Three integration methods for a component-based netpay vendor system

Abstract

We have developed NetPay, a micro-payment protocol characterized by off-line processing, customer anonymity and relatively high performance and security using one-way hashing functions for encryption. In our NetPay prototypes we have designed and implemented two kinds of NetPay vendor systems which use thin-client user interfaces, a component-based server-side infrastructure and CORBA remote objects for inter-system communications. We describe three alternative ways to integrate NetPay interface facilities into these existing E-Journal web applications. We describe the relative strengths and weaknesses with each approach and our experiences building prototypes of them. © Springer-Verlag 2004.