US5862328A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Bridge for a client-server environment
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1996-09-06
•
Granted: 1999-01-19
•
Expires: 2016-09-06
Abstract
Abstract A software bridge is introduced between a client and a server in a client-server distributed computing environment. The bridge presents the interface of a server to a client and the interface of a client to a server. The bridge is used for monitoring or logging of requests and associated data flowing between the client and the server, useful for example in problem determination. The bridge is also used for workload balancing between servers. It can further be used to reduce network connectivity between clients and servers. All of these advantages can be achieved without any modifications to existing client or server code.
Inventors
- 👤 Adrian Mark Colyer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 12:07
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/46; G06F9/54; G06F9/547; G06F9/465
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
80 words
A bridge for use between a client and a server in a distributed object-oriented computer system, the bridge having an interface to the client that corresponds to the interface of a server and an interface to the server that corresponds to the interface of a client the bridge being transparently inserted between the client and the server so that the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and the client respectively.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
80 words
A bridge for use between a client and a server in a distributed object-oriented computer system, the bridge having an interface to the client that corresponds to the interface of a server and an interface to the server that corresponds to the interface of a client the bridge being transparently inserted between the client and the server so that the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and the client respectively.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
69 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said client and said server operate asynchronously; said bridge is derived from a client and a server by inheritance; said bridge overrides methods inherited from said server to record the name of the client making the request and to forward the request to said server; and said bridge overrides methods inherited from said client to forward reply parameters to said client.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said client and said server operate synchronously; said bridge is derived from a server by inheritance; and said bridge overrides methods inherited from said server to invoke said method on said server and to return reply parameters to said client.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
27 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means to monitor and log requests between the client and the server and data associated with such requests.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for performing workload balancing between servers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 5 wherein said means for performing workload balancing measures response times and directs client requests to servers in response to said measured response time.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
80 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said distributed object-oriented computer system comprises m clients and n servers (where n and m are integers greater than or equal to 2), each of said m clients being able to request services from each of said m servers; said bridge is connected to said m clients and said n servers; and said bridge thereby reducing the number of connections between said m clients and said n servers from n*m to n+m.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
A bridge as claimed in any one of claim 1 to claim 7 wherein said distributed object-oriented computer system is a CORBA compliant system.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
A bridge as claimed in claim 8 wherein said distributed object-oriented computer system uses DSOM class libraries.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
A distributed object-oriented computer system comprising one or more servers, one or more clients and a bridge as claimed in any one of claim 1 to claim 7.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of operating a distributed client-server computer system comprising the steps of: defining an interface, for a bridge, such that the interface to a client corresponds to the interface of a server and the interface to a server corresponds to the interface of a client; and transparently inserting said bridge between said client and said server; wherein the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and the client respectively.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of operating a distributed client-server computer system comprising the steps of: defining an interface, for a bridge, such that the interface to a client corresponds to the interface of a server and the interface to a server corresponds to the interface of a client; and transparently inserting said bridge between said client and said server; wherein the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and the client respectively.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
83 words
A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said client and said server operate asynchronously, and said step of defining an interface comprises: deriving said interface to a client from a server by inheritance; overriding methods inherited from said server to record the name of the client making the request and to forward the request to said server; deriving said interface to a server from a client by inheritance; and overriding methods inherited from said client to forward reply parameters to said client.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein said client and said server operate synchronously and said step of defining an interface comprises: deriving said interface to a client from a server by inheritance; and overriding methods inherited from said server to invoke said method on said server and to return reply parameters to said client.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
90 words
A computer program product in a computer readable memory for operating a distributed client-server computer system, the computer program product comprising: means for defining an interface, for a bridge, such that the interface to a client corresponds to the interface of a server and the interface to a server corresponds to the interface of a client; and means for transparently inserting said bridge between said client and said server; wherein the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and client respectively.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
90 words
A computer program product in a computer readable memory for operating a distributed client-server computer system, the computer program product comprising: means for defining an interface, for a bridge, such that the interface to a client corresponds to the interface of a server and the interface to a server corresponds to the interface of a client; and means for transparently inserting said bridge between said client and said server; wherein the client and the server respectively communicate through the bridge as though directly interfacing with the server and client respectively.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
97 words
A computer program product as claimed in claim 14 wherein said client and said server operate asynchronously, and said means for defining an interface comprises: means for deriving said interface to a client from a server class by inheritance; means for overriding methods inherited from said server class to record the name of the client making the request and to forward the request to said server; means for deriving said interface to a server from a client class by inheritance; and means for overriding methods inherited from said client class to forward reply parameters to said client.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
64 words
A computer program product as claimed in claim 15 wherein said client and said server operate synchronously, and said means for defining an interface comprises: means for deriving said interface to a client from a server class by inheritance; and means for overriding methods inherited from said server class to invoke said method on said server and to return reply parameters to said client.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
EP0501610A2
Cited
EP0518195A2
Cited
US5442749A
Cited
US5329619A
Cited
US5452459A
Cited
WO1995017718A1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-01-18 | 2002-07-20 | 2003-01-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-01-18 | 2006-07-20 | 2007-01-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-01-18 | 2010-07-20 | 2011-01-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |