Process configuration in a network

• US 8,150,905 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2006
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: McKee, Paul F, Fisher, Michael A
• Primary Examiner(s): Gillis, Brian J
• Assistant Examiner(s): YI, DAVID
• Application Number:
  US11/883,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20080144529A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,248 Days
• Field of Search: 709220-223, 709/238, 370/254, 370/351
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0663 Performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0826 for reduction of network costs H04L41/0833 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5058 Service discovery by the service manager
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A network is configured or made configurable to provide a process exploiting services distributed among nodes of the network by means of a step-by-step search, the search for one service starting at a node providing a previous service.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a network for a process, in which the network comprises a plurality of nodes for providing services and in which the process comprises a plurality of the services, the method comprising:

starting from a first node, searching the network for nodes suitable for providing a first one of the required services;

starting from the node or nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing the first service, searching for nodes suitable for providing a second one of the required services;

repeating the search for each remaining required service, starting each time from the identified node or nodes suitable for providing the previous required service until nodes suitable for providing all the required services are located;

obtaining information on connections between the or each selected node suitable for providing one of the required services and the or each node identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing a next required service; and

selecting at least one node suitable for providing the next required service on the basis of the node information and connection information obtained for that node.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 including obtaining information on the nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing the first service and selecting on the basis of the node information at least one node suitable for providing the first service.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 including obtaining information on connections between the first node and the nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing the first service and selecting on the basis of the node information and connection information at least one node suitable for providing the first service.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 in which the search for nodes suitable for providing the second service is started from the or each selected node suitable for providing the first service.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 including obtaining information on the nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing each of the required services and selecting on the basis of the node information at least one node suitable for providing each of the required services.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 in which the search for nodes suitable for providing a next one of the required services is started from the or each of the selected nodes suitable for providing the previous service.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 including identifying a plurality of paths through the network, each path comprising nodes suitable for providing at least some of the required services and connections between the nodes, evaluating the nodes and connections in each of the paths and selecting on the basis of the evaluation one or more paths for providing the process.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 including deselecting duplicated paths so that not all of the nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing the required services comprised in one selected path are comprised in another selected path.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7 in which the method steps set out in claim 8 are executed at an intermediate stage in the searching.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7 including keeping information on deselected paths and in the event of a failure in a selected path replacing that path with an appropriate deselected path.

11. The method as claimed in claim 2 including keeping information on the identified nodes suitable for providing the required services not selected by the means for selecting and in the event of a failure of a selected node replacing that node with an appropriate not selected node in which failure of a node includes failure of a connection to that node.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is active on the node.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is inactive on the node but capable of being activated on the node.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is not present on the node but capable of being downloaded to and activated on the node.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which the nodes form part of a computing grid.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1 including searching the network by use of a bounded echo algorithm.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1 including stopping the search for at least one of the required services on finding a set number of nodes suitable for providing that service.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16 including using the bounded echo algorithm for processing the information and returning an ordered list of selected nodes to the first node.

37. A computer-readable non-transient storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to operate in accordance with the method steps of claim 1.

19. A network for providing a process requiring a plurality of services, in which the network comprises a plurality of nodes for providing the services;

in which the network comprises;

means for searching the network starting from a first node for nodes suitable for providing a first one of the required services;

means for searching the network starting from the node or nodes suitable for providing the first service identified as a result of the search, for nodes suitable for providing a second one of the required services;

means for searching the network for each remaining required service, starting each time from the node or nodes suitable for providing the previous required service identified as a result of the search; and

means for obtaining information on connections between the or each selected node suitable for providing one of the required services and the or each node identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing a next required service;

in which the means for selecting are arranged to select at least one node suitable for providing the next required service on the basis of the node information and connection information obtained for that node.

20. The network as claimed in claim 19 comprising means for obtaining information on the identified nodes suitable for providing the first service and means for selecting from the identified nodes on the basis of the node information at least one node suitable for providing the first service.

21. The network as claimed in claim 19 comprising means for obtaining information on connections between the first node and the nodes providing the first required service and means for selecting on the basis of the node information and connection information at least one node suitable for providing the first service.

22. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which the search for nodes suitable for providing the second service is started from the or each selected node suitable for providing the first service.

23. The network as claimed in claim 19 comprising means for obtaining information on the identified nodes suitable for providing the required services and means for selecting on the basis of the node information at least one node suitable for providing each of the required services.

24. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which the means for searching for nodes suitable for providing a next one of the required services is arranged to start from the or each selected node suitable for providing the previous required service.

25. The network as claimed in claim 19 including selection means for identifying a plurality of paths through the network each path comprising nodes suitable for providing at least some of the required services and connections between the nodes, and for evaluating the nodes and connections in each of the paths and for selecting on the basis of the evaluation one or more paths to provide the process.

26. The network as claimed in claim 25 in which the selection means is arranged to deselect duplicated paths so that not all of the nodes identified as a result of the search as suitable for providing the required services comprised in one selected path are comprised in another selected path.

27. The network as claimed in claim 25 in which the selection means is arranged to execute at least one of the selection and deselection at an intermediate stage in the searching.

28. The network as claimed in claim 25 in which the selection means is arranged to keep information on deselected paths and in the event of a failure in a selected path to replace that path with an appropriate deselected path.

29. The network as claimed in claim 25 in which the selection means is arranged to keep information on the identified nodes suitable for providing the required services not selected by the means for selecting and in the event of a failure of a selected node to replace that node with an appropriate not selected node in which failure of a node includes failure of a connection to that node.

30. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is active on the node.

31. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is inactive but capable of being activated on the node.

32. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which a node is suitable for providing a service if that service is not present on the node but is capable of being downloaded to and activated on the node.

33. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which the nodes form part of a computing grid.

34. The network as claimed in claim 19 comprising means for searching the network by use of bounded echo algorithm.

35. The network as claimed in claim 19 in which the means for searching is arranged to stop the search for at least one of the required services on finding a set number of nodes suitable for providing that service.

36. The network as claimed in claim 34 in which the means for selecting is arranged to use the echo algorithm to process the information and return an ordered list of selected nodes to the first node.