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EP-4175236-B1 - METHOD AND IOT-DATA SINK DEVICE FOR MANAGING NETWORK STRUCTURE CHANGES OF AN IOT-NETWORK WITH AT LEAST ONE IOT-DATA SOURCE DEVICE

EP4175236B1EP 4175236 B1EP4175236 B1EP 4175236B1EP-4175236-B1

Inventors

  • GATZHAMMER, Bernhard
  • Oeh, Dominik
  • Winhuysen, Jan

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20211029

Claims (11)

  1. Computer-implemented method for managing network structure changes of an IoT-network (NW IoT ) with at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), in which - the network structure is changeable due to commissioning of an IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) within the IoT-network (NW IoT ) by configuring the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) to be commissioned or by adapting or retiring and replacing current data of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ), - within the IoT-network (NW IoT ) between the at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) each a communication link (COL), directly or indirectly via a broker device (BRD) of the IoT-network (NW IoT ) exists, characterized by : a) prioritizing (prt) information about a location (INF loc ) of the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and information about quality attributes of IoT-data source device data (INF dqa ), being sourced by each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and being requested (req) and fetched (ftc) from each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), via the communication link (COL), in particular by a PUSH- or PULL transmission mechanism, with a prioritization algorithm (PRA) such that al) a weighted proximity metric is computed based on the location information (INF loc ) and the data quality attribute information (INF dqa ) of the respective IoT-data source device, said location information and said data quality attribute information corresponding to input parameters, wherein weights for each input parameter of the prioritization algorithm are pre-configured for the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ), a2) each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) is ranked (rnk) according to the weighted proximity metric computed for the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), b) selecting (slc) the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) ranked highest, from which its IoT-data source device data is fetched via the communication link (COL), in particular by a PUSH- or PULL transmission mechanism, and wherein the fetched data is used to configure the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) due to its commissioning or to adapt or retire and replace current IoT-data sink device data of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ).
  2. Computer-implemented method according to claim 1, characterized in that the location information (INF loc ) and the data quality attribute information (INF dqa ) are described in a common format, such as "Web Of Things <WOT>", "Building Information Modeling <BIM>" or "lndustry Foundation Classes <WOT>", which is understood both by the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and by the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ).
  3. Computer-implemented method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the steps a) to b) are repeated (rpt) to dynamically capture at least one new IoT-data source device joining the IoT-network (NW IoT ).
  4. Computer-implemented method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the IoT-network (NW IoT ) with the at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) communicating with each other via the communication link (COL) is a wireless peer-to-peer-network.
  5. Computer-implemented method according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), is a temperature sensor or a humidity sensor and the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) is a thermostat.
  6. Computer-implemented-tool (CIT), for carrying out the computer-implemented method according to one of the claims 1 to 5, comprising - a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium (STM) having processor-readable program-instructions of a program module (PGM) for carrying out the computer-implemented method stored in the non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium (STM) and - a processor (PRC) connected with the storage medium (STM) executing the processor-readable program-instructions of the program module (PGM) to carry out the computer-implemented method.
  7. IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) for managing network structure changes of an IoT-network (NW IoT ) with at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), in which - the network structure is changeable due to commissioning of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) within the IoT-network (NW IoT ) by configuring the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) to be commissioned or by adapting or retiring and replacing current data of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ), - within the IoT-network (NW IoT ) between the at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) each a communication link (COL), directly or indirectly via a broker device (BRD) of the IoT-network (NW IoT ) exists, characterized by : a) a control unit (CTU), which is connected to a transceiving unit (TCU) and in which a Computer-implemented-tool (CIT) with - a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium (STM) having processor-readable program-instructions of a program module (PGM) for managing network structure changes of the IoT-network (NW IoT ) stored in the non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium (STM), - a processor (PRC) connected with the storage medium (STM) executing the processor-readable program-instructions of the program module (PGM) to manage network structure changes of the IoT-network (NW IoT ), is implemented or uploadable, wherein the Computer-implemented-tool (CIT) of the control unit (CTU) and the transceiving unit (TCU) form a functional unit (FTU) such that a1) information about a location (INF loc ) of the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and information about quality attributes of IoT-data source device data (INF dqa ), being sourced by each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and being requested (req) and fetched (ftc) via the transceiving unit (TCU) from each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), via the communication link (COL), in particular by a PUSH- or PULL transmission mechanism, is prioritized (prt) within the control unit (CTU) with the Computer-implemented-tool (CIT) executing a prioritization algorithm (PRA) such that a11) a weighted proximity metric is computed based on the location information (INF loc ) and the data quality attribute information (INF dqa ) of the respective IoT-data source device, said location information and said data quality attribute information corresponding to input parameters , wherein weights for each input parameter of the prioritization algorithm are pre-configured for the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ), a12) each IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) is ranked (rnk) according to the weighted proximity computed for the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ), a2) the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) being ranked highest is selected (slc), its IoT-data source device data via the communication link (COL) is fetched, in particular by a PUSH- or PULL transmission mechanism, and the fetched data is used for the configuration of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) due to its commissioning or to adapt or retire and replace current IoT-data sink device data of the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ).
  8. IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) according to claim 7, characterized in that the location information (INF loc ) and the data quality attribute information (INF dqa ) are described in a common format, such as "Web Of Things <WOT>", "Building Information Modeling <BIM>" or "lndustry Foundation Classes <WOT>", which is understood both by the IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and by the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ).
  9. IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the formed functional unit (FTU) repeats (rpt) the steps a1) to a2) in order to dynamically capture at least one new IoT-data source device joining the IoT-network (NW IoT ).
  10. IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) according to one of the claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the IoT-network (NW IoT ) with the at least one IoT-data source device (DSOD IoT,1 , DSOD IoT,2 ) and the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) communicating with each other via the communication link is a wireless peer-to-peer-network.
  11. IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) according to one of the claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the IoT-data sink device (DSID IoT ) is a thermostat.

Description

The invention refers to a method according to independent claim 1 for managing network structure changes of an IoT-network with at least one IoT-data source device, a computer-implemented tool according to independent claim 6, and an IoT-data sink device according to independent claim 7 for managing network structure changes of an IoT-network with at least one IoT-data source device. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet of things in the version of October 26, 2021, Internet of Things - (IoT) describes physical objects or groups of such objects that are embedded with sensors, processing ability, software, and other technologies, and that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks. IoT-devices as part of an IoT-network, formed in buildings or business premises - such as shop-floors, factory sites, plants, etc., are often required to interact with other devices within the network in order to obtain data, e.g. in the form of values, commands, instructions etc., required to fulfill their task. From the data-obtaining-perspective within the IoT-network the IoT-devices are assigned to or include data sources or they are data sinks. Consequently, the IoT-devices could be divided into IoT-data source devices and IoT-data sink devices. Besides this classification possible tasks within the IoT-network are the commissioning of devices and changes of data (according to the "source/sink" terminology the data sources) and consumers (according to the "source/sink" terminology the data sinks) at which existing data might be adapted or retired and replaced by new data. These are network structure changes which have to be managed. So for example during commissioning in business premises IoT-devices are introduced to each other, and relations are being defined manually. For replacing the manual configuration of IoT-devices relationships with an automated approach it has to be solved the main technical problem how to find data-providing sources, e.g., sensors built into devices, and connect them to data consuming applications running on other devices. Such an approach would be the fulfillment of data needs for those applications and the approach needs to take the dynamics related to the network structure changes mentioned above into account and provide a suitable solution. Up to now, there are several approaches to solve such a common problem: During up-front engineering a static configuration is created before the device is commissioned. The configuration is pre-loaded and activated during commissioning. For every change in configuration an updated configuration must be uploaded to the device and activated.With on-site configuration, the configuration must be created live on-site by a trained engineer. For every change in configuration the engineer must return on-site and update the device.Hardware solutions directly connect data sources and consumers (data sinks) by a physical connection. Common for all solutions is the need of manual labor and the static nature of the configuration. So for example, if the device or network changes, the configuration must change as well. FIGURE 1 shows - as state of art - an IoT-network NWIoT formed in a building as a wireless peer-to-peer-network with two IoT-data source devices, a first IoT-data source device DSODIoT,1 and a second IoT-data source device DSODIoT,2, and one IoT-data sink device DSIDIoT, which for example has to be commissioned within the IoT-network NWIoT. According to a building scenario with an environment of the IoT-network NWIoT, in which the IoT-data sink device DSIDIoT is for instance a thermostat being supposed to control temperatures but with no built-in temperature sensor so that no temperature data about measured temperatures are available in a data sink being assigned to the thermostat,the first IoT-data source device DSODIoT,1 is a temperature sensor with temperature data in a data source assigned to the temperature sensor andthe second IoT-data source device DSODIoT,2 is a humidity sensor with humidity data in a data source assigned to the humidity sensor. According to the FIGURE 1 there are two IoT-data source devices DSODIoT,1, DSODIoT,2, which are part of the IoT-network NWIoT. But it also possible that the IoT-network NWIoT includes more or less IoT-data source devices. The IoT-data sink device DSIDIoT is arranged in the IoT-net-work NWIoT such that the device is located due to the wireless peer-to-peer-network character of the IoT-network NWIoT each in a wireless spatial reach to the first IoT-data source device DSODIoT,1 as the temperature sensor and the second IoT-data source device DSODIoT,2 as the humidity sensor. FIGURE 2 shows - as state of art - in a principle depiction how a communication via a communication link COL between the IoT-data sink device DSIDIoT and the first and second IoT-data source devices DSODIoT,1, DSODIoT,2 can be taken place in the IoT-network NWIoT r