A case study of Middleware to Middleware: MOM and ORB interoperability

Diversity in distributed applications leads to diversity in distribution models, and hence in middleware. However, large systems may need different types of middleware and interoperability between them, requiring “Middleware to Middleware” architectures. We have introduced the schizophrenic middleware concept as a general solution for interoperability between distribution models. PolyORB, our implementation of a schizophrenic middleware, demonstrates full interoperability between CORBA, SOAP, and the Ada 95 Distributed System Annex (DSA). In this paper, we present an assessment of the usability of our platform to implement Message Oriented Middleware (MOM). We then study MOM and ORB interoperability, from both an architectural and a functional point of view, and finally discuss benefits provided by our architecture to implement middleware.