Systems and methods for distributed rules processing

Abstract

The invention provides in some aspects a distributed rules processing system that includes a first and second digital data processors that are coupled to one another by one or more networks. A rules base and a transactional data base are each coupled to one of the digital data processors; both may be coupled to the same digital data processor or otherwise. One or more coordination modules (e.g., “proxies”), each of which is associated with a respective one of the digital data processors, makes available to a selected one of those digital data processors from the other of those digital data processors (i) one or more selected rules from the rules base, and/or (ii) one or more data from the transactional database on which those rules are to be executed. The selected digital data processor executes one or more of the selected rules as a rules engine, executes one or more of the selected rules using a rules engine, and/or processes one or more data from the transactional database with rules executing on a rules engine.

In view thereof, what is claimed is: 
     
       1. A distributed processing system comprising:
 a server digital data processor coupled to a rules base that stores a plurality of rules that define an application, wherein the server digital data processor operates on a cloud platform, 
 an integration link used for communication of one or more data between the application and a tenant legacy system during execution of the application, wherein at least one integration rule among the plurality of rules defines the integration link, and wherein the tenant legacy system comprises at least one of a database and a web service that is communicatively coupled to the server digital data processor, 
 one or more coordination modules associated with a respective one of the server digital data processor and the tenant legacy system that facilitate the communication between the tenant legacy system and the application in accordance with the integration rule and other tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor, and 
 a firewall that is coupled to the one or more networks and that interrupts the integration link between the application and the tenant legacy system, absent intervention of the one or more coordination modules and the other tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor, 
 wherein a tenant data center environment is simulated such that the one or more coordination modules and the tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor obviate a need to reconfigure the integration rule, so as to maintain the integration link regardless of execution of the application on the server digital data processor or a tenant digital data processor, and wherein the tenant legacy system is directly accessible to the tenant digital processor without the firewall preventing such access. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more coordination modules facilitate the communication between the tenant legacy system and the application by making available the tenant legacy information to the server digital data processor in response to a request from a rules engine executing on at least one of the server digital data processor and the tenant digital data processor. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more coordination modules make available the tenant legacy information to the server digital data processor by opening one or more communications ports on the firewall. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more coordination modules make available the tenant legacy information to the tenant digital data processor by opening a single communications port on the firewall and obviate a need to open a plurality of communications ports on the firewall. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more coordination modules retrieve the tenant legacy information for use in execution of one or more selected rules from the rules base coupled to the server digital data processor. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more coordination modules transfer one or more selected rules from the rules base coupled to the server digital data processor for execution on the tenant digital data processor. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one integration rule defines the integration link according to at least one of a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) integration method, a .NET integration method, a Java integration method, and an Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) integration method. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server digital data processor transmits the one or more coordination modules to the tenant digital data processor in response to a request to access one or more resources available to the server digital data processor. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the server digital data processor installs the one or more transmitted coordination modules in a web browser executing on the tenant digital data processor. 
     
     
       10. A method of distributed rules processing, the method comprising:
 coupling a server digital data processor to a rules base that stores a plurality of rules that define an application, wherein the server digital data processor operates on a cloud platform, 
 defining an integration link for communication of one or more data between the application and a tenant legacy system during execution of the application, wherein at least one integration rule among the plurality of rules defines the integration link, and wherein the tenant legacy system comprises at least one of a database and a web service that is communicatively coupled to the server digital data processor, 
 facilitating the communication between the tenant legacy system and the application, via one or more coordination modules associated with a respective one of the server digital data processor and the tenant legacy system, in accordance with the integration rule and other tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor, and 
 simulating a tenant data center environment such that the one or more coordination modules and the tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor obviate a need to reconfigure the integration rule, so as to maintain the integration link regardless of execution of the application on the server digital data processor or a tenant digital data processor, wherein the tenant legacy system is directly accessible to the tenant digital processor without a firewall preventing such access, and 
 wherein the firewall is coupled to the one or more networks and interrupts the integration link between the application and the tenant legacy system, absent intervention of the one or more coordination modules and the other tenant legacy system information accessible to the server digital data processor. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the facilitating the communication between the tenant legacy system and the application comprises making available, via the one or more communication modules, the tenant legacy information to the server digital data processor in response to a request from a rules engine executing on at least one of the server digital data processor and the tenant digital data processor. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the making available the tenant legacy information to the server digital data processor comprises opening one or more communications ports on the firewall. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the making available the tenant legacy information to the tenant digital data processor comprises opening a single communications port on the firewall so as to obviate a need to open a plurality of communications ports on the firewall. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising retrieving the tenant legacy information, via the one or more coordination modules, for use in execution of one or more selected rules from the rules base coupled to the server digital data processor. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transferring one or more selected rules from the rules base coupled to the server digital data processor, via the one or more coordination modules, for execution on the tenant digital data processor. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one integration rule defines the integration link according to at least one of a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) integration method, a .NET integration method, a Java integration method, and an Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) integration method. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting the one or more coordination modules from the server digital data processor to the tenant digital data processor, in response to a request to access one or more resources available to the server digital data processor. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising installing the one or more transmitted coordination modules, via the server digital data processor, in a web browser executing on the tenant digital data processor.