Federated Business System Using Network State Server
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current business-to-business system architectures fail to maintain the overall state of the network, leading to inefficiencies in connectivity and integration of process activities among enterprises, resulting in high costs and complexity, especially when dealing with multiple companies and applications.
Innovation Solution
The Enterlink system introduces a federated architecture that abstracts application services from public processes, allowing for flexible cooperation and competition among participants while maintaining security, and enables multiple companies to interoperate by using metachannels and connectors to form a unified system with consolidated data stores and core services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a centralized architecture is used to connect enterprises, then communication routing is simplified through a single hub, but the system cannot maintain the overall state of the network and requires every company to connect directly with every other company
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network state server as an intermediary component that maintains the overall state of the network. This server acts as a mediator between enterprises, tracking connectivity status, operational states, and communication pathways without requiring direct peer-to-peer connections between all participants. The state server enables centralized architecture to maintain network state by providing a dedicated component for this function.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a distributed architecture is used to connect enterprises, then network state can be maintained more independently, but the complexity of integrating process activities across multiple hubs increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the process integration function into the network state server, combining state maintenance and process coordination in a single centralized component. This allows the distributed architecture to maintain independence while reducing process integration complexity, as the state server provides a unified view and coordination mechanism for all process activities across multiple hubs.
3Reliability
If direct peer-to-peer connections are established between every company and application, then network state can be maintained, but the number of connections becomes infeasible for industry segments with many companies
Solution Approach 1:
The network state server serves as an intermediary that eliminates the need for direct peer-to-peer connections between all companies and applications. Instead of requiring N*(N-1)/2 direct connections, the system uses N connections to the state server, which maintains network state information centrally and provides it to participants as needed, dramatically reducing connection complexity while preserving state awareness.
4Ease of manufacture
If a hub-and-spoke architecture is used with a central company, then singular public processes can be reused, but compound processes cannot be shared and implementation costs increase for multiple companies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the network state server a universal component that serves all companies and processes equally, rather than being owned by a single hub company. This universal architecture enables both singular and compound processes to be shared across the network, as the state server provides a common platform for process coordination and state maintenance that any participant can utilize.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention, sometimes called Enterlink Conductor, provides a new approach to sharing public processes while maintaining specified controls for separation and security between process participants in a federated system with state that interconnects applications of multiple companies. The Enterlink Conductor comprises a process engine that executes compound processes, a compound process repository that stores compound processes, a process engine user interface to monitor and manage the process engine, a conductor engine that controls the operation of the process engine, a conductor repository that stores participant objects and relationship objects; and a conductor user interface to monitor and manage the conductor engine.