Automated service discovery and dynamic connection management

Abstract

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes device functional circuitry to perform at least one service; and network interface control circuitry to control interaction between the apparatus and a network. The network interface control circuitry includes a service discovery module to (1) send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the device to let other devices outside the device know of services the device may perform and (2) to receive presence announcement messages from the other devices outside the device to learn what services to the other devices may perform. In some embodiments, the network interface control circuitry includes a dynamic connection management module. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 device functional circuitry to perform at least one service; and   network interface control circuitry to control interaction between the apparatus and a network, wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a service discovery module to (1) send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the device to let other devices outside the device know of services the device may perform and (2) to receive presence announcement messages from the other devices outside the device to learn what services the other devices may perform.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each service is associated with an agent, with each agent being a member of an equivalence class. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein each agent has a unique identifier. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein services that receive a presence announcement can construct a contact table for the services that are currently available. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein if device does not receive another presence announcement message from a first service before a certain time period expires, the device determines that the service has departed from the network. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the service discovery module is to adjust factors including an expiration time (ET) to control the frequency of announcements the service discovery module sends; or a sensitivity to ET expiration for received announcements. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein services of the device are responsible for periodically announcing their presence. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the device may use a presence request message to request an immediate notice from all active services as to their available services. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the presence announcement message sent by the device includes at least the following information: the identifier of the service, the network address and port number at which the service can currently be contacted, and an expiration time (ET) value to indicate how long this announcement message is considered valid. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a network security module to disallow unauthorized signals past the network interface control circuitry. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the service announcement message includes a descriptor to identify the type or class of service included in the announcement. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a dynamic connection management module to perform dynamic connection management. 
   
   
       13 . An apparatus comprising:
 device functional circuitry to perform at least one service; and   network interface control circuitry to control interaction between the device and a network, wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a dynamic connection management module to manage connections with other devices outside the device, and wherein a message uses the globally unique service identifier and the connection management is centralized within the device, such that a service may be simultaneously communicating with several remote services while the connection management module utilizes a single connection record.   
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein a service registers interest in classes of remote services with the connection management module, and wherein the connection management module maintains a cache of discovered service locations that match the register criteria. 
   
   
       15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein services can query the dynamic connection management module to iterate over the cache of discovered services. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein if a service has a message the service wishes to send to a remote service the service provides a request to the dynamic connection module, the request including message data, message length, and service identifier. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein, upon receiving a request from a service, the dynamic connection management module searches for the service identifier in its cache of discovered services, and checks to see if the dynamic connection management module has an open connection to the remote service, and wherein, if no open connection exists, the dynamic connection management module opens a connection to the remote service. 
   
   
       18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the dynamic connection management module provides a reliability requirement by either wrapping the service messages to provide reliability or by using a reliable protocol for transmission. 
   
   
       19 . A system comprising:
 a network infrastructure;   a first device and a second device;   wherein the first and second devices each include:   device functional circuitry to perform at least one service; and   network interface control circuitry to control interaction between the device and a network, wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a service discovery module to (1) send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the device to let other devices outside the device know of services the device may perform and (2) to receive presence announcement messages from the other devices outside the device to learn what services to the other devices may perform, and a dynamic connection management module to manage connections with other devices outside the device.   
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein a service may simultaneously communicate with several remote services while the connection management module utilizes a single connection record. 
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein multiple services may be hosted on a single device. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the service network is a local area network and broadcast communication is used. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the service network includes routing of messages and Internet multicast. 
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein encryption is used in the system, and wherein a cryptographic state is stored outside of the connection record. 
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein when a service wishes to send a message to a remote service, the service passes message data, message length, remote service identifier, and cryptography flag to the connection manager, and when the connection manager is requested to deliver a message, it will open a new connection if necessary.