A Workflow Fragmentation Framework for Enterprise Grid Workflow Systems

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on a workflow distribution methodology for deploying the workflow enactment functionality over enterprise grid computing environments. The essential idea of the workflow distribution methodology is about how to fragment a workflow model and how to allocate the fragmented workflow models over the workflow enactment infrastructure based upon an enterprise grid computing environment. The workflow distribution methodology, as an impeccable solution to implement the essential idea, proposed in the paper is a workflow fragmentation framework, which is broken down into three fragmentating approaches vertical workflow fragmentation approach, horizontal workflow fragmentation approach and hybrid of both. Conceptually speaking, the typical vertical fragmentation approach implies semantic-driven fragmentation methods, while on the other the horizontal fragmentation approach is to represent syntactic-driven fragmentation methods. Based on the ICN-based structured workflow model, this paper formalizes the proposed approaches of the workflow fragmentation framework and their detailed algorithms, and applies one of the approaches to an ICN-based structured workflow model as an operational example.