EP-4740089-A1 - INTEGRATION OF DEVICE PLATFORMS AND CONTAINER ORCHESTRATION PLATFORM

Abstract

Method and device for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform. The method comprises obtaining (201) information indicating a first custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device manager, a second custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device, and a third custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a resource of a device; obtaining (203) information about one or more properties of a device manager of each device platform, of one or more devices, and of one or more resources; and initiating creation (205) of a first object of the first custom resource type for the device manager, a second object of the second custom resource type for each of the one or more, and a third object of the third custom resource type for each of the one or more resources, based on the corresponding obtained information. (Figure 1)

Inventors

• HERNANDEZ HERRANZ, AITOR
• LIU, YU

Assignees

• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20230707

Claims (20)

1. 1. A method (200) for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform, wherein each device platform comprises a device manager (105) associated with one or more devices (107a-c), the method performed by a controller system (101) comprised in the container orchestration platform, and comprising: - obtaining (201) information indicating a first custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device manager, a second custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device, and a third custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a resource of a device; - obtaining (203) information about one or more properties of the device manager (105) of each device platform, of the one or more devices (107a-c) associated with the device manager (105), and of one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices (107a-c), - initiating creation (205) of a first object of the first custom resource type for the device manager (105) of each device platform, a second object of the second custom resource type for each of the one or more devices (107a-c) associated with the device manager (105), and a third object of the third custom resource type for each of the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices, based on the corresponding obtained information.
2. 2. The method (200) according to claim 1, further comprising - if a further device manager, a further device, and/or a further resource associated with a device is added to the one or more device platforms, obtaining 206 further information on the further device manager, further device, and/or further resource associated with a device; and - initiating creation (207) of a corresponding further first, second, and/or third object.
3. 3. The method (200) according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices are represented by a data model.
4. 4. The method (200) according to claim 3, wherein the data model is one of: Internet Protocol for Smart Objects, IPSO, Semantic Definition Format, SDF, One Data Model, OneDM, or Digital Twin Definition Language, DTDL.
5. 5. The method (200) according to any of claims 3 or 4, further comprising - receiving (211), from a subscriber device of the one or more devices associated with one of the device managers (105), a message comprising a subscription to one of the remaining one or more devices or to one of the one or more resources associated with the remaining one or more devices; - matching (213) the subscription to the corresponding device or resource; - initiating creation (216) of a fourth object of a fourth custom resource type, wherein the fourth custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a publish-subscribe pair, and - if the data model of one or more third objects of the subscriber device differs from the data model of one or more third objects of the matched device or of the device associated with the matched resource, translating (215) the data model of the matched device or of the device associated with the matched resource to the data model of the subscriber device.
6. 6. The method (200) according to claim 5, further comprising - if the subscription is matched to two or more devices or resources, selecting (217) one of the two or more devices or resources based on a metric, wherein the metric comprises one or more of: proximity of the subscriber device and the each of the two or more devices or devices associated with the matched resources, or complexity of the data model translation.
7. 7. The method (200) according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the one or more attributes of a device manager and the one or more properties of the device manager comprise one or more of: type of device manager and device manager interface.
8. 8. The method (200) according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more attributes of a device and the one or more properties of the device comprise one or more identifications of the device.
9. 9. The method (200) according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the one or more attributes of a resource and the one or more properties of the resource comprise one or more of: an identification of the device the resource is associated with, an identification of the resource, a value of the resource, a type of the resource value, and one or more operations allowed on the resource.
10. 10. The method (200) according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first, second, and third custom resource type are Custom Resource Definitions, CRDs.
11. 11. A controller system (101) for supporting integration of one or more device platforms (104) and a container orchestration platform (103), the controller system (101) configured to: - obtain (201) information indicating a first custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device manager, a second custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device, and a third custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a resource of a device; - obtain (203) information about one or more properties of the device manager of each device platform, of the one or more devices associated with the device manager, and of one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices; and - initiate creation (205) of a first object of the first custom resource type for the device manager of each device platform, a second object of the second custom resource type for each of the one or more devices associated with the device manager, and a third object of the third custom resource type for each of the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices, based on the corresponding obtained information.
12. 12. The controller system (101) of according to claim 11, wherein the controller system (101) is configured to carry out the method (200) according to any one of claims 2 to 10.
13. 13. A computing device (700) for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform, the computing device (700) comprising processing circuitry (701) and a memory (702), the memory (702) having stored thereon instructions executable by the processing circuitry (701), wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry (701), cause the computing device (700) to - obtain (201) information indicating a first custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device manager, a second custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a device, and a third custom resource type comprising one or more attributes associated with a resource of a device; - obtain (203) information about one or more properties of the device manager of each device platform, of the one or more devices associated with the device manager, and of one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices; and - initiate creation (205) of a first object of the first custom resource type for the device manager of each device platform, a second object of the second custom resource type for each of the one or more devices associated with the device manager, and a third object of the third custom resource type for each of the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices, based on the corresponding obtained information.
14. 14. The computing device (700) according to claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the computing device (101) to - if a further device manager, a further device, or a further resource associated with a device is added to the one or more device platforms, initiate creation (207) of a corresponding further first, second, or third object.
15. 15. The computing device (700) according to any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices are represented by a data model.
16. 16. The computing device (700) according to claim 15, wherein the data model is one of: Internet Protocol for Smart Objects, IPSO, Semantic Definition Format, SDF, One Data Model, OneDM, or Digital Twin Definition Language, DTDL.
17. 17. The computing device (700) according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the instructions cause the computing device (700) to - receive (211), from a subscriber device of the one or more devices associated with one of the device managers, a message comprising a subscription to one of the remaining one or more devices or to one of the one or more resources associated with the remaining one or more devices; - match (213) the subscription to the corresponding device or resource; - initiate creation (216) of a fourth object of a fourth custom resource type, wherein the fourth custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a publish-subscribe pair; and - if the data model of one or more third objects of the subscriber device differs from the data model of one or more third objects of the matched device or of the device associated with the matched resource, translate (215) the data model of the matched device or of the device associated with the matched resource to the data model of the subscriber device.
18. 18. The computing device (700) according to claim 17, wherein the instructions cause the computing device (700) to - if the subscription is matched to two or more devices or resources, select (217) one of the two or more devices or resources based on a metric, wherein the metric comprises one or more of: proximity of the subscriber device and the each of the two or more devices or devices associated with the matched resources, or complexity of the data model translation.
19. 19. The computing device (700) according to any of claims 13 to 18, wherein the one or more attributes of a device manager and the one or more properties of the device manager comprise one or more of: type of device manager and device manager interface.
20. 20. The computing device (700) according to any of claims 13 to 19, wherein the one or more attributes of a device and the one or more properties of the device comprise one or more identifications of the device.

Description

INTEGRATION OF DEVICE PLATFORMS AND CONTAINER ORCHESTRATION PLATFORM TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a method for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform, a controller system for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform, a computing device for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform, corresponding computer program, corresponding computer-readable data carrier, and corresponding data carrier signal. BACKGROUND As the number of Internet of Things (loT) devices increases, the complexity of managing and maintaining these loT devices has become increasingly more complex. Cloud/edge computing may offer to the loT devices services such as data storage, processing power, applications, such as remote monitoring and control of loT devices, and benefits from cloud native services, such as scheduling, orchestration, scaling, elasticity, resiliency, flexibility, monitoring and observability. loT devices may use cloud/edge services in cloud/edge nodes anywhere, any time, if a network connection to cloud/edge nodes is available. Containerization may enable the deployment and management of loT devices' workloads in the cloud/edge nodes. However, resource constraints and unique requirements of loT devices may affect the implementation of container orchestration platforms. SUMMARY It is an object of the invention to provide an improved alternative to the above techniques and prior art. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide improved integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform. This and other objects of the invention are achieved by means of different aspects of the invention, as defined by the independent claims. Embodiments of the invention are characterized by the dependent claims. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform. Each device platform comprises a device manager associated with one or more devices. The method is performed by a controller system comprised in the container orchestration platform. The method comprises obtaining information indicating a first custom resource type. The first custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a device manager. The method comprises obtaining information indicating a second custom resource type. The second custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a device. The method comprises obtaining information indicating a third custom resource type. The third custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a resource of a device. The method further comprises obtaining information about one or more properties of the device manager of each device platform. The method further comprises obtaining information about one or more properties of the one or more devices associated with the device manager. The method further comprises obtaining information about one or more properties of one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices. The method further comprises initiating creation of a first object of the first custom resource type for the device manager of each device platform based on the obtained information about one or more properties of the device manager. The method further comprises initiating creation of a second object of the second custom resource type for each of the one or more devices associated with the device manager based on the obtained information about one or more properties of the corresponding device. The method further comprises initiating creation of a third object of the third custom resource type for each of the one or more resources associated with each of the one or more devices based on the obtained information about one or more properties of the corresponding resource. The first, second, and third resource type allow to model the entire device platform and provide a scalable solution if further device managers, devices, and/or device resources are added. The device platform and the container orchestration platform do not require any modification. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a controller system for supporting integration of one or more device platforms and a container orchestration platform. The controller system is configured to obtain information indicating a first custom resource type. The first custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a device manager. The controller system is configured to obtain information indicating a second custom resource type. The second custom resource type comprises one or more attributes associated with a device. The controller system is configured to obtain information indicating a third custom resource type. The thir