Cooperative processing interface and communication broker for heterogeneous computing environments
First Claim
1. A communication system for managing communication of messages among a plurality of participants in a computing environment, the participants including a server residing on a first computer, and a client residing on a second computer, the first and second computers being heterogeneous, the client and server sending messages to each other, the messages including a request from the client for a service, and the server providing a service, the participants being connected by a physical network with a network protocol, said system comprising:
- a protocol independent communications transport layer, said transport layer having a low level application programming interface (LAPI) and accepting messages from the participants via the LAPI and said transport layer communicating with the physical network via the network protocol; and
a service broker, said service broker receiving the service request from the client and determining if the service provided by the server matches the service request, and, if so, communicating the service request to the server.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
An object interface is disclosed that supports three modes of inter-object communication--message processing (store and forward), conversational communication, and remote procedure call. A service broker manages service requests from, and responsive services provided by, a plurality of clients and servers, respectively, which may reside on different hardware platforms and operating systems and may be connected to computer networks having different network architectures and associated communications protocols. The broker manages the service offerings from servers and service requests from clients, and clients and servers communicate and exchange information with one another via the broker. The service broker includes different application programming interfaces for allowing participants to access the functionality of the service broker.
736 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A communication system for managing communication of messages among a plurality of participants in a computing environment, the participants including a server residing on a first computer, and a client residing on a second computer, the first and second computers being heterogeneous, the client and server sending messages to each other, the messages including a request from the client for a service, and the server providing a service, the participants being connected by a physical network with a network protocol, said system comprising:
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a protocol independent communications transport layer, said transport layer having a low level application programming interface (LAPI) and accepting messages from the participants via the LAPI and said transport layer communicating with the physical network via the network protocol; and a service broker, said service broker receiving the service request from the client and determining if the service provided by the server matches the service request, and, if so, communicating the service request to the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for managing communication among participants in a computing environment, the participants including a server residing on a first computer and a client residing on a second computer, the first and second computers being heterogeneous, the client and server sending messages to each other, the messages including a request from the client for a service, and the server providing a service, the participants being connected by a physical network with a network protocol, said method comprising the steps of:
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disposing between the participants and the physical network a protocol independent communications transport layer having a lower level application interface (LAPI) and communicating with the physical network via the network protocol; placing a service broker in communication with the participants by said transport layer; communicating the service request from the client to said service broker; said service broker determining whether the requested service is provided by the server and, if so; said service broker communicating the service request from said service broker to the server. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification