# US 7,610,379 B2 · Enterlink conductor for providing a federated business to business system that interconnects applications of multiple companies

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- Number: US 7,610,379 B2
- Document ID: US7610379B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 09/897,103
- Filed: 2001-07-03
- Published: 2002-07-18
- Granted: 2009-10-27
- Earliest claimed: 2001-01-18
- Assignees: Reynolds and Reynolds Holdings, Inc.
- Inventors: Mark H Hellbusch; Girish U Balsavar
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7610379B2

## CPC

- G06Q 10/06: Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
- G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
- G06Q 10/0877: {by inventory control or reporting using inventory tracking or counting}
- G06Q 40/03: Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
- G06Q 40/08: Insurance
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

The present invention, sometimes called Enterlink Conductor, provides a new approach to sharing public processes while maintaining specified controls for separation and security between process participants in a federated system with state that interconnects applications of multiple companies. The Enterlink Conductor comprises a process engine that executes compound processes, a compound process repository that stores compound processes, a process engine user interface to monitor and manage the process engine, a conductor engine that controls the operation of the process engine, a conductor repository that stores participant objects and relationship objects; and a conductor user interface to monitor and manage the conductor engine.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A federated system with state comprising:
a. a bus;
b. consolidated data stores, connected to the bus;
c. means for core services, connected to the bus;
d. means for public process applications, connected to the bus;
e. a plurality of private process connectors, each connected to the bus and each adapted to connect with a private process application of a participant; and
f. a web connection, connected to the bus and adapted to connect to third party services,
wherein
the consolidated data stores contain retail automotive industry data including:
a. an operational data store; and
b. a data warehouse for automobile service, automobile parts, and automobile customers,
the core services include:
a. management of participant trading agreements;
b. public process application integration;
c. integration of private process applications to public processes;
d. metachannel support and directory;
e. data transformation; and
f. internal business support functions, including monitoring and billing,
the public process applications include:
a. a warranty workflow application;
b. a parts management application;
c. a service scheduling application;
d. a service history application; and
e. an inventory management application,
the private process connectors include:
a. a dealer management system connector;
b. a dealer communication system connector;
c. an automobile manufacturer internal system connector; and
d. a finance company internal system connector,
the participants include:
a. automobile consumers;
b. automobile manufacturers;
c. government entities;
d. automobile exchanges; and
e. external data suppliers,
the connectors comprise:
a. an application specific interface;
b. a translation layer; and
c. an interface specific to the bus,
the third party services comprise:
a. automotive finance;
b. lead management;
c. automotive research;
d. insurance; and
e. parts locator, and
the bus comprises
a. a physical bus, with a plurality of channels;
b. a metachannel for connecting channels to each other;
c. a plurality of compound processes that interact with the plurality of channels and the metachannel;
d. a first process engine to facilitate the reading of messages from, and the writing of messages to channels;
e. a metachannel engine to control the interactions with the metachannel;
f. a metachannel repository that stores process services available to a plurality of applications;
g. a singular process model to identify the steps to be taken by a singular public process engine for processing a singular public process; and
h. a conductor that interacts with the compound processes to process the messages,
wherein the conductor comprises:
a. a second process engine that executes compound processes;
b. a compound process repository that stores compound processes;
c. a process engine user interface to monitor and manage the second process engine;
d. a conductor engine that controls the operation of the second process engine;
e. a conductor repository that stores participant objects and relationship objects; and
f. a conductor user interface to monitor and manage the conductor engine.

### Claim 2

A federated system with state comprising:
a. a bus, wherein one element of the bus is a conductor comprising:
i. a second process engine that executes compound processes;
ii. a compound process repository that stores compound processes;
iii. a process engine user interface to monitor and manage the second process engine;
iv. a conductor engine that controls the operation of the second process engine;
v. a conductor repository that stores participant objects and relationship objects; and
vi. a conductor user interface to monitor and manage the conductor engine;
b. consolidated data stores, connected to the bus;
c. means for core services, connected to the bus;
d. means for public process applications, connected to the bus;
e. a plurality of private process connectors, each connected to the bus and each adapted to connect with a private process application of a participant; and
f. a web connection, connected to the bus and adapted to connect to third party services.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system in claim 2 where the consolidated data stores contain retail automotive industry data including:
a. an operational data store; and
b. a data warehouse for automobile service, automobile parts, and automobile customers.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The system in claim 2, where the core services further include:
a. management of participant trading agreements;
b. public process application integration;
c. integration of private process applications to public processes;
d. metachannel support and directory;
e. data transformation; and
f. internal business support functions, including monitoring and billing.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The system in claim 2, where the public process applications include:
a. a warranty workflow application;
b. a parts management application;
c. a service scheduling application;
d. a service history application; and
e. an inventory management application.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The system in claim 2, where the private process connectors include:
a. a dealer management system connector;
b. a dealer communication system connector;
c. an automobile manufacturer internal system connector; and
d. a finance company internal system connector.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The system in claim 2, where the participants include:
a. automobile consumers;
b. automobile manufacturers;
c. government entities;
d. automobile exchanges; and
e. external data suppliers.

### Claim 8 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the third party services comprise:
a. automotive finance;
b. lead management;
c. automotive research;
d. insurance; and
e. parts locator.

### Claim 9 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the public process applications are selected from the group comprising automotive retail applications.

### Claim 10 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the connectors comprise:
a. an application specific interface;
b. a translation layer; and
c. an interface specific to the bus.

### Claim 11 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, where the private process application is selected from the group comprising automotive retail applications.

### Claim 12 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the third party services are selected from the group comprising automotive retail services.

### Claim 13 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the participants are selected from the group comprising participants in the automotive retail industry.

### Claim 14 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the consolidated data store is selected from the group comprising data sources used in the automotive retail industry.

### Claim 15 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the public processes comprise singular public processes and compound public processes.

### Claim 16 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2 where the private process applications read messages from and write messages to channels.

### Claim 17 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a metachannel for connecting channels to each other.

### Claim 18 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a plurality of compound processes that interact with a plurality of channels and a metachannel.

### Claim 19 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a first process engine to facilitate the reading of messages from, and the writing of messages to channels.

### Claim 20 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a metachannel engine to control the interactions with a metachannel.

### Claim 21 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a metachannel repository that stores process services available to a plurality of applications.

### Claim 22 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the bus further comprises a singular process model to identify the steps to be taken by a singular public process engine for processing a singular public process.

### Claim 23 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the conductor interacts with a plurality of compound processes to process messages.

### Claim 24 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the core services comprise presentation, connectivity, workflow, data, and hosting.

### Claim 25

A bus comprising
a. a physical bus, with a plurality of channels;
b. a metachannel for connecting channels to each other;
c. a plurality of compound processes that interact with the plurality of channels and the metachannel;
d. a first process engine to facilitate the reading of messages from, and the writing of messages to channels;
e. a metachannel engine to control the interactions with the metachannel;
f. a metachannel repository that stores process services available to a plurality of applications;
g. a singular process model to identify the steps to be taken by a singular public process engine for processing a singular public process; and
h. a conductor that interacts with the compound processes to process the messages, wherein the conductor comprises
a. a second process engine that executes compound processes;
b. a compound process repository that stores compound processes;
c. a process engine user interface to monitor and manage the second process engine;
d. a conductor engine that controls the operation of the second process engine;
e. a conductor repository that stores participant objects and relationship objects; and
f. a conductor user interface to monitor and manage the conductor engine.