Message Broker Anonymity in Automation Service Notification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Automation systems lack an efficient method to notify communication subscribers about services offered by other subscribers without revealing the identity of the service provider, and existing solutions do not effectively decouple message transfer between subscribers.
Innovation Solution
A message broker is used to manage subscriptions for specific topics, where publisher applications publish messages indicating services offered, and subscriber applications are notified anonymously, ensuring that only the availability of services is communicated, not the provider's identity, utilizing a publish-subscribe-message mechanism to facilitate efficient service notification and data processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a message broker is used to notify subscriber applications about services offered by publisher applications, then notification efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to the intermediary component
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a message broker as an intermediary component that receives service offering messages from publisher applications and automatically notifies subscriber applications. This mediator decouples the publisher and subscriber, enabling efficient service notifications without direct communication between them, thus improving notification efficiency while managing system complexity through a standardized interface
2Adaptability or versatility
If the message broker transmits service availability information without provider identity, then subscriber anonymity is improved, but information completeness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The message broker extracts and transmits only the essential service availability information (service type, parameters) from the publisher application messages, deliberately omitting provider identity information. This extraction approach enables subscribers to access service offerings without knowing the provider, improving anonymity while maintaining sufficient information for service utilization
3Reliability
If direct communication between communication subscribers is eliminated, then system security is improved, but communication efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The message broker serves as a secure intermediary that all communication subscribers must use for service-related communications. This centralized mediation improves system security by controlling and monitoring all service offering and subscription interactions, while maintaining communication efficiency through optimized message routing and notification mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A message transmission between communication subscribers in an automation system is controlled, wherein publisher applications and/or subscriber applications are executed on each of the communication subscribers, wherein the automation system comprises a message broker configured to enter subscriptions for specified topics for designated subscriber applications into a topic tree. In reaction to a message on a specified topic of the topic tree being published by a publisher application of a first of the plurality of communication subscribers on the first communication subscriber offering one or a plurality of services, the message broker determines whether a subscriber application of a second of the plurality of communication subscribers has been entered for the specified topic. If a subscriber application for the specified topic has been entered, the message broker transmits a message to the entered subscriber application of the second communication subscriber that one or the plurality of services are on offer.