Edge server failover

• US 7,528,697 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 05/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Traub, Kenneth R., Hatanaka, Iwao
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman; Brian A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Syed; Nabil H
• Application Number:
  US11/756,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20070296550A1
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 340/10.1, 340/10.2, 340/572.1, 235/451, 711/114, 709/227, 709/238, 709/213, 709/206, 709/201
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2028 eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2038 with a single idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1031 Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1036 Load balancing of requests to servers for services different from user content provisioning, e.g. load balancing across domain name servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/182 Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy

Abstract

First and second RFID edge servers can interact with RFID tag readers. The first and second RFID edge servers can arbitrate which of the first and second RFID edge servers will be active upon start up or edge server failure.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first RFID edge server adapted to interact with a RFID tag reader; and

a second RFID edge server adapted to interact with the RFID tag reader, wherein the first and second RFID edge server arbitrate which of the first and second RFID edge servers will be active;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers are associated with the RFID edge tag reader as well as other RFID tag readers;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers race to obtain RFID tag readers upon startup;

wherein one of the first or second edge servers who has obtained fewer RFID tag readers, gives up any RFID tag readers it has obtained and puts itself in a down state and the other of the first and second RFID edge servers receives the given up RFID tag readers and puts itself in an up state.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first RFID edge server is associated with a failover agent that receives heartbeats from the second RFID edge server.

3. The system of claim 1, an automatic failover of the RFID edge servers occurs between the first and second RFID edge servers.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein reader connections are reset during failover.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the arbitration includes a down state, an up state and a partially up state.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein a RFID server in the up state has priority over an RFID server in the down state.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein a RFID server in the up state has priority over an RFID server in the partially up state.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein a RFID server in the partially up state will switch control if the other server is in the partially up state.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein upon start up the first and second RFID edge server race to get RFID readers, then arbitrate who will be connected to all of the RFID readers.

10. A system comprising:

a first RFID edge server adapted to interact with a RFID tag reader; and

a second RFID edge server adapted to interact with the RFID tag reader, wherein the first and second RFID edge server arbitrate which of the first and second RFID edge servers will be active;

wherein upon start up the first and second RFID edge server race to get RFID readers, then arbitrate who will be connected to all of the RFID readers;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers are associated with the RFID edge tag reader as well as other RFID tag readers;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers race to obtain RFID tag readers upon startup;

wherein one of the first or second edge servers who has obtained fewer RFID tag readers, gives up any RFID tag readers it has obtained and puts itself in a down state and the other of the first and second RFID edge servers receives the given up RFID tag readers and puts itself in an up state.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first RFID edge server is associated with a failover agent that receives heartbeats from the second RFID edge server.

12. The system of claim 10, an automatic failover of the RFID edge servers occurs between the first and second RFID edge servers.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein reader connections are reset during failover.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the arbitration includes a down state, an up state and a partially up state.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein a RFID server in the up state has priority over an RFID server in the down state.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein a RFID server in the up state has priority over an RFID server in the partially up state.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein a RFID server in the partially up state will switch control if the other server is in the partially up state.

18. A computer readable storage medium containing code to:

receive heartbeats from first and second RFID edge servers; and

arbitrate which of the first and second RFID edge servers will be active;

wherein upon start up the first and second RFID edge server race to get RFID readers, then

arbitrate who will be connected to all of the RFID readers;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers are associated with the RFID edge tag reader as well as other RFID tag readers;

wherein the first and second RFID edge servers race to obtain RFID tag readers upon startup;

wherein one of the first or second edge servers who has obtained fewer RFID tag readers, gives up any RFID tag readers it has obtained and puts itself in a down state and the other of the first and second RFID edge servers receives the given up RFID tag readers and puts itself in an up state.