Method and system of interprocess communications

• US 7,051,108 B1
• Filed: 12/21/2000
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Greg, Wang, Wei Wendy, Rajagopal, Parvathi
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): DENNISON, JERRY B
• Application Number:
  US09/742,720
• Time in Patent Office: 1,979 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 709/203, 709/221, 709/230, 719/310, 719/312, 719/313, 719/328, 719/330
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/10 Streamlined, light-weight or high-speed protocols, e.g. express transfer protocol [XTP] or byte stream

Abstract

A method and system of interprocess communication bypasses the connection oriented protocol associated with an interprocess communication facility when the client and server are local, and thus the communication oriented protocol is unnecessary. The system determines if a client is local to a server and forms a conventional connection oriented protocol connection between the client and the server. If the client and server are local, connection oriented protocol and its associated overhead are not necessary, and the system sets pointers directly from the server socket to the client socket and from the client socket to the server socket. Thus, data may be transferred directly between client and server sockets without using connection oriented protocol, and a higher throughput is obtained. Alternatively, if the client and server are not local, data is transferred via a conventional connection oriented protocol connection. Therefore, the method and system support both local and remote connections.

Claims

1. A method of interprocess communications between a client and a server, each client and server having one or more Interprocess Communications Facilities which are sockets, and wherein each Interprocess Communications Facility has connection oriented protocol (COP) associated therewith, comprising:

initiating a query by the server to determine if said client is on the same system as said server;

if said query indicates the client is on the same system as the server as a local client, setting pointers to establish an Interprocess Communications Facility connection between said server and said client, with said Interprocess Communication Facility being a Transport Layer Interface (TLI), to bypass said connection oriented protocol; and

transferring data directly between said client and said server within the same connection as the connection-oriented protocol in a manner bypassing said connection oriented protocol, and said transferring of data further comprising detecting any errors in said data transferring step, and if errors are detected, setting pointers to null, and transferring the data through the connection oriented protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of disconnecting said Interprocess Communications Facility connection between said client socket and server socket by setting pointers to null.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said connection oriented protocol is Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if said server Interprocess Communications Facility and said client Interprocess Communications Facility within the same system are compatible; and

if said server Interprocess Communications Facility and said client Interprocess Communications Facility within the same facility are not compatible, transferring data between said client and said server via a conventional connection oriented protocol connection.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying that said client and said server are prepared to set said pointers directly between said client and said server Interprocess Communications Facilities prior to setting said pointers; and

when either said client or said server are not prepared to set said pointers directly between said client and said server Interprocess Communications Facilities, setting said pointers to null;

transferring data between said client and said server via a conventional connection oriented protocol connection.

6. A system of interprocess communications between a client and a server, comprising:

a server having server data and a server Interprocess Communications Facility which is a socket, associated therewith, said server being configured for communicating with one or more clients having client data and a client Interprocess Communications Facility which is a socket, associated therewith;

said server Interprocess Communications Facility and said client Interprocess Communications Facility being configured for forming a connection between said server Interprocess Communications Facility and said client Interprocess Communications Facility for delivering said server data and receiving said client data, and wherein said Interprocess Communications Facility is a Transport Layer Interface (TLI);

said connection having connection oriented protocol operatively associated therewith;

said server being programmed for initiating a query to detect if said client is on the same system as the server as a local client or on a system which is different on which it is remote;

said client being configured for detecting if said server is on the same system as the client which is local or on a system which is different in which the server is remote;

said server being further configured to setting pointers to said client Interprocess Communications Facility if said client is local;

said pointers being configured to form a direct connection between said server Interprocess Communications Facility and said client Interprocess Communications Facility for data exchange between said client and said server within the same connection as the connection oriented protocol in a manner for bypassing said connection oriented protocol;

said server is further configured for detecting errors in data transfer, setting said pointers to null if errors are detected, and setting a conventional Interprocess Communications Facility connection using the connection oriented protocol; and

said server is further configured to determine if said server and said client Interprocess Communications Facilities within the same system are compatible, and if said server and said client Interprocess Communications Facilities are not compatible, transferring data between said client and said server through the conventional connection oriented protocol connection.

7. The system of claim 6, said server and said client being further configured for setting said pointers to null.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said server is further configured for detecting errors in connection;

setting pointers to null if error are detected; and

transferring data between said client and said server through the conventional connection oriented protocol connection.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein said server is further configured to verify that said client is prepared to transmit data via said pointers set directly between said client and said server Interprocess Communications Facilities.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said client is further configured to verify that said server is prepared to transmit data via said pointers set directly between said client and said Interprocess Communications Facilities.