Dynamically Adaptable Web Services Based on the Simple Object Access Protocol

Abstract

Dynamic protocol stacks enable a developer to select a particular protocol profile at bind time where each protocol profile is built from a rich library of protocol modules including UDP, packet loss detection, data encryption, TCP, Multicast among others. Communicating objects can be represented as object graphs that together realise the required behaviour built upon the IP service offered by the host computer. All protocols down to device driver level can be implemented at the user level, providing the maximum potential for configurability. The simple object access protocol (SOAP) is a lightweight remote procedure calling (RPC) protocol for the exchange of structured data in a decentralized environment. SOAP enables programs to run and interoperate with other SOAP applications (called Web services) in a distributed environment. The SOAP protocol is based on extensible markup language (XML) and hypertext transmission protocol (HTTP), which, it is claimed, makes it a language and platform neutral vehicle for RPC over the Internet and through firewalls. This chapter describes a SOAP Web service deployed which enables clients to download protocol stack components as simple MIME attachments.