System and method for event subscriptions for CORBA gateway

• US 7,010,586 B1
• Filed: 04/21/2000
• Issued: 03/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Bhat, Shivaram, Allavarpu, Sai V.
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, KHANH Q
• Application Number:
  US09/552,984
• Time in Patent Office: 2,146 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/220, 709/223, 709/224, 709/226, 709/227, 709/228, 709/230, 709/203, 709/245, 705/44, 710/20, 710/39, 710/52, 370/254
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/052 using standardised network management architectures, e.g. telecommunication management network [TMN] or unified network management architecture [UNMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0604 using filtering, e.g. reduction of information by using priority, element types, position or time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

A CORBA Gateway between CORBA-based applications and an enterprise manager may be configurable to manage various networked objects, such as printers, scanners, copiers, telephone systems, cell phones, phone systems, faxes, routers, switches, etc., which may be interconnected via networks. Various embodiments of the CORBA Gateway may include an Event Gateway which manages object events. The CORBA Event Gateway is designed to leverage existing Event Distribution Server (EDS) sinks to provide EDS filtering functionality and EDS object level access control functionality. The approach leverages existing EDS solutions by providing a common sink for all events/notifications and using a unique Event Port Registry to manage the subscriptions of various TMN clients that subscribe for such events/notifications. Generally, the approach described provides the capability to filter events according to criteria presented by client event subscriptions. In one embodiment, the events may be filtered to enforce policy-based access control on TMN events/notifications, determining which CORBA client applications have access to which events. The filtering of events at the sink based upon client subscriptions decreases unnecessary network traffic in that events may be “pushed” to the client, rather than delivered upon client request. In addition, the approach may provide easy-to-use IDL APIs that allow CORBA clients to directly subscribe/unsubscribe to events based on criteria such as object class, object instance, and event type.

Claims

1. A network management system, comprising:

an event gateway which is coupled to one or more managed objects and which is configured to deliver events generated by the one or more managed objects to one or more managers; and

a platform-independent interface to the event gateway, wherein the event gateway is configurable to communicate with the one or more managers through the platform-independent interface to deliver the events generated by the one or more managed objects;

wherein the event gateway comprises a plurality of event distribution server sinks configured to receive events generated by the one or more managed objects and distribute the events to the one or more managers such that one of the one or more managers receives events from a plurality of different ones of the event distribution server sinks; and

wherein the gateway is configurable to provide the one or more managers with subscriptions to the events as a function of event criteria specified by the one or more managers, wherein events meeting the specified event criteria are delivered and events failing to meet the specified event criteria are filtered out.

2. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the event criteria comprise an object class for the one or more managed objects generating the events.

3. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the event criteria comprise an object instance for one of the one or more managed objects generating the events.

4. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the event criteria comprise an event type.

5. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the platform-independent interface to the event gateway is expressed in an interface definition language, and wherein the interface definition language comprises a language for defining interfaces to one or more managed objects across a plurality of platforms and across a plurality of programming languages.

6. The network management system of claim 5, wherein the interface definition language comprises Object Management Group Interface Definition Language (OMG IDL) interface.

7. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise one or more objects corresponding to a telephone network.

8. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise an object corresponding to a telecommunications device.

9. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the event gateway comprises:

an event distribution server, wherein the event distribution server is configurable to listen for the events generated by the one or more managed objects and deliver the events to the one or more managers, wherein the event distribution server comprises the plurality of event distribution server sinks.

10. The network management system of claim 9, wherein the event gateway further comprises:

an event port registry server comprising a plurality of event ports and an event port registry,

wherein the event port registry server is coupled to the event distribution server,

wherein the event ports comprise communication channels for the delivery of the events to the one or more managers, and

wherein the event port registry provides information to the event distribution server regarding which ports correspond to which managers.

11. The network management system of claim 9, wherein the event distribution server comprises:

an event distribution server source which listens for the events from the one or more managed objects; and

wherein the plurality of event distribution server sinks are operable to dispatch the events to the one or more managers as a function of the subscriptions.

12. The network management system of claim 11, wherein the event distribution server sinks are distributed to provide load balancing of the events to the one or more managers.

13. The network management system of claim 1, wherein the events are delivered through the platform-independent interface according to Internet Inter-Object Protocol (IIOP).

14. A network management method comprising:

registering a subscription of a manager application to one or more events generated by one or more managed objects by specifying event criteria to an event gateway, and wherein the event gateway is configurable to communicate with the manager application through a platform-independent interface;

generating a plurality of events including one or more events matching the specified event criteria;

determining whether the specified event criteria are met for each of the plurality of generated events; and

delivering each event for which the specified event criteria are met, wherein events for which the specified event criteria are met are delivered from a plurality of different event distribution server sinks of the event gateway to the manager application.

15. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the event criteria comprise an object class for the one or more managed objects generating the events.

16. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the event criteria comprise an object instance for one of the one or more managed objects generating the events.

17. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the event criteria comprise an event type.

18. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the platform-independent interface to the event gateway is expressed in an interface definition language, and wherein the interface definition language comprises a language for defining interfaces to managed objects across a plurality of platforms and across a plurality of programming languages.

19. The network management method of claim 18, wherein the interface definition language comprises Object Management Group Interface Definition Language (OMG IDL).

20. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise one or more objects corresponding to a telephone network.

21. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise an object corresponding to a telecommunications device.

22. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the event gateway comprises:

an event distribution server which is coupled to the event port registry server, wherein the event distribution server is configurable to listen for the events generated by the one or more managed objects and deliver the events to the one or more managers, wherein the event distribution server comprises the plurality of event distribution server sinks.

23. The network management method of claim 22, wherein the event gateway further comprises:

an event port registry server comprising a plurality of event ports and an event port registry;

wherein the event port registry server is coupled to the event distribution server,

wherein the event ports comprise communication channels for the delivery of the events to the one or more managers, and

wherein the event port registry provides information to the event distribution server regarding which ports correspond to which managers.

24. The network management method of claim 22, wherein the event distribution server comprises:

an event distribution server source which listens for the events from one or more managed objects; and

wherein the plurality of event distribution server sinks are operable to dispatch the events to the one or more managers as a function of the subscriptions.

25. The network management method of claim 24, wherein the event distribution server sinks are distributed to provide load balancing of the events to the one or more managers.

26. The network management method of claim 14, wherein the events are delivered through the platform-independent interface according to Internet Inter-Object Protocol (IIOP).

27. A tangible, computer accessible medium, comprising program instructions for network management, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to perform:

registering a subscription of a manager application to one or more events generated by one or more managed objects by specifying event criteria to an event gateway, and wherein the event gateway is configurable to communicate with the manager application through a platform-independent interface;

generating a plurality of events including one or more events matching the specified event criteria;

determining whether the specified event criteria are met for each of the plurality of generated events; and

delivering each event for which the specified event criteria are met, wherein events for which the specified event criteria are met are delivered from a plurality of different event distribution server sinks of the event gateway to the manager application.

28. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the event criteria comprise an object class for the one or more managed objects generating the events.

29. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the event criteria comprise an object instance for one of the one or more managed objects generating the events.

30. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the event criteria comprise an event type.

31. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the platform-independent interface to the event gateway is expressed in an interface definition language, and wherein the interface definition language comprises a language for defining interfaces to managed objects across a plurality of platforms and across a plurality of programming languages.

32. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 31, wherein the interface definition language comprises Object Management Group Interface Definition Language (OMG IDL).

33. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise one or more objects corresponding to a telephone network.

34. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the one or more managed objects comprise an object corresponding to a telecommunications device.

35. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the event gateway comprises:

an event distribution server which is coupled to the event port registry server, wherein the event distribution server is configurable to listen for the events generated by the one or more managed objects and deliver the events to the one or more managers, wherein the event distribution server comprises the plurality of event distribution server sinks.

36. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 35, wherein the event gateway further comprises:

an event port registry server comprising a plurality of event ports and an event port registry;

wherein the event port registry server is coupled to the event distribution server,

wherein the event ports comprise communication channels for the delivery of the events to the one or more managers, and

wherein the event port registry provides information to the event distribution server regarding which ports correspond to which managers.

37. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 35, wherein the event distribution server comprises:

an event distribution server source which listens for the events from one or more managed objects; and

wherein the plurality of event distribution server sinks are operable to dispatch the events to the one or more managers as a function of the subscriptions.

38. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 37, wherein the event distribution server sinks are distributed to provide load balancing of the events to the one or more managers.

39. The tangible, computer accessible medium of claim 27, wherein the events are delivered through the platform-independent interface according to Internet Inter-Object Protocol (IIOP).