Towards Improving Web Service Registry and Repository Model Through Ontology-Based Semantic Interoperability

With the increasing popularity of Web services, both academia and industry have invested considerably in Web service description standards, discovery, and composition. Although interoperability at the syntax level is supported, the semantic interoperability is handicapped because of the different registry models of Web service. It is for this reason that the semantic and interoperable Web service registry & repository (R&R) model based on ontology is proposed. Based on ISO SC32 19763-3: MFI4OR (metamodel framework for interoperability: metamodel for ontology registration) we build a reference ontology (RO) of Web service and local ontologies (LOs) that evolve from RO. Whatever RO or LO, they all could be regarded as the registry schema of different Web service R&R models. It is more important that ontology evolution rules should be defined when LO evolves from RO and evolution information is to be recorded for the semantic consistency between the RO and LO, which help to enhance the ontology-based semantic interoperability between the different R&R models. Finally, a model of prototype system based on these methods is introduced.