KR20040091737A - Automatic discovering of web services - Google Patents

Abstract

The method of automatically discovering web services includes querying a known UDDI server address including a list of web services, identifying appropriate web services from the list, and automatically describing at least one machine readable web services description. Downloading. Communication means for querying a known UDDI server address containing a list of web services and identifying appropriate web services from the list, the communication means arranged to automatically download at least one machine readable web service description. An apparatus for automatically discovering web services is also disclosed.

Description

Automatic discovering of web services}

The term "web service" relates to the use of an Internet server to provide useful functions or data to a remote customer. By using standard protocols (often SOAP, XML and HTTP), a wide range of devices (PCs, PDAs, mobile phones, etc.) can use these services. More importantly, these protocols, unlike Web sites, allow software to automatically explore services without the need for human interaction. Some web services are particularly useful for consumer electronic device devices, for example, a grocery shopping web service that allows a device to order items that can be used automatically by a networked fridge. Equally, a music web service that provides enhanced information about artists, recordings, and concerts may be useful for a CD or MP3 player. Similarly, a personal digital recorder (PDR) or integrated digital TV accesses a web service that provides information about television programs.

Currently, for more cable networked devices (PCs, PDAs), numerous user-driven methods exist to discover new web services. For example, a user can manually enter the URL of the services they need into the CE device. This is inconvenient, error prone, and tends to favor technical users. This also requires that the device have text input means. Alternatively, a search engine can be used to find suitable web services. This requires all services that can indicate compliance to a particular web service interface, and therefore a search engine that is modified in a way that can identify such compliance. There is also a need for a protocol in which a device is defined to search for services found from such a search engine. You need a relatively complex user interface for the device itself. Third, the device can have its software or data cache upgraded over the network. Such a solution requires a manufacturer or other third party to provide services to track new compliant web services and then deliver new software to the device. Such upgrades do not always run on cheap, embedded devices.

The present invention relates to a method for automatically discovering web services from a networked consumer electronics (CE) using Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). The present invention also relates to enhanced discovery of TV always-on web services using UDDI taxnomies.

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional operation of a network-enabled embedded device.

2 is a schematic diagram of enhanced operation of a network-enabled embedded device as one embodiment of the present invention.

3 is an embodiment of a UDDI save_service publishing API.

4 is an embodiment of a UDDI search_business query API.

5 is a classification table categorizing TV always-on services.

6 is an embodiment of a categoryBag element.

It is an object of the present invention to improve known methods of discovering web services. It can be seen that the present invention is particularly useful for lightweight CE devices that will not often use any of the three solutions.

Consider a CE device that can use one or more web services to provide enhanced functionality and data to a user. For all web services, the device is used to have a well-defined interface, which will be essential to be supported and understood by the customer device. At the point of sale, the device will be pre-programmed with the location (ie, URL) of many of these services that the device can use both automatically and as a result of user interaction. After this time, other businesses will be new and enhanced, but it will be easy to provide technically compatible Web services. The device has no systematic way of discovering these services and providing them to the user.

Until now, web-based services have been predominantly based on HTML and have been user driven. Standards that allow computer programs to communicate without user intervention have existed for a long time (eg distributed COM), but these standards have not been adequate for small devices. That's because only with the advent of IP / HTTP and the recent development of XML, the use of a platform that is completely independent of web services that can be practically used by lightweight CE devices is becoming feasible. Resolving the issue of discovering such services in a non-proprietary form is more recent and is the purpose of a general purpose description, discovery and integration project. However, this task is targeted in e-commerce and business-to-business transactions. Specific needs of CE devices have not been considered.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, querying a known UDDI server address comprising a list of web services, identifying appropriate web services from the list, and automatically downloading at least one machine readable web service description. A method is provided for automatically discovering web services, including loading.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided communication means including a list of web services, and querying a known UDDI server address identifying appropriate web services from the list, the communication means comprising at least one machine readable web. An apparatus for automatically discovering web services arranged to automatically download a service description is provided.

The main advantage of such an attempt is that it does not require user browsing or keyboard input. This is particularly suitable for lightweight embedded CE devices that would not normally require technical users.

Suitable web services are those that the querying device can use to enhance its functionality. The step of identifying is based on the structure of a defining protocol to categorize web services. In this way all devices can use the same methodology to get web services only by those appropriate for the requesting device being returned. Web services can be easily added, and already installed devices can periodically query the address to get new services.

Advantageously, if the obtained web services are TV always web services, the querying step includes a specific request to limit the type of identified TV always web services. In this way, a TV always-on device, such as a PDR, can search for appropriate web services that are limited to certain types of services.

The present invention proposes a method of how such devices can automatically discover new compatibility services as long as they are valid. This new aspect is a fully automatic format that does not require any intervention from the user. In this way, the device can provide the user with a better choice of available services after the user purchases the device. For example, in the case of Freesia, if a new store offering a grocery order web service is opened nearby, the device may alert the user and allow the service to be technically compliant.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a network-enabled, embedded device 1, which is a digital radio operating as a DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) receiver. The receiver 1 is connected to the remote network server 2 via a wide area network such as the Internet 3. The remote network server 2 provides the receiver 1 with a desired web service such as tracking lists, information about artists, and the like. To obtain the service, the receiver 1 sends a structured query 4 (such as a SOAP request about information about a particular song) to the server 2 via the Internet 3. The server 2 responds with a structured response 5 (such as a SOAP response containing information about a particular song).

2 shows the enhanced operation of the network-enabled embedded device 1. DAB receiver 1 sends structured UDDI query 11 to UDDI server 10, where the server is being used as a well-known URL. The query 11 may be a request for web services that are technically compliant with the server 2, for example a request for web services that provide information about radio broadcasts in the UK. The UDDI server 10 will return a structured UDDI response 12 to the receiver 1, such as a response containing information about services that meet the criteria of the query 11. Servers 13 include one or more newly discovered web services. These web services are unique and can be set up after the receiver 1 is sold, and they are all technically compliant with the server 2 (ie they can be used successfully by the receiver 1). Receiver 1 may find these services via structured query 14 and receives structured response 15.

As described above, the method performed by the receiver 1 to automatically discover web services comprises querying a known UDDI server address comprising a list of web services, identifying appropriate web services from the list, And automatically downloading at least one machine readable web service description. The querying step may include sending the query in a predefined format, which may include a specific request that specifies the type of web service identified. Following receipt of the structured query, the server 1 may respond to the query with a response including a list of appropriate web services, and the receiver may select a web service from the list and communicate the selected web service with the UDDI server address. Can be. The server 2 may then supply the selected web service.

The receiver device 1 for automatically discovering web services comprises communication means for querying a known UDDI server address that includes a list of web services and identifies appropriate web services from the list, the communication means being at least one. It is arranged to automatically download machine-readable web service descriptions. The receiver 1 comprises a user interface for displaying information and for receiving user commands. This user interface is arranged to display a list of appropriate web services and to receive a user selection of one or more displayed services.

UDDI makes structured information about registered web services available through well-defined interfaces at well-known locations. When a service provider (ie, a store or TV schedule listing provider) provides a new service, they publish details about the UDDI node and register it as compliant with a particular web service standard (such as TV constantly on TV schedules). do. This standard will have a unique model (tModel) in the UDDI registry. Then, when the CE device queries the UDDI node, it uses this unique identity to find compliant services. It is further proposed that the device can use other registered categorization taxonomies to refine the search for services. For example, ISO 3166 is a comprehensive geographic taxonomy where devices can be used to ensure that shopping services are provided by stores that are fairly geographically close. Alternatively, by registering genre taxonomy, it will be possible to search for TV always-on web services specialized in movie information.

In order for devices to take advantage of web services through this simple methodology, the following steps are required:

1. The standards body (or similar initiative) standardizes the web service interface appropriate for a class of CE devices.

2. These services have a UDDI node registered (using the UDDI save_tModel API) for that standard interface and are assigned a universally unique identifier (UUID).

3. Service providers produce implementations of these standard interfaces. These providers register a new service using the save_service API and assume that the business itself has already been registered by UDDI. The attached bindingTemplate will contain a reference to the UUID of the tModel registered in step 2. At this stage, they may also further assign additional standardized categories to their service (eg, retail service registries based in London and providing pet food). These categories added to the use of the categoryBag sub-element of the businessService element.

4. The CE device is designed to be able to use a standardized web interface.

5. After sale, the device queries the UDDI node to find services that support this interface. To do this, a find_business API is used that contains only the tModelBag argument by referring to the required tModel. The list of services is returned to the device, which can then be further refined automatically (based on machine-readable service description) or by the user (based on brand symbols, recommendations, etc.).

6. Depending on the type of service, the device targets service discovery in an improved format, for example, only find nearby stores, and only TV listing services for channels that the set-top box can show. can do.

This defines the mechanism by which CE devices can use UDDI to discover web services. As new service providers exist and new services are provided, they may be added for step 3 above, and all devices already sold may access these services.

The mechanism can be used by devices such as digital television receivers to discover TV always-on web services. By assigning taxonomies for how these web services are implemented, a better means of discovering a useful service can be provided. Numerous problems arise when trying to find TV always-on web services that meet specific purposes (services that are specialized in movie information, or services that provide information about locally available programs). Described in detail below is a proposal for a taxonomy that should be assigned to TV always-on web services, and how TV- always-on devices can use UDDI to greatly improve the way web services are discovered.

It is necessary to consider how UDDI will be used to discover TV always-on web services. First, registering the TV Always Services Interface Specification must be performed. The TV Always Forum must first register its web service interfaces by registering a UDDI node. tModel will be issued for each of the always-on web service types. For this purpose, the UDDI save_tModel public API is used. The registration will assign a unique tModelKey to the tModel, which will act as a generic identifier for that web service protocol. Second, a web site providing TV always-on services (ie, broadcaster or third party metadata provider) will publish the details of their services to the UDDI node. They register new services using the UDDI save_service open API (assuming the parent business entity itself has already been registered by UDDI). Such a UDDI save_service publish API is shown in FIG. 3.

In Fig. 3, businessService 31 is created for each TV always service that needs to be registered. Each businessService element contains a bindingTemplate for each of the bindings provided by such a service (eg, get_Metadata 32 and searchOn_description 33). The attached bindingTemplates will contain a reference to the appropriate tModelKey 34 generated by the TV Always Forum in the previous step. In this way, the tModel acts as a mechanical fingerprint that officially indicates the TV's always-on compliance of the service.

When discovering services from a PDR (personal digital recorder), the TV always device (having a return channel) will be able to understand one or more of the different TV always service types. The device may query the UDDI node to find services that provide such an interface. As an example, consider a TV always-on device attempting to find a get_Metadata service. This can be done in UDDI by using the find_business query API as shown in FIG. This will succeed in returning the list of TV always services that provide the get_Metadata binding. The TV always-on device may use additional UDDI queries to get more information about these services-name and description, and the like. The problem is that this search lacks focus: there may be hundreds of TV always get_Metadata services, some of which may be used. In reality, a TV always-on device hopes to find TV always-on devices that provide a particular service. For example, the device may wish to find a service that can provide a schedule listing for BBC programs, or a service that returns reviews of critics to the metadata it provides. The present invention discloses a method that allows for this type of discovery.

It is proposed to standardize a set of taxonomies that can be used to categorize TV always-on services. These taxonomies may be defined publicly, or may be defined by the TV always forum. When a service provider chooses to provide a full time TV service, it uses taxonomy to specify the characteristics of the service being provided. TV always-on devices searching for a particular service may include taxonomies in the search criteria and in this way generate much more focused queries. The taxonomies of FIG. 5 may be useful for categorizing TV always-on services.

Many scenarios exist when using taxonomies that will greatly enhance the manner in which TV always-on services can be used. To illustrate this, consider an example of a newly purchased DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) set top box that attempts to generate an enhanced EPG (Electronic Program Guide) based on TV always data downloaded onto the return channel. This set-top box hopes to display information about a known set of DVB locators (obtained from DVB-service information) where the EPG is in French (issued from user preferences). To enable the construction of an EPG, the service will need to provide a searchOn_delivery and get_Metadata combination. The following paragraphs describe additional steps for the above outlines and illustrate how the use of taxonomy enables the discovery of services required by this scenario.

The TV always will need to register additional unchecked category-type tModels for the taxonomies it chooses to standardize. (see http://www.uddi.org/pubs/TN-taxonomy-provider-V1.00-Final-20010717.pdf) This will result in each taxonomy with a unique tModelKey. The specification of each taxonomy will define the allowed values that the taxonomy can take (eg, the genre taxonomy may be a list of strings) and the semantics associated with these values. Note that it may be possible for third parties to use and register new taxonomies not standardized by TV at all times. Standard TV always-on devices cannot use such classifications, but proprietary implementations can be used.

For the disclosure of the details of the service implementation, the disclosure method will be the same as described in the section above with reference to FIG. The message will also contain a categoryBag element containing the taxonomies the service provider has chosen to assign to the service. For this scenario, the matching service will be assigned at least one DVB locator taxonomy corresponding to the French language taxonomy itself and the DVB services available for such set-top boxes.

There is no restriction on the number of taxonomies that can be assigned to a service, and one or more values of the same classification type can be assigned to the service (ie, there can be multiple keyedReference elements with the same tModelKey attribute value).

When discovering services from the PDR to limit the search, a categoryBag element is included in the search of services, for example in the embodiment shown in FIG. The categoryBag element 61 specifies the set of classifications that the matching service must follow. In this case, the matching service must provide metadata in French and provide scheduling information for the indicated DVB channels. This search qualifier 62 has the effect that DVB locators are treated with an OR color. In other words, the service must match only one of the DVB locators to return the match. This eliminates the need for the set top box to make multiple searches, each containing a keyedReference by a single DVB locator.

In general, the present invention could be used by any network enabled CE device using a web-service based on open standards. Some obvious embodiments have already been given. For example, digital audio broadcast receivers to obtain improved program listings, ovens or microwaves using standard “recipe finder” web services, and virtually any flaw or need for service and need to call a technician. Other uses include any device that could use the pointing web service.

Claims (18)

In the method of automatically discovering web services, Querying a known UDDI server address comprising a list of web services; Identifying appropriate web services from the list; Automatically downloading at least one machine readable web service description. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed periodically by a CE device without user interaction. 3. The automatic web service discovery of claim 1 or 2, wherein the querying step includes sending the query in a predefined format, the query comprising a specific request for limiting the type of web service identified. Way. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the query includes a request for TV anytime services, the query further comprising an element specifying a set of taxonomies that the service should follow. How to auto detect web services. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of taxonomies is at least one of agency name, broadcast service, genre, content format, service usage rights, table types, and queryable fields. 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising responding to the query with a response comprising the list of suitable web services. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising selecting a web service from the list and communicating the selected web service to the UDDI server address. A device for automatically discovering web services, Communication means including a list of web services and querying a known UDDI server address identifying appropriate web services from the list, the communication means arranged to automatically download at least one machine readable web service description. , Web service auto-discovery device. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is a CE device and the communication means periodically performs the query without user interaction. 10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the communication means queries the UDDI server address by sending a query in a predefined format, and the communication means issues a specific request within the query to limit the type of identified web service. Web service auto-discovery device, arranged to include. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the query includes a request for TV always-on services, and the query further includes an element specifying a set of taxonomies that the service should follow. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the set of taxonomies is at least one of agency name, broadcast service, genre, content format, service usage rights, table types, and queryable fields. 13. The apparatus of any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising a user interface for displaying information and receiving user commands. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user interface is arranged to display a list of suitable web services and to receive a user selection of one or more of the displayed services. A method for automatically discovering TV always-on web services, Querying a known server address comprising a list of web services; Identifying appropriate web services from the list; Automatically downloading at least one machine readable web service description, The querying step includes transmitting the query in a predefined format, the query further comprising an element specifying a set of taxonomies the service should follow. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the set of taxonomies is at least one of agency name, broadcast service, genre, content format, service usage rights, table types, and queryable fields. An apparatus for automatically discovering TV always-on web services, Communication means for including a list of web services, querying a known server address identifying appropriate web services from the list, The communication means is arranged to automatically download at least one machine readable web service description, the communication means querying the server address by sending a query in a predefined format, the query being followed by the service. Further comprising an element specifying a set of taxonomies. 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the set of taxonomies is at least one of agency name, broadcast service, genre, content format, service usage rights, table types, and queryable fields.