Systems and methods for lightweight conversations

• US 20040205139A1
• Filed: 12/11/2003
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Fry, Chris
• Granted Patent: US 7,409,427 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms

Abstract

Transaction management systems can take advantage of a lightweight approach to conversation management. In a cluster, a conversation manager can be used to keep track of state location throughout the cluster. When a cluster computing device receives a request, that computing device can contact the conversation manager to determine the location of the state within the cluster. Once the conversation manager provides the computing device with the location of the state, the computing device can invoke the state for the conversation. All state information can be kept in-memory on computing devices in the cluster in order to improve performance.

This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.

Claims

1. A system to provide conversation states, comprising:

a first computing device capable of accepting a message for a conversation;

a second computing device capable of maintaining the state for a conversation; and

a conversation manager capable of identifying the computing device which maintains the state for a conversation.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

the first and second computing device form a cluster.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of maintaining the locations of all states in the system.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information, which may include, but is not limited to, a map of every state leased, owned, or stored on it.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information in-memory.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information both in-memory and on persistent storage.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein:

the state information on at least one primary computing device can be replicated to one secondary computing device.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of routing to the secondary computing device and setting it as the new primary when the primary computing device fails.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of periodically determining the availability of computing devices.

10. A system to provide conversation for Web service, comprising:

a conversation partner capable of providing a message for a conversation;

a first computing device capable of accepting a message for a conversation;

a second computing device capable of maintaining the state for a conversation; and

a conversation manager capable of identifying the computing device which maintains the state for a conversation.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

The message includes a conversation ID.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the first and second computing device form a cluster.

13. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of maintaining the locations of all states in the system.

14. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information, which may include, but is not limited to, a map of every state leased, owned, or stored on it.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information in-memory.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein:

a computing device is capable of maintaining its state information both in-memory and on persistent storage.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein:

the state information on at least one primary computing device can be replicated to one secondary computing device.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of routing to the secondary computing device and set it as the new primary when the primary computing device fails.

19. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of periodically determining the availability of computing devices.

20. The system according to claim 11, wherein:

a computing device is capable of contacting the conversation manager to determine the location of a state using the conversation ID.

21. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

a computing device is capable of answering a request for a state directly without contacting the conversation manager if it owns such state.

22. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of accepting a request for the location of a state from a computing device.

23. The system according to claim 11, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of providing the location of a state to a computing device requesting it based on the conversation ID.

24. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

a computing device is capable of accepting the location of a state from the conversation manager.

25. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

a computing device is capable of invoking a state on a computing device in order to respond to a. conversation message received.

26. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of sharing a state with at least two conversations.

27. The system according to claim 10, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of tracking a participating Web service that initiates conversation.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein:

the conversation manager is capable of sharing a state with at least two Web services and joining the sessions of these services.

29. A method to provide a conversation for a Web service, comprising:

accepting a conversation message from a conversation partner;

contacting a conversation manager to determine the location of the state for a conversation;

accepting the location of a state from the conversation manager; and

invoking a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received.

31. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

maintaining the locations of all states in the system on the conversation manager.

32. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

maintaining on a computing device its state information, which may include, but is not limited to, a map of every state leased, owned, or stored on it.

33. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:

maintaining the state information on a computing device in-memory.

34. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:

maintaining the state information on a computing device both in-memory and on persistent storage.

35. The method according to claim 32, further comprising:

replicating the state information on at least one primary computing device to one secondary computing device.

36. The method according to claim 35, further comprising:

routing to the secondary computing device; and

setting it as the new primary when the primary computing device fails.

37. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

determining the availability of computing devices periodically.

38. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

providing a conversation message to a computing device.

39. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

accepting request for the location of a state from a computing device; and

providing the location of the state to the computing device requesting it.

40. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

sharing a state for at least two conversations.

41. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

tracking a participating Web service that initiates a conversation.

42. The method according to claim 41, further comprising:

sharing a state with at least two Web services; and

joining the sessions of these services.

30. A method to provide a conversation for a Web service, comprising:

accepting a conversation message from a conversation partner; and

invoking a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received directly without contacting the conversation manager if the computing device owns such state.

43. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause a system to:

accept a conversation message from a conversation partner;

contact a conversation manager to determine the location of the state for a conversation;

accept the location of a state from the conversation manager; and

invoke a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received.

45. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain the locations of all states in the system on the conversation manager.

46. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain on a computing device its state information, which may include, but is not limited to, a map of every state leased, owned, or stored on it.

47. The machine readable medium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain the state information on a computing device in-memory.

48. The machine readable medium of claim 46, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain the state information on a computing device both in-memory and on persistent storage.

49. The machine readable medium of claim 48, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

replicate the state information on at least one primary computing device to one secondary computing device.

50. The machine readable medium of claim 49, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

route to the secondary computing device; and

set it as the new primary when the primary computing device fails.

51. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

check for the availability of computing devices periodically.

52. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

provide a conversation message to a computing device.

53. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

accept request for the location of a state from a computing device; and

provide the location of the state to the computing device requesting it.

54. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

share a state with at least two conversations.

55. The machine readable medium of claim 43, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

track a participating Web service that initiates a conversation.

56. The machine readable medium of claim 55, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

share a state with at least two Web services; and

join the sessions of these services.

44. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause a system to:

accept a conversation message from a conversation partner; and

invoke a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received directly without contacting the conversation manager if the computing device owns such state.

57. A system for handling conversation, comprising:

means for accepting a conversation message from a conversation partner;

means for contacting a conversation manager to determine the location of the state for a conversation;

means for accepting the location of a state from the conversation manager; and

means for invoking a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received.

58. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising:

a code segment including instructions to accept a conversation message from a conversation partner;

a code segment including instructions to contact a conversation manager to determine the location of the state for a conversation;

a code segment including instructions to accept the location of a state from the conversation manager; and

a code segment including instructions to invoke a state on a computing device in order to respond to the conversation message received.