Method for recoverable message exchange independent of network protocols

1. A method for a device to retrieve a message from a data source, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first network connection with the data source, wherein the message is separated into a plurality of fragments, and wherein a stamp that is associated with a rule is assigned to the plurality of fragments;

sending, to the device retrieving the message, the stamp associated with the plurality of fragments independently of the plurality of fragments; and

sending, to the device retrieving the message over the first network connection, a subset of the plurality of fragments in accordance with one or more assigned stamps and subsequent to a determination, by the device retrieving the message, to retrieve the plurality of fragments based on the one or more assigned stamps.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising the steps of:

determining the first network connection has ended before completion of said message;

establishing one or more subsequent network connections with the data source, wherein the first network connection has a different application protocol than that of the subsequent network connections; and

receiving any of the plurality of fragments not within the subset over said one or more subsequent connections.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising the steps of:

storing each of the received fragments at a receiver until all of the plurality of fragments of the message are received.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network connection and the subsequent network connections have one or more different characteristics including any of: security, speed, reach, bandwidth, capability, cost of usage, network type, physical layer type, data-link layer type, and IP address of one or both of the device retrieving the message and the data source.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application protocol of one or more of the first and subsequent network connections is any of the following: HTTP, FTP, Telnet, CORBA, HOP, and HTTPS.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subsequent network connections are one or more of WiFi, Bluetooth, GPRS, GSM, Frame Relay, and LAN.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stamp is used to determine when the device retrieves the plurality of fragments from the data source.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data source is an intermediary store and each fragment in the plurality of fragments has a first chunk size, and wherein the data source received the message from another data source as an earlier plurality of fragments, each fragment in the earlier plurality of fragments having a second chunk size different from the first chunk size.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the plurality of fragments associated with the message based on an order of transmission and a particular time for sending the plurality of fragments of the message from the data source to the device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stamp is used to determine when to retrieve the plurality of fragments from the data source, the method further comprising:

changing at least one of the rule and the stamp assigned to at least some of the plurality of fragments as a result of establishing the one or more subsequent network connections.

11. A non-transitory computer storage medium having computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer implements a method for a device to retrieve a message from a data source, the article of manufacture comprising:

computer readable program code for establishing a first network connection with the data source, wherein the message is separated into a plurality of fragments, and wherein a stamp that is associated with a rule is assigned to the plurality of fragments;

computer readable program code for sending, to the device retrieving the message, the stamp associated with the plurality of fragments independently of the plurality of fragments; and

computer readable program code for sending, to the device retrieving the message over the first network connection, a subset of the plurality of fragments in accordance with one or more assigned stamps and subsequent to a determination, by the device retrieving the message, to retrieve the plurality of fragments based on the one or more assigned stamps.

12. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , including computer readable program code for:

determining the first network connection has ended before completion of said message;

establishing one or more subsequent network connections with the data source, wherein the first network connection has a different application protocol than that of the subsequent network connections; and

receiving any of the plurality of fragments not within the subset over said one or more subsequent connections.

13. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , storing each of the received fragments at a receiver until all of the plurality of fragments of the message are received.

14. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the first network connection and the subsequent network connections have one or more different characteristics including any of: security, speed, reach, bandwidth, capability, cost of usage, network type, physical layer type, data-link layer type, and IP address of one or both of the device retrieving the message and the data source.

15. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the application protocol of one or more of the first and subsequent network connections is any of the following: HTTP, FTP, Telnet, CORBA, IIOP, and HTTPS.

16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the subsequent network connections are one or more of WiFi, Bluetooth, GPRS, GSM, Frame Relay, and LAN.

17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the data source is an intermediary store and each fragment in the plurality of fragments has a first chunk size, and wherein the data source received the message from another data source as an earlier plurality of fragments, each fragment in the earlier plurality of fragments having a second chunk size different from the first chunk size.

18. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising:

computer readable program code for sending the plurality of fragments associated with the message based on an order of transmission and a particular time for sending the plurality of fragments of the message from the data source to the device.

19. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the stamp is used to determine when to retrieve the plurality of fragments from the data source, the method further comprising:

computer readable program code for changing at least one of the rule and the stamp assigned to at least some of the plurality of fragments as a result of establishing the one or more subsequent network connections.

20. A system comprising:

a computer platform for separating a message into a plurality of fragments and assigning a stamp that is associated with a rule to the plurality of fragments; and

a device to retrieve the message, the device establishing a first network connection with the computer platform, retrieving the stamp associated with the plurality of fragments independently of the plurality of fragments, and retrieving, over the first network connection, a subset of the plurality of fragments in accordance with one or more assigned stamps and subsequent to a determination, by the device, to retrieve the plurality of fragments based on the one or more assigned stamps.