Dynamic protocol construction

• US 7,664,023 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2007
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kaler, Christopher G., Box, Donald F., Della-Libera, Giovanni M., Wortendyke, David, Christensen, Erik B., Levin, David, Nog, Saurab, Lee, Alfred IV
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOPATA, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US11/754,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20070226356A1
• Time in Patent Office: 994 Days
• Field of Search: 370/230, 370/252, 370/389
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0873 Checking configuration conflicts between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/03 Protocol definition or specification protocol conformance testing H04L1/244
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities

Abstract

A method includes advertising a policy characterizing communication properties supported by a node. The policy may be distributed to another node in response to a request for the policy. Policy expressions in the policy include one or more assertions that may be grouped and related to each other in a plurality of ways. A system includes a policy generator for generating at least one policy characterizing properties of a node. A policy retriever retrieves a policy from another node and a message generator generates a message to the other node, wherein the message conforms to the policy from the other node.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a computing device by a processor configured to execute instructions that, when executed by the processor, direct the computing device to perform acts comprising:

retrieving a dynamic destination node policy having a plurality of policy assertions generated by a policy generator component, wherein the plurality of policy assertions characterizes communication properties supported by a destination node, each policy assertion specifies a communication property supported by the destination node;

selecting a dynamic source node policy generated by a source node policy generator component, wherein the dynamic source node policy conforms with the dynamic destination node policy to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node; and

generating a message that conforms to the dynamic destination node policy.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising selecting one of the plurality of policy assertions to be applied during communication with the destination node.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining whether one of the plurality of policy assertions is compatible with the dynamic source node policy having a plurality of policy assertions characterizing communication properties supported by a source node.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the generating operation comprises generating the message including the dynamic source node policy having a plurality of policy assertions characterizing communication properties supported by a source node.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the retrieving operation comprises retrieving the dynamic destination node policy from a node other than the destination node.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the retrieving operation comprises receiving the dynamic destination node policy incrementally.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a received message conforms to at least one of the policy assertions in the dynamic source node policy.

8. A computing device comprising:

a policy retriever component that retrieves a dynamic destination node policy having one or more assertions characterizing communication properties related to a destination node, wherein each assertion specifies a communication property that is supported by the destination node;

a policy generator component that selects a dynamic source node policy, wherein the dynamic source node policy conforms with the dynamic destination node policy to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node; and

a message generator component generating a message that conforms to the dynamic destination node policy.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy specifies an aggregate assertion representing a plurality of other assertions.

10. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy specifies a Boolean relationship between at least two of the one or more of assertions.

11. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy specifies a preference value related to a group of at least one of the one or more assertions.

12. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy comprises an input policy having one or more assertions characterizing input communication properties, and an output policy having one or more assertions characterizing output communication properties.

13. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy are advertised to other nodes other than a source node.

14. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the one or more assertions are associated with at least one or more usage type.

15. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the dynamic destination node policy comprises a uniform resource identifier related to one of the one or more assertions in the dynamic destination node policy.

16. The computing device of claim 8, wherein at least one of the one or more assertions specifies:

an integrity algorithm;

a privacy parameter;

a communication protocol;

an audit trail;

or

a message routing path.

17. A computer readable storage media encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

generating a dynamic policy specifying a plurality of assertions characterizing properties of a destination node, wherein each assertion specifies a communication property supported by the destination node and selectable by a source node to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node; and

receiving a message conforming to one or more of the plurality of assertions.

18. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the generating operation comprises generating an aggregate assertion representing the plurality of assertions.

19. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, further comprising advertising the dynamic policy at an advertising node.

20. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, further comprising distributing the dynamic policy in response to a request for the dynamic policy.

21. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the generating operation comprises:

creating a group of two or more of the plurality of assertions;

specifying a relationship between two or more assertions in the group.

22. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the generating operation comprises specifying a preference for at least one of the plurality of assertions over at least one other of the plurality of assertions.

23. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the generating operation comprises:

creating a group of two or more of the plurality of assertions;

specifying a first relationship between the two or more assertions in the group;

specifying a second relationship between the group of assertions and at least one other assertion not in the group of assertions.

24. A computer readable storage media as recited in recited in claim 17 wherein the generating operation comprises generating an input policy having one or more assertions characterizing input communication properties, and an output policy having one or more assertions characterizing output communication properties.

25. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the generating operation comprises generating a mark-up language document.

26. A computer readable storage media as recited in claim 17, further comprising determining whether the message conforms to at least one of the plurality of assertions.