Enterprise wide software management system for integrating a plurality of heterogenous software systems to support clients and subclients communication by using a midware interface

• US 6,457,049 B2
• Filed: 06/08/1998
• Issued: 09/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Telxon Corporation (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Brick, Frank E., Lewis, Daniel E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Geckil, Mehmet B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Prieto, Beatriz
• Application Number:
  US09/093,333
• Publication Number:
  US 20010056482A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,569 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/217, 709/218, 709/201, 709/203, 709/101, 709/249, 709/205, 709/223, 709/311, 709/100, 709/250, 705/1-3, 705/7-9
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/028 by filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 Generation of reports

Abstract

In an enterprise network system a plurality of software systems are integrated using an enterprise wide software management system and communicate with a plurality of clients. At least one of the clients is functionally represented by a plurality of subclients through a midware which is transparent to the software systems. Communication destined for any of the clients interfaced through the midware is received by the midware and converted to a format suitable for communication with one or more of the subclients prior to transmission thereto. Correspondingly, communications received from one or more subclients is converted to an appropriate format by the midware and forwarding to the assigned destination. Communications received by the midware is further monitored for fields which are tracked. Upon receiving communications having fields being tracked, the midware stores a least a portion of the communication in a report table.

Claims

1. A midware server for use in an enterprise network comprising an enterprise management system and a plurality of subclients representing one or more clients communicating with the enterprise management through the midware server, wherein the subclients of the one or more clients being represented by the plurality of subclients are transparent to the enterprise management system, each client including a plurality of wireless mobile terminals, with each wireless mobile terminal being a subclient, wherein said enterprise network includes at least three heterogeneous software systems representing corresponding departments of the enterprise network, the midware server comprising:

means for receiving a task from the plurality of transparent subclients or the enterprise management system;

interface means to support communication of each software system with a plurality of subclients through said midware server, said software system preconfigured to communicate with at least one client;

means for dividing the task initiated by either the software system, a client or a subclient into at least two subtasks;

means for selecting at least two entities from the group of the plurality of transparent subclients and the enterprise management system to perform the respective subtasks and for transmitting the subtasks to the respective selected entities to have the at least two subtasks performed;

means for forming a response to the task based on the preconfigured operations associated with said at least two of the subtasks;

means for transmitting the response to the task to the enterprise management system in a case where the task is received from one or more of the plurality of transparent subclients, and for transmitting the response to one or more of the plurality of transparent subclients in a case where the task is received from the enterprise management system;

means for tracking information related to the task or at least two subtasks performed by at least one of the plurality of transparent subclients or the enterprise management system; and

means for storing the information related to the task or at least two subtasks.

2. The midware server of claim 1, wherein the means for tracking further includes means for distinguishing the information related to the task or at least two subtasks according to a predefined criteria.

3. The midware server of claim 2, further including means for storing the distinguished information related to the task or at least two subtasks in a respective report table.

4. The midware server of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of subclients is a wireless mobile terminal.

5. The midware server of claim 4, wherein the at least one of the wireless mobile terminal includes a bar code reader.

6. The midware server of claim 1, further including:

a network interface for communicatively coupling the enterprise management system to the one or more clients represented by a plurality of subclients; and

task processing circuitry including the means for receiving the task and the means for transmitting the response to the task;

wherein the task is associated with a first data structure compatible with either the enterprise management system or a first of the plurality of subclients and one or more of the subtasks are associated with a second data structure, different than the first data structure, the second data structure being compatible with either the enterprise management system in a case where the first data structure is compatible with the first of the plurality of subclients or the first of the plurality of subclients in a case where the first data structure is compatible with the enterprise management system.

7. The midware server of claim 6, wherein the first of the plurality of subclients is a wireless mobile terminal.

8. The midware server of claim 6, wherein the first data structure is compatible with the enterprise management system and the second data structure is compatible with the first of the plurality of subclients.

9. The midware server of claim 8, wherein the task processing circuit queries at least one of the enterprise management system and another of the plurality of subclients for information to complete the task.

10. The midware server of claim 6, wherein the first data structure is compatible with the first of the plurality of subclients and the second data structure is compatible with the enterprise management system.

11. The midware of claim 1, wherein the means for dividing the task into at least two subtasks and selecting at least two entities to perform the respective subtasks includes means for accessing a task specific mapping table which includes a column of known tasks handled by the midware.

12. The midware of claim 11, wherein the task specific mapping table further includes a column of the subtasks needed to at least partially perform the respective task.

13. The midware of claim 11, wherein the task specific mapping table further includes a column of subclients authorized to perform one or more of the subtasks.

14. A midware server for use in an enterprise computer network having an enterprise management system and a plurality of clients communicatively coupled to the enterprise management system, each client including a plurality of wireless mobile terminals, with each wireless mobile terminal being a subclient, wherein said enterprise network includes at least three heterogeneous software systems representing corresponding departments of the enterprise network, the midware server comprising:

a network interface for communicatively coupling the enterprise management system to at least one of the plurality of clients functionally represented by a plurality of subclients, wherein the subclients of the at least one of the plurality of clients functionally represented by the plurality of subclients are transparent to the enterprise management system;

said network interface including interface means to support communication of each software system with a plurality of subclients through said midware server, said software system preconfigured to communicate with at least one client;

task processing circuitry for receiving a task from the plurality of transparent subclients or the enterprise management system, dividing the task initiated by either the software system, a client or a subcalient into at least two subtasks to be performed by respective at least two entities from the group of the transparent subclients and the enterprise management system, and transmitting a response to the task to the enterprise management system in a case where the task is received from one or more of the transparent subclients, and for transmitting the response to one or more of the plurality of transparent subclients in a case where the task is received from the enterprise management system;

wherein the response to the task is based on the preconfigured operations associated with said one or more of the subtasks;

wherein the task is associated with a first data structure compatible with either the enterprise management system or a first of the plurality of transparent subclients and one or more of the subtasks are associated with a second data structure, different than the first data structure, the second data structure being compatible with either the enterprise management system in a case where the first data structure is compatible with the first of the plurality of subclients or the first of the plurality of transparent subelients in a case where the first data structure is compatible with the enterprise management system; and

circuitry for reviewing and distinguishing information related to the task or at least two subtasks for one or more predefined fields in a report table, parcing the information related to the task or at least two subtasks according to one or more of the predefined fields stored in the report table, and storing at least a portion of the information related to the task or at least two subtasks having the one or more predefined fields in the report table.

15. The midware of claim 14, wherein a first of the plurality of subclients is a wireless mobile terminal.

16. The midware of claim 14, wherein the communications include communications between a subclient and the enterprise network, between a subclient and another subclient, or between a first software system of the enterprise network and a second software system of the enterprise network.

17. A midware server for use in a network comprising a host computer and at least one client, each client including a plurality of wireless mobile terminals, with each wireless mobile terminal being a subclient, the host computer being adapted to communicate a task and the plurality of mobile terminals being adapted to communicate with the host computer via a wireless link, the mobile terminals being configured to perform tasks or subtasks in relation to the host computer by way of communications between the host computer and the mobile terminals, interface means being provided to support communication of the host computer with a plurality of subclients through said midware server, said host computer preconfigured to communicate with said at least one client, the performance of a task being based on the preconfigured operations associated with at least two subtasks, the performance of the task or at least two subtasks by the mobile terminals being transparent to the host computer, the midware server comprising:

means for receiving the communications between the host computer and the mobile terminals or between multiple mobile terminals;

means for dividing the task initiated by either the host computer, a client or a subclient into at least two subtasks;

means for tracking information related to the task or at least two subtasks performed by the mobile terminals; and

,

means for continually updating the information related to the task or at least two subtasks being tracked.

18. The midware server of claim 17, wherein the means for tracking further includes means for distinguishing the information related to the task or at least two subtasks according to a predefined criteria.

19. The midware server of claim 18, wherein the midware server further includes means for storing the distinguished information related to the task or at least two subtasks in a respective report table.

20. In an enterprise network having an enterprise management system and a plurality of subclients representing a client communicating with the enterprise management system via a midware server, wherein the subclients of the client are transparent to the enterprise management system, each client including a plurality of wireless mobile terminals, with each wireless mobile terminal being a subclient, wherein said enterprise network includes at least three heterogeneous software systems representing corresponding departments of the enterprise network, a method comprising the steps of;

receiving a task from the plurality of transparent subclients or the enterprise management system via the midware server;

supporting communication of each software system with a plurality of subclients through said midware server, said software system preconfigured to communicate with at least one client;

dividing the task initiated by either the software system, a client or a subclient into at least two subtasks to be performed by respective at least two entities from the group of the plurality of transparent subclients and the enterprise management system;

transmitting a response to the task to the enterprise management system in a case where the task is received from one or more of the transparent subclients, or transmitting a response to one or more of the transparent subclients in a case where the task is received from the enterprise management system;

wherein the response to the task is based on the preconfigured operations associated with the at least two subtasks;

reviewing and distinguishing information related to the task or at least two subtasks for one or more predefined fields stored in a report table;

parcing the information related to the task or at least two subtasks according to one or more of the predefined fields stored in the report table; and

storing at least a portion of the information related to the task or at least two subtasks having the one or more predefined fields in the report table.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of storing includes the step of mapping the at least a portion of the information related to the task or at least two subtasks into one or more predefined columns and rows of the report table.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein at least one subclient is a wireless mobile terminal.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the task received by the midware server originated from a first subclient of the plurality of subclients and is destined for a host computer.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the task received by the midware server originated from a first subclient of the plurality of subclients and is destined for the enterprise management system.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the task received by the midware server originated from the enterprise management system and is destined for the client.