Patent Application
20080109509
This invention relates to the field of electronic data transmission. More specifically, this invention relates to message passing between computer systems.
Electronic messages are exchanged in a number of environments. Messages can be exchanged between employees in geographically-dispersed corporate offices, between programs that monitor inventories and programs used to order supplies, or between systems that monitor manufacturing equipment and systems that control operating conditions or alert service personnel when problems arise. Indeed, with the rise of the Internet and the reliance on communications over networks, electronic messages are used in a variety and increasing number of ways.
It is difficult to monitor and process a large number of messages. For example, when messages relating to operating conditions in a manufacturing plant are monitored by a human operator, it is difficult for the operator to determine which of the messages should be processed quickly. The number of messages exchanged in a manufacturing or other environment also makes it difficult to retrieve and process the messages. Accordingly, there is a continued need for new methods and systems for transmitting and processing electronic messages exchanged between systems.
A message-passing system allows a message to be passed between client systems and processed on a client system based on a priority assigned to the message. A message with a high priority can thus be processed before messages with lower priorities. Messages can also be logged so that they can be archived and possibly analyzed.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a message-passing system comprises a first client system configured to transmit a message packet containing a priority to a second client system, and a second client system configured to receive the message packet from the first client system and process the message packet based on the priority. The message packet can be transmitted from the first client system to the second client system according to a transport protocol. Preferably, the transport protocol is TCP/IP, but it can be NetBUI or any other transport protocol. The message packet can be formatted according to an SGML standard, such as XML. The message packet can comprise text data, a virtual object, or any other type of data.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the message-passing system further comprises a first message server coupling the first client system to the second client system. The first message server provides a communication path between the first client system and the second client system. The message-passing system can further comprise a log server coupled to the first message server. The log server is configured to store log data for the message packet. The message-passing system can further comprise a diagnostics server coupled to the first message server. The diagnostics server is configured to store log data for the message packet.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the message-passing system further comprises a second message server and a load balancer. The second message server couples the first client system to the second client system and provides a communication path between the first client system and the second client system. The load balancer couples the first client system to both the first message server and the second message server. The load balancer further couples the second client system to both the first message server and the second message server.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, the message-passing system further comprises a manufacturing equipment having an associated parameter. The manufacturing system is coupled to the first client system. The first client system is configured to monitor the associated parameter, generate the priority based on the parameter, generate the message packet containing the priority, and transmit the message packet to the second client system. Preferably, the manufacturing equipment comprises a semiconductor processing system.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a method of passing a message packet between a first client system and a second client system comprises generating a message packet containing a priority-on the first client system, transmitting the message packet from the first client system to the second client system, receiving the message packet on the second client system, and processing the message packet on the second client system according to the priority. The message packet can be transmitted from the first client system to the second client system according to a transport protocol. The transport protocol can be TCP/IP, NetBUI, or any other transport protocol.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, generating a message packet comprises formatting a message according to an SGML standard. Preferably, the SGML standard is XML. The message packet can comprise text data, a virtual object, or any other type of data.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises storing log data for the message packet.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, transmitting the message packet comprises transmitting the message packet to a message server based on a load of the message server and transmitting the message packet from the message server to the second client system. Generating a message packet can comprise encrypting a message and including the encrypted message in the message packet. Processing the message packet can comprise decrypting the encrypted message in the message packet.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises reading a parameter associated with a manufacturing equipment, and generating the priority based on the parameter.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a sending client system is configured to transmit a message packet containing a priority to a receiving client system, which is configured to process the message packet based on the priority. In accordance with one embodiment, the sending client system comprises a messaging module. The messaging module is configured to assign a priority to a message to form the message packet. The messaging module is further configured to transmit the message packet to the receiving client system according to a transport protocol. Preferably, the transport protocol is TCP/IP, but it can be NetBUI or any other transport protocol.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, a receiving client system is configured to receive a message packet containing a priority from a sending client system. The receiving client system is configured to process the message packet based on the priority. In one embodiment, the receiving client system comprises a messaging module. The messaging module is configured to receive the message packet from a sending client system according to a transport protocol. The messaging module is further configured to process the message packet based on the priority. Preferably, the transport protocol is TCP/IP, but it can be NetBUI or any other transport protocol.
Message-passing systems in accordance with the present invention are particularly useful in manufacturing and other environments. For example, a message-passing system having one or more pieces of manufacturing equipment can be used to monitor the manufacturing equipment and send error, diagnostics, and other messages to a central controller or to a machine monitored by a human operator. Each piece of manufacturing equipment can be coupled to its own sending client system, which monitors a parameter associated with a manufacturing equipment, such as a temperature or pressure. A sending client system can then format a message relating to the temperature or pressure, assign the message a priority, format the message, the priority, and other information into a message packet, and transfer the message packet to a receiving client system, such as a control system. The control system uses the priority to process message packets from the sending client system and other sending client systems, generally processing message packets with higher priorities before message packets with lower priorities. The message-passing system can also store log data relating to message packets for archiving and later diagnosis of the functioning of manufacturing equipment.
In operation, the first client system 110 transmits a message to the second client system 120 as follows. First, a process running on the first client system 110 generates the message. The process can be a program that reads values on a port and sends a message containing the value from the first client system 110 to the second client system 120, as described in more detail below. Alternatively, the process can be another executing program performing other tasks. The process then passes to the first messaging module 115 either the message, a reference to where the message is stored in memory, or a virtual object related to the message. The first messaging module 115 stores the message, the reference, or the virtual object in an outgoing message queue. Preferably, the first messaging module 115 then formats the message to generate a message packet and transmits the message packet to the message server 150. Alternatively, the message is formatted by the process generating the message or by other processes running on the first client system 110 to create a message packet. The message packet contains the message and other information that can be used to transmit the message packet containing the message to the second client system 120. As described in more detail below, the message packet contains a value indicating a priority of the message. The message packet can ‘also contain a header that’ in turn contains an identifier (such as a hostname) of the first client system 110 and an identifier (such as a hostname) of the second client system 120. Furthermore, the header generally contains other information used to transmit the message between one or more client systems.
Hereinafter, a client system generating and transmitting a message packet is referred to as a sending client system. A client system receiving a message packet is referred to as a receiving client system. A message packet generated on a sending client system is referred to as an outgoing message packet. A message packet received on a receiving client system is referred to as an incoming message packet. It will be appreciated that a client system can be configured to both send and receive message packets and thus can be both a sending client and a receiving client.
Preferably, a message packet is transmitted from the messaging module 115 to the message server 150 using TCP/IP. It will be appreciated, however, that a message packet can be transmitted from the messaging module 115 to the message server 150 using other transport protocols, including, but not limited to, NetBUI.
Once the message server 150 receives the message packet, the message server 150 parses the message packet's header to determine the address of the receiving client system and transmits the message packet to the receiving client system 120. On the receiving client system 120, the incoming message packet is stored in memory (not shown) in the messaging module 125, such as a mailbox. The messaging module 125 reads the priority of the incoming message packet and, based on the priority, processes the incoming message packet. In one embodiment of the present invention, for example, if the memory of the messaging module 125 contains two message packets (waiting message packets) that have not yet been processed, each having a lower priority that the incoming message packet, the messaging module 125 will process the incoming message packet before it processes the waiting messages packets. Processing a message packet can comprise sending the message within the message packet to a waiting process executing on the receiving client system 120, printing the message to a monitor (not shown) forming part of the receiving client system 120, or performing other tasks.
While the above discussion has described sending a message packet from the client system 110 to the client system 120, it will be appreciated that a message packet can also be sent from the client system 120 to the client system 110. Thus, as discussed above, a client system can function as both a sending client system and a receiving client system.
When the message server 150 receives the message packet, it can additionally perform several tasks. For example, the message server 150 can transmit the message packet, the message contained within the message packet, other information related to the message, or a combination of the above to the log server 160. The log server 160 receives the message packet on the messaging module 165, which stores the message packet and can process it for later viewing, retrieval, archiving, or further processing. Hereinafter, the message packet, the message contained within the message packet, other information related to the message, or a combination of the above, transmitted to the log server 160, to the diagnostics server 170, or both is referred to as log data. The log server 160 thus contains log data for each message transmitted along the message-passing system 100. Log data can include, but is not limited to, (1) the hostname of the sending client system 110 and the hostname of the receiving client system 120, (2) the day, time of day, year and month that the message was sent from the sending client system 110 to the receiving client system 120, (3) the priority of the message, or (4) or any other information.
In addition to sending the log data to the log server 160, the message server 150 can also send log data to the diagnostics server 170. The diagnostics server 170 receives the log data on its messaging module 175, which stores the log data and can process it for later viewing, retrieval, or further processing. If, for example, the message is an error message indicating that an error has occurred on the sending client system 110 or on a system monitored by the sending client system 110, the diagnostics server 170 can be used to diagnose the error. For example, the message can contain a data field containing an error code indicating a specific error. The diagnostics server 170 can contain a data store having records with one field containing error codes and a corresponding field containing possible errors and fixes. The data store can be queried to generate reports listing errors found on client systems. The data store can also be queried to determine how a sending client system can be fixed.
While
As described above, it will also be appreciated that the message server 150 is not necessary for practicing the present invention. For example, a message packet could be transmitted from a sending client system to a receiving client system over LAN, a dedicated telephone line, and using other methods and systems.
The message-passing system 100 can be used in a variety of environments. For example, the first (sending) client system 110 can monitor manufacturing equipment (not shown), such as a semiconductor processing system, housed in a clean room. The second (receiving) client system 120 can be a control system for controlling the temperature in the clean room. The client system 110 can monitor, for example, the temperature of the manufacturing equipment. When the temperature exceeds a predetermined level, the sending client system 110 generates a message relating to the temperature, assigns a priority to the message based on the temperature, and transmits the message to the receiving client system 120. When the receiving client system 120 receives the message, it can read the priority and then generate a corresponding signal to direct a process control system to cool the clean room and thus the manufacturing equipment. Generally, the higher the temperature, the higher will be the priority assigned to the message, and the quicker the message will be processed.
It will be appreciated that the client systems 110 and 120, the message server 150, the log server 160, and the optional diagnostics server 170 can be connected over one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), or the Internet. The client systems 110 and 120, the message server 150, the log server 160, and the diagnostics server 170 can also be directly connected or coupled in any combination of ways. For example, the first client system 110 can be coupled to the message server 150 by a network such as the Internet. The message server 150, the log server 160, and the diagnostics server 170 can be the same machine; thus processes controlling the message server 150, the log server 160, and the diagnostics server 170 can communicate using sockets, shared memory, pipes, or other means for exchanging data. The message server 150 and the second client system 120 can be coupled over a LAN. It will also be appreciated that messages exchanged over the message-passing system 100 can be encrypted using shared keys, using public keys, or using other methods including, but not limited to, the use of passwords.
Next, in the step 215, the messaging module 115 receives the message and stores the message in its memory. Alternatively, the messaging module 115 receives a reference to the memory shared between a process generating the message and the messaging module 115, where the message is stored. Preferably, the messaging module 115 stores the reference in an outgoing message queue. Next, in the step 220, the messaging module formats the message to generate a message packet containing the message. Preferably, the message packet contains a header and a body containing the message. The header can contain, for example, (1) a priority for the message, (2) a FROM field containing a hostname of the sending client system 110, and (3) a TO field containing a hostname of the receiving client system 120. The sending client system 110 can set the priority to indicate the urgency of the message. For example, a message that manufacturing equipment coupled to the sending client system 110 has an reached an unacceptable temperature will have a higher priority than a message that the manufacturing equipment has not been serviced in one month.
As described in more detail below, preferably the message packet is an XML document. As is known to those skilled in the art, XML documents contain tags useful in retrieving data stored in XML elements, sorting by these data, and otherwise manipulating these data.
Next, in the step 225, the message packet is transmitted to the message server 150. In a preferred embodiment, the message packet is transmitted from the sending client system 110 to the message server 150 using TCP/IP. Thus, for example, transmitting the message packet from the sending client system 110 to the message server 120 preferably comprises creating a socket between the sending client system 110 and the message server 150 or using an already existing socket. Thus, before transmitting the message packet from the sending client system 110 to the message server 150, the sending client system 110 must know the hostname of the message server 150 and the port the message server 150 is configured to receive message packets on.
It will be appreciated that the messaging module 115 can perform tasks in other ways in accordance with the present invention. For example, rather than wait in the step 210, the messaging module 115 can sleep until a message packet is ready to be transmitted from the sending client system 110 to the receiving client system 120 and then awoken when a message packet is ready to be transmitted.
It will also be appreciated that while the present discussion describes the use of threads to process messages, other units of execution can be used, including, but not limited to, processes and lightweight processes. It will also be appreciated that the message server 150 and its parent and thread processes can perform other tasks or similar tasks in other manners. For example, still referring to
If the log server 160 and the message server 150 are the same machine, the log server 160 receives incoming message packets containing log data directly from the message server 150. This exchange can be made using the aforementioned client/server communication methods which include, but are not limited to, TCP/IP. Alternatively, the log server 160 and the message server 150 can communicate using shared memory, pipes, or any other method of exchanging data between units of execution running on the same machine.
Similarly, if the message server 150 and the diagnostics server 170 are the same machine, the message server 150 is implemented as a process or a set of processes running on the machine, and the diagnostics server 170 is implemented as a process or a set of processes running on the machine. The diagnostics server 170 that resides on the same machine as the message server 150 receives incoming message packets containing diagnostic (log) data directly from the message server 150. This exchange can be made using the aforementioned client/server communication methods, which include, but are not limited to, TCP/IP. Alternatively, the diagnostics server 170 and the message server can communicate using shared memory, pipes, or any other method of exchanging data between units of execution running on the same machine.
Next, in the step 420, the message server 150 checks the value in a priority field (the priority) of the message packet, indicating the priority of the message. In a preferred embodiment, if the priority is greater than a threshold value, indicating that a diagnostic event has occurred on the sending client system 110, then the message server 150 transmits log data to the diagnostics server 170. As used herein, a diagnostic event is an event that can be diagnosed, such as when manufacturing equipment that is coupled to the sending client system 110 has malfunctioned or should be serviced.
Referring to
It will be appreciated that indicia other than the priority can be used to determine whether to transmit log data to the diagnostics server 170. For example, log data for all message packets transmitted between the sending client system 110 and the receiving client system 120 can be transmitted to the diagnostics server 170. Alternatively, log data for all message packets containing a specified string in the message packet can be transmitted to the diagnostics server 170. Alternatively, if a message packet contains tagged data elements, such as in an XML document, a specific element containing predetermined values, such as <DIAGNOSE>YES</DIAGNOSE>, can be used to determine whether to transmit log data to the diagnostics server 170. It will be appreciated that other methods can be used to determine whether to transmit log data to the diagnostics server 170.
If the message has a priority that requires that log data be transmitted to the diagnostics server 170 (e.g., if a diagnostic event has occurred), the step 425 is performed; otherwise, the step 430 is performed. In the step 425, log data is transmitted to the diagnostics server 170, and the step 430 is performed. In the step 430, the message packet is transmitted to the receiving client system 120. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that if the message server 150 and the diagnostics server 170 are on separate machines, then the step 425 can comprise, for example, creating or using an existing socket between the message server 150 and the receiving client system 120, similar to the step of creating or using an existing socket between the sending client system 110 and the message server 150, as described above in reference to
When the message packet has been transmitted from the message server 150 to the receiving client system 120, the messaging module 125 processes the incoming message packet as shown by the sequence of steps 500 illustrated in
As discussed above, processing an incoming message packet can comprise many steps, such as sending the contained message to a process running on the receiving client system 120, printing the message to a monitor forming part of the receiving client system 120, forwarding the message packet to another client system coupled to the receiving client system 120, generating an alarm signal on the receiving client system 120, or performing other tasks.
In accordance with the present invention, message packets can have many formats. Preferably, a message packet is an XML document, such as the XML document 600 illustrated in
The body element 620 has the tag “body” with the data (text data, which is the message of the message packet), “Blown gasket on machine 0.” It will be appreciated that the body element 620 can contain other data having other data types, such as other primitives or software objects.
The XML document 600 can be generated in many ways. Preferably, the XML document 600 is generated using a process running on the sending client system 110. For example, if the sending client system 110 executes JAVA™ instructions, the JAVA™ instructions can serialize an instance of a JAVA™ object, generating the XML document 600. It will be appreciated, however, that the XML document 600 can be generated in other ways. On the receiving client system 120, the XML document can be deserialized to recover the JAVA™ object. Alternatively, the receiving client system 120 can process the XML document 600 to recover the data (message) of the body element 620 without deserializing the XML document 600.
XML documents generated in accordance with the present invention can have tagged elements other than those illustrated in
Referring to
Referring now to
In operation, when the messaging module 125 receives the incoming message packet 600 from the message server 150, the messaging module 125 stores the incoming message packet 600 in the memory block 765 (step 510,
It will be appreciated that the incoming message packets can be processed in ways other than as described above. For example, a messaging module can sort the incoming message array so that references to message packets are stored in order of increasing or decreasing priority. The messaging module could then process message packets by their location in the incoming message array 701. In this way, the incoming message array 701 functions as a priority queue. Alternatively, the messaging module 125 can process incoming message packets round robin, first-in-first-out (FIFO), or last-in-first-out (LIFO). Alternatively, a messaging module can dispatch threads to process each message packet. The messaging module can then use the operating system executing on the receiving client system to assign a priority to each thread. Thus, the operating system's scheduler will use the priorities assigned to each thread to determine when a thread will run, and thus when a message packet will be processed. For example, when the operating system executing on the receiving client system is Unix or a Unix-related operating system, the processing module can execute the NICE command to assign an execution priority to a thread or other unit of execution that processes a message packet. It will be appreciated that in accordance with the present invention, other methods can be used to process message packets based on a priority.
The messaging modules 115 and 125 of
For simplicity,
It will also be appreciated that the messaging module 125 or a process running on the receiving client system 120 can use the tags in the XML document 600 for other means. For example, a receiving process can use tags in the XML document 600 to determine whether to highlight a message in the message packet, cause it to appear as a flashing value, cause it to be displayed in other ways, trigger an alarm bell, or perform other actions.
The body element 820 has the attribute value “object”, which indicates that the attached body (i.e., the message) is a data object. The body element 820 further contains the data object (not shown), which can include text-data, executable instructions, or other object data. A receiving client system can use this data object to execute software instructions or to perform other tasks.
Preferably, the first message server 950 and the second message server 955 are mirrors of each other, communicating with the client systems 910 and 920 in the same way, communicating with the log server 960 in the same way, and communicating with the diagnostics server 970 in the same way.
In operation, for example, the messaging module 915 generates a message packet for transmission to the second client system 920. The message packet is transmitted to the load balancer 940, which determines the load on the first message server 950 and the second message server 955. If the first message server 950 has a load below a threshold value, the load balancer 940 transmits the message packet to the message server 950, which processes the message packet as described above. If the first message server 950 has a load above the threshold value, the load balancer 940 transmits the message packet to the message server 955, which processes the message packet as described above. Because the message servers 950 and 955 perform identical tasks, the message servers 950 and 955 process the message packet in identical manners.
When the message packet has been processed, including optionally transmitting log data to the log server 960, the diagnostics server 970, or both as described above, the message server that processed the message packet next transmits the message packet to the load balancer 940, which in turn transmits the message packet to the messaging module 925 on the receiving client system 920.
Message-passing systems that transmit prioritized messages can be used to ensure that messages are handled expeditiously. Message-passing systems can be used in many environments, such as manufacturing environments. For example, a message-passing system can include manufacturing equipment coupled to a client system. The client system can read one or more parameters related to the manufacturing equipment, such as an operating temperature or pressure, and transmit a message packet containing the message to a second client system, such as a control system. The message can be prioritized, based on the value of the parameter. The second client system can receive the message packet, processing higher-priority messages first, and take appropriate actions. Messages can also be logged for record-keeping or sent to a diagnostics server, which can be used to diagnose problems with the manufacturing equipment.
It will be appreciated that client systems, message servers, log servers, and diagnostics servers can be implemented in many ways, using many programming languages to create processes that process message packets. For example, client systems can implement processes in procedural programming languages, such as C; object-oriented programming languages, such as JAVA™ and C++; or scripting languages, such as PERL or UNIX shell scripts. Preferably messaging modules are implemented in an object-oriented programming language and include a mailbox and a connection object.
It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other various modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
