Token-based deadline enforcement system for electronic document submission

• US 6,182,124 B1
• Filed: 06/10/1998
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lo, Jimmy, Mirlas, Lev, Lau, Terence Chun-Yat
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Prieto, Beatriz
• Application Number:
  US09/095,490
• Time in Patent Office: 965 Days
• Field of Search: 713/200, 713/202, 713/182, 713/183, 713/169, 713/158, 709/217, 709/218, 709/225, 709/227, 709/229, 705/28, 705/44, 705/26, 705/37, 705/235, 705/35, 370/60.1, 370/232, 380/23, 380/25, 368/3, 463/6, 463/12, 463/23, 463/25
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

In a token-based deadline enforcement system for electronic document submission, a submission requirements centre collects information on submission requirements (eg., deadlines for submitting bids in response to commercial tenders), from the processing environments that generate the requirements. A gateway to a network of potential submitters polls the information collected in the submission requirements centre, and generates tokens corresponding to current submission time limits. These tokens are available to all potential submitters until expiry of the corresponding time limit for the submission. On receiving a request for electronic submission from a submitting program, the gateway searches its records for the token corresponding to the submission type. If the token is located, it is returned to the submitting program for packaging with the submission. If the token is not located, an electronic message, such as an error flag, is returned to the submitting program, and the submitter knows immediately that the submission did not meet the deadline. When a submission packaged with a valid token is received at the gateway, it can be routed directly to the processing environment that generated the submission requirement. The valid token provides an on-time validity check; the receiving processing environment does not have to check the submission as it arrives to ensure that it has been filed on time, but can delay processing to a convenient time, to verify compliance with substantive requirements for filing the submission. This scheme provides the submitter with immediate feedback whether the submission has been accepted for filing within the deadline. Possible performance problems in trying to process “time of filing” for a large number of submissions filed virtually simultaneously as the submission deadline draws near, are avoided. Also, the submitter is saved network access costs in waiting for a verification of filing to be returned.

Claims

1. A method for enforcing time limits in an electronic filing system, comprising:

generating a token corresponding to a current submission time limit and maintaining said token until expiry of the time limit; and

on receiving a request for perrnission to submit an electronic submission from a submitting program, searching for the token and, if the token is located, returning the token to the submitting program for packaging with the submission, else, returning an electronic message to the submitting program.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

on receiving the electronic submission packaged with the token from the submitting program, routing said electronic submission packaged with the token to a processing environment setting the current submission time limit.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

on receiving the electronic submission packaged with the token from the submitting program, verifying validity of the token and, if valid, routing said electronic submission packaged with the token to a processing environment setting the current submission time limit, else, returning an error message to the submitting program.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the step of verifying validity of the token comprises verifying non-expiry of the time limit as extended by any associated grace period.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the step of generating and maintaining the token comprises obtaining notification of expiry of the time limit, the method further comprising scheduling a process to delete the token on expiry of the time limit.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein in the step of searching for the token, returning an electronic message to the submitting program comprises returning an error flag to the submitting program.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein in the step of searching for the token, returning an electronic message to the submitting program comprises returning the submission to the program without the token.

8. In a network, a gateway mechanism for enforcing time limits for filing electronic submissions, comprising:

means for receiving information related to a submission time limit from a submission processing environment and for generating a token corresponding thereto, said token being accessible to all potential submitters under the submission time limit;

means for forwarding the token to a submitter in response to a submission filed within the submission time limit;

means for removing access to the token on expiry of the submission time limit; and

means for routing a submission packaged with the token to the submission processing environment.

9. The mechanism, according to claim 8, wherein the means for receiving information related to a time limit from a submission processing environment comprises:

a submission repository adapted to receive information related to current submission requirements from the submission processing environment; and

means to poll the submission repository to update the submission time limit.

10. The mechanism, according to claim 8, wherein the means for removing access to the token on expiry of the submission deadline comprises means for deleting the token on expiry of the time limit.

11. The mechanism, according to claim 10, wherein the means for generating the token further comprise creating a record for the token in the gateway mechanism, and wherein the means for deleting the token further comprise means for deactivating the record for the token on expiry of a grace period after expiry of the time limit.

12. The mechanism, according to claim 8, wherein the means for removing access to the token on expiry of the submission deadline comprises means for returning an error message in response to submissions filed after the submission time limit.

13. The mechanism, according to claim 8, wherein the means for routing a submission packaged with a token to the submission processing environment further comprises:

means for verifying the validity of the token; and

if the token is invalid, means for aborting a route of the submission processing environment and returning an error message to the submitter.

14. The mechanism, according to claim 13, wherein the means for routing a submission packaged with a token to the submission processing environment further comprises:

means to compare the submission with the token to match the submission with the information related to the time limit; and

if no match is found, means for aborting a route of the submission to the submission processing environment and returning an error message to the submitter.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for enforcing time limits in an electronic filing system, the computer readable program product comprising:

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to generate a token corresponding to a current submission time limit and to maintain said token until expiry of the time limit; and

computer readable program code means for causing the computer to search for the token on receiving an electronic submission from a submitting program, and, if the token is located, for causing the computer to return the token to the submitting program for packaging with the submission, or else, to return an electronic message to the submitting program.