TRANSACTIONAL SERVICE PIPELINE

• US 20120191643A1
• Filed: 01/24/2011
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hom, Richard V., Nelson, Eric M., Roxin, David C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,650,151 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/607
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes

Abstract

An approach for connecting the inputs and the outputs of multiple services in such a way that the entire transaction can be tracked from beginning to end and from service to service is provided. The pipeline architecture of the present invention passes information through a sequence of nodes, each node providing some processing or filtering before passing information to the next node in the pipe. A transaction'"'"'s token passes down a pipe of services. The pipe can have forks and branches, so a transaction'"'"'s token is passed from node to node carrying messages from one node to another. The overall transactional information is not lost from service to service; instead it is carried up and down the length of the pipeline. As the transaction'"'"'s token is passed up and down the pipeline, its history passes with it. The pipe links a chain of nodes connected end-to-end.

Claims

1. A system for connecting inputs and outputs of multiple services to track an entire transaction from beginning to end and from service to service in a pipeline architecture, the system comprising:

a transactional service pipeline (TSP) having a series of nodes, each node providing processing or filtering before passing information to the next node in the TSP, and for passing information tracked by a token having an ID and context, through the TSP;

one or more consumers using the TSP to receive the information, and potentially further process and pass on the information; and

one or more providers used by the pipeline to receive and process the information.

2. The system as defined in claim 1 further comprising forks and branches within the pipeline of the TSP for controlling the passing of transaction tokens from node to node.

3. The system as defined in claim 2 further comprising a lightweight virtual attribute provenance pipeline (LVAPP) for connecting virtual attribute enabled directories (VAEDs) to corresponding sources of data.

4. The system as defined in claim 3 further comprising a Trust and Provenance Pipeline (TPP).

5. The system as defined in claim 4 further comprising an Enterprise Services Pipeline (ESP) between the LVAPP and the TPP.

6. A method in a system having a transactional service pipeline (TSP) for connecting inputs and outputs of multiple services to track an entire transaction from beginning to end and from service to service, the method comprising:

passing a transaction token up and down the TSP;

passing the transaction token'"'"'s history with the transaction token; and

providing, by the TSP, provenance to one or more consumers.

7. The method as defined in claim 6 further comprising tracking a transaction between components in the TSP from beginning to end.

8. The method as defined in claim 7 further comprising using a transactional single sign-on identity for the entire TSP that can be used for a Database Management System (DBMS) level audit trails.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 further comprising connecting the TSP consumers to sources of data.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

tracking the TSP provenance through all of its sources; and

calculating a trust level value, which determines if the transaction should proceed to completion.

11. A computer-readable medium storing computer instructions, which, when executed, enables a system having a Transactional Service Pipeline (TSP) operating to connect inputs and outputs of multiple services to track an entire transaction from beginning to end and from service to service to perform steps comprising:

passing a transaction token up and down the TSP;

passing the transaction token'"'"'s history with the transaction token; and

providing, by the TSP, provenance to one or more consumers.

12. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise tracking the transaction between components in the TSP from beginning to end.

13. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the steps further comprise using a transactional single sign-on identity for the entire TSP that can be used for Database Management System (DBMS) level audit trails.

14. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 13, wherein the steps further comprise connecting the TSP, consumers, and providers to sources of data.

15. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the steps further comprise:

tracking the TSP provenance through all of its sources; and

calculating a trust level value, which determines if the transaction should proceed to completion.

16. A method for deploying a system for connecting inputs and outputs of multiple services of a transactional service pipeline (TSP) to track an entire transaction from beginning to end and from service to service, the method comprising:

passing a transaction token up and down the TSP;

passing the transaction token'"'"'s history with the transaction token; and

providing, by the TSP, provenance to one or more consumers.

17. The method as defined in claim 16 further comprising tracking a transaction between components in the pipeline from beginning to end.

18. The method as defined in claim 17 further comprising using a transactional single sign-on identity for the entire TSP that can be used for Database Management System (DBMS) level audit trails.

19. The method as defined in claim 18 further comprising connecting the TSP, consumers, and providers to sources of data.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 further comprising:

tracking the provenance through all of its source; and

calculating a trust level value, which determines if the transaction should proceed to completion.