Distributed transport communications manager with messaging subsystem for high-speed communications between heterogeneous computer systems

• US 6,757,744 B1
• Filed: 05/12/1999
• Issued: 06/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Parker, Charles Austin, Narisi, Anthony, Kain, Michael T., Coyne, Lois B., Jennion, Susan
• Primary Examiner(s): CALDWELL, ANDREW T
• Application Number:
  US09/310,543
• Time in Patent Office: 1,875 Days
• Field of Search: 709/250, 709/321-328, 370/463, 712/28-31, 703/23-25, 719/321-328
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/10 Streamlined, light-weight or high-speed protocols, e.g. express transfer protocol [XTP] or byte stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/326 in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Methods and apparatus that enable a transport protocol executing on a first computer system to be utilized by applications executing on a second computer system which is directly interconnected and closely coupled to the first computer system. An interconnection couples an input/output (I/O) subsystem of the first computer system to an I/O subsystem of the second computer system and provides a path over which data can be transmitted between the first and second computer systems independent of a network interface card, and an interconnection messaging system executing on the first and second computer systems provides general purpose transport interfaces between said first and second computer systems. A distributed transport communications manager executing on the first and second computer systems controls use of the interconnection messaging system to establish a dialog through which the transport protocol of the first computer system may be used by an application executing on the second computer system in a manner which is transparent to the application. The transport protocol executing on the first computer system may be utilized by a plurality of networked computer systems including the second computer system, where the interconnection messaging system establishes dialogs through which the transport protocol of the first computer system may be used by applications executing on the networked computer systems. Conversely, applications executing on the second computer system may utilize transport protocols executing on a plurality of networked computer systems including the first computer system.

Claims

1. Apparatus which enables a transport protocol executing on a first computer system to be utilized by applications executing on a second computer system which is directly interconnected and closely coupled to the first computer system, comprising:

an interconnection coupling an input/output (I/O) subsystem of the first computer system to an I/O subsystem of the second computer system and over which data can be transmitted between the first and second computer systems independent of a network interface card;

an interconnection messaging system executing on the first and second computer systems that provides general purpose transport interfaces between said first and second computer systems; and

a distributed transport communications manager executing on the first and second computer systems, said distributed communications manager controlling use of said interconnection messaging system to establish a dialog through which the transport protocol of the first computer system may be used by an application executing on the second computer system in a manner which is transparent to said application.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the interconnection between the I/O subsystem of the first computer system and the I/O subsystem of the second computer system comprises a physical connection between the I/O subsystems over which data can be transmitted.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the interconnection messaging system includes a messaging subsystem (“

MSS”

) which provides said general purpose transport interfaces, said general purpose transport interfaces being independent of communication protocols of the interconnection, and which provides further interfaces on either end of the interconnection which are dependent on the communication protocols of the interconnection, whereby only the further interfaces must be changed when the interconnection is changed.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, wherein the MSS includes an MSS component on each of said first and second computer systems, each MSS component having at least one local MSS user connected thereto through said independent transport interface, an MSS component on the first computer system creating a dialog to each complementary remote MSS user of the second computer system.

5. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein each MSS component includes means for building dialog tables for local MSS users informing the local MSS users about any complementary remote MSS users accessible via the interconnection and for updating said dialog tables as complementary remote MSS users are added or removed.

6. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein each MSS component includes means for performing dialog management functions which allow the local MSS users to establish, receive status about, and destroy dialogs with the complementary remote MSS users over the interconnection.

7. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein each MSS component includes means for performing control message functions which allow the local MSS users and the complementary remote MSS users to pass control messages to each other in a manner which is independent of the communication protocols of the interconnection.

8. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein each MSS component includes means for transferring data between local and complementary remote MSS users over dialogs established between said local and remote MSS users.

9. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein one of said local and one of said complementary remote MSS users comprise complementary components of said distributed transport communications manager.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said complementary components of said distributed transport communications manager use the MSS and the transport protocol of the first computer system to provide dialog establishment, data transfer, and dialog termination between a network application executing on said second computer system and another network application executing in a computer network including said first and second computer systems.

11. Apparatus as in claim 10, wherein said complementary components respectively interface with said network application executing on said second computer system and the transport protocol executing on the first computer system, and said complementary components are implemented on the first and second computer systems as complementary MSS users which are connected to the MSS through the independent transport interfaces of the MSS.

12. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said transport protocol executing on said first computer system is utilized by a plurality of networked computer systems including said second computer system, each of said plurality of computer systems being directly interconnected and closely coupled to said first computer system and using said interconnection messaging system to establish dialogs through which the transport protocol of the first computer system may be used by applications executing on the networked computer systems in a manner which is transparent to said applications.

13. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein applications executing on said second computer system utilize transport protocols executing on a plurality of networked computer systems including said first computer system, each of said plurality of networked computer systems being directly interconnected and closely coupled to said second computer system and using said interconnection messaging system to establish dialogs through which the transport protocols of the networked computer systems may be used by applications executing on said second computer systems in a manner which is transparent to said applications.

14. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said distributed transport communications manager creates a plurality of dialogs over the interconnection for a plurality of pairs of network applications executed by said first and second computer systems whereby the network applications in each pair may communicate over the interconnection in a manner which is transparent to the first and second network applications in the pair, said distributed transport communications manager further specifying a transport dialog which is to be used for the data transfer between the network applications in the pair.

15. A method for enabling a transport protocol executing on a first computer system to be utilized by applications executing on a second computer system which is directly interconnected and closely coupled to the first computer system via an interconnection between an input/output (I/O) subsystem of the first computer system and an I/O subsystem of the second computer system to transmit data therebetween independent of a network interface using an interconnection messaging system on the first and second computer systems having a messaging subsystem (MSS) that provides general purpose transport interfaces between the first and second computer systems, use of said interconnection messaging system being controlled by a distributed transport communications manager (DTCM) having complementary DTCM components on said first and second computer systems, comprising the steps of:

said complementary DTCM components opening an MSS dialog over the interconnection;

the transport protocol of the first computer system and a transport entity in a computer network including said second computer system opening a transport dialog between said first computer system and another computer system in the computer network; and

managing said MSS dialog and said transport dialog so that the transport protocol of the first computer system may be used by a network application executing on the second computer system in a manner which is transparent to said network application.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising the additional steps of creating a plurality of MSS dialogs over the interconnection for a plurality of pairs of network applications whereby the network applications in each pair may communicate in a manner which is transparent to the network applications in the pair, and specifying the transport dialog which is to be used for the data transfer between the network applications in the pair.