Feature-Based Deployment Pipelines for CI/CD Bottlenecks

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Solution Overview

Problem

The process of binding application development teams is inefficient, leading to slowed product development due to conflicting requirements and safeguards for software quality and security, causing development to halt temporarily.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a feature-based deployment pipeline system that uses a processor and memory to launch a project repository for testing, storing binary images in a development container repository, and utilizing a container orchestration system to build DNS endpoints and merge feature branches into a master branch after testing, enabling continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) with tools like Kubernetes, Jenkins, and Git.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If application development teams are bound together with process teams for quality and security safeguards, then software quality and security are improved, but product development speed deteriorates due to multiple runs and halts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesoftware qualityVSAvoidproduct development speed
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the development process into independent feature-based deployment pipelines. Each pipeline handles specific features independently through separate build, test, and deploy stages. This segmentation allows different teams to work on different features simultaneously without blocking each other, maintaining quality safeguards while eliminating the need for multiple coordinated runs and reducing development halts.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If multiple runs are performed to ensure software quality and security, then reliability is improved, but development time increases causing halts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesoftware qualityVSAvoiddevelopment time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by performing automated builds, tests, and security checks as part of the continuous integration pipeline before features are merged or deployed. Quality safeguards are built into the pipeline stages themselves rather than requiring separate manual verification runs. This preliminary automated validation ensures quality without causing development halts, as the checks occur continuously in the background.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If application teams and process teams have conflicting requirements, then comprehensive quality control is achieved, but overall development halts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvequality controlVSAvoiddevelopment flow
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary continuous integration pipeline that mediates between application development teams and process teams. The pipeline acts as a neutral platform that automatically handles build, test, and deployment processes according to predefined quality criteria. This intermediary eliminates the need for direct coordination and conflict resolution between teams with different requirements, allowing comprehensive quality control to be enforced automatically without halting development flow.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12019537B2Feature-based deployment pipelines
Publication Date: 2024.06.25 CAPITAL ONE SERVICES LLC
  • US12019537B2 patent drawing
  • US12019537B2 patent drawing
  • US12019537B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Techniques for feature-based deployment pipelines are disclosed. The feature-based deployment pipelines use a service file as well as other manifest files to set up a repository, a continuous integration service to initiate testing, and a container orchestration system to build images and establish version control over the system. The feature-based deployment pipelines invoke sequential stages to enable feature branches of an application to be fully tested before proceeding to a succeeding stage. At each stage, relevant stakeholders are able to evaluate the new features before they become part of the master image of the tested application. A variety of validation and performance tests are conducted at each stage, resulting in a fully vetted application available for a consumer.