Seamless Integration of Distributed OSGi Bundles into Enterprise Processes using BPEL

Abstract

OSGi is a component technology, that can be run on a variety of differently equipped computing nodes. It is particularly suitable for resource-constraint nodes, such as product embedded systems. Business processes in application domains like Product Lifecycle Management can be improved by enabling the access of data from products. However, the complexity of OSGi services is typically much lower than enterprise services. Moreover, the services of OSGi bundles are not directly accessible from clients outside of the OSGi container. We present an approach that solves the problem of different service granularities by exposing OSGi services as Web Services. They are combined into a more complex service using the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). This enables the integration of small, distributed OSGi bundles into enterprise level business processes without a dedicated middleware. Furthermore, the benefits of OSGi are maintained, i.e. the relocation of bundles is transparent to the enterprise system and will not disrupt its operation.