CiAN: A Workflow Engine for MANETs

Most mature workflow management systems (WfMSs) available today execute workflows via orchestration of an available set of services, a process in which a central coordinating entity synchronously invokes services, obtains the results from the service execution, and passes them as input to downstream tasks in the workflow. This model of workflow execution is well suited to stable network environments but is ineffective in volatile, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) due to the dynamic network topology, transiency of links, and the lack of any available centralized fixed infrastructure. In such settings, it is preferable to execute workflow via choreography of services, where the command and control structures are distributed and each service may play its part in the overall execution without a direct impetus from the WfMS. In this paper, we present CiAN, a choreography-based workflow engine that is designed with MANETs in mind. We describe the design, architecture, and communication proto...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: COORDINATION
• Authors: Rohan Sen, Gruia-Catalin Roman, Christopher D. Gill
• Keywords: COORDINATION 2008, Distributed And Parallel Computing, Most Mature Workflow, Workflow, Workflow Execution