System and method for identifying and locating services on multiple heterogeneous networks using a query by type

• US 6,167,449 A
• Filed: 11/19/1997
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Arnold, Kevin M., Fisher, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): CALDWELL, ANDREW T
• Application Number:
  US08/974,008
• Time in Patent Office: 1,133 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227-228, 707/710, 707/104
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4523 using lightweight directory access protocol [LDAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and apparatus for identifying and locating computer network services. The invention gives an application the ability to search for network services in a manner independent of the network communication protocol used by the network. The invention can thus operate as a layer of abstraction between the Transport and Network Layers and the Application Layer of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Reference Model of network architecture and suite of protocols. The invention gives the client application the ability to browse for network services based on the type of service (such as remote file access, mail, Web, domain name registration, etc.), rather than having to know the name or location of the service or the underlying network communication protocol used by the service. Some of the contemplated service name identification protocols used to find the requested types of services include Internet-related protocols such as Domain Name Service (DNS) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), as well as Service Location Protocol (SLP), running on top of the Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request from an application program for a type of network service;

selecting which of multiple heterogeneous networks will be accessed; and

forwarding said request to at least one of a service manager'"'"'s network access components configured to search for providers of said type of network service by querying the selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks.

2. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

querying at least one network for said type of network service wherein the records of a service directory on said network are searched; and

receiving data related to said request from a provider of said service directory.

3. A method as in claim 2 further comprising:

identifying a storage area for receiving said data; and

filling the storage area with said data.

4. A method as in claim 1 further comprising

creating a list by the service manager of types of network services that may be accessed by the one or more network access components.

5. A method as in claim 4 wherein the list of types of network services comprises remote file access.

6. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

sending a request to identify available network access components; and

deactivating one or more of said available network access components responsive to a request by the application program to do so.

7. A method as in claim 1 wherein the request for a type of network service is a request to register services on a network.

8. A method as in claim 7 further comprising

forwarding said request to at least one network access component configured to communicate with a provider of domain name registration services in accordance with Domain Name Service (DNS) running over TCP/IP.

9. A computer-readable medium having a plurality of instructions that cause a computer to perform the steps of:

receiving a request from an application program for a type of network service;

selecting which of multiple heterogeneous networks will be accessed; and

forwarding said request to at least one of a service manager'"'"'s network access components configured to search for providers of said type of network service by querying the selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks.

10. A computer-readable medium as in claim 9 further comprising instructions that cause the network access component to perform the steps of:

querying at least one of said multiple heterogeneous networks for said type of network service wherein the records of a service directory on at least one of said multiple heterogeneous networks are searched; and

receiving data related to said request from a provider of said type of network service.

11. A computer-readable medium as in claim 9 further comprising instructions that cause the step of:

determining types of network services that can be accessed by the network access components of said service manager in response to a request from an application program for a list of available network services.

12. A computer-readable medium as in claim 9 further comprising instructions that cause the steps of:

deactivating one or more of said network access components in response to receiving a second request from an application program to do so.

13. A computer-readable medium as in claim 9 further comprising instructions that cause the step of forwarding to further comprise:

forwarding a second request to register services on a network.

14. A computer-readable medium as in claim 13 further comprising instructions that cause the step of forwarding to further comprise:

forwarding said second request to at least one network access component configured to communicate with a provider of service name registration services.

15. A method of locating network services, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a type of service;

searching a plurality of reserved fields in DNS records for said type of service; and

creating at least one identifier that identifies a provider of said type of service based on a DNS record having a reserved field that matches said type of service.

16. A method as in claim 15 wherein

the step of receiving comprises receiving a request for printer services, and

the step of creating comprises creating at least one identifier that identifies a network printer, the identifier including a data link layer address of the network printer.

17. A computer system comprising:

processor;

memory having instructions that when executed by the processor cause the computer system to perform the steps of;

receiving a request from an application program for a type of network service,

selecting which of multiple heterogeneous networks will be accessed, and

forwarding said request to a service manager including at least one network access component configured to query the selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks for providers of said type of network service.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the memory includes further instructions that when executed cause the system to perform the further steps of:

searching at least one network of said multiple heterogeneous networks responsive to a query by at least one network access component of said service manager for said type of network service wherein the records of a service directory on said network are searched; and

receiving data related to said request from a provider of said type of network service.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the memory includes further instructions that when executed cause the system to perform the further step of:

forwarding the data to the application.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the memory includes further instructions that when executed cause the system to perform the further step of:

creating a list of types of network services that may be accessed by the network access components.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the list further comprises remote file access.

22. The system of claim 17 wherein the memory includes further instructions that when executed cause the system to perform the further steps of:

receiving a request from the application to identify available network access components available within said service manager; and

deactivating one or more of said available network access components.

23. The system of claim 17 wherein the request for a type of network service is a request to register services on a network.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the memory includes further instructions that when executed cause the system to perform the further step of:

forwarding said request to at least one network access component configured to communicate with a provider of domain name registration services in accordance with Domain Name Service (DNS) running over TCP/IP.

25. The system of claim 17 further comprising a network interface device for connecting to the network in response to instructions sent by the processor.

26. The system of claim 17 wherein the application program resides in said memory.

27. The computer system of claim 17 wherein the service manager resides between the application and network layers of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Reference Model of the International Standards Organization.

28. A computer system comprising:

means for receiving a request from an application program for a type of network service;

means for selecting which of multiple heterogeneous networks will be accessed;

means for issuing queries over the selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks seeking providers of said type of network service;

means for receiving data from providers of said type of network service responsive to said queries; and

means for responding to said request by communicating said data to said application program.

29. The computer system of claim 28 further comprising:

means for creating a list of networks that may be accessed by the application program responsive to a second request from the application program to do so, and

means for communicating said list of networks to said application program.

30. The computer system of claim 28 further comprising:

means for deactivating access to at least one of said multiple heterogeneous networks responsive to a second request from the application program to do so.

31. The computer system of claim 28 further comprising:

means for creating a list of network services available on said multiple heterogeneous networks responsive to a request from the application program to do so, and

means for communicating said list of network services to said application program.

32. The computer system of claim 28 further comprising:

means for searching the records of service directories in said multiple heterogeneous networks for providers of said network service.

33. The computer system of claim 28 further comprising:

means for processing said data.

34. The computer system of claim 33 wherein the means for processing said data further includes:

means for converting said data from a first format to a second format.

35. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request from an application program for a type of network service;

selecting which of multiple heterogeneous networks will be accessed;

forwarding said request to at least one of a service manager program'"'"'s network access components;

querying the selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks for said type of network service by causing the records of service directories on said selected one of said multiple heterogeneous networks to be searched;

receiving data related to said query from providers of said type of network service;

processing said data; and

forwarding said data to said application program.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 35 wherein processing includes:

converting said data from a first format to a second format; and

wherein forwarding said data includes;

forwarding said data in said second format to said application program.