Providing composite services based on multiple other constituent services

• US 8,019,653 B1
• Filed: 02/19/2010
• Issued: 09/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2004
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: McCann, James R. III, Kakulapati, Gunavardhan, Frederick, Robert, Agrawal, Ashish
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah; Amee A
• Application Number:
  US12/709,340
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/27.1, 705/26.1, 709/218, 706/62
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Techniques are described for assisting users in dynamically creating and using composite services that are based on other constituent services. In some situations, each constituent service is a Web service (“WS”), and each composite service is a new WS whose execution involves dynamically invoking multiple specified constituent WSes in a specified manner. Such techniques may be used, for example, in conjunction with an electronic WS marketplace via which third-party WS providers make their WSes available to third-party WS consumers who locate and purchase access to those WSes, such as to allow a user to dynamically create a new composite WS that is based on one or more WSes available from other WS providers and that reflects any constraints of the WS marketplace, with the composite WS available for use by other WS consumers. This abstract is not intended for use in interpreting or limiting the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a composite service that is based on multiple other constituent services, the method comprising:

receiving a request for a composite service from an executing program, the request being received by one of one or more configured computing systems using a specified one of multiple distinct alternative interfaces that are provided by the one or more configured computing systems for use in accessing the composite service, wherein the multiple interfaces are based at least in part on use of multiple distinct communication protocols;

obtaining information for the composite service that indicates an order for performing multiple constituent services to provide the composite service, the order being based at least in part on identified dependencies between the multiple constituent services; and

after determining that one or more use restrictions for the composite service are satisfied for the request for the composite service, automatically responding to the received request, the automatic responding being performed by the one or more configured computing systems and including,

accessing capabilities of the multiple constituent services in the indicated order, the accessing including performing the multiple constituent services and obtaining output information from one or more of the multiple constituent services; and

providing a response to the received request that is based at least in part on the output information received from the one or more constituent services.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are part of an entity that provides the composite service to others, and wherein the executing program is performed on behalf of a user that is associated with the entity.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple distinct interfaces are based on use of SOAP (“

Simple Object Access Protocol”

) messages, on use of network-addressable resources as part of a REST (“

REpresentational State Transfer”

) interaction model, and on use of XML (“

eXtensible Markup Language”

) documents sent over HTTP (“

HyperText Transport Protocol”

), and wherein the specified one interface for the received request uses one of a SOAP message, a network-addressable resource that is part of the REST interaction model, and an XML document sent over HTTP.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple interfaces are further based in part on use of multiple distinct input data formats.

5. A computing device configured to provide a composite service that is based on multiple other constituent services, comprising:

one or more processors;

a first module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, and in response to a request by a program for a composite service, obtain information for the composite service that indicates an order for requesting multiple constituent services to provide the composite service, the order being based at least in part on identified dependencies between the multiple constituent services, the request for the composite service being received using a specified one of multiple distinct alternative interfaces that are provided by the configured computing device for use in accessing the composite service, wherein the multiple distinct interfaces are based on at least one of use of multiple distinct communication protocols and of use of multiple distinct input data formats; and

a second module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, and if one or more use restrictions for the composite service are satisfied for the request for the composite service, access capabilities of the multiple constituent services in the indicated order and provide a response to the request for the composite service that is based at least in part on information received from one or more of the multiple constituent services.

6. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the first and second modules each include software instructions for execution using memory of the computing device.

7. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the computing device further comprises a memory configured to store at least portions of the first and second modules.

8. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the one or more use restrictions for the composite service include at least one of that payment is made available for a use price associated with the composite service and that a user associated with the request by the program for the composite service has access rights for providing of the composite service.

9. The computing device of claim 8 wherein the one or more use restrictions include that the user associated with the request has access rights for providing of the composite service, wherein the program is being executed on behalf of the user, wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes invoking the multiple constituent services in the indicated order, and wherein the access rights of the user for the providing of the composite service are based at least in part on the user having a valid subscription for the composite service.

10. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the one or more use restrictions for the composite service include multiple use restrictions, wherein the multiple use restrictions include that payment is made available for a use price associated with the composite service and that a user associated with the request by the program for the composite service has access rights for providing of the composite service, wherein the program is being executed on behalf of the user, and wherein the second module is further configured to determine that the multiple use restrictions are satisfied for the request for the composite service.

11. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the obtaining of the information for the composite service includes dynamically determining the order for the requesting of the multiple constituent services.

12. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the obtaining of the information for the composite service includes determining relationships between at least some of the multiple constituent services and identifying the dependencies between the multiple constituent services based at least in part on the determined relationships.

13. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the determining of the relationships between the at least some constituent services includes executing logic associated with the composite service, and wherein the executing of the logic includes at least one of using an eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (“

XSLT”

) document, of using an eXtensible Markup Language (“

XML”

) document, and of using XML Path Language (“

XPath”

) information.

14. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes obtaining output information from invoking one of the constituent services using a first protocol and automatically supplying at least some of the output information as input information during invoking of another of the constituent services using a distinct second protocol.

15. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes obtaining output information from invoking one of the constituent services and automatically modifying at least some of the output information before supplying the modified information as input information during invoking of another of the constituent services.

16. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the obtained information for the composite service further specifies a manner of generating response information for the composite service, and wherein the providing of the response to the request includes generating the response information for the composite service in that specified manner based at least in part on the information received from the one or more constituent services.

17. The computing device of claim 16 wherein the specified manner of generating the response information includes using an indicated eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (“

XSLT”

) specification.

18. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the first module is further configured to receive the request for the composite service based on an invocation of the composite service by the program, the invocation including an input value for each of one or more input parameters of the composite service, and wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes invoking at least one of the multiple constituent services and supplying at least one of the input values to a distinct input parameter of the at least one constituent service.

19. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the computing device is part of an organization that provides the multiple constituent services for use by others, and wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes performing the multiple constituent services as part of providing the composite service in response to the request.

20. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the multiple constituent services are provided by one or more entities for use by others, wherein the computing device is part of an organization distinct from the one or more entities that facilitates access to the multiple constituent services, and wherein the accessing of the capabilities of the multiple constituent services includes providing the composite service by sending one or more requests to perform the multiple constituent services to one or more other computing systems associated with the one or more entities.

21. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the multiple distinct interfaces are based at least in part on use of multiple distinct communication protocols, and wherein the first module is further configured to receive indications of multiple invocations of the composite service on behalf of multiple users that are performed using the multiple distinct interfaces, each of the multiple users controlling which of the multiple distinct interfaces is used for the invocation on behalf of that user.

22. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the multiple interfaces are based at least in part on use of multiple distinct input data formats, and wherein the first module is further configured to receive indications of multiple invocations of the composite service on behalf of multiple users that are performed using the multiple distinct interfaces, each of the multiple users controlling which of the multiple distinct interfaces is used for the invocation on behalf of that user.

23. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the multiple constituent services are each a network service, wherein the composite service is a composite network service, wherein the multiple distinct alternative interfaces are generated by and provided by the configured computing device for use in invoking the composite service, wherein the multiple interfaces are each associated with a distinct one of multiple network endpoints that are provided by the configured computing device for use with the composite service, and wherein the request for the composite network service is received based on invocation by the program of the network endpoint associated with the specified one interface.

24. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the request for the composite service is made on behalf of a user, and wherein providing the composite service in response to the request includes providing a subscription to the user for each of one or more of the multiple constituent services.

25. The computing device of claim 5 wherein the request for the composite service invocation is made on behalf of a user, and wherein second module is further configured to automatically determine that the one or more use restrictions for the composite service are satisfied by the request for the composite service based on at least one of information about the program and of information about the user.

26. The computing system of claim 5 wherein the multiple distinct interfaces are based on use of SOAP (“

Simple Object Access Protocol”

) messages, on use of network-addressable resources as part of a REST (“

REpresentational State Transfer”

) interaction model, and on use of XML (“

eXtensible Markup Language”

) documents sent over HTTP (“

HyperText Transport Protocol”

), and wherein the specified one interface for the received request uses one of a SOAP message, a network-addressable resource that is part of the REST interaction model, and an XML document sent over HTTP.

27. A computer-readable storage medium whose contents include instructions that when executed configure a computing system to provide a composite service that is based on multiple other constituent services, by performing a method comprising:

receiving a request for a composite service from an executing program, the request being received by the configured computing system using a specified one of multiple distinct alternative interfaces that are provided for use in accessing the composite service, wherein the multiple interfaces are based at least in part on use of multiple distinct input data formats;

obtaining information for the composite service that indicates an order for performing multiple constituent services to provide the composite service, the order being based at least in part on identified dependencies between the multiple constituent services;

determining that one or more use restrictions for the composite service are satisfied for the request for the composite service; and

automatically responding to the received request, the automatic responding being performed by the configured computing system and including, accessing capabilities of the multiple constituent services in the indicated order,

the accessing including performing the multiple constituent services and obtaining output information from one or more of the multiple constituent services; and

providing a response to the received request that is based at least in part on the output information received from the one or more constituent services.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 wherein the configured computing system is part of an entity that provides the composite service to others, and wherein the executing program is performed on behalf of a user that is associated with the entity.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a memory of the configured computing system.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 wherein the multiple distinct interfaces are based on use of SOAP (“

Simple Object Access Protocol”

) messages, on use of network-addressable resources as part of a REST (“

REpresentational State Transfer”

) interaction model, and on use of XML (“

eXtensible Markup Language”

) documents sent over HTTP (“

HyperText Transport Protocol”

), and wherein the specified one interface for the received request uses one of a SOAP message, a network-addressable resource that is part of the REST interaction model, and an XML document sent over HTTP.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 wherein the multiple interfaces are further based in part on use of multiple distinct communication protocols.