System and method for deploying and managing intelligent nodes in a distributed network

• US 8,095,923 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2007
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hexagon Technology Center GmbH (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: Augusta Systems, Inc. (Hexagon AB)
• Inventors: Harvey, Clint M., Moody, John E., Williams, Jackie P. II, Esposito, Patrick R. II, Thomas, George K., Reed, Jared K., Kesecker, Brian J. II, Esposito, Patrick R.
• Primary Examiner(s): DAO, THUY CHAN
• Application Number:
  US11/859,264
• Publication Number:
  US 20080010631A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment

Abstract

According to methods, apparatuses, and computer program products described by way of non-limiting examples presented herein, a computer system operates as an intelligent node in a distributed network. In one or more embodiments, the installation and execution of a node operating computer program product (“node software”) on a computer system configures that computer system to operate as an intelligent node in a distributed network. The computer system may reside at the edge of the network and thus may include a number of physical world sensors and/or actuators that represent valuable but hard-to-reach data sources/sinks from the perspective of the network at large. The node software operates the computer system as an edge application server and enterprise service bus, intelligently processing data from sensors, actuators, and other edge systems and devices. Other applications, such as server-based data processing and storing, are also easily implemented via the node software.

Claims

1. A computer program product stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, said computer program product comprising program instructions configured to cause a computer system to operate as an intelligent node in a distributed network, and to cause said computer system to provide:

a communication engine for pulling or otherwise receiving user-configured software agent definitions into the intelligent node from elsewhere in the distributed network, each said software agent definition received as an information set specifying the types and numbers of software components to be instantiated from a predefined hierarchical software component toolset installed at said computer system, and each said software agent definition comprising corresponding component configuration parameter settings and hierarchical component linking information for configuring and hierarchically linking the specified software components for instantiation;

a run-time environment configured to dynamically instantiate a given software agent by selecting, instantiating, configuring, and linking software components from the predefined library of software components in accordance with the corresponding software agent definition, wherein the software agents executing within the run-time environment define the distributed network behavior of the intelligent node and define the rules for advertising and sharing that distributed network behavior within the distributed network; and

an application control module for controlling specified third-party applications installed on the computer system, and for enabling the software agents executing within the run-time environment to interact with the specified third-party applications.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the communication engine is configured with a defined messaging protocol enabling it to interact with like communication engines in other intelligent nodes within the distributed network.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for advertising, inspecting, and sharing user-configured software agent definitions with other intelligent nodes within the distributed network.

4. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for directing the run-time environment to load and unload specified software agents from the run-time environment.

5. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for sharing data acquisition, data processing, and control information arising from processing actions of the software agents executing in the run-time environment with other nodes in the distributed network.

6. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for sending third-party software applications from the intelligent node and receiving third-party software applications at the intelligent node, and wherein the communication engine or an associated module within the computer program product is configured to install third-party software applications on the intelligent node.

7. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for outputting listings of software agents and software processes that are installed or otherwise running at the computer system, and for requesting like listings from other nodes in the distributed network.

8. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the defined messaging protocol includes messages for outputting listings of metrics and statistics of the computer system, and for requesting like listings from nodes in the distributed network.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the predefined hierarchical software component toolset includes a sensor system component that operates as a self-contained data processing software agent linkable to specified data sources and data sinks, and operative to trigger specified processing and control actions responsive to detecting defined data events.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the predefined hierarchical software component toolset includes an actions component linkable as a child component of a sensor system component and configured to imbue the sensor system component with autonomous processing behavior, each said actions component operative to carry out one or more actions with respect to a first software component in response to monitoring the first or a second software component for event occurrences, and each said actions component is configurable via information in the software agent definition used to instantiate it.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the communication engine is configured to receive software agent definitions as incoming serialized information, de-serialize said serialized information to recover the received software agent definitions, and to transfer the received software agent definitions to the run-time environment for processing, and wherein the communication engine is further configured to serialize software agents residing at the intelligent node into outgoing serialized information for sharing with other intelligent nodes in the distributed network.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the incoming and outgoing serialized information comprises eXtensible Markup Language (XML) data, and wherein the communication engine or an associated module within the computer program product is configured to de-serialize incoming XML data into software agent definitions, and to serialize software agent definitions into XML data for transfer to other intelligent nodes in the distributed network.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a system event engine that is configured to provide software and hardware event visibility between and for the software agents executing in the run-time environment.

14. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a file processing module that is configured to cooperate with the communication engine for sending files to and from the intelligent node, and wherein the file processing module is configured to process files containing serialized software agent definitions for transfer to and from the intelligent node.

15. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a configuration module that is configured to process and maintain configuration files and registries for operation of the intelligent node within the distributed network, including passwords, encryption keys, IP addresses, and socket ports.

16. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a node discovery module that is configured to determine the availability of other intelligent nodes in the distributed network according to one or more configurable rules, said node discovery module using at least one of active searching for other nodes, accessing centralized node registration information, accessing distribution lookup tables, and listening for broadcasts or advertisements from other nodes.

17. A computer system including a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and configured to operate as an intelligent node in a distributed network, the computer system comprising:

a communication engine for pulling or otherwise receiving user-configured software agent definitions into the intelligent node from elsewhere in the distributed network, each said software agent definition received as an information set specifying the types and numbers of software components to be instantiated from a predefined hierarchical software component toolset installed at said computer system, and each said software agent definition comprising corresponding component configuration parameter settings and hierarchical component linking information for configuring and hierarchically linking the specified software components for instantiation;

a run-time environment configured to dynamically instantiate a given software agent by selecting, instantiating, configuring, and linking software components from the predefined library of software components in accordance with the corresponding software agent definition, wherein the software agents executing natively within the run-time environment define the distributed network behavior of the intelligent node and define the rules for advertising and sharing that behavior with other intelligent nodes in the distributed network; and

an application control module for controlling specified third-party applications installed on the computer system, and for enabling the software agents executing within the run-time environment to interact with the specified third-party applications.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the communication engine includes processing logic for generating and responding to predefined interaction messages enabling the intelligent node to carry out a predefined set of interactions with like intelligent nodes in the distributed network, including the advertising and sharing of software agents between like intelligent nodes.

19. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the communication engine and the run-time environment are communicatively coupled and configured to enable the software agents executing in the run-time environment to interact with other software agents executing in the run-time environments in other like intelligent nodes.

20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the predefined hierarchical software component toolset comprises a predefined library of software components configured as hierarchical building blocks for implementing data acquisition, data processing, and control applications.

21. A system, stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, for building distributed networks of intelligent nodes comprising:

a node operating computer program product for installation and execution on a computer system intended for operation as an intelligent node, said node operating computer program product comprising a run-time environment for building and executing software agents according to received software agent definitions, and a communication engine having a default messaging protocol enabling a remote node to transfer desired software agent definitions into the run-time environment;

a node interfacing computer program product for installation and execution on a computer system intended for use as an intelligent node interface, said node interfacing computer program product comprising user and communication interfaces for building the desired software agent definitions according to user-specified parameters, and transferring the desired software agent definitions to one or more targeted intelligent nodes; and

a software component toolset installable at intelligent nodes for building software agents according to the desired software agent definitions, and comprising a hierarchical set of software components configured as building blocks for data acquisition, data processing, and control applications, wherein said desired software agent definitions each comprise an information set identifying the particular software components from the software component toolset to be included in the corresponding software agent, along with component parameters and hierarchical linking information that define the behavior and operation of the software components.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the communication engine of the node operating computer program product is further configured, via the default messaging protocol, to provide for remote inspection of the run-time environment and software agents residing on the intelligent node, and to share software agents residing on the intelligent node with other like intelligent nodes.