Policy negotiation system and method

1. A method of policy negotiation over a network comprising:

determining with a computer whether at least one of a plurality of policy alternatives includes a corresponding protocol-level manifestation;

transmitting the plurality of policy alternatives to a node if the policy alternative does not include the corresponding protocol-level manifestation;

receiving a selection of at least one policy from policy alternatives from the node to identify a selected policy to be used for communicating with node; and

verifying with the computer the selected policy based on the plurality of policy alternatives before communicating with the node using the selected policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating with the node based on the selection of at least one policy.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network is a Web Services network and the node is a client.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the communication comprises at least one of a SOAP message or an XML message.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of policy alternatives comprises at least one of a system capability, a system requirement, a quality of service, a security requirement, an encryption support, a transmission requirement, or a bulk data transfer requirement.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the verifying the selection of at least one policy comprises:

comparing the selection of at least one policy to the plurality of policy alternatives to ensure that the selection of at least one policy is supported.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the selection of at least one policy along with an ID associated with the node in a computer-readable medium.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

initiating a second communication with the node based on the selection of at least one policy, wherein the initiating a second communication comprises determining whether the second communication includes a destination corresponding to the node based on the ID.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of policy alternatives are related to a first policy element, further comprising:

transmitting a second plurality of policy alternatives to the node, wherein the second plurality of policy alternatives are related to a second policy element.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selection of at least one policy includes two or more policies, further comprising:

electing one of the two or more policies; and

initiating a communication with the node based on the elected policy.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the protocol-level manifestation is unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives; and

proceeding with the transmitting step if the protocol-level manifestation is not unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives.

12. A method of policy negotiation over a network comprising:

receiving a plurality of policy alternatives from a node;

selecting at least one policy from the plurality of policy alternatives;

determining whether the selection of the at least one of the plurality of policy alternatives includes a corresponding protocol-level manifestation and the protocol-level manifestation is unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives;

transmitting the selection of at least one policy to the node before communicating with the node utilizing the selection of at least one policy if the selection of the at least one of the plurality of policy alternatives does not include a corresponding protocol-level manifestation and the protocol-level manifestation is not unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives; and

receiving a communication from the node, wherein the communication is based on the selection of at least one policy.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the network is a Web Services network and the node is a provider.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the selecting at least one policy comprises:

comparing the plurality of policy alternatives with a list of available policies; and

choosing at least one policy in common between the plurality of policy alternatives and the list of available policies.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

determining whether at least one of a plurality of policy alternatives includes a corresponding protocol-level manifestation;

transmitting the plurality of policy alternatives to a node if the policy alternative does not include a corresponding protocol-level manifestation;

receiving a selection of at least one policy from policy alternatives from the node to identify a selected policy to be used for communicating with node; and

verifying the selected policy based on the plurality of policy alternatives before communicating with the node using the selected policy.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of policy alternatives from a node;

selecting at least one policy from the plurality of policy alternatives;

determining whether the selection of the at least one of the plurality of policy alternatives includes a corresponding protocol-level manifestation and the protocol-level manifestation is unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives;

transmitting the selection of at least one policy to the node before communicating with the node utilizing the selection of at least one policy if the selection of the at least one of the plurality of policy alternatives does not include a corresponding protocol-level manifestation and the protocol-level manifestation is not unique to the at least one of said plurality of policy alternatives; and

receiving a communication from the node, wherein the communication is based on the selection of at least one policy.