Adaptive gateway for switching transactions and data on unreliable networks using context-based rules

• US 7,774,402 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2005
• Issued: 08/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Carlson, Mark, Singh, Kamlakar, Singh, Thakur, Manansala, Rosauro E., Garrison, Sara K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz; Asad M
• Assistant Examiner(s): RECEK, JASON D
• Application Number:
  US11/171,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20070005774A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,868 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/206, 709/227, 705/64, 705/73, 705/79
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

Application level switching of transactions at a gateway is provided. The gateway is configured to switch the transaction based on the application level content, a current state of a transport environment, and/or dynamic rules for switching transactions. For example, several possible service providers can be selected for the type of transaction, and the gateway can monitor not only the round-trip time through the network(s) to different possible service providers, but also the time required to complete the transaction at the application level and return a response. The application is chosen on the sending side of the network, and application level formatting is done on the sending side as well. The gateway uses modular code and data, and separate instances of processing code to allow dynamic updating. Rules for application service selection can be selectively uploaded to the gateway from a client. The rules for different available application services can be distributed across different gateways.

Claims

1. A method for switching financial transactions using a gateway situated at an edge of a network, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction at the gateway;

determining application level content for the transaction;

determining one or more transaction processors that can process the application level content for the transaction;

determining dynamic context information for a transport environment used to route the transaction from the gateway to the one or more transaction processors, the dynamic context information for the transport environment including the substantially real time ability of one or more networks to route the transaction to the one or more transaction processors;

retrieving application level rules specified by the one or more transaction processors from a rules database, the application level rules specifying application level criteria for transactions that are to be processed, at the application level, at the gateway instead of the one or more transaction processors;

selecting a transaction processor in the one or more transaction processors using a selected network in the one or more networks, the selection based on the dynamic context information, the application level content of the transaction, and the application level rules;

switching the transaction to the selected transaction processor if the application level rules for the selected transaction processor do not indicate the transaction should be processed, at the application level, at the gateway; and

processing the transaction, at the application level, at the gateway if the application level rules for the selected transaction processor indicates the transaction should be processed, at the application level, at the gateway.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining service provider rules; and

using the service provider rules to determine the transaction processor or network in which to switch the transaction based on the dynamic context information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing services on the application level content of the transaction at the application level.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the services are performed based on the transaction processor or network determined.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the services comprise formatting the application level content at the application level into a format required by the determined transaction processor.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the services comprise formatting the application level content at the application level into a format required by the determined network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic context information for the transport environment comprises the time taken to process previous transactions at the application level.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the application level content is in a data format that includes a possible number of fields, wherein the application level content is a subset of the possible number of fields, the method further comprising processing only the subset of fields in the transaction.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising loading rules dynamically into the gateway without affecting switching of transactions on the gateway by using dynamically created instances of code for processing said switching.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the transaction at the gateway, wherein the gateway acts as the transaction processor.

11. A method for switching financial transactions using a gateway situated at an edge of a network, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction at the gateway;

determining application level content for the transaction;

determining one or more transaction processors that can process the application level content for the transaction;

determining application level dynamic context information for a transport environment in which the transaction will be routed through, the transport environment including one or more networks that can route the transaction to the one or more transaction processors that can process the transaction;

retrieving client rules that were previously specified by the client and stored in a rules database from the rules database, the client rules specified by the client that sent the transaction received at the gateway and stored in the rules database, the client rules specifying client criteria for selection of a transaction processor from the one or more transaction processors and the client rules specifying client criteria for selection of one or more networks from the transport environment;

selecting a transaction processor from the one or more transaction processors and network from the one or more networks based on the dynamic context information, the application level content of the transaction, and the client rules; and

switching the transaction to the selected transaction processor over the selected network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the client is a merchant server through which point of sale devices are networked.

13. A method for switching transactions using a gateway situated at an edge of a network, the method comprising:

receiving at least one application level rule specified by at least one application level transaction processor at the gateway, the at least one application level rule specified by the application level transaction processor specifying application level criteria for transactions that may be processed by the at least one transaction processor;

storing the at least one application level rule specified by at least one application level transaction processor in a rules database;

receiving at least one application level rule specified by a client at the gateway, the at least one application level rule specified by the client specifying client criteria for application level transaction processor selection;

storing the at least one application level rule specified by a client in the rules database;

receiving a transaction at the gateway from the client;

determining application level content for the transaction;

retrieving the at least one application level rule specified by the at least one application level transaction processor from the rules database;

retrieving the at least one application level rule specified by a client from the rules database;

determining an appropriate network to use to send said transaction based on said application level content;

determining an appropriate application level transaction processor across said network based on said application level content, said retrieved at least one application level rule specified by said at least one application level transaction processor, and said retrieved at least one application level rule specified by said client; and

sending said transaction across said appropriate network to said appropriate application level transaction processor.

14. A gateway for switching transactions at an edge of a network, the gateway comprising:

a rules database storing rules for services provided by service providers, the rules previously specified by service providers, including rules for services provided by service providers, the rules indicating if a transaction should be processed at the gateway;

a context information database including dynamic context information for the network and service providers;

a receiver configured to receive a transaction from a client;

a rules applier configured to apply rules to dynamic context information to determine a service and a service provider within the service providers for the transaction, wherein the rules applier is further configured to apply rules to dynamic context information to determine a network to use to send the transaction to the service provider, wherein the rules applier is further configured to retrieve rules indicating if the transaction should be processed at the gateway from the rules database and apply the retrieved rules to the received transaction;

a formatter configured to format the transaction at the application level based on the service and service provider determined formatting if needed for the transaction; and

a sender configured to send the transaction to the service provider over the determined network, if the rules do not indicate the transaction should be processed at the gateway, wherein the gateway processes the transaction if the rules indicate the transaction should be processed at the gateway.

15. The gateway of claim 14, further comprising a rules loader configured to load rules dynamically into the rules database.

16. The gateway of claim 15, wherein the rules are dynamically loaded without affecting switching of transactions on the gateway.

17. The gateway of claim 15, wherein the rules are dynamically loaded from a client or service provider.

18. The gateway of claim 14, further comprising a gateway transaction processor configured to process the transaction at the gateway, wherein the gateway acts as the service provider.

19. The gateway of claim 14, wherein the dynamic context information comprises a health of the network, availability of the service providers, time taken to process previous transactions at the application level, or a cost of sending the transaction to the service provider.

20. A gateway for switching transactions on a network, comprising:

a memory for storing a set of application level rules received from a client at the gateway, the rules specifying client criteria for application service selection, the memory further storing a set of transaction processor specified rules received from at least one transaction processor, the set of transaction processor specified rules indicating transactions that are to be processed, at the application level, at the gateway instead of being sent to a transaction processor;

a port configured to receive a transaction at the gateway from said client;

a processor configured to determine application level content for the transaction and to retrieve the set of application level rules and the set of transaction processor specified rules from said memory and apply the set of application level rules and the set of transaction processor specified rules to the transaction, the processor further configured to select a transaction processor based on said set of application level rules and send said transaction to the selected transaction processor if the set of transaction processor specified rules indicate the transaction should not be processed at the gateway, the processor further configured to process the transaction, at the application level, at the gateway if the set of transaction processor specified rules indicate the transaction should be processed at the gateway.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the criteria includes the cost of processing the transaction.