Inventions on Integrating LDAP with Other Directories - A TRIZ Based Analysis of US Patents

Abstract

Thus the LDAP architecture allows multiple LDAP servers work together on the same directory tree or multiple directory trees. Besides, LDAP being built on an open architecture, it is quite possible to integrate with other directory servers. LDAP can be mapped onto any other directory system so long as the X.500 data and service model as used in LDAP is not violated in LDAP interface. LDAP server may store data in a Flat file, in RDBMS or in any other database. The LDAP client applications can use LDAP directory interface without having knowledge on the underlying data storage mechanism. However, there are some issues and concerns in integrating multiple LDAP servers or Integrating LDAP directories with other directories. Different directories may use different schema for their directory objects. It is not possible to integrating database of one schema directly with database having another schema. This article is a TRIZ based study of patents on integrating Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) with other directories. The objective of this article is to find the major concerns in integrating LDAP with other directories, find the IFR and trends of evolution in LDAP integration and predict the future lines of inventions on integrating LDAP with other directories. This article is a part of the main study made on LDAP based on 60 patents selected from US patent database.