System and a method for mediating within a network

• US 7,984,188 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2006
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Boerger, Egon, Altenhofen, Michael, Lemcke, Jens
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdullahi; Salad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran; Jimmy H
• Application Number:
  US11/405,363
• Publication Number:
  US 20060259605A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,919 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/225, 709/226, 709/224, 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 709/246, 709/249, 717/102, 717/111, 719/310, 719/313, 719/315, 719/317, 719/328, 719/311, 719/314, 719/330
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

A mediator system (and associated methods and computer program products) for mediating a communication between a client and a plurality of providers within a network is described. The mediator system may include logical machines including a first receiving machine configured to receive a request message from the client, a first sending machine configured to send answer messages back to the client, a processing machine configured to handle the received request message internally represented as a request object, a second sending machine configured to send outgoing request messages to the providers, and a second receiving machine configured to receive incoming answer messages from the providers. The machines can be scheduled separately from being executed, and the request object may be split into subrequests, where each of those subrequests may be further decomposed into subsubrequests that may be sent out in parallel to the providers.

Claims

1. A mediator system including comprising:

instructions recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and executable by at least one processor, the system for mediating a communication between a client and a plurality of providers within a network, wherein the client provides at least one request message, the mediator system comprising including the following predefined and callable logical machines;

a first receiving machine configured to receive the request message from the client using a client interface and to create therefrom a request object;

a first sending machine configured to send answer messages back to the client using the client interface;

a processing machine configured to handle the received request message internally represented as the request object;

a second sending machine configured to send outgoing request messages to the providers using corresponding provider-specific interfaces; and

a second receiving machine configured to receive incoming answer messages from the providers via the corresponding provider-specific interfaces,

wherein the machines are configured for being scheduled separately from being executed, and wherein the processing machine is configured to split the request object, based on message exchange compatibility with the provider interfaces, into a sequence of subrequests and to decompose each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests into a set of subsubrequests, and to execute message exchanges with the providers including

determining a subrequest of the sequence,

associating a number of subsubrequests in the determined subrequest with a corresponding subset of the providers,

sending out the number of subsubrequests in parallel to the corresponding subset of providers using corresponding provider interfaces, and

executing a following subrequest of the sequence of subrequests.

2. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the mediator system comprises a recording machine configured to record information about or related to the received request message which can be recognized and retrieved at a later stage.

3. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the mediator system comprises a scheduler which can call and therewith activate one of the machines which is ready to execute.

4. The mediator system according to claim 3, wherein the scheduler is configured to dynamically schedule an execution order of the machines when a plurality of request messages is provided.

5. The mediator system according to claim 3, wherein the scheduler includes an interleaving scheduler which is configured to non-deterministically call and therewith activate one of the machines which is ready to execute.

6. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the first receiving machine is configured to create from the request message, for further internal handling, the request object which is appropriately initialised by recording in an internal representation a request identity and request relevant parameters.

7. The mediator system according to claim 6, wherein the request object is decorated with several information variables, including a status variable which are automatically updated during execution of the machines.

8. The mediator system according to claim 7, wherein the predefined and callable machines are activated depending on settings of the status variable.

9. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second receiving machines are realized by and implemented as one receiving machine and/or the first and second sending machines are realized by and implemented as one sending machine.

10. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the client handles the at least one request message in a unified manner via a fixed interface.

11. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the subrequests can be at least partially serviced internally by the processing machine, thus the processing machine acting as a provider itself.

12. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the subsubrequests are each be sent to and processed by different providers independently of each other.

13. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the processing machine comprises an iterator submachine which is configured to elaborate the sequential subrequests.

14. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein an answer message to be sent back to the client is automatically compiled and transformed into a client compatible format.

15. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the mediator system includes a composition of a number of sub mediator systems which are appropriately connected with each other via corresponding interfaces.

16. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the processing machine is configured to prepare internally outgoing answer and/or outgoing request messages.

17. The mediator system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second sending machines are configured to do any sending and adapted to the communication medium used by the client and the providers, respectively.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein the client interface is associated with a first protocol for handling the request message and the corresponding provider-specific interfaces have corresponding protocols for handling the outgoing request messages and incoming answer messages, and wherein the processing machine is configured to reconcile incompatibilities between the first protocol and the corresponding protocols.

18. A computer-implemented method for mediating a communication between a client and a plurality of providers within a network, wherein the client provides at least one request message with request relevant parameters, the method comprising:

receiving the request message from the client at a data processing apparatus, using a client interface;

creating from the request message a request object;

splitting the request object into a sequence of subrequests with respect to the request relevant parameters, wherein each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests is associated with a corresponding subset of the providers;

splitting each subrequest of the sequence into a set of subsubrequests, wherein the set of subsubrequests corresponds to the corresponding subset of the providers;

processing the request object with respect to the sequence of subrequests;

sending, from the data processing apparatus, request specific outgoing request messages with respect to each set of subsubrequests of each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests in parallel to the corresponding subset of the providers, using corresponding provider-specific interfaces;

receiving, at the data processing apparatus and for each set of subsubrequests of each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests, incoming answers with respect to the outgoing request messages from the corresponding subset of providers using the corresponding provider-specific interfaces; and

processing the incoming answer messages using the data processing apparatus,

wherein the splitting of the request object is based on message exchange compatibility with the provider-specific interfaces, and

wherein the method is performed by predefined and separately callable logical machines which are configured for being scheduled separately from being executed.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the receiving, creating, splitting, processing, and sending operations are dynamically scheduled and executed as many times as needed for completion of the sequence of subrequests.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein information about or related to the received request message is recorded so that the stored information can be retrieved at a later stage if required.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein a scheduler is provided which is configured to call and therewith activate one of the machines which is ready to execute.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the scheduler is configured to dynamically schedule an execution order of the machines when a plurality of request messages is provided.

23. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

creating from the request message of the client for further internal handling the request object which is appropriately initialised by recording in an internal representation a request identity and the request relevant parameters.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the request object is decorated with several information variables including a status variable.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the method is performed by predefined and separately callable logical machines are activated depending on settings of the status variable.

26. The method according to claim 18, further comprising sending an answer message back to the client using the client interfaces.

27. A computer program product for mediating a communication between a client and a plurality of providers within a network, the computer program product encoded on non-transitory computer-readable storage media, the computer program product being operable and executable by at least one data processing apparatus to cause the at least one data processing apparatus to:

receive a request message associated with request-relevant parameters from the client, using a client interface;

create from the request message a request object;

split the request object into a sequence of subrequests with respect to the request relevant parameters, wherein each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests is associated with a corresponding subset of the providers;

split each subrequest of the sequence into a set of subsubrequests, wherein the set of subsubrequests corresponds to the corresponding subset of the providers;

process the request object with respect to the sequence of subrequests;

send request-specific outgoing request messages with respect to each set of subsubrequests of each subrequest of the sequence of subrequests in parallel to corresponding subsets of the providers, using corresponding provider interfaces;

receive incoming answers with respect to the outgoing request messages from the corresponding subsets of the providers using the corresponding provider interfaces; and

process the incoming answer messages,

wherein the splitting of the request object is based on message exchange compatibility with the provider interfaces, and

wherein the instructions define separately callable logical machines which are configured for being scheduled separately from being executed.