Patent ID: 7650410

Claim:
A method of transfer processing in a service network comprising a plurality of web-service providing devices, the method comprising: receiving a request for web services at a first web-service providing device; deciding whether to transfer processing of the request to second web-service providing devices or to process the request at the first web-service providing device; transferring the request without processing the request at the first web-service providing device when a decision is made to transfer processing, wherein transferring the request comprises: producing a transfer message having a destination-of-return header with information about the first web-service providing device and a body part including information for processing the request, sending the transfer message from one second web-service providing device to another second web-service providing device until a destination web-service processing device is reached, deciding whether to receive a response-bearing message corresponding to the transfer message and when a decision is made to receive the response-bearing message: adding information to the destination-of-return header, receiving the response-bearing message, removing the added information from the destination-of-return header, and sending the response-bearing message with the added information removed to a next web-service providing device based on the destination-of-return header, receiving at the first web-service providing device a response message corresponding to the transfer message, the response message containing a result of processing the request, and extracting the result of processing the request from the response message at the first web-service processing device; processing at the first web-service providing device the request for web services to obtain a result when a decision is made not to transfer processing; and sending a return message with the result of processing the request to the client device.