Distributed processing in a system of computers at terminals connected by a communication network
First Claim
1. A distributed processing system, comprising:
- a communication network to transmit messages, including data; and
a plurality of terminals connected together by said communication network, each of said terminals capable of generating the messages, each of the messages having a terminal number for identifying one of said terminals to receive the message, a method code identifying processing of data and a command for identifying data to be processed, each of said terminals includinga memory unit to store objects, including methods, at least one of the objects including a learning method for learning the data and the methods of the objects;
a processor, operatively connected to said communication network, to execute the methods stored in said memory unit; and
a system table to store identifying information on the location and execution sequence of the methods stored in said memory unit, said processor updating said system table and the contents of said memory unit upon receipt of one of the messages from another terminal instructing said processor to execute the learning method stored in said memory unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for distributing processing between terminals (T1 ˜Tn) connected via a communication network (30). Each terminal (Ti) is provided with at least one method group (32) and a memory unit (34) to store data files. An originating terminal, e.g., terminal (T1) accesses data elsewhere in the distributed system by generating a message. The message includes a terminal code identifying an object to access a terminal (T2) to execute an object, a method code identifying a method for accessing the data and a command name containing or identifying the desired data. The terminal, e.g., terminal (T2), containing the desired data, decodes the message and accesses a data file in the memory unit (34) containing the desired data identified by the command name. The message may also include a selector and reset conditions which control the sequence of data processing in the terminals (T0 and Tn) so that the processing of the originating (T1) and data accessing (T2) terminals can be coordinated. When the processing identified by the method code is completed in the data accessing terminal (T2), a message including the resulting data is sent from the data accessing terminal (T2) to the originating terminal (T1). Objects according to the present invention may contain a method without data and may be transmitted from one terminal to another as data. Thus, any application or operating system program can be replaced or added by transmitting an object containing that program as data.
134 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A distributed processing system, comprising:
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a communication network to transmit messages, including data; and a plurality of terminals connected together by said communication network, each of said terminals capable of generating the messages, each of the messages having a terminal number for identifying one of said terminals to receive the message, a method code identifying processing of data and a command for identifying data to be processed, each of said terminals including a memory unit to store objects, including methods, at least one of the objects including a learning method for learning the data and the methods of the objects; a processor, operatively connected to said communication network, to execute the methods stored in said memory unit; and a system table to store identifying information on the location and execution sequence of the methods stored in said memory unit, said processor updating said system table and the contents of said memory unit upon receipt of one of the messages from another terminal instructing said processor to execute the learning method stored in said memory unit.
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2. A terminal in a distributed processing system, comprising:
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object storage means for storing objects, including at least one object including a method; system table means for storing identifying information on location and execution sequence of the objects stored in said object storage means; and decomposing means for decomposing the method in one of the objects into byte data in response to a transfer request; transfer means for transferring the byte data decomposed by said decomposing means to another terminal upon completion of the decomposing and for receiving an updated object requested to be transferred to said terminal; and installation means for storing the updated object into said object storage means and for updating said system table means with an object name corresponding to the updated object.
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3. A method for transferring programs in a distributed processing system executing objects in terminals, the objects inclusive of objects including a method, said method comprising:
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(a) receiving a transfer request at a first terminal to transfer a selected object from the first terminal to a second terminal; (b) decomposing the selected object into byte data in response to the transfer request; (c) transferring the byte data decomposed in step (b) to the second terminal upon completion of said decomposing; (d) receiving the byte data at the second terminal; (e) composing the byte data to produce an updated object corresponding to the selected object requested to be transferred to the second terminal; and (f) storing the updated object and an object name, corresponding to the updated object, in the second terminal. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A message transmitted between objects in a distributed processing system having a plurality of terminals connected by a communication network, said message comprising:
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a terminal number for identifying one of the terminals to receive said message; a method code identifying processing of data; and a command for identifying data to be processed, said command including a sequence file identifier identifying a sequence defined in a sequence file for executing objects, triggered by said message, in a defined order at a plurality of the terminals, said command including a selector condition and a reset condition when said method code identifies a common object, the selector condition determining how the common object executes and the reset condition determining how execution of the common object and any subsequent additional common objects ends.
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6. A method for processing messages in a distributed processing system having a plurality of terminals connected by a communication network, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining in a first terminal, for a first message identifying a first object, whether the first object is stored in the first terminal; (b) triggering the first object in the first terminal when said determining in step (a) determines that the first object is stored in the first terminal; and (c) generating a second message to a second terminal to locate the first object when said determining in step (a) determines that the first object is not stored in the first terminal. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification