Techniques for creating an activation solution for providing commercial network services

• US 7,444,376 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2003
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Fowler, Charles E., Jacobs, Phillip T., Constant, Steve J., Lachelt, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang; Paul H
• Application Number:
  US10/444,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20040236853A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,986 Days
• Field of Search: 709201- 3, 709/229, 709/226
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

A method of creating an activation solution for commercial network services is disclosed. The method employs modular, reuseable building block archive files, which represent a higher level of abstraction than simple atomic tasks. After the building block archives files suitable for addressing the needs of an activation solution are selected, innovative logic combines these building block archives to more quickly create an activation solution than is possible working from individual atomic tasks.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium having computer readable code embodied therein, said computer readable code being configured for creating an activation solution for commercial network services, said activation solution being configured to activate a specific commercial network service responsive to a commercial network service specification, comprising:

computer readable code for accessing a plurality of building block archive (BAR) files, at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least two of a plug-in component, a compound task component, a workflow component, a resource definition file component, and an auto-discovery component, said plurality of BAR files pertaining to subsolutions of said commercial network services, selected ones of said plurality of BAR files being combinable to facilitate creating a commercial network service;

computer readable code implementing logic for combining said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files, said logic combining components in said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files by component type; and

computer readable code implementing a user interface, said user interface enabling a human operator to select said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files among said plurality of BAR files to facilitate said combining.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least three of said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least four of said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said at least on of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said computer readable code for implementing said logic includes computer readable code for removing duplicate components of the same type having the same information.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said computer readable code for removing includes computer readable code for ascertaining whether said components of the same type have the same name.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6 wherein said computer readable code for removing includes computer readable code for flagging components of the same type having the same name but different information for resolution by a human operator.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said commercial network services include web hosting service.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said commercial network services include telecommunication service.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9 wherein said telecommunication service includes wireless telecommunication service.

11. A method of creating an activation solution for commercial network services, comprising:

providing a plurality of building block archive (BAR) files, at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least two of a plug-in component, a compound task component, a workflow component, a resource definition file component, and an auto-discovery component, said plurality of BAR files pertaining to subsolutions of said commercial network services, selected ones of said plurality of BAR files being combinable to facilitate creating a commercial network service;

providing logic for combining said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files, said logic combining components in said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files by component type; and

providing a user interface for selecting said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files among said plurality of BAR files to facilitate said combining.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least three of said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least four of said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, said resource definition file component, and said auto-discovery component.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein said logic includes code for removing duplicate components of the same type, said duplicate components of the same type having the same information.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein said removing includes ascertaining whether said components of the same type have the same name.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said removing includes flagging components of the same type having the same name but different information for resolution by a human operator.

18. A method of creating an activation solution for commercial network services, said activation solution, when deployed on behalf of a service provider, being configured to activate a given commercial network service that satisfies a set of received commercial network service specification from a customer of said service provider, comprising:

providing a plurality of building block archive (BAR) files, each of said plurality of BAR files representing a higher level of abstraction than an atomic task level, each of said plurality of BAR files including information pertaining to at least one of a plug-in component, a compound task component, a workflow component, a resource definition file component, and an auto-discovery component, said plurality of BAR files pertaining to subsolutions of said commercial network services, selected ones of said plurality of BAR files being combinable to facilitate creating a commercial network service;

providing a user interface for allowing a human operator to select said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files among said plurality of BAR files; and

providing logic for combining said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files, said logic combining components in said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files by component type.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

modifying one of said plurality of BAR files to create another BAR file if none of said plurality of BAR files is deemed satisfactory for implementing a subsolution of said activation solution;

including said another BAR file as one of said selected ones of said plurality of BAR files in creating said activation solution.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein said logic includes code for removing duplicate components of the same type, said duplicate components having the same information.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein said removing includes ascertaining whether said components of the same type have the same name.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said removing includes flagging components of the same type having the same name but different information for resolution by a human operator.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein said logic includes code for removing duplicate components of the same type if a component type of said duplicate components pertain to one of said plug-in component, said compound task component, said workflow component, and said resource definition file component, said duplicate components having the same name and the same information, said logic merges auto-discovery components of the same type using type-specific merging if said auto-discovery components of the same type are capable of being merged.