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Providing information regarding the use of web services in an electronic marketplace |
| 7729955 |
Providing information regarding the use of web services in an electronic marketplace
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| Patent Drawings: | |
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| Inventor: |
Frederick, et al. |
| Date Issued: |
June 1, 2010 |
| Application: |
12/366,536 |
| Filed: |
February 5, 2009 |
| Inventors: |
Frederick; Robert (Seattle, WA)
Agrawal; Ashish (Seattle, WA)
Barr; Jeffrey (Sammamish, WA)
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| Assignee: |
Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Incline Village, NV) |
| Primary Examiner: |
Shah; Amee A |
| Assistant Examiner: |
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| Attorney Or Agent: |
Seed IP Law Group |
| U.S. Class: |
705/26 |
| Field Of Search: |
705/26; 705/27 |
| International Class: |
G06Q 30/00 |
| U.S Patent Documents: |
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| Foreign Patent Documents: |
2001350943 |
| Other References: |
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|
| Abstract: |
A method, system, and computer-readable medium is described for facilitating interactions between computing systems, such as by providing an electronic Web service ("WS") marketplace via which third-party WS providers make their WSes available to third-party WS consumers who locate and purchase access to those WSes via the electronic marketplace. Some or all available WSes may have associated use prices and or non-price use conditions, and if so access to those WSes may be provided only if a consumer requesting access provides appropriate payment and otherwise satisfies the specified use conditions. In some situations, WS consumers may also purchase subscriptions to provide later access to registered WSes. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring it, and is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| Claim: |
What is claimed is:
1. A method for a computing system to provide information regarding use of Web services, the method comprising: under control of an electronic marketplace provided by thecomputing system for selling and purchasing access to Web services, for each of multiple third-party Web service providers, registering a Web service available from the provider via the electronic marketplace in response to a registration request fromthe provider, the registration request including an indication of how to invoke the Web service and a specification of use conditions and a use price for use of the registered Web service by third-party Web service consumers; for each of multiplethird-party Web service consumers, in response to a request received from the consumer to subscribe to an indicated one of the registered Web services, creating the subscription for later use by the consumer if the subscription request satisfies thespecified use conditions for the indicated Web service and if the consumer has provided payment for the specified use price for the indicated Web service; for each of multiple requests received from third-party consumers to access indicated registeredWeb services, and if it is determined that the consumer from whom the request is received has a valid subscription for the Web service indicated in the request, satisfying the request by, interacting with the provider that registered the Web service toinvoke the Web service and receive response information, the invoking using the information from the provider that indicates how to invoke the Web service; and providing to the consumer the received response information; and tracking information aboutthe accessing of the indicated registered Web services by the third-party consumers for the multiple received requests, the tracked information for use in monitoring use of the registered Web services.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after the registering of one of the Web services by the provider of the one Web service, providing information to the provider about use of the one Web service by third-party Web service consumersfor use by the provider in monitoring the one Web service, the provided information being based at least in part on the tracked information.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after the creating of one of the subscriptions for one of the multiple third-party Web service consumers to one of the registered Web services, providing information to the one consumer aboutprevious use of the one Web service that occurred in conjunction with the created one subscription, the provided information being based at least in part on the tracked information.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving notification requests from one or more of the Web service providers and/or consumers, the notification requests each including one or more notification conditions related to one or more Webservices and including notification instructions, and providing a notification in accordance with the notification instructions of one of the notification requests when it is determined based at least in part on the tracked information that thenotification conditions of the one notification request have been satisfied.
5. A computer-implemented method for providing information regarding use of Web services, the method comprising: under control of one or more computing systems, in response to registration requests from providers of Web services, registeringWeb services available from the Web service providers so as to make access to the registered Web services available for purchase by a plurality of consumers of Web services, the registered Web services each having at least one associated use price; providing information about one or more of the available registered Web services to a first of the plurality of Web service consumers; responding to one or more requests received from the first consumer for an indicated first Web service that is one ofthe registered Web services and that is available from a first Web service provider, the responding including automatically creating a subscription for the first consumer for later use of the first Web service and providing access to the first Webservice for the first consumer in exchange for payment by the first consumer of an access fee that is based on one or more of the at least one use prices associated with the first Web service; tracking information about accessing of the first Webservice by the first consumer and about other accessing by multiple other Web service consumers of multiple registered Web services; determining to provide tracked information about the first Web service that is based at least in part on the accessingof the first Web service by the first consumer; and after the determining, providing the tracked information about the first Web service for use in remotely monitoring information about the first Web service.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the providing of the access to the first Web service for the first consumer includes invoking the first Web service from the first provider on behalf of the first consumer and providing response information fromthe invoking to the first consumer.
7. The method of claim 5 further comprising providing payment to the first provider based on the access fee paid by the first consumer for access to the first Web service.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining to provide the tracked information is based at least in part on an information request received from the first provider for information about use of the first Web service, and wherein theproviding of the tracked information includes providing the requested information about the use of the first Web service to the first provider.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the other accessing by the multiple other consumers include accessing of the first Web service by at least some of the multiple other consumers, and wherein the provided requested information is further based inpart on the tracked information about the other accessing.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the one or more computing systems further facilitate additional accessing by the first consumer of one or more other registered Web services that are also available from the first provider, wherein the trackingof the information further includes tracking information about the additional accessing, and wherein the provided requested information is further about the use of the one or more other Web services and is based on the tracked information about theadditional accessing.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the one or more computing systems assist in providing an electronic marketplace, wherein the electronic marketplace provides a portal for use by the providers of the registered Web services in obtaininginformation about use of the registered Web services, and wherein the information request from the first provider is initiated based on one or more interactions of the first provider with the provided portal.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the provided requested information reflects a current usage level of the first Web service by the plurality of Web service customers, and wherein the one or more computing systems further make changes inavailability of the first Web service in response to one or more other requests received from the first provider, the one or more other requests being made by the first provider in response to the provided requested information so as to manage future useof the first Web service.
13. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining to provide the tracked information is based at least in part on an information request received from the first provider for information about a current status of the registered first Webservice, and wherein the providing of the tracked information includes providing the requested information to the first provider.
14. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining to provide the tracked information is based at least in part on an information request received from the first consumer for information about one or more prior occurrences of accessing the firstWeb service on behalf of the first consumer, and wherein the providing of the tracked information includes providing the requested information to the first consumer.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more computing systems further facilitate additional accessing by the first consumer of one or more other registered Web services, wherein the tracking of the information further includes trackinginformation about the additional accessing, and wherein the provided requested information is further about the additional accessing of the one or more other Web services and is based on the tracked information about the additional accessing.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more computing systems assist in providing an electronic marketplace, wherein the electronic marketplace provides a portal for use by the consumers of the registered Web services in obtaininginformation about accessing of the registered Web services, and wherein the information request from the first consumer is initiated based on one or more interactions of the first consumer with the provided portal.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more prior occurrences of accessing the first Web service on behalf of the first consumer include multiple occurrences by multiple users other than the first consumer who initiate those multipleoccurrences of accessing the first Web service on the behalf of the first consumer by using the subscription of the first consumer to the first Web service, and wherein the provided requested information is for use by the first consumer in monitoring theuse of the subscription by the multiple other users.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the provided requested information reflects a current usage level of the subscription by the multiple other users, and wherein the one or more computing systems further make changes in availability of thesubscription to the multiple other users in response to one or more other requests received from the first consumer, the one or more other requests being made by the first consumer in response to the provided requested information so as to manage futureuse of the subscription.
19. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining to provide the tracked information is based at least in part on satisfaction of one or more notification conditions specified in a notification request previously received from the firstprovider, and wherein the providing of the tracked information includes notifying the first provider in accordance with the notification request.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the specified notification conditions include at least one of an unplanned change in availability of the registered first Web service to the plurality of Web service consumers, and of a specified threshold fora volume of use of the first Web service by the plurality of Web service consumers, and wherein the one or more computing systems monitor the first Web service to determine whether the specified notification conditions are satisfied.
21. The method of claim 19 wherein the notification request further includes an indication by the first provider of a type of communication, and wherein the notifying of the first provider in accordance with the notification request includesperforming the notifying using the indicated type of communication.
22. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining to provide the tracked information is based at least in part on satisfaction of one or more notification conditions specified in a notification request previously received from the firstconsumer, and wherein the providing of the tracked information includes notifying the first consumer in accordance with the notification request.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the specified notification conditions include a volume of use of the subscription of the first consumer to the first Web service, and wherein the one or more computing systems monitor the use of thesubscription to determine whether the specified notification conditions are satisfied.
24. The method of claim 5 wherein the subscription provides the first consumer with access to the first Web service for a specified number of uses, and wherein the providing of the access to the first Web service for the first consumer is oneof the specified number of uses.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the access fee is associated with at least one of the providing of the access for the one use and of the creating of the subscription.
26. The method of claim 24 wherein the specified number of uses for the subscription is an indicated quantity of one or more uses.
27. The method of claim 5 wherein the subscription provides the first consumer with access to the first Web service for a specified amount of time, and wherein the providing of the access to the first Web service occurs during the specifiedamount of time.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the access fee is associated with at least one of the providing of the access to the first Web service and of the creating of the subscription.
29. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to provide information regarding use of remote services, by performing a method comprising: providing information to consumers about multiple remote invocable services thatare available from third-party providers; after one or more requests from a first consumer for one or more indicated invocable services of the multiple available invocable services, responding to the one or more requests by creating one or moresubscriptions for the first consumer for later use of the indicated one or more invocable services and by providing to the first consumer access to the indicated one or more invocable services for one or more access fees associated with the indicated oneor more invocable services, the providing of the access including automatically invoking on behalf of the first consumer each of at least one of the indicated one or more invocable services from the provider of that invocable service; and afterdetermining to provide information about use of at least one of the one or more invocable services by one or more consumers that include the first consumer, providing the information for use in monitoring the at least one invocable service.
30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 wherein the determining to provide the information is performed in response to at least one of a received request from the first consumer or from the provider of the at least one invocable service,and of determined satisfaction of one or more notification conditions specified in a notification request previously received from the first consumer or from the provider of the at least one invocable service.
31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 wherein the multiple remote invocable services are Web services, and wherein the providing to the first consumer of the access to the indicated one or more invocable services includes obtainingpayment from the first consumer for the one or more access fees associated with the indicated one or more invocable services.
32. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 wherein the computer-readable medium is at least one of a memory of a computing system and of a data transmission medium that stores a generated data signal containing the contents, and wherein thecontents are instructions that when executed cause the computing system to perform the method.
33. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 wherein the one or more subscriptions include a first subscription that provides the first consumer with access to the indicated one or more invocable services for a specified number of uses, andwherein the providing of the access to the indicated one or more invocable services is one of the specified number of uses.
34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the one or more access fees are associated with at least one of the providing of the access for the one use and of the creating of the first subscription.
35. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the specified number of uses for the first subscription is an indicated quantity of one or more uses.
36. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 wherein the one or more subscriptions include a first subscription that provides the first consumer with access to the indicated one or more invocable services for a specified amount of time, andwherein the providing of the access to the indicated one or more invocable services occurs during the specified amount of time.
37. The computer-readable medium of claim 36 wherein the one or more access fees are associated with at least one of the providing of the access to the indicated one or more invocable services and of the creating of the first subscription.
38. A computing device configured to provide information regarding use of Web services, comprising: one or more storage devices configured to store information about Web services made available by third-party providers for paid access bythird-party consumers of Web services, the stored information including at least one associated use price for each of the registered Web services; and one or more memories configured with executable instructions to provide to multiple consumers paidaccess to registered Web services, by: receiving a plurality of requests that are each from one of the multiple consumers for paid access to an indicated one of the registered Web services, the plurality of requests including multiple requests from afirst of the multiple consumers; for each of the multiple consumers, creating for the consumer a subscription for later use to the one registered Web service indicated by the consumer and providing paid access of the consumer to that indicated oneregistered Web service in exchange for payment of an access fee based on a use price associated with that indicated one registered Web service; and after determining to provide information about use of at least one of the registered Web services by oneor more consumers that include the first consumer, providing the information for use in monitoring the at least one Web service.
39. The computing device of claim 38 wherein the providing to the consumers of the paid access to the registered Web services further includes determining to provide the information about the use of the at least one registered Web services bythe one or more consumers, the determining being performed in response to at least one of a received request from the first consumer or from the provider of the at least one registered Web service, and of determined satisfaction of one or morenotification conditions specified in a notification request previously received from the first consumer or from the provider of the at least one registered Web service.
40. The computing device of claim 38 wherein the executable instructions are part of a Web Services Marketplace system for execution in at least one of the one or more memories of the computing device.
41. The computing device of claim 38 wherein the executable instructions are part of one or more means for providing to consumers paid access to registered Web services, by: receiving a plurality of access requests that are each from one of theconsumers for paid access to an indicated one of the registered Web services, the plurality of access requests including multiple access requests from a first of the consumers; for each of the plurality of access requests, providing to the consumer thatmade the access request the paid access to the indicated Web service for the access request in exchange for payment of an access fee based on a use price associated with that indicated Web service; and after determining to provide information about useof at least one of the registered Web services by one or more consumers that include the first consumer, providing the information for use in monitoring the at least one Web service.
42. The computing device of claim 38 wherein, for one of the multiple consumers, the subscription provides the one consumer with access to the indicated one registered Web service for a specified number of uses, and the providing of the paidaccess of the one consumer to that indicated one registered Web service is one of the specified number of uses.
43. The computing device of claim 42 wherein the payment of the access fee for the one consumer is associated with at least one of the providing of the paid access of the one consumer for the one use and of the creating of the subscription forthe one consumer.
44. The computing device of claim 42 wherein the specified number of uses for the subscription for the one consumer is an indicated quantity of multiple uses.
45. The computing device of claim 38 wherein, for one of the multiple consumers, the subscription provides the one consumer with access to the indicated one registered Web service for a specified amount of time, and wherein the providing of thepaid access of the one consumer to the indicated one registered Web service occurs during the specified amount of time.
46. The computing device of claim 45 wherein the payment of the access fee for the one consumer is associated with at least one of the providing of the paid access of the one consumer for the one use and of the creating of the subscription forthe one consumer. |
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TECHNICAL FIELD
The following disclosure relates generally to facilitating interactions between computing systems, and more particularly to facilitating such interactions by acting as an intermediary, such as an electronic marketplace via which Web serviceproviders make their Web services available and via which Web service consumers locate, purchase access to, and access those Web services in accordance with prices and use conditions specified for those Web services.
BACKGROUND
Various mechanisms exist to allow computers and executing software applications to interact. For example, remote procedure call ("RPC") protocols have long existed that allow a program on one computer to cause a program on another computer to beexecuted, and various object-oriented architectures such as CORBA ("Common Object Request Broker Architecture") and DCOM ("Distributed Component Object Model") provide similar capabilities. In addition, a variety of middleware programs have beenimplemented to connect separate applications (often of distinct types and from unrelated sources) to allow communication. For example, various EDI ("Electronic Data Interchange") networks exist that provide standard mechanisms to allow a computer systemof one user of the network to send data to a computer system of another user of the network.
The widespread popularity of the World Wide Web ("Web") has provided additional opportunities for computers to inter-communicate. For example, much current Web use involves users interactively requesting Web pages from Web servers (e.g., viaexecuting Web browser applications of the users) and receiving the requested information in response. In addition to such interactive user specification of requested information, there is also growing use of the Web to support the programmaticinteraction of remote applications to exchange information via defined APIs ("application program interfaces"), referred to as Web services.
Web services allow heterogeneous applications and computers to interact, and can be defined and implemented using a variety of underlying protocols and techniques. For example, some Web service implementations return data in XML ("eXtensibleMarkup Language") format using HTTP ("HyperText Transport Protocol") in response to a Web service invocation request specified as a URI ("Uniform Resource Identifier"), such as a URL ("Uniform Resource Locator") that includes a specified operation andone or more query parameters. In other implementations, additional underlying protocols are used for various purposes, such as SOAP ("Simple Object Access Protocol") for standard message exchange, WSDL ("Web Services Description Language") fordescription of service invocations, and UDDI ("Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration service") for discovery of available services.
Although Web services allow various applications and computers to interact, the current implementations and uses of Web services have various problems. For example, current Web service implementations are typically designed with only a verylimited number of predefined applications interacting, and do not typically address a varie
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