Mechanism for heterogeneous, peer-to-peer, and disconnected workflow operation
US5960404A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 28, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 28, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 28, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q10/10
- WIPO fieldIT methods for management
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A mechanism for heterogeneous, peer-to-peer, and disconnected workflow execution across a network infrastructure. Performer Agent entities provide a homogeneous view of humans, applications, and heterogeneous workflow systems and components that act as Performers on the network by executing Tasks. Source Agent entities provide a homogeneous view of heterogeneous service requesters such as workflow scripts executing on different workflow systems, which generate Activities that need to execute on Performers as Tasks. Task Request and Task Response messages are used to standardize the communication between Source Agents and Performer Agents, along with other messages for controlling and queuing Tasks. Workflow systems interact with each other as peers using this mechanism by sending workflow execution requests, workflow script templates, and workflow execution environments to each other. Disconnected operation is handled by ensuring the continuous availability of Source Agents and Performer Agents on the network and providing a mechanism for Sources to disconnect from Source Agents and Performers to disconnect from Performer Agents.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.