Management and arbitration of mobile service discovery

Abstract

A Registry, such as a UDDI registry, dynamically manages (e.g. filters and/or re-orders) answers to service queries by Service Consumers based at least on one or more of the individual states/status of Service Providers, the collective service environment state, and policies employed by the environment. The Registry may be configured to infer operational state/status about a Service Provider, such as impending unavailability due to very low battery reserves, and to remove providers from the registry if determined to be unavailable. The Registry may be configured to associate a shelf-life with a provider registration based on characteristics of the Service Provider, or based on past experience with the Service Provider. Such dynamic management allows the Registry to implement intelligent task distribution and load balancing between Service Providers, and to insulate Service Providers on fragile platforms (e.g. notebooks, handhelds, etc.) that may otherwise be overwhelmed by offering themselves as a traditional provider.