Distributed Financial Transaction System with Plugin Abstraction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing financial transaction systems rely on an 'active-passive' approach with a single active data centre, leading to potential downtime and limited scalability, whereas the need for a more robust and distributed solution exists to manage transactions across multiple locations with zero downtime and improved load balancing.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a distributed, cloud-based financial transaction system with multiple active data centres connected via a private network, where plugins perform different functions and communicate through an operating system that abstracts the underlying data centre structure, allowing for message routing without specifying destinations and enabling zero downtime, upgrades, and improved scalability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a single active data centre is used in an active-passive approach, then system simplicity is maintained, but system availability and scalability are limited with potential downtime

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem availabilityVSAvoiddata centre architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the monolithic data centre architecture into multiple independent data centres distributed across different physical locations. Each data centre can operate autonomously, and the system divides functionality across these segments to achieve continuous operation even when individual segments fail.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Multiple data centres are merged into a unified distributed system where plugins can execute across different data centres. The operating system combines resources from multiple physical locations into a single logical computing environment, providing both redundancy and scalability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple data centres are distributed across different locations, then scalability and availability are improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovescalabilityVSAvoiddistributed system architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The operating system acts as an intermediary layer between plugins and the distributed data centre infrastructure. It provides message routing and coordination services that abstract away the complexity of distributed architecture, allowing plugins to interact with a unified system view while underlying complexity is handled by the OS.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The distributed data centre architecture is designed to be universally compatible and interchangeable. Any data centre can perform any function required by the system, and plugins can be executed on any available data centre regardless of location, providing flexible scalability without increasing operational complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Productivity

If plugins are distributed amongst multiple data centres, then load balancing and fault tolerance are enhanced, but message routing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveload balancingVSAvoidmessage routing

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The operating system implements self-service message routing by automatically managing the distribution and routing of messages between plugins across distributed data centres. The system autonomously handles load balancing and fault tolerance without requiring complex manual routing configurations, as the OS adapts dynamically to system state.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Reliability

If an active-active approach is implemented with multiple active data centres, then system availability is improved, but system complexity and coordination overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem availabilityVSAvoiddata centre coordination

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The operating system serves as a mediating layer that coordinates activities between multiple active data centres. It manages message routing, plugin execution, and state synchronization across data centres, reducing the coordination overhead that would otherwise be required between peer data centres directly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS11227265B2Distributed transaction system

Publication Date: 2022.01.18 EURONET USA LLC

AI summary

A financial transaction system providing a financial switching engine, the financial transaction system comprising: a distributed plurality of different physical data centres implemented at different respective physical locations, connected together via a private network; a plurality of plugins each configured to perform a different respective function of the financial transaction system; and an operating system on which the plugins run, the plugins being configured to communicate messages with one another in order to perform financial transactions; wherein the plugins are distributed amongst some or all of the data centres and the operating system is configured to abstract the plugins from the distributed data centres, such that the plugins communicate said messages with one another via the operating system without needing to specify particular ones of said data centres as destinations of the messages, while the operating system handles routing of the messages between the data centres over the private network without the plugins needing visibility of the routing.