Cross-Partition Messaging via Distributed Queue Intermediary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Communications between computing devices in different networks are often impaired due to network partitioning, where devices with the same IP address cannot communicate directly, leading to service disruptions and user experience issues.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a queue service as an intermediary to facilitate communication between devices in separate networks by using proxy services to enqueue and dequeue requests and responses across multiple networks, ensuring reliable and expedited message delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If direct communication is used between devices in separate networks, then communication simplicity is maintained, but communication reliability deteriorates due to network partitioning blocking devices with the same IP address
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a queue service as an intermediary component between devices in separate networks. This queue service receives messages from sender devices, stores them in queues, and delivers them to recipient devices, thereby enabling communication across network partitions without requiring direct device-to-device connectivity. The intermediary resolves the IP address conflict issue by abstracting the communication path.
2Reliability
If queue service intermediary is implemented to enable cross-network communication, then communication reliability is improved, but system complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The queue service is designed to perform multiple functions: message queuing, message delivery, and response routing. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional service, the patent reduces the need for multiple separate components, thereby mitigating the increase in system complexity while maintaining communication reliability across network partitions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If messages are routed through queue service, then communication coverage is improved across partitioned networks, but message delivery time increases due to intermediary processing
Solution Approach 1:
The queue service pre-establishes message queues and routing paths before communication is needed. Messages are immediately enqueued upon arrival, and the service maintains ready-to-deliver states for recipient devices. This preliminary preparation minimizes processing delays during actual message delivery, reducing the time loss despite the intermediary routing.
4Ease of operation
If proxy services are used to enqueue and dequeue requests, then ease of operation is improved for cross-network communication, but device complexity increases due to proxy infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the proxy service functionality with the queue service into a unified system. The same queue service that manages message storage also handles the proxy functions of receiving requests from sender devices and delivering them to recipient devices. This merging eliminates the need for separate proxy infrastructure, thereby maintaining ease of operation while reducing the overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are described for employing a queue service as an intermediary to communicate messages between separate networks. A first proxy service may access a request generated by a client device operating in a first network, the request initially indicating a destination that is a server device operating in a second network. The request may be an application level protocol request. The first proxy service may modify the request to include, as a destination, a queue maintained by a queue service that is accessible from the first and second networks. The first proxy service may enqueue the modified request in the queue. A second proxy service operating in the second network may retrieve the enqueued request and communicate the request to the server device. One or more responses generated by the server device may be enqueued in a queue by the second proxy service for delivery to the client device.