MIDDLEWARE TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION:
Middleware is computer
software that provides services to software applications beyond those available
from the operating system.
·
It can be described as "software
glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement
communication and input/output, so they can focus on the specific
purpose of their application.
Middleware distributed
applications
Middleware Software architecture 
Middleware (distributed application)
The
term is most commonly used for software that enables communication and
management of data in distributed applications. Middleware is
especially integral to modern information technology based on XML, SOAP,
Web services,
and service-oriented architecture.
An
IETF
workshop in 2000 defined middleware as "those services found above the transport
(i.e., over TCP/IP) layer set of services but below the application
environment" (i.e., below application-level APIs).
In
this more specific sense middleware can be described as the dash
("-") in client-server,
or the -to- in peer-to-peer.
Middleware includes web servers,
application servers, content management systems,
and similar tools that support application development and delivery.
Object Web defines middleware as:
The
software layer that lies between the system and applications on
each side of a distributed computing system in a network. Services
that can be regarded as middleware include enterprise application integration,
data integration, message oriented middleware
(MOM), object request brokers (ORBs), and the
enterprise service bus (ESB).
Some
of them are language specific implementations and support heterogeneous
features and other related communication features. Examples of
database-oriented middleware include ODBC,
JDBC
and transaction processing monitors.
Other examples
The term middleware is used in other contexts
as well. Middleware is sometimes used in a similar sense to a software driver,
an abstraction layer that hides detail about hardware devices or other software
from an application.
The
mer software distribution
is a middleware: it lacks the Linux kernel
and it also lacks a UI. Mer is targeted at hardware vendors' mobile-oriented
operating systems.
The
Android operating system uses
the Linux
kernel at its core, and also provides an application framework that developers
incorporate into their applications.
In addition, Android provides a middleware
layer including libraries that provide services
such as data storage, screen display, multimedia,
and web browsing. Because the middleware libraries are compiled
to machine language, services execute
quickly.
Middleware libraries also implement
device-specific functions, so applications and the application framework need
not concern themselves with variations between various Android devices.
Android's middleware layer also contains the Dalvikvirtual machine
and its core Java application libraries.
Game engine software such as Gamebryo
and Renderware
are sometimes described as middleware, because they provide many services to
simplify game development.
In simulation technology, middleware is generally used in the
context of the high level architecture
(HLA) that applies to many distributed simulations. It is a layer of software
that lies between the application code
and the run-time infrastructure.
Middleware
generally consists of a library of functions, and enables a number of
applications—simulations or federates in HLA terminology—to page
these functions from the common library rather than re-create them for each
application.
Wireless networking developers can use middleware to meet the challenges
associated with a wireless sensor network (WSN).
Implementing a middleware application allows WSN developers to integrate operating
systems and hardware with the wide variety of various applications that are
currently available.
The QNX
operating system offers middleware for providing multimedia services for use in
automobiles,
aircraft
and other environments.
Multimedia Home Platform
(DVB-MHP) is an open middleware system standard designed by the Digital Video Broadcasting
(DVB) project for interactive digital television. The MHP enables the reception
and execution of interactive, Java-based applications on a television set.
The Miles Sound System provided a middleware software driver
allowing developers to build software that worked with a range of different
sound cards, without concerning themselves with the details of each card.
Radio-frequency identification
software toolkits provide middleware to filter noisy and redundant raw data.
Television,
media and set-top-box
software often refers to middleware. For instance, OpenTV 5
middleware (sometimes called Connectware) is a Linux
and HTML5
distribution for set-top-box.
Types:
Message-oriented
middleware
Message-oriented middleware
(MOM) is middleware where transactions or event notifications are delivered
between disparate systems or components by way of messages, often via an enterprise messaging system.
With
MOM, messages sent to the client are collected and stored until they are acted
upon, while the client continues with other processing.
Enterprise messaging system
An enterprise messaging system
is a type of middleware that facilitates message passing between disparate
systems or components in standard formats, often using XML, SOAP
or web services.
As
part of an enterprise messaging system, message broker
software may queue, duplicate, translate and deliver messages to disparate
systems or components in a messaging system.
Enterprise service bus
Enterprise service bus (ESB) is
defined by the Burton Group as "some type of integration
middleware product that supports both message-oriented middleware
and Web services".
Intelligent
middleware
Intelligent Middleware
(IMW) provides real-time intelligence
and event management through intelligent agents. The IMW manages the real-time processing
of high volume sensor signals and turns these signals into intelligent and
actionable business information.
The
actionable information is then delivered in end-user power dashboards to
individual users or is pushed to systems within or outside the enterprise. It
is able to support various heterogeneous types of hardware and software and
provides an API for interfacing with external systems.
It
should have a highly scalable, distributed architecture
which embeds intelligence throughout the network to transform raw data
systematically into actionable and relevant knowledge. It can also be packaged
with tools to view and manage operations and build advanced network
applications most effectively.
Content-centric
middleware
Content-centric middleware offers a simple provider-consumer
abstraction through which applications can issue requests for uniquely
identified content, without worrying about where or how it is obtained. Juno is
one example, which allows applications to generate content requests associated
with high-level delivery requirements.
The middleware then adapts the underlying delivery
to access the content from sources that are best suited to matching the
requirements. This is therefore similar to Publish/subscribe
middleware, as well as the Content-centric networking
paradigm.
Remote procedure call
Remote procedure call middleware
enables a client to use services running on remote systems. The process can be synchronous
or asynchronous.
Object request broker
With
object request broker middleware, it
is possible for applications to send objects and request services in an
object-oriented system.
SQL-oriented data access
Embedded middleware
Embedded
middleware provides communication services and software/firmware
integration interface that operates between embedded applications, the embedded
operating system, and external applications.
Vendors
IBM, Red Hat,
Oracle Corporation and Microsoft
are some of the vendors that provide middleware software. Vendors such as Axway,
SAP,
TIBCO,
Informatica,
Objective Interface Systems,
Pervasive and webMethods
were specifically founded to provide more niche middleware solutions.
Microsoft
.NET "Framework" architecture is essentially "Middleware"
with typical middleware functions distributed between the various products,
with most inter-computer interaction by industry standards, open APIs or RAND
software licence.
older legacy systems, although the term had been in use since 1968.It
also facilitated distributed processing, the connection
of multiple applications to create a larger application, usually over a
network.
Use of middleware
Middleware services provide a more functional set of application programming interfaces
to allow an application to:
Locate
transparently across the network, thus providing interaction with another
service or application
Filter
data to make them friendly usable or public via anonymization process for privacy protection (for
example)
·
Be independent from network services
·
Be reliable and always available
·
When compared to the operating system
and network services.
Middleware offers some unique technological advantages for business and
industry. For example, traditional database systems are usually deployed in
closed environments where users access the system only via a restricted network
or intranet
(e.g., an enterprise’s internal network).
With the phenomenal growth of the
World Wide Web, users can access
virtually any database for which they have proper access rights from anywhere
in the world.
Middleware addresses the problem
of varying levels of interoperability
among different database structures Middleware facilitates transparent access
to legacy database management systems
(DBMSs) or applications via a web server
without regard to database-specific characteristics.
Businesses frequently use
middleware applications to link information from departmental databases, such
as payroll, sales, and accounting, or databases housed in multiple geographic
locations.
In the highly competitive healthcare community, laboratories make
extensive use of middleware applications for data mining,
laboratory information system
(LIS) backup, and to combine systems during hospital mergers. Middleware helps
bridge the gap between separate LISs in a newly formed healthcare network
following a hospital buyout.
Middleware can help software
developers avoid having to write application programming interfaces
(API) for every control program, by serving as an independent programming
interface for their applications.
For Future Internet network operation
through traffic monitoring in multi-domain scenarios, using mediator
tools (middleware) is a powerful help since they allow operators,
searchers and service providers to supervise Quality of service and analyse eventual
failures in telecommunication services.
Finally, e-commerce uses middleware to assist in handling rapid and
secure transactions over many different types of computer environments. In
short, middleware has become a critical element across a broad range of
industries, thanks to its ability to bring together resources across dissimilar
networks or computing platforms.
In 2004 members of the European Broadcasting Union
(EBU) carried out a study of Middleware with respect to system integration in
broadcast environments.
Conclusion
Middleware gained popularity in
the 1980s as a solution to the problem of how to link newer applications to
older legacy systems, although the term had been in use since 1968.It also
facilitated distributed processing, the connection
of multiple applications to create a larger application, usually over a network.
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