Messaging system using pairs of message gates in a distributed computing environment

• US 7,065,574 B1
• Filed: 09/11/2000
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Slaughter, Gregory L., Pouyoul, Eric, Saulpaugh, Thomas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dennison, J. Bret
• Application Number:
  US09/658,805
• Time in Patent Office: 2,108 Days
• Field of Search: 707/6, 707/103.Z, 707/4, 707/10, 707/104.1, 707/3, 715/513, 715/523, 713/154, 713/168, 713/169, 713155-159, 702/223, 702/229, 702/246, 705/14, 705/7, 709/203, 709/218, 709/225
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/547 Messaging middleware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

Various embodiments of message gate pairs are described. A message gate pair may provide a mechanism for communicating requests from clients to services and response from services to clients. A message gate pair may be used to create a secure atomic bi-directional message channel for request-response message passing. The distributed computing environment may employ a message transport in which a message gate exists on both the client and the service. The two gates may work together to provide a secure and reliable message channel. Client and service gates may perform the actual sending and receiving of the messages from the client to the service using a protocol specified in a service advertisement. The message gates may provide a level of abstraction between a client and a service. A client may reference a service through a message gate instead of referencing the service directly. Messages gates may allow clients and services to exchange messages in a secure and reliable fashion over any suitable message transport (e.g. HTTP). For a client, a message gate may represent the authority to use some or all of a service'"'"'s capabilities. Each capability may be expressed in terms of a message that may be sent to the service. Each such message may be sent through a client message gate that may verify the correctness of the message. The message may be received by a service message gate that may authenticate the message and verify its correctness.

Claims

1. A distributed computing system, comprising:

a client device comprising a client message endpoint;

a service device comprising a service message endpoint;

wherein said client message endpoint is configured to send request messages in a data representation language to said service message endpoint for said client device to access said service device, wherein said client message endpoint is bound only to a single destination address for said service message endpoint so that said client message endpoint only sends messages to said service message endpoint;

wherein said service message endpoint is configured to receive messages in a data representation language from said client message endpoint and authenticate that the received messages are from said client message endpoint;

wherein said service message endpoint is further configured to send response messages in said data representation language to said client message endpoint, wherein said service message endpoint is bound only to a single destination address for said client message endpoint so that said service message endpoint only sends messages to said client message endpoint; and

wherein said client message endpoint is configured to receive messages in said data representation language from said service message endpoint and authenticate that the received messages are from said service message endpoint.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client message endpoint is configured to verify type correctness of each request message according to a data representation language schema before sending each request message to said service message endpoint.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said service message endpoint is configured to verify type correctness of each response message according to a data representation language schema before sending each response message to said client message endpoint.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client message endpoint is configured to attach an authentication credential to each request message before sending each request message to said service message endpoint, and wherein said service message endpoint is configured to use the authentication credential to verify that each request message is from the client message endpoint.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said service message endpoint is configured to attach an authentication credential to each response message before sending each response message to said client message endpoint, and wherein said client message endpoint is configured to use the authentication credential to verify that each response message is from the service message endpoint.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client device is configured to generate said client message endpoint according to a data representation language schema to verify correctness of each message before sending each message to the service message endpoint, wherein said data representation language schema defines a set of messages in the data representation language that said client device may send to said service device to access said service device.

7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein said client message endpoint is configured to verify that each message to be sent to said service complies with a data representation language message definition from said data representation language schema.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said single destination address is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said service message endpoint, wherein said client message endpoint is further configured to send said request messages to an address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said single destination address is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said client message endpoint, wherein said service message endpoint is further configured to send said response messages to an address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client message endpoint is a single atomic unit of program code that provides an abstraction for said client device to access said service device.

11. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein said single atomic unit of program code is generated under control of said client device'"'"'s execution environment.

12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client device comprises a different type of execution environment than said service device.

13. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said data representation language is extensible Markup Language (XML).

14. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said client device is a computer system, mobile telephone, or personal digital assistant.

15. A computer-implemented method for communicating in a distributed computing environment, comprising:

generating a client message gate unit for sending messages from a client process to a service process;

generating a service message gate unit for sending messages from a service process to a client process;

binding said client message gate unit only to an address for said service message gate unit and said service message gate unit only to an address for said client message gate unit so that said client message gate unit and said service message gate unit provide for a bi-directional communication channel between said client process and said service process; and

sending messages in a data representation language between said client message gate unit and said service message gate unit according to a data representation language schema for accessing a service through said service process.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said sending messages comprises:

said client process sending a request message through said client message gate unit to said service process; and

said client message gate process verifying type correctness of said request message according to said data representation language schema before said request message is sent to said service message gate unit address.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said sending messages comprises:

said service process sending a response message through said service message gate unit to said client process; and

said service message gate process verifying type correctness of said response message according to said data representation language schema before said response message is sent to said client message gate unit address.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said sending messages comprises:

said client process sending a request message through said client message gate unit to said service process; and

said client message gate process attaching an authentication credential to said request message before said request message is sent to said service message gate unit address.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

said service message gate unit receiving said request message and using said authentication credential to authenticate said request message as being from said client message gate unit before passing said request message to said service process.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said sending messages comprises:

said service process sending a response message through said service message gate unit to said client process; and

said service message gate process attaching an authentication credential to said response message before said response message is sent to said client message gate unit address.

21. The method as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

said client message gate unit receiving said response message and using said authentication credential to authenticate said response message as being from said service message gate unit before passing said response message to said client process.

22. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said generating said client message gate unit comprises generating said client message gate unit according to said data representation language schema, wherein said data representation language schema defines a set of messages in the data representation language that said client process may send to said service process to access said service process.

23. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

said client message gate unit verifying that each message to be sent to said service process complies with a data representation language message definition from said data representation language schema.

24. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said client message gate unit is bound only to said address for said service message gate unit so that said client message gate unit only sends request messages to said service message gate unit.

25. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said address for said service message gate unit is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said service message gate unit, the method further comprising:

said client message gate unit sending request messages to a destination address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

26. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said service message gate unit is bound only to said address for said client message gate unit so that said service message gate unit only sends request messages to said client message gate unit.

27. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said address for said client message gate unit is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said client message gate unit, the method further comprising:

said service message gate unit sending response messages to a destination address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

28. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said client message gate unit is a single atomic unit of program code that provides an abstraction for said client process to access said service process.

29. The method as recited in claim 28, wherein said single atomic unit of program code is generated under control of said client process'"'"'s execution environment.

30. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said client process'"'"'s execution environment is different from said service process'"'"'s execution environment.

31. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said data representation language is extensible Markup Language (XML).

32. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said client process is executing within a computer system, mobile telephone, or personal digital assistant.

33. A tangible computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

generating a client message gate unit for sending messages from a client process to a service process;

generating a service message gate unit for sending messages from a service process to a client process;

binding said client message gate unit only to an address for said service message gate unit and said service message gate unit only to an address for said client message gate unit so that said client message gate unit and said service message gate unit provide for a bi-directional communication channel between said client process and said service process; and

sending messages in a data representation language between said client message gate unit and said service message gate unit according to a data representation language schema for accessing a service through said service process.

34. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein, in said sending messages, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said client process sending a request message through said client message gate unit to said service process; and

said client message gate process verifying type correctness of said request message according to said data representation language schema before said request message is sent to said service message gate unit address.

35. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein, in said sending messages, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said service process sending a response message through said service message gate unit to said client process; and

said service message gate process verifying type correctness of said response message according to said data representation language schema before said response message is sent to said client message gate unit address.

36. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein, in said sending messages the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said client process sending a request message through said client message gate unit to said service process;

said client message gate process attaching an authentication credential to said request message before said request message is sent to said service message gate unit address; and

said service message gate unit receiving said request message and using said authentication credential to authenticate said request message as being from said client message gate unit before passing said request message to said service process.

37. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein, in said sending messages, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said service process sending a response message through said service message gate unit to said client process;

said service message gate process attaching an authentication credential to said response message before said response message is sent to said client message gate unit address; and

said client message gate unit receiving said response message and using said authentication credential to authenticate said response message as being from said service message gate unit before passing said response message to said client process.

38. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said generating said client message gate unit comprises generating said client message gate unit according to said data representation language schema, wherein said data representation language schema defines a set of messages in the data representation language that said client process may send to said service process to access said service process.

39. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said client message gate unit verifying that each message to be sent to said service process complies with a data representation language message definition from said data representation language schema.

40. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said address for said service message gate unit is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said service message gate unit, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said client message gate unit sending request messages to a destination address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

41. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said address for said client message gate unit is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for said client message gate unit, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said service message gate unit sending response messages to a destination address specified by said URI using a protocol specified by said URI.

42. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said client message gate unit is a single atomic unit of program code that provides an abstraction for said client process to access said service process.

43. The tangible computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 33, wherein said data representation language is extensible Markup Language (XML).