Method, apparatus and system for addressing resources

1. An apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory;

a first interface to communicate with non-continuously available end-points operationally connected to the apparatus, wherein the non-continuously available end-points operate in a wakeup-mode and a sleep-mode, wherein the first interface is configured to receive information from the non-continuously available end-points;

a second interface for receiving requests regarding the non-continuously available end-points and for responding to the requests;

a first component for maintaining a request queue for a non-continuously available end-point; and

a second component for:

receiving, through the second interface, a request regarding a non-continuously available end-point, wherein the request has an associated time-out period; and

in response to a determination that the non-continuously available end-point is in the sleep-mode, adding the associated request to the request queue for the end-point; and

removing the request from the request queue in response to the request being in the queue and the time out period having expired.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second component sends a delayed response for the request with a timeout error.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second component further determines whether the request is a delayed request.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein in response to the request not being a delayed request, the second component sends, through the second interface, an error message in response to the request.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein in response to the request being a delayed request, the second component adds the request to the request queue of the non-continuously available end-point.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the information received by the first interface from the non-continuously available end-points operationally connected to the apparatus includes an address of each of the non-continuously available end-points, and information on each resource of each of the non-continuously available end-points, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a resource directory to store the received information about each non-continuously available end-point.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a resource cache for storing a value for each resource of each non-continuously available end-point operationally connected to the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the second component further determines whether the request is a delayed request, and, in response to a determination that the request is a delayed request, the second component:

determines, from the request, a resource of a non-continuously available end-point for which information is requested;

retrieves, responsive to the request, a stored value for the resource from the resource cache; and

sends, through the second interface, the retrieved stored value as a response to the received request.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first interface:

receives updated values for each resource of each the non-continuously available end-point; and

sends the updated value to the resource cache to be stored.

10. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first component and second component are distributed across a cluster.

11. An end-point comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory;

an interface to communicate with a server operationally connected to the end-point, the interface being configured to send and receive information to and from the server;

a first component for storing an availability mode, wherein the availability mode operates in a wake-up mode and a sleep mode; and

a second component for:

sending, through the interface, a request including information that the end-point is non-continuously available, the request having an associated time-out period;

receiving, through the interface, a request from the server to check whether the request from the end-point is a sleeping node, and in response to the end-point being a sleeping node, operating the availability mode in a sleep mode.

12. The end-point of claim 11 , wherein in response to the second component changing the availability mode to wake-up mode, the second component sends, through the interface, a message to the server requesting an indication of the number of resource requests in a request queue of the server.

13. The end-point of claim 12 , wherein the second component receives, through the interface, information from the server indicating the number of resource requests in the request queue of the server.

14. The end-point of claim 12 , wherein the message further comprises an indication of the number of requests the end-point is able to process during the wake-up mode.

15. The end-point of claim 14 , wherein the second component receives from the server, through the interface, at most the number of requests the end-point is able to process during the wake-up mode.

16. The end-point of claim 15 , wherein the second component changes the availability mode to sleep mode after the second component has received the indicated number of requests the end-point is able to process during the wake-up mode.

17. A method comprising:

communicating, through a first interface, with a non-continuously available end-point, wherein the non-continuously available end-point is operational in a wakeup-mode and a sleep-mode, wherein the first interface is configured to receive information from the non-continuously available end-point;

receiving, through a second interface, requests regarding the non-continuously available end-point and for responding to the request;

maintaining a request queue for the non-continuously available end-point;

receiving, through the second interface, a request regarding a non-continuously available end-point, the request having an associated time-out period;

in response to the non-continuously available end-point being determined to be in the sleep mode, adding the associated request to the request queue of the non-continuously available end-point; and

removing the request from the request queue in response to the request being in the queue and the time out period having expired.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising sending a delayed response for the request with a timeout error.