Granted Patent B2

US 8,589,956 · App. 13/077,630 · Granted Nov 19, 2013

Inventors: Alok Sharma (Lisle, IL); Yigang Cai (Naperville, IL)

Assignee: Alcatel Lucent

Abstract

Claims (45)

1. A method of providing an application with an interface to a composite network service, comprising:

receiving a request, for the composite network service, from a source network element at an exposure engine associated with a service composition framework (SCF), wherein the request is originated by a subscriber to the composite network service activating an application program for the composite network service via a user device in operative communication with the source network element, wherein the composite network service is associated with at least one of multiple network services, multiple service providers, multiple service networks, and multiple communication sessions;

selecting an application program interface (API) container based at least in part on the composite network service associated with the request, wherein the API container is formed by a composition engine associated with the SCF and comprises a composite service logic and at least one of a composite enabler logic and a composite normalization logic, wherein the composite service logic comprises an arrangement of program calls based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service, wherein the composite enabler logic is selected from the exposure engine to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that does not require normalization, and wherein the composite normalization logic is selected from a normalization engine associated with the SCF to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that requires normalization; and

invoking an orchestration engine associated with the SCF to selectively process the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic in the API container to provide the composite network service in response to the request.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein the composite network service is associated with at least one service partner associated with some corresponding service provider.

3. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein the selected API container is an existing API container.

4. The method set forth in claim 3 , further comprising:

modifying the existing API container based at least in part on the received request; and

storing the modified API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse.

5. The method set forth in claim 4 , further comprising:

modifying the composite service logic in the existing API container by changing the arrangement of program calls, removing an existing program call, or adding a new program call based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

6. The method set forth in claim 4 , further comprising:

modifying the composite enabler logic in the existing API container by removing an existing enabler component or adding a new enabler component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

7. The method set forth in claim 4 , further comprising:

modifying the composite normalization logic in the existing API container by removing an existing normalization component or adding a new normalization component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

8. The method set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

forming the selected API container based at least in part on the received request, including forming the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service; and

storing the API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse.

9. An apparatus for providing an application with an interface to a composite network service, comprising:

an exposure processor configured to use an exposure engine associated with a service composition framework (SCF) for receiving a request, for the composite network service, from a source network element, wherein the request is originated by a subscriber to the composite network service activating an application program for the composite network service via a user device in operative communication with the source network element, wherein the composite network service is associated with at least one of multiple network services, multiple service providers, multiple service networks, and multiple communication sessions;

an application program interface (API) container selected by the exposure engine based at least in part on the composite network service associated with the request, wherein the API container is formed by a composition engine associated with the SCF and comprises:

a composite service logic comprising an arrangement of program calls based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service; and

at least one of a composite enabler logic and a composite normalization logic, wherein the composite enabler logic is selected from the exposure engine to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that does not require normalization, and wherein the composite normalization logic is selected from a normalization engine associated with the SCF to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that requires normalization; and

an orchestration processor configured to use an orchestration engine associated with the SCF and invoked by the exposure engine to selectively process the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic in the API container to provide the composite network service in response to the request.

10. The apparatus set forth in claim 9 , further comprising:

the composition engine for forming the API container selected by the exposure engine based at least in part on the request for the composite network service, including forming the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service; and

a storage device for storing the API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse, wherein the composition engine is also for modifying an existing API container based at least in part on another request for another composite network service, including at least one of modifying the composite service logic in the existing API container by changing the arrangement of program calls, removing an existing program call, or adding a new program call based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service, modifying the composite enabler logic in the existing API container by removing an existing enabler component or adding a new enabler component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service, and modifying the composite normalization logic in the existing API container by removing an existing normalization component or adding a new normalization component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service; and wherein the storage device is also for storing the modified API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse.

11. A method of providing an application with an interface to a composite network service, comprising:

receiving a request, for the composite network service, from a source network element at an exposure engine associated with a service composition framework (SCF), wherein the request is originated by an application developer of a corresponding application program via a user device in operative communication with the source network element, wherein the composite network service is associated with at least one of multiple network services, multiple service providers, multiple service networks, and multiple communication sessions;

selecting an application program interface (API) container based at least in part on the composite network service associated with the request, wherein the API container is formed by a composition engine associated with the SCF and comprises a composite service logic and at least one of a composite enabler logic and a composite normalization logic, wherein the composite service logic comprises an arrangement of program calls based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service, wherein the composite enabler logic is selected from the exposure engine to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that does not require normalization, and wherein the composite normalization logic is selected from a normalization engine associated with the SCF to provide protocol interfaces with any network service, service provider, service network, and communication session associated with the composite network service that requires normalization; and

invoking an orchestration engine associated with the SCF to selectively process the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic in the API container to test the ability of the SCF to provide the composite network service using the API container in response to the request.

12. The method set forth in claim 11 wherein the composite network service is associated with at least one service partner associated with some corresponding service provider.

13. The method set forth in claim 11 wherein the selected API container is an existing API container.

14. The method set forth in claim 13 , further comprising:

modifying the existing API container based at least in part on the received request; and

storing the modified API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse.

15. The method set forth in claim 14 , further comprising:

modifying the composite service logic in the existing API container by changing the arrangement of program calls, removing an existing program call, or adding a new program call based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

16. The method set forth in claim 14 , further comprising:

modifying the composite enabler logic in the existing API container by removing an existing enabler component or adding a new enabler component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

17. The method set forth in claim 14 , further comprising:

modifying the composite normalization logic in the existing API container by removing an existing normalization component or adding a new normalization component based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service.

18. The method set forth in claim 11 , further comprising:

forming the selected API container based at least in part on the received request including forming the composite service logic, composite enabler logic, and composite normalization logic based at least in part on the corresponding network services, service providers, service networks, and communication sessions associated with the composite network service; and

storing the API container in the SCF for subsequent reuse.

Assignments (10)

Continuity (1)