Dynamic protocol construction
View Patent ↗A method includes advertising a policy characterizing communication properties supported by a node. The policy may be distributed to another node in response to a request for the policy. Policy expressions in the policy include one or more assertions that may be grouped and related to each other in a plurality of ways. A system includes a policy generator for generating at least one policy characterizing properties of a node. A policy retriever retrieves a policy from another node and a message generator generates a message to the other node, wherein the message conforms to the policy from the other node.
1. A method comprising:
advertising a policy having one or more of assertions characterizing communication properties of a destination node, each assertion specifying a communication property supported by the destination node and selectable by a source node to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node;
grouping two or more of the one or more assertions into a policy expression in the policy;
specifying a relationship between the two or more assertions.
2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy.
3. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the advertising comprises incrementally distributing the policy.
4. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy in response to a request for the policy.
5. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a received message conforms to at least one of the plurality of assertions.
6. A method comprising:
advertising a policy having one or more of assertions characterizing communication properties of a destination node, each assertion specifying a communication property supported by the destination node and selectable by a source node to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node;
specifying a preference for at least one of the plurality of assertions over at least one other of the plurality of assertions in the policy.
7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy.
8. A method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the advertising comprises incrementally distributing the policy.
9. A method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy in response to a request for the policy.
10. A method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising determining whether a received message conforms to at least one of the plurality of assertions.
11. A method comprising:
advertising a policy having one or more of assertions characterizing communication properties of a destination node, each assertion specifying a communication property supported by the destination node and selectable by a source node to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node;
grouping two or more of the plurality of assertions into a first policy expression;
specifying a first relationship between the two or more assertions in the first policy expression;
specifying a second relationship between the first policy expression and at least one other assertion not in the first policy expression.
12. A method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy.
13. A method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the advertising comprises incrementally distributing the policy.
14. A method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy in response to a request for the policy.
15. A method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising determining whether a received message conforms to at least one of the plurality of assertions.
16. A method comprising:
advertising a policy having one or more of assertions characterizing communication properties of a destination node, each assertion specifying a communication property supported by the destination node and selectable by a source node to construct a communication protocol for communication with the destination node;
generating an input policy having a plurality of assertions characterizing input communication properties of the destination node and an output policy having a plurality of assertions characterizing output communication properties of the destination node.
17. A method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy.
18. A method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the advertising comprises incrementally distributing the policy.
19. A method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the advertising comprises generating a message including the policy in response to a request for the policy.
20. A method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising determining whether a received message conforms to at least one of the plurality of assertions.