System and method for providing a hypertext transfer protocol service multiplexer

• US 8,583,793 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2007
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: de Icaza, Miguel
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer, Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDWARDS, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US11/984,488
• Publication Number:
  US 20080120412A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,185 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

A system and method for registering one or more services at a location where clients can access the services both locally and remotely is provided. A HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) service multiplexer (HSM) may be accessed at a recognizable location, which may be any suitable location or resource that a client can locate on a local system. The HSM may make a plurality of services available at the recognizable location by binding the location (e.g., a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)) to URLs or other resources associated with the services. In this manner, the HSM functions similarly to a domain name service, as HTTP redirections can be issued to enable a single well-known resource to be used for accessing the plurality of registered services.

Claims

1. A data processing system for providing a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) service multiplexing, comprising:

one or more applications executed by a processor within the data processing system; and

an HTTP service multiplexer executed by the processor within the data processing system, configured to;

allocate a port to a network service locally on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service binds to the port locally allocated on the HTTP service multiplexer to obtain a local endpoint on the HTTP service multiplexer, the network service associated with a name and a uniform resource locator (URL);

register the name and the URL for the network service in response to receiving an HTTP POST request from the network service, wherein the HTTP POST request was sent by the network service to a predetermined URL representing the HTTP service multiplexer;

receive an HTTP GET request from one of the one or more applications, wherein the HTTP GET request further includes the name for the network service; and

redirect the HTTP GET request received from the application to the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service listens for and receives the HTTP GET request on the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the one or more applications and the HTTP service multiplexer are running within the data processing system and communicating with each other using the HTTP GET and POST requests over a message bus.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the HTTP service multiplexer are further configured to launch the network service in response to receiving the HTTP GET request that includes the name for the network service and determining that the network service is not currently running.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the HTTP service multiplexer redirects the HTTP GET request received from the application to the port locally allocated to the network service in response to launching the network service.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the HTTP multiplexer is further configured to:

receive one or more broadcast messages from the network service, wherein the one or more broadcast messages include one or more HTTP POST requests communicated from the network service; and

deliver the one or more broadcast messages to the application in response to determining that the application has issued one or more HTTP GET requests to the message bus that include the name for the network service, wherein the one or more broadcast messages are delivered as part of a response to the one or more HTTP GET requests pending on the message bus.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the network service and the message bus communicate the one or more broadcast messages using chunked transfer encoding to maintain an open connection between the network service and the application.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the HTTP service multiplexer is further configured to:

receive one or more additional broadcast messages in one or more additional HTTP POST requests communicated from another network service; and

deliver the one or more additional broadcast messages to the application executing on the client device in response to determining that the one or more HTTP GET requests issued from the application executing on the client device further include a registered name for the other network service.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more broadcast messages delivered from the message bus to the application executing on the client device include the name for the network service and the one or more additional broadcast messages delivered from the message bus to the application executing on the client device include the registered name for the other network service, thereby distinguishing the one or more broadcast messages from the one or more additional broadcast messages.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer represents the local endpoint where the HTTP service multiplexer exposes an application program interface for the network service.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors in the HTTP service multiplexer are further configured to secure the application executing on the client device in response to receiving a URL string from the application executing on the client device that embeds authentication credentials in a secret shared between the HTTP service multiplexer and the client device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors in the HTTP service multiplexer are further configured to secure the application executing on the client device in response to receiving a ping message from the application executing on the client device that includes authentication credentials in a secret shared between the HTTP service multiplexer and the client device.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second network service having a second name and a second URL,

wherein the second network service is directed towards a different application executing on the client device than the network service.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the HTTP service multiplexer is further configured to:

allocate a second port to the second network service locally on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the second network service binds to the second port locally allocated on the HTTP service multiplexer to obtain a local endpoint on the HTTP service multiplexer;

register the second name and the second URL for the second network service in response to receiving an HTTP POST request from the second network service;

receive a message that includes an HTTP GET request from an application executing on a client device, wherein the message that includes the HTTP GET request further includes the second name for the second network service; and

redirect the message received from the application executing on the client device to the second port locally allocated to the second network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the second network service listens for and received the message that includes the HTTP GET request on the second port locally allocated to the second network service on the HTTP service multiplexer.

13. A computer implemented method for providing a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) service multiplexing, the method comprising:

registering a network service with the HTTP service multiplexer executed by a processor within a data processing system, wherein registering the network service includes;

allocating a port to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service binds to the port locally allocated on the HTTP service multiplexer to obtain a local endpoint on the HTTP service multiplexer;

receiving, at the HTTP service multiplexer, an HTTP POST request from the network service that includes a name and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the network service; and

registering the name and the URL for the network service at the HTTP service multiplexer in response to receiving the HTTP POST request from the network service;

receiving, at the HTTP service multiplexer, a message that includes an HTTP GET request from an application executed by the processor within the data processing system, wherein the message that includes the HTTP GET request further includes the name for the network service; and

redirecting the message received from the application to the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service listens for and receives the message that includes the HTTP GET request on the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the application and the HTTP service multiplexer are running within the data processing system and communicating with each other using HTTP GET and HTTP POST requests.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising launching the network service in response to the HTTP service multiplexer receiving the message that includes the name for the network service and determining that the requested network service is not currently running.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the HTTP service multiplexer redirects the message received from the application to the port locally allocated to the network service in response to launching the network service.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving one or more broadcast messages from the network service at a message bus implemented on the HTTP multiplexer, wherein the one or more broadcast messages include one or more HTTP POST requests communicated from the network service; and

delivering the one or more broadcast messages to the application in response to determining that the application has issued one or more HTTP GET requests to the message bus that include the name for the network service.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the network service and the message bus communicate the one or more broadcast messages using chunked transfer encoding to maintain an open connection between the network service and the application.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving one or more additional broadcast messages from another network service at the message bus implemented on the HTTP multiplexer, wherein the one or more additional broadcast messages include one or more additional HTTP POST requests communicated from the other network service; and

delivering the one or more additional broadcast messages to the application executing on the client device in response to determining that the one or more HTTP GET requests issued from the application executing on the client device further include a registered name for the other network service.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more broadcast messages delivered from the message bus to the application executing on the client device include the name for the network service and the one or more additional broadcast messages delivered from the message bus to the application executing on the client device include the registered name for the other network service, thereby distinguishing the one or more broadcast messages from the one or more additional broadcast messages.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the port locally allocated to he network service on the HTTP service multiplexer represents the local endpoint where the HTTP service multiplexer exposes an application program interface for the network service.

21. the method of claim 13, further comprising securing the application executing on the client device in response to receiving a URL string from the application executing on the client device that embeds authentication credentials in a secret shared between the HTTP service multiplexer and the client device.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising securing the application in response to receiving a ping message from the application executing on the client device that includes authentication credentials in a secret shared between the HTTP service multiplexer and the client device.

23. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for providing a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) service multiplexing, the method comprising:

registering a network service with the HTTP service multiplexer executed by a processor within a data processing system, wherein registering the network service includes;

allocating a port to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service binds to the port locally allocated on the HTTP service multiplexer to obtain a local endpoint on the HTTP service multiplexer;

receiving, at the HTTP service multiplexer, an HTTP POST request from the network service that includes a name and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the network service; and

registering the name and the URL for the network service at the HTTP service multiplexer in response to receiving the HTTP POST request from the network service;

receiving, at the HTTP service multiplexer, a message that includes an HTTP GET request from an application executed by the processor within the data processing system, wherein the message that includes the HTTP GET request further includes the name for the network service; and

redirecting the message received from the application to the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the network service listens for and receives the message that includes the HTTP GET request on the port locally allocated to the network service on the HTTP service multiplexer, wherein the application and the HTTP service multiplexer are running within the data processing system and communicating with each other using HTTP GET and HTTP POST requests.

24. The medium of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises launching the network service in response to the HTTP service multiplexer receiving the message that includes the name for the network service and determining that the requested network service is not currently running.