Proxy Manager for Inter-Environment Communication

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Solution Overview

Problem

Mainframe systems with different addressing schemes, such as 64-bit and 31-bit, face compatibility issues, making it difficult to maintain interoperability between runtime environments, leading to potential malfunctions and high costs when updating legacy applications.

Innovation Solution

A system that enables inter-environment communication by isolating runtime environments and using a proxy manager with an address mode handler and linkage converter to facilitate interactions between applications using different addressing schemes, allowing for data exchange without modifying existing applications or data formats.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If legacy applications continue to use old addressing schemes (e.g., 31-bit), then compatibility and reliability are maintained, but inability to leverage new hardware resources (e.g., 64-bit) occurs

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveapplication compatibilityVSAvoidhardware resource utilization

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

A proxy manager is introduced as an intermediary component between legacy applications using old addressing schemes and modern systems using new addressing schemes. The proxy manager includes an address mode handler that converts addressing modes and a linkage converter that translates parameter passing conventions, enabling legacy applications to access new hardware resources without modification while maintaining their original reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If runtime environments are isolated from each other, then stability and reliability are improved, but communication between environments becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveenvironment stabilityVSAvoidinter-environment communication

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The proxy manager serves as a mediator that enables communication between isolated runtime environments. It handles address mode conversion and linkage convention translation, allowing applications in different runtime environments to interact while maintaining their isolation and stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The proxy manager provides universal communication capabilities across multiple runtime environments with different addressing schemes. It supports both classic and modern addressing modes, allowing a single proxy manager implementation to facilitate communication between various environment combinations without requiring environment-specific modifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Adaptability or versatility

If addressing modes are converted between different schemes, then interoperability is improved, but complexity of the conversion mechanism increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaddressing scheme interoperabilityVSAvoidconversion mechanism complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The address mode handler within the proxy manager centralizes the complexity of addressing mode conversion in a single intermediary component. It manages the translation between classic and modern addressing modes, parameter passing conventions, and stack frame layouts, isolating the conversion complexity from both legacy and modern applications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes addressing mode parameters (e.g., address size, parameter passing conventions, stack frame structures) through the proxy manager's address mode handler and linkage converter. This allows interoperability between different addressing schemes by transforming parameters at the interface level rather than requiring changes throughout the entire system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

4Adaptability or versatility

If existing applications are modified to use new addressing schemes, then access to new hardware resources is enabled, but risks and costs of modification increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehardware resource accessVSAvoidmodification risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The proxy manager acts as an intermediary that enables legacy applications to access new hardware resources without modification. By handling address mode conversion and linkage translation in the proxy manager, applications can continue to use their original code while still benefiting from modern hardware capabilities, thereby eliminating modification risks and costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The proxy manager performs preliminary action by pre-configuring address mode handlers and linkage converters that are ready to translate between addressing schemes. This preparation work is done in advance, allowing legacy applications to seamlessly access new hardware resources without requiring any changes to the application code itself, thus eliminating modification risks.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11537411B1Inter-environment communication with environment isolation

Publication Date: 2022.12.27 BMC SOFTWARE INC

AI summary

Described techniques enable inter-environment communication, including isolating two runtime environments from one another as needed to ensure that operations of one runtime environment do not negatively affect operations of the other runtime environment during the inter-environment communication. Such isolation may be maintained when the two runtime environments use different addressing schemes, and when the two runtime environments use different call linkage techniques for identifying, locating, and passing stored parameters or other data.