Patent ID: 7752331

Claim:
A distributed information processing system, comprising: a first computing device having a physical memory with a client device interface stored thereon, the client device interface being adapted to receive requests for a type of information from a plurality of remote devices; a second computing device having a physical memory with a stateless module manager stored thereon, the stateless module manager being adapted to receive and route said requests from said client device interface; and a plurality of third computing devices having physical memories with information modules stored thereon, wherein said information modules register with said stateless module manager, and wherein the stateless module manager routes said requests to an appropriate one of said plurality of information modules in accordance with the type of information requested, wherein the stateless module manager handles service collisions in which a plurality of information modules are capable of responding to the requests, such that only one information module processes the requests, wherein the stateless module manager enables only one of the information modules to claim the requests and to receive all subsequent requests associated with the type of information, the stateless module manager enabling the only one information module to receive the subsequent requests independent of an availability of other information modules; and wherein said client device interface is adapted to receive a plurality of request types, said request types comprising: on-demand requests, which are sent to said client device interface by a user of one of said remote devices when said user desires an on-demand response; scheduled requests, which are sent to said client device interface by said user when said user desires a plurality of scheduled responses from a subscription service provided by one of said information modules; and event driven requests, which are sent to said client device interface from one of said remote devices when certain criteria are met.