`
`Ex. 1015
`EX. 1015
`
`US Patent No. 6,115,040 (“Bladow”)
`US Patent No. 6,115,040 (“Bladow”)
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`United States Patent [19]
`Bladow et al.
`
`[54] GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR WEB
`ENABLED APPLICATIONS
`
`[75] Inventors: Chad R. Bladow, Monument; Carol Y.
`Devine, Colorado Springs, both of
`-
`-
`Colo.; Edward Schwarz, New York;
`e
`Arieh Shamash, Great Neck, both of
`NY; Richard W. Shoulberg, Manitou
`Springs; Jeffrey A. Wood, Colorado
`Springs, both of Colo.
`
`[73] Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation,
`Washington, D.C.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 09/159,515
`[22] Filed:
`Sep. 24, 1998
`
`US006115040A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`6,115,040
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`5,699,403 12/1997 Ronnen ..................................... 379/32
`5,706,502
`1/1998 Foley et al. .....
`... 707/10
`5,708,780
`1/1998 Levergood et al.
`. 709/229
`5,721,908 2/1998 Lagarde et al. ........................... 707/10
`5,721,913 2/1998 Ackroff et al. ------------------------- 707/103
`5,727,129 3/1998 Barrett et al. ...
`... 706/10
`5.734,709 3
`-
`2 * ~ * >
`/1998 DeWitt et al. ..
`. 379/207
`5,734,831
`3/1998 Sanders .......
`... 709/223
`5,742,762 4/1998 Scholl et al. .
`. 709/200
`5,742,768 4/1998 Gennaro et al. ........................ 709/203
`5,742,905 4/1998 Pepe et al. .............................. 455/461
`5,745,754 4/1998 Lagarde et al. ......................... 707/104
`5,754,830 5/1998 Butts et al. ..
`. 709/311
`5,764,756 6/1998 Onweller ................................. 379/242
`(List continued on next page.)
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`WO 97/16911
`5/1997 WIPO .
`
`[56]
`
`2~~~ 2
`
`all III?låll él &ll. ........................
`
`-
`
`-
`
`-
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`[60] Provisional application No. 60/060,655, Sep. 26, 1997.
`Computer Networks, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, 1996, pp.
`[51] Int. Cl." ............................... G06F 3/00; G06F 15/16
`410–412.
`[52] U.S. Cl. .......................... 345/335; 345/329; 345/969;
`“XIIR6.3 (Broadway) Overview”, http://www.x.org/broad
`345/334; 345/356; 709/303; 709/203; 709/217
`way.htm, 1997.
`[58] Field of Search ..................................... 345/329, 331,
`“Stac Unveils Windows NT 4.0 and Web Browser Support
`345/335, 339, 333, 334, 346, 969, 356,
`in New ReachCut 7” http://www.stac.com/news/pressrel/
`357; 707/501, 513; 709/303, 302, 203,
`pr ro? unveil.html, Feb. 1997.
`223, 224, 217, 229, 227
`Primary Examiner—Raymond J. Bayerl
`References Cited
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`º :! º et º, al --------------------------- º: An integrated system of user interfaces for communicating
`5,475,836 12/1995 Harris et al. ......
`ºx ..."...º.º.º.º.
`5,483,596
`1/1996 Rosenow et al. .
`... 713/167
`ge:
`d closing th
`y f
`g. d wi º
`5,491,779 2/1996 Bezjian ................
`... sasauo
`overseeing and closing the user interfaces associated with a
`5,530,744 6/1996 Charalambous et al.
`... 379/265
`plurality of applications residing in a remote server. Each
`5,548,726 8/1996 Pettus ...................
`... 709/221
`application communicates with one another and with the
`5,621,727 4/1997 Vaudreuil
`... 370/401
`backplane via messaging interfaces. The backplane provides
`5,623,601
`4/1997 Vu ......
`... 713/201
`a single uniform user authentication procedure during logon
`5,630.066 5/1997 Gosling.
`709/217 X
`for the user interfaces and also provides session manage
`; %!. * ------------------------------------------- º, ment for a duration of a user session. Session information is
`5,671,354 9/1997 Ito et al. .......
`... 713/201 º by º º key or keys for identi
`5,689,645 11/1997 Schettler et al. ..
`... 709/226
`ying Ine session wiln remote servers.
`5,692,030 11/1997 Teglovic et al. .......................... 379/14
`5,696,906 12/1997 Peters et al. .............................. 705/34
`
`2 < x_* < 2
`
`£WIS ....
`
`----
`
`-
`
`...
`
`-
`
`-
`
`-
`
`-
`
`i
`
`29 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`COBackPlane
`58(a) ,53(b)
`58(c)
`
`74
`
`COApp
`Launching from
`Backplane
`
`COApp
`(e.g. Service Inquiry)
`
`has
`
`COAppFrame
`
`Graphical User
`Interface
`Object
`
`Application. Using
`Gmmon Object
`Services
`
`56(a)
`
`Web Browser
`
`COApp
`(Event Monitor)
`
`has
`
`
`
`COAppFrame
`has a Number
`of CO.Views
`
`

`

`6,115,040
`Page 2
`
`5,815,665 9/1998 Teper et al. ............................. 709/229
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,819,225 10/1998 Eastwood et al. ...................... 704/275
`714/48
`6/1998 Lewi
`5,768,501
`5.78178 º: Anº halam ..."º: 5,819,271 10/1998 Mahoney et al. ........................... 707/9
`sisi'sso 7/109s *º -
`37020.
`5,826,029 10/1998 Gore, Jr. et al.
`. 709/227
`sºsios, 7/109s §. -
`... 70s is
`5,826,269 10/1998 Hussey ...................................... 707/10
`5.787 too 7/109s Chaneye al?º
`379,220
`5,835,084 11/1998 Bailey et al. ........................... 345/326
`5790.780 8/1998 Bricità e a
`714/46
`5,844,896 12/1998 Marks et al. ............................ 370/385
`5790.739 sigos sunrº j | 70620,
`5,845,067 12/1998 Porter et al. ............................ 713/200
`5,793,762 8/1998 Penners et al. ...
`. 370/389
`5,845,267 12/1998 Ronen .........
`--- 705/40
`5,793,964 8/1998 Rogers et al. ........
`... 709/202
`5,850,517 12/1998 Verkler et al.
`. 709/202
`5,796,393 8/1998 MacNaughton et al.
`... 345/329
`5,852,810 12/1998 Sotiroff et al.
`... 705/27
`5,802,320 9/1998 Baehr et al. .........
`... 709/249
`5,852,812 12/1998 Reeder ...................................... 705/39
`5,805,803 9/1998 Birrell et al. .....
`... 713/201
`5,974,441 10/1999 Rogers et al. ...................... 707/513 X
`5,812,654 9/1998 Anderson et al.
`. 379/207
`5,999,972 12/1999 Gish ........................................ 709/219
`5,815,080 9/1998 Taguchi ................................... 340/635
`6,014,702
`1/2000 King et al. .............................. 709/227
`
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 1 of 12
`
`6,115,040
`
`
`
`Front-End
`Front-End
`Front-End
`Business Logic | Business Logic | Business Logic
`
`Backplane Services, Presentation Services...
`
`Front-End Services Framework
`
`Session Services, Communication Services
`
`Back-End Services Framework
`
`Request Handlers
`
`Back-End Business Logic
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 2 of 12
`
`6,115,040
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`pueqpeOug -
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 3 of 12
`
`6,115,040
`
`e = = - * = s.s.
`
`
`
`COApp
`Launching from
`Backplane
`
`
`
`
`
`COApp
`(e.g. Service Inquiry)
`
`has
`
`COAppFrame Y. Application. Using
`Common Object
`Services
`
`Graphical User
`Interface
`Object
`
`
`
`56(a (a)
`
`58(c)
`
`14
`
`Web Browser
`
`54(b)
`
`COApp
`(Event Monitor)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`COAppFrame
`has a Number
`of COViews
`
`56(b)
`
`FIG. 3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 4 of 12
`
`6,115,040
`
`250
`
`
`
`[l networkMCI Interact Home
`|File Edit View Go Favorites Help
`Q Q [T]
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`networkMCI Interact
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`Features
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`Copyright 1997, 1998, MCI Telecommunications Corporation, All Rights Reserved.
`The names, logos, taglines and iconsidentifying MCI's products and services are proprietary
`marks of MCI Communications Corporations.
`Application Toolbar
`
`FIG. 4
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 5 of 12
`Sheet 5 0f 12
`
`6,115,040
`6,115,040
`
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 6 of 12
`
`6,115,040
`
`
`
`[l networkMCI Interact Login
`File Edit View Go Favorites Help
`?º Q [T]
`<=
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`232
`? Products &
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`
`Copyright 1997, 1998, MCI Telecommunications Corporation, All Rights Reserved.
`The names, logos, taglines and iconsidentifying MCI's products and services are proprietary
`marks of MCI Communications Corporations.
`
`|-|Internet Zone Z.
`
`FIG. 6
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 8 of 12
`
`6,115,040
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`U.S. Patent
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`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 9 of 12
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`6,115,040
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`US. Patent
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`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 10 0f 12
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`6,115,040
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`US. Patent
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`Sep. 5, 2000
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`Sheet 11 0f 12
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`6,115,040
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`U.S. Patent
`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 5, 2000
`Sep. 5, 2000
`
`Sheet 12 of 12
`Sheet 12 0f 12
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`6,115,040
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`

`6,115,040
`
`1
`GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR WEB
`ENABLED APPLICATIONS
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`The following patent application claims the benefit of
`U.S. Provisional Patent Application U.S. Ser. No. 60/060,
`655, filed Sep. 26, 1997, entitled INTEGRATED CUS
`TOMER INTERFACE SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICA
`10
`TIONS MANAGEMENT.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`generally requires an intensive effort on the customer and the
`software support team before any reliable and secure ses
`sions are possible.
`Secondly, dial-up, modem, and communications software
`interact with each other in many ways which are not always
`predictable to a custom application, requiring extensive
`trouble shooting and problem solving for an enterprise
`wishing to make the legacy system available to the customer,
`particularly where various telephone exchanges, dialing
`standards or signal standards are involved.
`Thirdly, although more businesses are turning to the
`Internet to improve customer service and lower costs by
`providing Web-based support systems, when an enterprise
`wishes to make more than one system available to the
`customer, the custom application for one legacy system is
`not able to connect to a different legacy system, and the
`customer must generally logoff and logon to switch from one
`to the other. The delivery technology used by the two legacy
`systems may be different, requiring different interface
`standards, and different machine level languages may be
`used by the two system, as for example, the 96 character
`EBCDIC language used by IBM, and 127 ASCII character
`language used by contemporary personal computers.
`Therefore, an integrated and unified Web-based system for
`providing an access to a number of different legacy systems
`in one session is desired.
`Finally, the security and entitlement features of the vari
`ous legacy systems may be completely different, and vary
`from system to system and platform to platform. It is
`therefore, desired to provide connectivity to enterprise
`legacy systems over the public Internet, as the Internet
`provides access connectivity world wide via the TCP/IP
`protocol, without need to navigate various telephone
`exchanges, dialing standards or signal standards.
`The popularity of the public Internet provides a measure
`of platform independence for the customer, as the customer
`can run their own Internet Web browser and utilize their own
`platform connection to the Internet to enable services. This
`resolves many of the platform hardware and connectivity
`issues in the customers favor, and leaves the choice of
`platform and operating system to the customer. Web-based
`programs can minimize the need for training and support
`since they utilize existing client software which the user has
`already installed and already knows how to use. Further, if
`the customer later changes that platform, then, as soon as the
`new platform is Internet enabled, service is restored to the
`customer. The connectivity and communications software
`burden is thus resolved in favor of standard and readily
`available hardware and the browser and software used by the
`public Internet connection.
`An Internet delivered paradigm obviates many of the
`installation and configuration problems involved with initial
`setup and configuration of a customer workstation, since the
`custom application required to interface with the legacy
`system can be delivered via the pubic Internet and run within
`a standard Web browser, reducing application compatibility
`issues to browser compatibility issues.
`For the enterprise, the use of off-the-shelf Web browsers
`by the customer significantly simplifies the enterprise bur
`den by limiting the client development side to screen layout
`designs and data presentation tools that use a common
`interface enabled by the Web browser. Software develop
`ment and support resources are thus available for the deliv
`ery of the enterprise legacy services and are not consumed
`by a need for customer support at the workstation level.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention is directed to an integrated graphi
`cal user interface system for enabling a user to interact with
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates in general to computer
`software, and more particularly to a user interface software
`in a client-server network architecture.
`2. Background Art
`A client-server software system having a graphical user
`interface front-end and one or more back-end legacy sys
`tems are generally known in the information systems indus
`tries. World Wide Web (Web)-based online systems are also
`starting to emerge as the use of the Internet proliferates
`world wide. These Web-based online systems usually
`employ a Web browser displaying Hypertext Markup Lan
`guage (HTML) pages as graphical user interface (GUI), and
`often include Java applets and Common Gateway Interface
`(CGI) programs for customer interaction. In these systems,
`however the retrieval from a given Uniform Resource Loca
`tor (URL) and display on the customer’s screen are often
`performed on a page by page basis. That is, each page
`retrieved and displayed is independent of any previous or
`subsequent pages. Because each page is displayed and run
`independently of one another, components existing on a
`page are limited in their ability to communicate with other
`components existing on other pages. Moreover, there is no
`backbone architecture for managing and overseeing GUI
`when screen displays are presented as independent HTML
`pages. Additionally, the HTML pages and Java applets are
`40
`usually confined to a Web browser within which they are
`running. Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide a Web
`base GUI system which includes a backbone architecture for
`managing and enabling communications and interoperabil
`ity among various processes or components comprising the
`GUI system, and at the same time provide some indepen
`dence from the Web browser within which the GUI is
`running.
`In conventional systems, a connection is made with a
`large legacy system via a dial-up connection from a cus
`tomer owned personal computer or workstation. This con
`nection frequently, although not always, emulates a terminal
`addressable by the legacy systems. The dial-up access
`requires custom software on the customer workstation to
`provide dial-up services, communication services, emula
`tion and/or translation services and generally some resident
`custom form of the legacy application to interface with the
`midrange or mainframe computer running the legacy sys
`tem.
`There are several problems associated with the approach.
`First, the aforementioned software is very hardware
`dependent, requiring multiple versions of software compat
`ible with each of a wide range of workstations customers
`generally have. Therefore, extensive inventory for distribu
`tion becomes necessary. If the customer hardware platform
`changes through an upgrade, the software licensing issues
`must be renegotiated. Moreover, installing the software
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`one or more application services provided by remote servers.
`The present invention utilizes the Web paradigm to allow
`easy and convenient access from the user’s perspective. In
`order to provide cross-platform software that is not depen
`dent on specific hardware or operating system, the present
`invention is implemented using programming languages,
`such as Java" which only requires a Java" enabled Web
`browser.
`The system of the present invention includes an applica
`tion backplane unit for controlling and managing the overall
`user interface system to a number of Web enabled applica
`tion services. By invoking the backplane unit a user may
`receive a number of disparate services available from the
`remote ServerS.
`Each remote service includes its own user interface unit,
`referred heretofore as a client application, independently
`implemented of one another and the backplane. Although
`the client applications are independently developed as sepa
`rate modules, the system of the present invention provides a
`capability of integrating the client applications into one
`unified system, allowing users to access the individual client
`applications via the backplane unit.
`As a novel feature, the present invention provides interop
`erability between each of the client applications and the
`backplane, as well as among each of the client applications.
`Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to
`provide an integrated customer interface system to a number
`of disparate services available from remote servers, wherein
`separate client applications may communicate with one
`another and with the backplane unit.
`The present invention includes a centralized user authen
`tication feature to insure that the user has valid access to the
`system. The authentication procedure generally includes a
`logon object which prompts for and accepts the user’s name
`and password. The logon object then communicates the
`logon transaction to a remote server responsible for screen
`ing those users attempting to access remote services. Once
`a user has been authenticated by the system of the present
`invention, the user need not be validated again each time the
`user accesses another remote server via the respective serv
`er’s user interface program. In addition, each application
`may supplement the provided authentication procedure, with
`its own method of authentication by communicating with its
`respective servers independently. Accordingly, it is another
`object of this invention to provide a unified authentication
`process for all remote services to insure that only those users
`with valid access code may access the remote services.
`Once a validated user is logged onto the system, the user
`is presented with a set of remote services which the user may
`obtain. The set of remote services available for each user is
`unique and depends on each user’s subscriptions to the
`services. The set of service subscription, then forms the
`user’s entitlements for the services. Thus, for example, if a
`user subscribes to a toll free network service, the user is
`entitled to access information regarding the service. On the
`other hand, if the user does not subscribe to the toll free
`network service, that option is not available for the user to
`select.
`The present invention includes a user object to represent
`a current user logged onto the system. This user object, inter
`alia, is responsible for obtaining from a remote server the
`current user’s information including the user’s entitlements
`to various remote services. The backplane uses the entitle
`ment information to provide only those services available to
`the user. As explained previously, the backplane would
`deactivate the services to which the user did not have the
`entitlements, effectually blocking the user from accessing
`those services.
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`In addition, the user information is maintained for the
`duration of a logon session, allowing both the backplane and
`the client applications to access the information as needed
`throughout the duration of the session. The backplane and
`the client applications use the information to selectively
`provide remote services to users. Accordingly, it is yet
`another object of the present invention to provide a mecha
`nism for retrieving and maintaining user information and
`entitlements such that they are available to processes and
`threads running on the client platform without having to
`communicate with a remote server every time the informa
`tion is needed.
`The system of the present invention presents the remote
`services for the user to select in a form of an application
`toolbar on a screen. The toolbar runs in an independent
`frame and allows the users to access different remote ser
`vices from any screen during the life of a session.
`The system of the present invention implements a “keep
`alive message” passed between a client and a server, also
`called a “heartbeat”. For example, a keep alive message is
`sent every predefined period, e.g., 1 minute from a client
`application to the server. When the client application fails to
`heartbeat consecutively for a predetermined period of time,
`for example, one hour, the server treats this client applica
`tion as having exited by closing the application and per
`forming cleanup routines associated with the application.
`This mechanism effectively prevents unwanted sessions
`from remaining open in the event of client application
`failures. Accordingly, it is further object of the present
`invention to provide a mechanism for detecting communi
`cation failures among the “stateless” processes running the
`present invention.
`The present invention also includes object oriented base
`classes and interfaces for the backplane and the client
`applications to use. The client applications typically extend
`and implement them in order to achieve tight integration
`with the backplane unit. By use of the base classes and
`interfaces, the client applications may be implemented in
`more than one way.
`For example, the client application may be derived
`directly from the java object class, or alternatively, from the
`java applet class. Depending on the implementation
`mechanism, the backplane may launch the client applica
`tions either directly or by retrieving another Web page which
`launches the client application. Accordingly, it is further
`object of the present invention to provide a flexible and
`modular approach to implementing each of the client appli
`cations as need arises, and yet at the same time provide
`tightly controlled runtime environment for the disparate
`client applications.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now
`be described, by way of example only, with reference to the
`accompanying drawings in which:
`FIG. 1 illustrates the software architecture component
`comprising a three-tiered structure;
`FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic overview of the software archi
`tecture of the networkMCI Interact system;
`FIG. 3 is an illustrative example of a backplane architec
`ture schematic as invoked from a home page of the present
`system;
`FIG. 4 illustrates an example client GUI presented to the
`client/customer as a browser Web page;
`FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting the physical network
`architecture in the system of the present invention;
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`FIG. 6 is an example illustrating a logon Web page of the
`present invention;
`FIG. 7 is a context diagram illustrating it interactions with
`a user, a client platform, OE system and other application
`systems such as the inbox, report requester, and network
`manager;
`FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram illustrating the present
`invention’s process flow during logon, entitlement request/
`response, heartbeat transmissions and logoff procedures;
`FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram for various transactions
`communicated in the system of the present invention;
`FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a logon process to
`the system of the present invention;
`FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating the backplane logic
`process when a user selects a service; and
`FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a security module design
`having clean separation from the browser specific imple
`mentations.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`An Overview of the Web-Enabled Integrated
`System
`The present invention is one component of an integrated
`suite of customer network management and report applica
`tions using a Web browser paradigm. Known as the net
`workMCI Interact system (“nMCI Interact”) such an inte
`grated suite of Web-based applications provides an
`invaluable tool for enabling customers to manage their
`telecommunication assets, quickly and securely, from any
`where in the world.
`As described in co-pending U.S. patent application No.
`09/159,695, filed Sep. 24, 1998 the nMCI Interact system
`architecture is basically organized as a set of common
`components comprising the following:
`1) an object-oriented software architecture detailing the
`client and server based aspect of nMCI Interact;
`2) a network architecture defining the physical network
`needed to satisfy the security and data volume requirements
`of the networkMCI System;
`3) a data architecture detailing the application, back-end
`or legacy data sources available for networkMCI Interact;
`and
`4) an infrastructure covering security, order entry,
`fulfillment, billing, self-monitoring, metrics and support.
`Each of these common component areas will be generally
`discussed hereinbelow. A detailed description of each of
`these components can be found in a related, co-pending U.S.
`patent application U.S. Ser. No. 09/159,695, filed Sep. 24,
`1998 entitled INTEGRATED CUSTOMER INTERFACE
`SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
`55
`MANAGEMENT, the disclosure of which is incorporated
`herein by reference thereto.
`FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the software
`architecture component in which the present invention func
`tions. A first or client tier 10 of software services are resident
`on a customer workstation 10 and provides customer access
`to the enterprise system, having one or more downloadable
`application objects directed to front-end business logic, one
`or more backplane service objects for managing sessions,
`one or more presentation services objects for the presenta
`tion of customer options and customer requested data in a
`browser recognizable format and a customer supplied
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`browser for presentation of customer options and data to the
`customer and for Internet communications over the public
`Internet. Additional applications are directed to front-end
`services such as the presentation of data in the form of tables
`and charts, and data processing functions such as sorting and
`summarizing in a manner such that multiple programs are
`combined in a unified application suite.
`A second or middle tier 16, is provided having secure web
`servers and back-end services to provide applications that
`establish user sessions, govern user authentication and their
`entitlements, and communicate with adaptor programs to
`simplify the interchange of data across the network.
`A third or back-end tier 18 having applications directed to
`legacy back-end services including database storage and
`retrieval systems and one or more database servers for
`accessing system resources from one or more legacy hosts.
`Generally, as will be explained below, the customer
`workstation includes client software capable of providing a
`platform-independent, browser-based, consistent user inter
`face implementing objects programmed to provide a reus
`able and common GUI abstraction and problem-domain
`abstractions. More specifically, the client-tier software is
`created and distributed as a set of Java classes including the
`applet classes to provide an industrial strength, object
`oriented environment over the Internet. Application-specific
`classes are designed to support the functionality and server
`interfaces for each application with the functionality deliv
`ered through the system being of two-types: 1) cross
`product, for example, inbox and reporting functions, and 2)
`product specific, for example, toll free network management
`or call management functions. The system is capable of
`delivering to customers the functionality appropriate to their
`product mix.
`FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic overview of the software archi
`tecture of the networkMCI Interact system including: the
`Customer Browser (a.k.a. the Client) 20: the Demilitarized
`Zone (DMZ) 17 comprising a Web Servers cluster 24; the
`MCI Intranet Dispatcher Server 26; and the MCI Intranet
`Application servers 30, and the data warehouses, legacy
`systems, etc. 40.
`The Customer Browser 20, is browser enabled and
`includes client applications responsible for presentation and
`front-end services. Its functions include providing a user
`interface to various MCI services and supporting commu
`nications with MCI’s Intranet web server cluster 24. As
`illustrated in FIG. 3, and more specifically described below,
`the client tier software is responsible for presentation ser
`vices to the customer and generally includes a web browser
`14 and additional object-oriented programs residing in the
`client workstation platform 20. The client software is gen
`erally organized into a component architecture with each
`component generally comprising a specific application, pro
`viding an area of functionality. The applications generally
`are integrated using a “backplane” services layer 12 which
`provides a set of services to the application objects that
`provide the front-end business logic. The backplane services
`layer 12 also manages the launching of the application
`objects. The networkMCI Interact common set of objects
`provide a set of services to each of the applications. The set
`of services include: 1) session management; 2) application
`launch; 3) inter-application communications; 4) window
`navigation among applications; 5) log management; and 6)
`version management.
`The primary common object services include: graphical
`user interface (GUI); communications; printing; user
`identity, authentication, and entitlements; data import and
`export; logging and statistics; error handling; and messaging
`services.
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`FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic example of a backplane archi
`tecture scheme illustrating the relationship among the com
`mon objects. In this example, the backplane services layer
`12 is programmed as a Java applet which may be load