ON-DEMAND PROVISIONING OF SERVICES RUNNING ON EMBEDDED DEVICES

• US 20100161778A1
• Filed: 12/22/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Moreira Sa De Souza, Luciana, Koehler, Moritz, Trifa, Mihai Vlad, Savio, Dominic, Karnoukos, Stamatis, Guinard, Dominique, Spiess, Patrik, Baecker, Oliver
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/222
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25202 Internet, tcp-ip, web server : see under S05B219-40
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31156 Network structure, internet
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31196 SOAP, describes available services and how to call them remotely
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34038 Web, http, ftp, internet, intranet server
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5044 considering hardware capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0286 for search or classification or discovery of web services providing management functionalities
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A service type repository is populated with types of services exposed on a network that has a dynamic organization. The services are embedded on one or more devices included in the network and the services providing information about the one or more devices. A query is received that includes a request for a type of service, and the requested type of service is compared to the types of services in the service type repository to select a collection of matching service types that satisfy the request. Active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types are identified. The active instances are instances of services embedded on one or more devices included in the network. When no active instances are identified, active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types are discovered.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed, operate to cause a computer to perform operations comprising:

populating a service type repository with types of services exposed on a network that has a dynamic organization that accommodates removal of services from the network and addition of services to the network, the services being embedded on one or more devices included in the network and the services providing information about the one or more devices;

receiving a query that includes a request for a type of service;

comparing the requested type of service to the types of services in the service type repository to select a collection of matching service types that satisfy the request;

identifying active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types, the active instances being instances of services embedded on one or more devices included in the network; and

when no active instances are identified, discovering active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein the discovered active instance is embedded on a device added to the network after populating the service type repository.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein the discovered active instance is embedded on a device included in the network when populating the service type repository, and the active instance became active after populating the service type repository.

4. The medium of claim 1, comprising further instructions to perform operations comprising generating an augmented query based on the received query, the augmented query including the requested type of service and information related to the requested service type, and wherein comparing the requested service to the types of services in the service type repository further comprises comparing the information related to the requested type of service to the types of services in the service type repository.

5. The medium of claim 4, wherein the information related to the requested service comprises an indication of a context in which the query was generated.

6. The medium of claim 5, wherein the indication of the context in which the query was generated includes one or more of a location from which the query was generated and an application from which the query was generated.

7. The medium of claim 1, comprising further instructions to perform operations comprising, when no active instances are discovered:

retrieving instructions that, when embedded on and executed by a device, create an active instance of a service having a type of the requested type of service; and

installing the instructions on a device included in the network.

8. The medium of claim 7, wherein:

the service type repository includes instructions that, when embedded on and executed by a device, create an instance of a service running on the device, and

the instructions that create the active instance of the service are retrieved from the service type repository.

9. The medium of claim 1, comprising further instructions to perform operations comprising, after populating the service type repository:

determining whether devices have been added or removed from the network to determine devices currently included in the network;

determining types of services available from the devices currently included in the network; and

updating the service type repository based on the services available currently included in the network.

10. The medium of claim 1, comprising further instructions to perform operations comprising ranking the active instances based on one or more of a quality of each of the active instances and a location of the active instance.

11. The medium of claim 1, comprising further instructions to perform operations comprising:

displaying a list the active instances; and

accepting user input that selects an active instance from the list of active instances.

12. The medium of claim 1, wherein the information about the one or more devices comprises one or more of a type of service available from the device and a physical characteristic of the device.

13. The medium of claim 12, wherein a physical characteristic of the device includes one or more of an amount of throughput of the device, a unique identifier of the device, an amount of available stored energy on the device, and an action the device is configured to perform.

14. The medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the active instances of services comprises monitoring devices in the network with a device monitor to determine one or more physical characteristics of the devices included in the network and a service monitor that determines instances of services running on the devices.

15. The medium of claim 1, wherein a service type comprises a description of the service including metadata and an interface for interacting with a device on which the service is embedded.

16. The medium of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more devices included in the network comprises a sensor configured to sense a physical property of an area near the sensor.

17. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

populating a service type repository with types of services exposed on a network that has a dynamic organization that accommodates removal of services from the network and addition of services to the network, the services being embedded on one or more devices included in the network and the services providing information about the one or more devices;

receiving a query that includes a request for a type of service;

comparing the requested type of service to the types of services in the service type repository to select a collection of matching service types that satisfy the request;

identifying active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types, the active instances being instances of services embedded on one or more devices included in the network; and

when no active instances are identified, discovering active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a display configured to present an interface to a user, and wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

displaying a list of the active instances on the display; and

accepting user input that selects an active instance from the list of active instances.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computers to perform operations, when no active instances are discovered, comprising:

retrieving instructions that, when embedded on and executed by a device, create an active instance of a service having a type of the requested type of service; and

installing the instructions on a device included in the network.

20. A method comprising:

populating a service type repository with types of services exposed on a network that has a dynamic organization that accommodates removal of services from the network and addition of services to the network, the services being embedded on one or more devices included in the network and the services providing information about the one or more devices;

receiving a query that includes a request for a type of service;

comparing the requested type of service to the types of services in the service type repository to select a collection of matching service types that satisfy the request;

identifying active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types, the active instances being instances of services embedded on one or more devices included in the network; and

when no active instances are identified, discovering active instances of services that have a type included in the collection of matching service types.