System and method for providing a production upgrade of components within a multiprotocol gateway

• US 8,863,111 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2009
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Selitser, Boris, Jansson, Daniel, Rajasekar, Sharath, Modin, Niklas
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUY KHUONG THANH
• Application Number:
  US12/493,083
• Publication Number:
  US 20100330971A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,936 Days
• Field of Search: 717/17, 717/170, 717/120
• US Class Current: 717/170
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5041 characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A production upgrade is described for a multiprotocol gateway. This upgrade allows various modules and components within the gateway to be upgraded independently without impacting traffic flow in the gateway. The upgrade can be performed by deploying a new version of the module alongside an older version of the same module. New client requests can then be directed to the new version, while requests requiring the older module can be continued to be serviced by the prior version. A distinction is made between stateless and stateful conversation during the upgrade of various components. For stateful conversations, request traffic can be versioned according to the session to which each request belongs. A highly available state storage scheme allows new versions of the module to consume state information used by the older versions. For stateless conversations, all new requests can be immediately routed to the new version of the module.

Claims

1. A method for providing a production upgrade of a component in a multiprotocol gateway, from an older version of the component, to a new version which includes modified functionality relative to the older version, the method comprising:

providing a multiprotocol gateway which executes on one or more processors, and which includes a plurality of components;

receiving a first request to the multiprotocol gateway, wherein the first request is directed to a particular component;

directing the first request to an older version of the component;

upgrading the component, by deploying a new version of the component alongside the older version within the gateway, and by providing a schema accessible to both versions, wherein the schema defines a structure of state information which is associated with the older version and consumed by the new version, so that the state information is simultaneously accessible by both versions, wherein the new version adds new attributes to the schema;

enforcing a service level agreement across multiple versions of a plug-in associated with the component, wherein a shared state is maintained across the multiple versions;

receiving a second request to the gateway, wherein the second request is received after the new version of the component has been deployed and while the older version of the component remains operational;

routing the second request to the new version of the component and continuing to receive new traffic to the gateway uninterrupted; and

retiring the older version of the component when existing sessions using the older version are completed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the component is performed without impacting traffic flow in the gateway, such that the production upgrade is non-visible to external entities and clients interacting with the multi-protocol gateway.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the second request to the new version of the component further includes:

determining whether the second request is associated with an existing session; and

routing the second request to the older version of the component if the second request is associated with the existing session, otherwise routing the second request to the new version of the component.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more new requests after the component has been updated;

determining whether the new requests are session-based stateful interactions or a stateless interactions; and

routing the new requests directly to the new version of the component if the new requests are stateless interactions;

routing the new requests associated with existing sessions to the older version of the component if the new requests are stateful interactions; and

routing the new requests associated with new sessions to the new version of the component.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the schema is stored in a highly available storage that includes multiple versions to enable multiple components to access the storage.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the new version of the component is configured to handle instances of the schema containing the state information with both null and non-null new attributes values.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said multiprotocol gateway further includes:

at least two versions of a plug-in used to translate communications, wherein a single active version of the plug-in is accepting traffic and wherein the active version transitions to administrative state during the update of the component, such that the plug-in does not process traffic while being in the administrative state.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is an exposure service that translates said request from one protocol to a different protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said multiprotocol gateway further includes:

an access tier; and

a network tier;

wherein said access tier is upgraded while the network tier is sending northbound traffic and said network tier is upgraded while the access tier is sending southbound traffic; and

wherein the access tier receives traffic from a first set of external clients and the network tier receives traffic from a second set of external clients in the telecommunications network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the component can be upgraded independently from other components within the gateway.

11. A system for providing a production upgrade in a multiprotocol gateway, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

a multiprotocol gateway which executes on the one or more processors, and which includes a plurality of components;

an older version of a component deployed to process telecommunications requests in the gateway;

a new version of the component deployed alongside the older version within the gateway, wherein the new version includes modified functionality with respect to the older version, and wherein the new version processes one or more new telecommunication requests contemporaneously with the older version such that traffic is continued to be received to the gateway uninterrupted;

a schema accessible to both versions, wherein the schema defines a structure of state information which is associated with the older version and, consumed by the new version, so that the state information is simultaneously accessible by both versions, wherein the new version adds new attributes to the schema, wherein the older version of the component is retired when existing sessions using the older version are completed;

a plug-in associated with the component, wherein the plug-in includes multiple versions, wherein a service level agreement is enforced, and a shared state is maintained across the multiple versions; and

wherein the gateway determines whether a request is associated with an existing session and routes the request to the older version of the component if the request is associated with the existing session, and otherwise routes the request to the new version of the component.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the older version of the component is upgraded to the new version of the component without impacting traffic flow in the gateway, such that the production upgrade is non visible to external entities and clients interacting with the multi-protocol gateway.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the gateway:

receives one or more new requests after the new version of the component has been deployed,

determines whether the new requests are session-based stateful interactions or stateless interactions; and

routes the new requests directly to the new version of the component if the new requests are stateless interactions;

routes the new requests associated with existing sessions to the older version of the component if the new requests are stateful interactions; and

routes the new requests associated with new sessions to the new version of the component.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the schema is stored in a highly available storage that includes multiple versions to enable multiple components to access the storage.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the new version of the component is configured to handle instances of the schema containing the state information with both null and non-null new attributes values.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

at least two versions of a plug-in used to translate communications, wherein a single active version of the plug-in is accepting traffic and wherein the active version transitions to administrative state during the update of the component.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the component is an exposure service that translates said request from one protocol to a different protocol.

18. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

an access tier; and

a network tier;

wherein said access tier is upgraded while the network tier is sending northbound traffic and said network tier is upgraded while the access tier is sending southbound traffic.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for providing production upgrades of an older version of a component to a new version in a telecommunication processing environment, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps comprising:

providing a multiprotocol gateway which includes a plurality of components;

receiving a first request to the multiprotocol gateway, wherein the first request is directed to a particular component;

directing the first request to an older version of the component;

upgrading the component, by deploying a new version of the component alongside the older version within the gateway, and by providing a schema accessible to both versions, wherein the schema defines a structure of state information which is associated with the older version and consumed by the new version, so that the state information is simultaneously accessible by both versions, wherein the new version adds new attributes to the schema;

enforcing a service level agreement across multiple versions of a plug-in associated with the component, wherein a shared state is maintained across the multiple versions;

receiving a second request to the gateway after the new version of the component has been deployed and while the older version of the component remains operational;

routing the second request to the new version of the component and continuing to receive new traffic to the gateway uninterrupted; and

retiring the older version of the component when existing sessions using the older version are completed.