IMK2--A Database-Centric, Web Service Based Architecture for Distributed Resource-Oriented Queries

This paper will provide a summary of the IMK and IMK2 distributed software systems developed in the frame of the CRC457 research project. CRC457 is a research project of the Chemnitz University of Technology and deals with autonomous, elementary performance units, so-called competence units, which possess the ability of dynamically organizing themselves into non-hierarchical production networks at a regional level. IMK is a database of competence units which supports intelligent and partial multidimensional queries. First, the IMK software system will be described briefly and its structural limitations will be pointed out. Then, the motivations and the goals of the IMK2 reengineering project will be analyzed, with a particular focus on Web service orientation, scalability, extensibility towards new content types and unitary access paradigm. Finally, the design and the structure of the IMK2 software system will be presented and discussed