and second components;

a controller that controls a migration of at least one of the first component and the second component to the second platform to provide said composite service to said user terminal using said at least one of the first component located on the first platform and the second component located on the second platform.

32. The server according to claim 31, wherein the server interacts with another server controlling said second platform based on a service agreement.

33. The server according to claim 32, wherein the server uses a cost analysis to determine how components are to be allocated across platforms.

34. The server according to claim 33, wherein the service agreement includes a weighted cost analysis.

35. The server according to claim 34, wherein the server computes the weighted cost analysis for all components associated with said composite service.

36. A server for handling migration of components from a first platform to a second platform, the server comprising:

input means for receiving information regarding a first component on the first platform, a second component on the first platform, and a user terminal that receives a composite service from the combination of said first and second components;

controlling means that controls a migration of at least one of the first component and the second component to the second platform to provide said composite service to said user terminal using said at least one of the first component located on the first platform and the second component located on the second platform.