Authorization Proxy Platform for Backend Integration

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Solution Overview

Problem

User-facing services face significant challenges in integrating with multiple backend services due to varying implementation details and non-compliance with authorization standards like OAuth 2.0, leading to increased development time and effort as the number of supported backend services grows.

Innovation Solution

A proxy service is introduced to broker authorization between user-facing services and backend services, providing a standardized API for user-facing services to access backend services without needing to implement direct connections, and managing user authorization data to handle authorization requests and usage policies.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a user-facing service integrates directly with multiple backend services, then the service can access backend functions, but the development time and effort increase significantly as the number of backend services grows

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to integrate with backend servicesVSAvoiddevelopment time for integration

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an authorization service as an intermediary component between user-facing services and backend services. This authorization service implements and maintains compliance with OAuth 2.0 standards, handling all authorization logic centrally. User-facing services only need to integrate with this single authorization service rather than directly with multiple backend services, dramatically reducing development time while maintaining the ability to access multiple backend functions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a user-facing service implements all interactions with multiple backend services, then the service supports multiple backend services, but the implementation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenumber of supported backend servicesVSAvoidimplementation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The authorization service acts as a mediator that absorbs all the complexity of implementing and maintaining OAuth 2.0 compliance across multiple backend services. It provides a simplified, standardized interface that user-facing services can use to access any supported backend service without needing to understand or implement the underlying authorization protocols themselves.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The authorization service is designed as a universal component that can handle authorization requests to multiple different backend services through a single standardized interface. This multi-functional design allows user-facing services to access diverse backend services without increasing their own implementation complexity, as they interact with the same authorization service regardless of which backend service they need to access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If a backend service requires direct user authorization, then security is maintained, but the user interaction process becomes complex and may fail if users don't have accounts

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthorization securityVSAvoiduser interaction simplicity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The authorization service serves as an intermediary that manages user accounts and authorization tokens centrally. Instead of requiring users to have accounts with each individual backend service, the authorization service maintains user accounts and issues tokens that grant access to multiple backend services. This simplifies the user experience while maintaining security through centralized credential management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary authorization actions by having users authenticate once with the authorization service before they need to access any backend services. The authorization service stores authorization tokens and uses them to automatically authenticate subsequent requests to backend services, eliminating the need for users to repeatedly log in or create accounts with each service.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11216539B2Authorization proxy platform

Publication Date: 2022.01.04 ORACLE INT CORP

AI summary

Techniques for brokering authorization between a user-facing service and a backend service are disclosed. A proxy service, operating independently of the user-facing service and the backend service, exposes an application programming interface (API) configured to receive requests from the user-facing services to perform functions of the plurality of backend services. The proxy service stores user authorization data that authorizes a user of a particular user-facing service to use a function of a backend service. The proxy service receives, via the API, a request to perform the function for an account associated with the user. Responsive to receiving to the request, the proxy service uses the user authorization data to access the backend service to perform the function for the account associated with the user.