Message Broker for Heterogeneous Business Object Interfaces

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current business interfaces are not consistent across industries and businesses, leading to difficulties in exchanging information due to differences in programming, semantics, and formatting, requiring human intervention and limiting efficient transactions between heterogeneous systems.

Innovation Solution

The development of a message-based interface system that utilizes a business object model to generate consistent interfaces, allowing for the creation of business documents that can be exchanged between heterogeneous applications, facilitating end-to-end business transactions by standardizing data representation and messaging.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If heterogeneous business entities use their own proprietary interfaces and semantics, then each business entity can maintain its own business logic and data format, but information exchange between different business entities becomes difficult and requires human intervention

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebusiness entity autonomyVSAvoidinformation exchange
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a message broker as an intermediary component that receives messages from different business entities, routes them to appropriate destinations, and manages message flow. This mediator enables heterogeneous systems to communicate without direct integration, maintaining their autonomy while facilitating seamless information exchange through a standardized messaging infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements a universal message format and standardized interface definitions that can be used across different business entities and industries. This universal messaging framework allows diverse systems to exchange information using common protocols and data structures, eliminating the need for custom integration logic while preserving each entity's business autonomy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If different business entities use different programming languages, semantics, and data formats, then each entity can optimize its systems for its specific needs, but the complexity of integrating these heterogeneous systems increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem optimizationVSAvoidsystem integration
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The message broker serves as a translation layer that handles the complexity of heterogeneous system integration. It receives messages in various formats from different programming environments, processes them according to standardized routing rules, and delivers them to appropriate destinations, thereby isolating integration complexity from individual business entities while allowing each to optimize its own systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses XML-based message formats that create standardized copies of business data that can be exchanged between systems. Instead of requiring direct compatibility between different programming languages and data formats, the system creates standardized message copies that encapsulate business information in a universal format, simplifying integration while preserving system optimization capabilities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

3Reliability

If human interaction is required to facilitate transactions between heterogeneous businesses, then information exchange can be customized and verified, but transaction efficiency and speed decrease

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetransaction accuracyVSAvoidtransaction efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The messaging system enables business entities to autonomously send, receive, and process transactions without human intervention. The standardized message formats and automated routing capabilities allow systems to self-manage information exchange, performing validation and error handling automatically. This self-service capability maintains transaction accuracy through built-in validation rules while dramatically improving efficiency by eliminating manual processing steps.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

4Productivity

If standardized interfaces are implemented across all business entities, then information exchange becomes efficient and automated, but the ability of individual entities to maintain their own semantics and formatting flexibility is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation exchange efficiencyVSAvoidsemantic flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The message format is segmented into standardized structural elements (headers, bodies, footers) that provide consistent routing and processing, while allowing flexible, customizable content sections that can accommodate different business semantics and data formats. This segmentation enables efficient automated processing of message structure while preserving semantic flexibility in the payload, allowing each business entity to maintain its own data representation within the standardized framework.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS8799115B2Managing consistent interfaces for business objects across heterogeneous systems
Publication Date: 2014.08.05 SAP SE
  • US8799115B2 patent drawing
  • US8799115B2 patent drawing
  • US8799115B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A business object model, which reflects data that is used during a given business transaction, is utilized to generate interfaces. This business object model facilitates commercial transactions by providing consistent interfaces that are suitable for use across industries, across businesses, and across different departments within a business during a business transaction. In some operations, software creates, updates, or otherwise processes information related to an individual material bill of material and/or an order tracking view business object.