System, method, and apparatus for managing multiple data providers

• US 6,560,591 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2000
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Memmott, James L., Fuller, Vernon N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Metjahic, Safet
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alaubaidi, Haythim J.
• Application Number:
  US09/672,500
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/5, 707/10, 707/100
• US Class Current: 707/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

In a system according to an embodiment of the invention, a data requester submits a query having a query characteristic to a data resolver. Based at least in part on the query characteristic, the data resolver obtains data responsive to the query from one among a plurality of data providers. Data normalization may also be performed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a query, said query including a query characteristic;

selecting one among a plurality of lists, said selecting being based on the query characteristic; and

transmitting a response relating to said query,

wherein said selected list comprises an ordered plurality of entries, each among said ordered plurality of entries corresponds to one among a plurality of data providers, the response is based at least in part on data provided by one among said plurality of data providers, said ordered plurality of entries is ordered according to a predetermined preferability of the corresponding data provider with respect to the query characteristic, each among said ordered plurality of entries includes a corresponding query alias, and for each among said ordered plurality of entries, the corresponding query alias includes a mapping of a least a portion of the query into a namespace of the corresponding data provider.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the query conforms to a standard framework for communication of management data.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting includes following a path through a decision tree.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting includes choosing between at least one default list and at least one exception list.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting a response includes converting the data.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said converting the data includes normalizing the data.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data is provided to an interface module coupled to said one among said plurality of data provides.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein each among said ordered plurality of entries includes a priority order tag.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a query, said query including a query characteristic, wherein said query characteristic includes a query type and at least one query parameter;

selecting one among a plurality of lists, said selecting being based on the query characteristic; and

transmitting a response relating to said query,

wherein said selected list comprises a plurality of entries, the response is based at least in part on data provided by one among said plurality of data providers, each among said plurality of entries includes a query type alias and parameter conversion information, and for each among said plurality of entries, the corresponding query type alias comprises a mapping of at least a portion of the query type into a namespace of the corresponding data provider.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the parameter conversion information includes at least one among a request format item and a response format item.

11. An apparatus comprising a data storage medium, said data storage medium having machine-readable code stored thereon, the machine-readable code including instructions executable by an array of logic elements, the instructions defining a method to:

receive a query, said query including a query characteristic;

select one among a plurality of lists, said selection being based on the query characteristic; and

transmit a response relating to said query,

wherein said selected list comprises an ordered plurality of entries, each among said ordered plurality of entries corresponds to one among a plurality of data providers, the response is based at least in part on data provided by one among said plurality of data providers, and said ordered plurality of entries is ordered according to a predetermined preferability of the corresponding data provider with respect to the query characteristic.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a decision structure configured and arranged to receive a query characteristic, and

a plurality of priority lists,

wherein said decision structure selects one among said plurality of priority lists based at least in part on the query characteristic, said selected priority list comprises a plurality of entries, each among said plurality of entries corresponds to one among a plurality of data providers, and said plurality of entries is ordered according to a predetermined preferability of the corresponding data provider with respect to the query characteristic.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a data resolver configured and arranged to receive a query including a query characteristic, said data resolver having;

a decision structure configured and arranged to receive a query characteristic; and

a plurality of priority lists, and

a plurality of interface modules configured and arranged to receive information relating to the query characteristic from said data resolver,

wherein said decision structure selects one among said plurality of priority lists based at least in part on the query characteristic, said selected priority list comprises a plurality of entries, each among said plurality of entries corresponds to one among a plurality of data providers, each among said plurality of interface modules corresponds to one among the plurality of data providers, one among said plurality of interface modules receives data relating at least in part to the query characteristic from the corresponding data provider, and said plurality of entries is ordered according to a predetermined preferability of the corresponding data provider with respect to the query characteristic.

14. A system comprising:

a data resolver configured and arranged to receive a query including a query characteristic; and

a plurality of data providers,

wherein at least two among said plurality of data providers are configured and arranged to supply data responsive to said query,

said data resolver selects one from among said plurality of data providers based at least in part on the query characteristic, and said data resolver selects one from among said plurality of data providers based at least in part on a predetermined preferability of the corresponding data provider with respect to the query characteristic.

15. A program code storage device, comprising:

a machine-readable storage medium; and

machine-readable program code, stored on the machine-readable storage medium, having instructions to

receive a query, said query including a query characteristic, wherein said query characteristic includes a query type and at least one query parameter;

select one among a plurality of lists, the selection being based on the query characteristic; and

transmit a response relating to said query, wherein said selected list comprises a plurality of entries, the response is based at least in part on data provided by one among said plurality of data providers, each among said plurality of entries includes a query type alias and parameter conversion information, and for each among said plurality of entries, the corresponding query type alias comprises a mapping of at least a portion of the query type into a namespace of the corresponding data provider.

16. The program code storage device of claim 15, wherein the parameter conversion information includes at least one among a request format item and a response format item.

17. A system, comprising:

a data resolver configured and arranged to receive a query including a query characteristic, to select one among a plurality of lists, the selection being based on the query characteristic, and to transmit a response to said query, and

a plurality of data providers, wherein at least two among said plurality of data providers are configured and arranged to supply data responsive to said query;

wherein said query characteristic includes a query type and at least one query parameter, said selected list comprises a plurality of entries, the response is based at least in part on data provided by one among said plurality of data providers, each among said plurality of entries includes a query type alias and parameter conversion information, and for each among said plurality of entries, the corresponding query type alias comprises a mapping of at least a portion of the query type into a namespace of the corresponding data provider.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the parameter conversion information includes at least one among a request format item and a response format item.