System and method for tracking notifications in a publish subscribe system
Inactive Publication Date: 2006-05-18
IBM CORP
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[0017] According to a further aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided for tracking notification messages from a message publisher to a message subscriber, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one processor operative to: (i) subscribe to a first message publisher to receive a digest of channel descriptions; and (ii) determine whether a second message publisher publishes one or more notifications in an aggregated form. If the second message publisher publishes the one or more notifications in a more aggregated form, the processor is operative to subscribe to the second message publisher.
[0018] The present invention may be implemented in a variety of ways, as those who are skilled in the art will recognize. It will find particular application in distributed data processing system that uses publication / subscribe messaging. Furthermore, as described in further detail below, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, the invention enables entities within a messaging system to dynamically track notifications in order to receive the most aggregated form of a notification. Thus, the invention achieves both resiliency and scalability, particularly for applications and processors that operate within a large distributed system.
Problems solved by technology
Thus, an application server can become overloaded if every notification is delivered to it.
An edge server based architecture nevertheless raises a number of technical challenges.
For one thing, deploying large numbers of edge servers means that failures of parts of the system typically occur so frequently that failure is the norm rather than the exception.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that edge servers often execute in a more hostile and less well-protected environment than application servers, in the sense that edge servers are typically deployed out “in the field” and are not as easily protected as within large, centralized server farms.
In such cases, the failure of an edge server that normally collects data from many publishers (such as sensors or other edge servers) is problematic: in the absence of a means for the publishers to learn that they should now publish messages elsewhere, the data will typically be lost.
A further challenge posed by known messaging systems is that the administration of the entire system becomes more complex with an edge server-based architecture.
If a large number of edge servers are deployed, it is extremely difficult to configure each of them manually, so that all entities know to which channels they should subscribe and to which they should publish.
Known systems are also difficult to reconfigure as loads change, or as edge servers or channels are stopped and started.
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[0023] The following detailed description is intended to provide an example of the invention wherein a distributed messaging system uses sensors to monitor events and forward event data to a server. It is to be appreciated, however, that this description should not be taken to limit the scope of the invention to messaging systems that use sensors. More generally, the invention may be implemented in any distributed messaging system wherein processors publish notifications to notification receivers.
[0024] According to a preferred embodiment, the invention may be used in a distributed system wherein sensors are employed to monitor the state of an underlying system and forward measurement data to a central server. Example applications of such a messaging system include flood warning applications that monitor water levels in water ways, inventory management applications that track the location and number of goods using radio frequency identification (RFID), or automotive traffic warning...
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A system and method are provided for tracking notification messages from a message publisher to a message subscriber. The system includes a plurality of entities that are operatively coupled to one another via an electronic network, and each entity includes at least one processor configured as a message publisher, a channel and / or a message subscriber. According to the invention, at least one entity is configured as a channel, which is assigned to the function of acting as a meta-channel and comprises (i) means for receiving one or more channel descriptions; and (ii) means for publishing a digest of one or more channel descriptions and / or message transformations to facilitate tracking of message transformations from raw forms to processed forms. The system may have more than one meta-channel, and the meta-channels may subscribe to or publish to each other.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to publish / subscribe systems, and more particularly to a system for tracking notifications in a publish / subscribe system. TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The publish / subscribe communication paradigm describes a known form of interaction in distributed computing settings. In a publish / subscribe system, a subscriber may register interest in or subscribe to events pertaining to a given topic; thereafter, the subscriber receives notifications of such events, which are produced by publishers. [0003] In a publish / subscribe system, publishers or senders of data do not communicate directly with subscribers or receivers; instead, publishers and subscribers interact through an intermediate entity referred to here as a channel, but also known in the art by various other names, such as notification server, broker or event service. Publishers may publish notifications about the occurrence of the events on a channel by first marking thes...
Claims
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Login to View More IPC IPC(8): G06F17/00G06F7/00
CPCH04L67/26H04L67/55
InventorROONEY, SEAN G.
OwnerIBM CORP