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`REQUEST FOR EX PARTE REEXAMINATION TRANSMITTAL FORM
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`Address to:
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`Attorney Docket No.: OPEN2200
`Commissioner for Patents
`----------------------1
`P.O. Box 1450
`Date: October 18, 2011
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`[81 This is a request for ex parte reexamination pursuant to 37 CFR 1.510 of patent number
`7, 062,7 49
`issued June 13, 2006
`. The request is made by:
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`[81 third party requester.
`[81 The name and address of the person requesting reexamination is:
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`Austin, Texas 78705
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`PTO/SB/57 (02-09)
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`[Page 2 of2)
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`HP_1003_0002
`
`

`
`APPENDIX ''E''
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT
`NO. 7,062,749
`
`Page 122
`
`REQUEST FOR REEXAMINATION OF
`U.S. PATENT NO. 7,062,749
`
`HP_1003_0003
`
`

`
`111111
`
`1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US007062749B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Cyr et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,062,749 B2
`Jun. 13,2006
`
`(54) MEASURING, MONITORING At~D
`TRACKING ENTERPRISE
`COMMUNICATIONS At~D PROCESSES
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Vincent R. Cyr, Glen Mills, PA (US);
`Kenneth Fritz, Glen Mills, PA (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Promenlx, Inc., Chadds Ford, PA (US)
`
`( • ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 1109 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09n37,494
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Dec. 15, 2000
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2003/0225923 AI
`Dec.4,2003
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06F 9144
`(2006.01)
`(52) U.S. Ct. ........................... 717/103; 705/9; 709/231
`(58) Field of Classification Search ................ 717/103;
`705/9; 709/231; 719/314,315,316
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,404,501 A •
`5,887,167 A •
`5,949,998 A •
`5,960,200 A +
`6,018,627 A •
`6,092,102 A
`6,208,345 81 •
`6,397,191 81•
`6,453,356 81 •
`6,460,175 Bl •
`6,501,950 Bl •
`6,510,429 Bl •
`
`4/1995 Can eta! ................... 719/314
`3/1999 Sutton ........................ 719/314
`911999 Fow1ow eta! .............. 7171105
`9/1999 Eager eta! ................. 7171147
`1/2000 Iyengar et a! ............... 7171103
`712000 Wagner
`3/200 I Sheard et a! ................ 345/853
`5/2002 Notani eta! ................... 705/9
`9/2002 Sheard et a! ................ 709/231
`10/2002 Ferri eta! ................... 717/103
`12/2002 Smith et a! ................. 455/423
`1/2003 Todd ........................ 705/36 R
`
`6,529,932 Bl •
`6,543,047 81 •
`6,553,438 81 •
`6,601,233 81 •
`6,662,355 81 •
`6,681,245 Bl •
`6,725,445 Bl
`6,728,947 81 •
`6,757,710 81 •
`6,789,252 81 •
`6,901,430 Bl •
`6,943,681 81 •
`
`3/2003 Dadiomov eta! .......... 718/101
`4/2003 Vrhe1 eta! .................. 717/121
`4/2003 Coffman et a!. .... .......... 710/52
`7/2003 Underwood ................ 717/102
`12/2003 Caswell eta! .............. 717/103
`1/2004 Sasagawa ................... 709/206
`4/2004 Leymann eta!.
`4/2004 Bengston .................... 717/103
`6/2004 Reed .......................... 709/203
`9/2004 Burke eta! ................. 717/100
`5/2005 Smith ......................... 709/206
`9/2005 Rezvani et a! .............. 340/506
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`"From EDI to Electronic Commerce A Business Initiative",
`Phyllis K. Sokol, published Nov. 23, 1994. •
`Workflow Template Developing A WFf Workflow System,
`Template Software, Whole book, copyright 1998. •
`Workflow Template Using the WFT Development Environ(cid:173)
`ment, Template Software, Whole book, copyright 1998.*
`Workflow Template Training Course, version 8.0, Section A,
`1997, pp. 1-19.*
`Web Component Using the Web Component, Template
`Software version 8.0, Chapters 1-3, 1997.•
`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner-Todd lngberg
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`The present invention comprises apparatus and systems for
`measuring, monitoring, tracking and simulating enterprise
`communications and processes. A central message reposi(cid:173)
`tory or database is constructed, comprised of monitoring
`messages sent from process messaging systems. The data(cid:173)
`base may then be accessed or queried as desired. A simu(cid:173)
`lation tool assists in reviewing present and proposed pro(cid:173)
`cesses and sub-processes before modifying existent systems
`or creating new systems.
`
`58 Claims, 8 Drawing Sheets
`
`HP_1003_0004
`
`

`
`US 7,062,749 B2
`2
`
`OTIIER PUBLICATIONS
`
`The XML Handbook, Charles F. Goldfarb et al, 1998, pp.
`101-118.•
`SNAP Using the SNAP Communication Component, Chap(cid:173)
`ters 1-3, 1998."'
`"Implementing SAP R/3 How to introduce a Large System
`into a Large Organization", pp. 1-73, Nancy H. Bancroft et
`at, 1997.•
`"SAP An Executive Comprehensive Guide", Grant Norris et
`al, pp. 1-13, 1998.•
`Wmdows NT Server Operating System, Microsoft Message
`Queuing Services, Microsoft, 1997, pp. 1-38.•
`
`Messaging & Queuing Using the MQI, Burnie Blakey et al,
`Jun. 26, 1995, Whole Book.•
`Building Distributed Applications with Message Queing
`Middleware, Peter Houston, Microsoft Corporation, Mar.
`1998, 7 pages."'
`Special Issue on TP Monitors and Distributed Transaction
`Management, Ron Obermarck et al, Data Engineering, Mar.
`1994 vol. 17 No. 1, IEEE Computer Society, 32 pages.*
`"Re~ote Qu;ues:Exposing Message Queues for Optimiza(cid:173)
`tion and Atomicity", Eric A. Brewer et al, ACM, 1995, pp.
`42-53."'
`
`• cited by examiner
`
`HP_1003_0005
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 13, 2006
`
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`Jun.l3,2006
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`HP_1003_0008
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`
`Jun. 13,2006
`
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`Jun. 13,2006
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`
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`
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`
`HP_1003_0012
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun.13,2006
`
`Sheet 8 of 8
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`HP_1003_0013
`
`

`
`us 7,062,749 82
`
`1
`MEASURING, MONITORL~G Ai~D
`TRACKING ENTERPRISE
`COM;VIUNICATIONS Ai~D PROCESSES
`
`2
`factory do not have to be predetermined before communi(cid:173)
`cations begin with the new factory. Thus, the flexibility of
`the asynchronous message based communication has per(cid:173)
`mitted quick response to changing business conditions.
`Despite this flexibility, asynchronous or message based
`communications are problematic because of their loosely
`coupled nature. At any given time, precise information on
`the progress of the processes is difficult to obtain-messag~s
`may be in transit and not instantly locatable. For example, tf
`10 a customer calls for the status of an order, an enterprise
`customer service representative may be able to determine
`nothing more than the fact that the order has been received
`and that the scheduled ship date is X. There is often no
`ability to drill down into the information levels and review
`!5 the status in more granularity, such as the location of the
`good, the manufacturing status, etc., because the information
`required to review that status is in transit and unable to be
`reviewed.
`Of course, if the enterprise lacks the ability to access
`20 status information, business partners of the enterprise will
`similarly lack that ability. Thus, asynchronous communica(cid:173)
`tions may well increase inefficiency among business part(cid:173)
`ners as well.
`The difficulty in reporting caused by message based
`25 architecture also makes it difficult for the enterprise to
`measure the efficiency of its processes and their sub-process.
`Asynchronous messaging, with its indeterminate transmis(cid:173)
`sion of information, means a company may not be able to
`easily measure the interval between each sub-process, e.g.
`30 the time between Scheduling Production and the Manufac(cid:173)
`turing of a Product, and so easily measure the efficiency of
`their operations.
`Finally, asynchronous messaging may provide an enter(cid:173)
`prise with an ability to model and simulate processes. That
`35 is, since information flows can be readily estimated through
`enterprises with asynchronous messaging, and processes can
`be easily modeled from those flows, asynchronous messag(cid:173)
`ing modeling provides the potential to model and simulate
`processes. That potential is not realized with present tech-
`40 nology, however. Moreover, since as described above,. enter(cid:173)
`prises lack information on the processes they have Imple(cid:173)
`mented, the enterprises are handicapped in their ability to
`modify those processes or plan new processes. A modeling
`and simulation tool, demonstrating processes, sub-processes
`45 and their activity or granular detail level would be extremely
`helpful, and would give the enterprise an opportunity t?
`assemble, test, adjust, and simulate processes and thetr
`details.
`Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
`so provide a tool for simulating message based architectures.
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide
`monitoring capabilities for enterprise processes.
`
`The present invention relates to apparatus and systems for
`measuring, monitoring, tracking and simulating enterprise
`communications and processes. More particularly, the
`present invention relates to computer-based apparatus and
`systems for measuring, monitoring, tracking and simulating
`enterprise communications and processes in an asynchro(cid:173)
`nous messaging environment.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The activities of a business or enterprise can be grouped
`into processes. Processes are business operations that are
`separated as desired and usually occur across business units.
`For example, the process of taking orders and turning those
`orders into revenue may be known as Order to Cash. The
`processes are comprised of sub-processes. For example,
`Order to Cash may be broken down into sub-processes such
`as Receive Order Inquiry, Provide Customer Quotation,
`Create Customer Outline Agreement, Create Sales Order,
`Schedule Production, Manufacture Product, Ship Product
`and Invoice Customer. Each sub-process may in turn be
`broken down into discrete activities such as providing
`customer number, entering that customer number, establish(cid:173)
`ing pricing, determining a shipping date, etc.
`The processes, sub-processes and activities operate, in
`part, by communicating information. For example, users
`may communicate through email. As another example,
`applications may communicate amongst themselves through
`electronic data interchange ("EDI") and other similar ser(cid:173)
`vices. Communication occurs horizontally, that is, among a
`process, sub-process and activities, as well as vertically, that
`is, between processes, sub-processes and activities.
`Whether communications occur horizontally or vertically,
`among applications or users, communications are increas(cid:173)
`ingly asynchronous or message based. That is, enterprise
`communications were formerly primarily synchronous, or
`connection oriented, in which a connection is established
`with prior coordination between communication end points
`with data then being transmitted over the connection. Enter(cid:173)
`prise communications are now increasingly asynchronous,
`or connectionless, transmitting data without prior coordina(cid:173)
`tion between communication end points, such as through
`"event based" communications which use messages to move
`data instead of large files.
`Asynchronous or message based communications permit
`loosely coupled connections among and between systems
`because the end points do not have to be prepared to receive
`the data when the message is transmitted. Loosely coupled
`connections permit more flexibility in assembling processes.
`Flexibility in assembling processes is desirable in order to
`permit quick reaction to changing business conditions: if a 55
`particular sub-process or activity becomes unusable, the
`process can be reassembled with a new sub-process or
`activity. For example, if a Manufacture Product sub-process
`in the Order to Cash process at Widget Co. enterprise has a
`specific factory identified to manufacture the product and 60
`that factory has a fire or other disaster, making it unusable,
`Widget Co. will need to substitute a new factory. The ripple
`effect of that substitution among all of Widget Co.'s pro(cid:173)
`cesses will change any number of parameters. A loosely
`coupled asynchronous connection among Widget Co.'s pro- 65
`cesses provides rapid substitution of the new factory for the
`old because the end points of communication to the new
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 shows a view of a process.
`FIG. 2 shows a view of a process of a preferred embodi-
`ment.
`FIG. 3 shows a screen of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 4 shows a screen of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 5 shows a screen of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 6 shows a partial view of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 7 shows a partial view of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 8 shows a partial view of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 9 shows a partial view of a preferred embodiment.
`FIG. 10 shows a partial view of a preferred embodiment.
`
`HP_1003_0014
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`

`
`us 7,062,749 82
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`3
`S~YOFTHEThNENTION
`
`4
`The specific data contained in the monitoring messages
`(in this embodiment, generated from the original messages
`passing between the sub-processes) is organized into data
`fields. Those data fields are path specific in this embodiment.
`For example, assume a customer calls the enterprise (Widget
`Co.) whose process is shown in FIG. 1 and asks whether or
`not Widget Co. has a certain product (Type A Widgets.) That
`customer request will begin the Receive Order Inquiry
`sub-process which will end with the generation of a Receive
`10 Order Inquiry message traveling to the Provide Customer
`Quotation sub-process through the messaging broker com(cid:173)
`ponent. When the messaging broker receives the message on
`Path A, it will create a monitoring message, and send the
`monitoring message to the central database repository, as
`15 shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the data contained in
`the monitoring message is generated from the message on
`Path A. Other preferred embodiments may alter or add data
`to the monitoring messages aside from that contained in the
`original message.
`The monitoring message contains, in this embodiment,
`specific data fields. (Of course, other embodiments may
`have different data fields.) Those data fields are:
`
`The present invention comprises apparatus and systems
`for measuring, monitoring, tracking and simulating enter(cid:173)
`prise communications and processes in an asynchronous
`messaging environment. For each original message sent
`within a process, sub-process or activity, the preferred
`embodiments of the present invention send a separate moni(cid:173)
`toring message containing data from the central message
`repository or database. This data may include date, time,
`customer number, materials, quantity, amount, or other
`information, and be copied from the original message. Other
`embodiments may add data to the monitoring message aside
`from that contained in the original message.
`This central message repository or database is comprised
`of information passing through the enterprise. In effect, the
`database provides a collection point or an "end point" for the
`asynchronous communications, and so allows the flexibility
`of asynchronous communications to be combined with the
`precision of synchronous communications. The database can 20
`be reviewed in any number of ways. For example, the
`database can be queried to obtain specific information about
`that particular order or customer or could be examined
`across larger time spans such as days, weeks, or months, to
`gauge trends or performance. Of course, some preferred 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
`embodiments may wish to create mirror databases or other
`FIELDS
`IDENTIFIERS
`databases that can be used in various ways.
`PROCESS IDE:m-IFIER
`ProiD,
`SbProiD,
`An enterprise's information flow can also be readily
`SUB-PROCESS IDENTIFIER
`CUSTOMER NUMBER
`Custno,
`modeled and simulated through creating new process, sub-
`PART NUMBER
`Partno,
`process and/or activities or altering existing process, sub- 30
`QUANTITY
`Qty.
`Date,
`process or activities. The information flows from those
`DATE
`Time
`creations or alterations can be collected in one or more
`TIME
`databases and examined as desired.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENfS
`
`FIG. 1 shows a sample process, Order to Cash, which is
`comprised of various sub-processes: Receive Order Inquiry,
`Provide Customer Quotation, Create Customer Outline
`Agreement, Create Sales Order, Schedule Production,
`Manufacture Product, Ship Product and Invoice Customer.
`The dashed line arrows connecting the sub-processes are the
`communication paths between the sub-processes. In the 45
`example shown in the figure, the sub-processes actually
`communicate through a messaging broker, such as an IBM
`MQSeries component, and the paths to and from the com(cid:173)
`ponent are identified identically. This messaging broker
`permits certain sophisticated messaging uses, such as mes(cid:173)
`sage queuing, some data translation, etc.
`A messaging component is added to the messaging bro(cid:173)
`ker, through methods known in the art. This messaging
`component creates a "monitoring" message for each original
`message received by the broker. This monitoring message
`contains, in this embodiment, specific data generated from
`the original messages passing between the sub-processes.
`The monitoring message with its data is then sent from the
`messaging broker to a central database repository or data(cid:173)
`base (the terms "repository" or "database" are used inter- 60
`changeably throughout.)
`The messaging component may be, in some embodi(cid:173)
`ments, or may not be, in other embodiments, provided by the
`messaging broker. For example, IBM's MQSeries messag(cid:173)
`ing broker provides a component that can be configured to 65
`perform a copying function for the messages it receives, and
`so create monitoring messages for the messages it receives.
`
`35
`
`The first field, the PROCESS IDENfiFIER field, pro·
`vides the identifier for the process, for example, the value
`"Order to Cash" because the monitoring message is being
`created within the Order to Cash process. The second field,
`the SUB-PROCESS IDENTIFIER field, provides the iden-
`40 tifier for the sub-process, for example, the value "Inquiry"
`because the monitoring message is being created within the
`Inquiry sub-process. This embodiment prepopulates these
`PROCESS IDENTIFIER and SUB-PROCESS IDENfi-
`FIER fields, with the appropriate values.
`The CUSTOMER NUMBER field is assigned to the
`particular customer generating the inquiry. The PART NUM(cid:173)
`BER field is the identifier for the particular part and the
`QUANfiTY for the particular quantity. DATE and TIME
`are the data and time the message is generated. Other
`so message fields for other paths of this embodiment are shown
`in Table I. Of course, some, all or none of these fields may
`be present in other embodiments, as well as other fields as
`desired. For example, one or more ACTlvlTY IDENfi(cid:173)
`FIER fields may be present in monitoring messages in other
`ss embodiments.
`The monitoring message data populates one information
`flow or transaction record ("transaction record.") As moni(cid:173)
`taring messages progress through any given process and/or
`sub-process, the transaction record is updated. Once the
`monitoring messages complete the transaction record, all of
`the information needed to measure that transaction through
`the process is contained in one record in the central message
`database. (Of course, if the monitoring messages do not fully
`populate the transaction record, e.g., the transaction is
`aborted in mid process, then these abandoned records may
`be made available as well with an indication that they were
`abandoned.)
`
`HP_1003_0015
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`

`
`us 7,062,749 82
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`5
`The central message database can be reviewed in any
`number of ways, in order to measure, monitor and track
`enterprise communications and processes, e.g., to provide
`information or generate reports. Using the central message
`database to provide information or generate reports "off
`loads" the information access or reporting processes from
`the applications that generate messages initially, e.g., sub(cid:173)
`processes such as those seen in FIG. 1. This off loading
`relieves some of the monitoring pressure from the source
`applications so that, for example, any queries that might 10
`have been made to the source applications and interfere with
`or slow down the operation of the source applications can
`now be made through the central message database.
`The information retrieved from the central message data(cid:173)
`base may include, but is not limited to, information about 15
`any particular order or customer, information about process
`efficiency, "snapshot" or time slice information, information
`across time spans such as days, weeks, or months, informa(cid:173)
`tion to gauge trends or performance, etc. Also, in some
`embodiments, a "real-time" tool may be used to track the 20
`progress of transaction records and/or processes and use
`distribution methods such as broadcasting, WAP, etc. to
`provide the information to users. For example, if a process
`such as pipeline capacity for oil and natural gas transmis(cid:173)
`sions is implemented and monitored through an embodiment 25
`of the present invention, the central message database will
`constantly broadcast unused pipeline capacity, which infor(cid:173)
`mation in turn can be used to sell, trade or barter that unused
`capacity. As another example, information about an enter(cid:173)
`prise's processes can be made available over an intranet, 30
`extranet, the Internet, etc. to business partners or other
`entities. One example would be providing information to
`stock analysts so that they could track any particular enter(cid:173)
`prise's productivity or other areas of interest. Another
`example would be providing information to actual or paten- 35
`tial business partners to check production capacity, shipping
`capacity, or other areas of interest. In some embodiments,
`with regard to external entities, communication channels
`between the external entities and the enterprise might well
`be established, so that central message databases exist on 40
`both ends of the communication channel.
`The central message database allows for broader analysis
`of trends that may include: time between sub-processes,
`variances by customer, variances by order amount, bottle(cid:173)
`necks in the process, etc. For example, it would be possible 45
`to determine how many orders stood between Order and
`Invoice. This may allow for the acceleration of some orders
`so they could be booked by quarter close. For example, a
`vendor bottleneck may be identified in the course of review
`of the processes, sub-processes and/or activities. For so
`example, seasonal variations in processes, sub-processes
`and/or activities may be identified as well.
`Of course, some embodiments may create mirror data(cid:173)
`bases and/or generate other databases that can be used by
`various entities. For example, an enterprise may create a 55
`number of central message databases which could track
`processes, sub-processes and/or activities in whole or part.
`These databases could also be combined as desired.
`Monitoring message database(s) may be used, in some
`embodiments, in various ways, either in addition to or 60
`instead of central message database(s.) For example, a
`monitoring message database or a central message database
`may be used to generate messages and feedback to the
`processes, sub-processes, activities and/or applications, as
`well as to users and/or administrators (herein generally 65
`"users.") \furious messages transmitted from sub-process
`applications such as error messages would generate special
`
`6
`monitoring messages which would be added to a message
`monitoring database. Other events, exceptions, triggers and
`thresholds, could be tracked as well in various embodiments
`and be used to signal conditions, problems, etc. by various
`methods such as "flagged" or specially designated messages
`or other indicators.
`Access to the database(s) is, in the preferred embodi(cid:173)
`ments, on a sec