Communication method and computer system for Internet of Things equipment

Abstract

The invention relates to a communication method for Internet of Things equipment and a computer system, and belongs to the technical field of communication. Comprising the following steps: when the time interval between the current online time and the last offline time of the terminal equipment exceeds a certain range, early warning that the terminal equipment is hijacked according to the data change of the current online time and the last offline time of the terminal equipment, and timely identifying whether the terminal equipment is hijacked or not; the terminal equipment data comprises any one or any two or three of an ip address, geographical location information and a version number. When the time interval between the current online time and the last offline time of the terminal equipment exceeds a certain range, the method carries out the early warning of hijacking of the terminal equipment according to the data change of the current online time and the last offline time of the terminal equipment, and timely identifies whether the terminal equipment is hijacked or not. And thus, the security of communication between the master station side and the terminal equipment side is effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a communication method and computer system for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, belonging to the field of communication technology. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of IoT technology, it has been applied to various industries, especially the power industry. The combination of power IoT platforms and terminals is increasingly being used in traditional power industry monitoring and maintenance systems, which is of great positive significance for building a robust smart grid. In scenarios such as renewable energy power plants and distributed photovoltaic monitoring, traditional power terminals are gradually being replaced by IoT terminals, and the communication protocol between the terminal and the master station is changing from the traditional power protocol to the IoT protocol. Since renewable energy power plants and distributed photovoltaic systems are generally built in relatively remote areas, IoT terminals typically use IoT cards to communicate with the master station.

[0003] The master station obtains the status of the terminal devices and controls their behavior through uplink and downlink communication with the IoT terminals.

[0004] When the master station obtains the status and attributes of terminal devices, the following scenario exists: If, during a period when the status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device remain unchanged, N applications on the master station side request the same attribute value from the terminal device, the master station needs to initiate N requests to the terminal device. Under good network conditions, all N requests initiated by the master station side will receive a response from the terminal device. However, under poor network conditions, the terminal device may frequently go online and offline. If the terminal device is offline when a request is initiated by the master station side, the request will fail. The next time a request is initiated, the terminal device may have reconnected and the request will succeed. In this situation, although the status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device remain unchanged, the master station side and the terminal device side have conducted N communications, significantly wasting valuable IoT card bandwidth resources. Simultaneously, the terminal device side has to process N requests, putting pressure on its load. Furthermore, in poor network environments, the frequent online and offline of the terminal device can cause multiple consecutive requests from the master station side to receive different results, causing confusion for upper-layer applications and increasing the complexity of the system's determination of the terminal device's status.

[0005] When the master station issues operation commands to the terminal device, the following scenario exists: In poor network conditions, the terminal device frequently goes online and offline. When the master station issues operation commands to the terminal device, the frequent online and offline activity of the terminal device increases the difficulty of successfully issuing the command or may even cause the command to fail. Although the QoS (Quality of Service) of the IoT protocol = 1 or 2 can guarantee that the message will reach the terminal device, this increases the pressure on the master station and is rarely used in actual environments.

[0006] In addition, when terminal devices are offline for an extended period of time and then re-enter the network, there is a risk that the devices may be hijacked. However, the platform lacks a reasonable mechanism to identify such situations, which poses a certain risk to the stable operation of the power grid.

[0007] In summary, improving the security and reliability of communication between the master station and the terminal device, especially in harsh network environments, has become a technical challenge. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a communication method and computer system for IoT devices to solve the problem of low security in communication between the master station and the terminal device in harsh network environments.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention includes:

[0010] A communication method for IoT devices according to the present invention includes the following steps:

[0011] When the time interval between the current online and offline times of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, a warning of terminal device hijacking is issued based on the changes in terminal device data between the current online and offline times, so as to identify whether the terminal device has been hijacked in a timely manner; terminal device data includes any one, two, or three of the following: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

[0012] Furthermore, the system determines whether the terminal device data has changed since the last time it was taken offline, based on the priority of the terminal device data. The priority of the terminal device data from highest to lowest is: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

[0013] Furthermore, the warnings include: a high risk warning for the terminal device being hijacked if both the geographical location information and the version number of the terminal device have changed since it last went offline; a medium risk warning if the version number of the terminal device has changed since it last went offline; and a low risk warning if the IP address or geographical location information of the terminal device has changed since it last went offline.

[0014] Furthermore, the early warning process proceeds in the following order:

[0015] Determine whether the geographical location information and version number of the terminal device have changed since its last shutdown:

[0016] If so, issue a warning indicating a high risk of terminal device hijacking;

[0017] Otherwise, if the version number of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, a warning of medium risk of the terminal device being hijacked will be issued; if the geographical location information of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, or if the IP address of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, a warning of low risk of the terminal device being hijacked will be issued.

[0018] Furthermore, it also includes the following steps:

[0019] 1) After the terminal device goes online, the main site creates a data memory block to store the terminal device data;

[0020] 2) The main station updates the data memory block based on the data reported by the terminal devices;

[0021] 3) When the main station application requests data from the terminal device, read the data memory block.

[0022] Furthermore, step 2) also includes the operation of persisting the updated data in the data memory block to the database.

[0023] Furthermore, when the main site application requests terminal device data, it first reads the data memory block. If the data memory block is matched, the data in the data memory block is read directly; otherwise, the terminal device data is retrieved from the database.

[0024] Furthermore, it also includes the following steps: when the master station application sends control commands to the terminal device, the master station application creates an instruction memory block for storing the control commands received by the terminal device, and stores the control commands in the instruction memory block. The listening program of the instruction memory block scans the instruction memory block periodically, and when the terminal device is online, it sends the control commands to the terminal device.

[0025] Furthermore, when periodically scanning the instruction memory block, it also determines whether the control instruction has expired. If it has expired, it determines that the control instruction has failed to be sent; otherwise, if the terminal device is online, the control instruction will be sent to the terminal device.

[0026] A computer system according to the present invention includes a processor for executing a computer program to implement the steps of the communication method for Internet of Things devices as described above.

[0027] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0028] This invention is groundbreaking, providing a communication method and computer system for IoT devices. When the time interval between the current online state and the previous offline state of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, the system provides an early warning of terminal device hijacking based on changes in the terminal device data between the current online state and the previous offline state, thereby promptly identifying whether the terminal device has been hijacked and effectively improving the security of communication between the master station and the terminal device. The terminal device data includes any one, two, or three of the following: IP address, geographic location information, and version number. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the normal online process of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is another flowchart of the normal online process of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the terminal device status and attribute data reporting in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of the main station-side application requesting terminal device status and attribute data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of the main station-side application sending operation instructions to the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating the normal offline process of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0035] To address the problems in the background art, this invention provides a communication method and computer system for IoT devices. When the time interval between the current online status and the previous offline status of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, the system provides an early warning of terminal device hijacking based on the changes in terminal device data between the current online status and the previous offline status, so as to promptly identify whether the terminal device has been hijacked, thereby effectively improving the security of communication between the master station and the terminal device.

[0036] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0037] An embodiment of a communication method for IoT devices:

[0038] A communication method for IoT devices includes the following steps:

[0039] When the time interval between the current online and offline times of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, a warning of terminal device hijacking is issued based on the changes in terminal device data between the current online and offline times, so as to identify whether the terminal device has been hijacked in a timely manner; terminal device data includes any one, two, or three of the following: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

[0040] If the terminal device data changes during the current online phase compared to the previous offline phase, the terminal device data changes used to warn of the risk of hijacking of the terminal device include any one, any combination of two, or any combination of three of the following changes:

[0041] The changes in the terminal device's current (online) IP address compared to the IP address stored when it was last offline, the changes in the terminal device's current geographical location information compared to the geographical location information stored when it was last offline, and the changes in the terminal device's current version number compared to the version number stored when it was last offline.

[0042] Specifically, the system determines whether the data of the terminal devices that are brought online this time has changed from the data that were taken offline last time, based on the priority of the terminal device data. The priority of the terminal device data from high to low is: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

[0043] Specifically, the warnings include: a high risk of hijacking if the geographical location information and version number of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time; a medium risk of hijacking if the version number of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time; and a low risk of hijacking if the IP address or geographical location information of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time.

[0044] As another implementation method, the warning is also performed in the following order:

[0045] Determine whether the geographical location information and version number of the terminal device have changed since its last shutdown:

[0046] If so, issue a warning indicating a high risk of terminal device hijacking;

[0047] Otherwise, if the version number of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, a warning of medium risk of the terminal device being hijacked will be issued; if the geographical location information of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, or if the IP address of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, a warning of low risk of the terminal device being hijacked will be issued.

[0048] Specifically, the communication method for IoT devices also includes the following steps:

[0049] 1) After the terminal device goes online, the main site creates a data memory block to store the terminal device data;

[0050] 2) The main station updates the data memory block based on the data reported by the terminal devices;

[0051] 3) When the main station application requests data from the terminal device, read the data memory block.

[0052] Specifically, step 2) also includes the operation of persisting the updated data in the data memory block to the database.

[0053] Specifically, when the main station application requests terminal device data, it first reads the data memory block. If the data memory block is matched, the data in the data memory block is read directly; otherwise, the terminal device data is obtained from the database.

[0054] Specifically, when a terminal device goes offline, the main station deletes the data memory block corresponding to that terminal device.

[0055] Specifically, the communication method for IoT devices also includes the following steps:

[0056] When the master station application sends control commands to the terminal device, the master station application creates an instruction memory block to store the control commands received by the terminal device and stores the control commands in the instruction memory block. The listening program of the instruction memory block scans the instruction memory block periodically, and when the terminal device is online, it sends the control commands to the terminal device.

[0057] Specifically, when periodically scanning the instruction memory block, it also determines whether the control instruction has expired. If it has expired, it determines that the control instruction has failed to be sent; otherwise, if the terminal device is online, the control instruction will be sent to the terminal device.

[0058] Specifically, when a terminal device goes offline, the main station deletes the instruction memory block corresponding to that terminal device.

[0059] As another implementation method, when a terminal device goes offline, the main station deletes the instruction memory block and data memory block corresponding to that terminal device.

[0060] To address the communication issues between the master station and terminal devices in poor network environments, this invention proposes a communication method for IoT devices. This method includes a normal online process for the terminal device, a process for reporting the status and attribute data of the terminal device, a process for the master station application to request the status and attribute data of the terminal device, a process for the master station application to issue operation instructions to the terminal device, and a normal offline process for the terminal device.

[0061] like Figure 1 The normal online process for terminal devices shown, and as follows Figure 3 The terminal device status and attribute data reporting process shown involves the main station determining whether the interval between the current online and offline times of the terminal device is too long when the terminal device comes online.

[0062] When the master station determines that the time interval between the current online and offline times of a terminal device does not exceed a certain range, it creates a terminal device status memory block, also known as a data memory block. This memory block stores the status and attribute data reported by the terminal device. After confirming that the terminal device can normally access the master station, when the terminal device reports its status or attributes to the master station, the master station application directly updates the value of the corresponding data memory block. Simultaneously, the master station deploys a memory block data monitoring program. When the data in the data memory block corresponding to the terminal device changes, the data in the data memory block is persisted to the database. The format of the object model instruction memory block content is shown in Table 1.

[0063] When the master station determines that the time interval between the current online and offline times of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, the master station will perform a terminal device hijacking risk assessment to provide early warning to maintenance personnel and ensure the safe and stable operation of the power grid. The master station first checks whether the terminal device's current IP address (Internet Protocol) matches the IP address stored at the time of its last offline state.

[0064] If the two IP addresses do not match, a hijacking warning will be issued;

[0065] Otherwise, determine whether the current geographical location information of the terminal device is consistent with the geographical location information of the terminal device stored when it last went offline:

[0066] If the two geographical location information are inconsistent, a hijacking warning will be issued;

[0067] Otherwise, determine whether the current version number of the terminal device is the same as the version number when it was last taken offline:

[0068] If the two version numbers are inconsistent, a hijacking warning will be issued.

[0069] As an alternative implementation, such as Figure 2As shown, the risk level of a terminal device being hijacked is determined by comparing these three types of information. Specifically: The device's current IP address, geographical location, and current version number are obtained. It is then determined whether the device's geographical location and current version number have changed since the last recorded time. If so, the risk level is considered high; if not, the device's version number has changed since the last recorded time. If so, the risk level is considered medium; if not, the device's IP address or geographical location has changed. If so, the risk level is considered low. If not, the device is not at risk of being hijacked.

[0070] Table 1: Content Format of Object Model Memory Block

[0071]

[0072]

[0073] like Figure 4 The process illustrated in the diagram illustrates how a master-side application requests terminal device status and attribute values. When multiple applications request the status or attributes of a terminal device, the master-side program reads the memory block corresponding to the terminal device. If a memory block is found (i.e., a memory block storing the corresponding terminal device status and attribute data exists), the program directly reads the device's status and attribute values ​​from the memory block and returns them to the requester. If a memory block is not found (i.e., a memory block storing the corresponding terminal device status and attribute data does not exist), the program retrieves the device's status and attribute values ​​from the database before it went offline and returns them to the requester. Under this process, regardless of the number of applications requesting the terminal device's status and attribute data, the master-side program can obtain the latest status and attribute data of the device without communicating with the terminal device itself. Furthermore, when the terminal device is frequently offline or reconnected due to poor network conditions, the applications can always obtain the latest status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device, ensuring the consistency of the data obtained by the applications.

[0074] like Figure 5 The diagram illustrates the process of the master station application issuing operation commands to the terminal device. When the master station application issues an operation command to the terminal device, it creates a corresponding instruction memory block in the memory area. Each terminal device corresponds to one instruction memory block. The instruction memory block monitoring program periodically scans the instruction memory block and determines whether the instruction has expired.

[0075] If the instruction expires, the instruction issuance is deemed a failure.

[0076] If the instruction is within its validity period, determine whether the device is online:

[0077] If the device is online, the command is sent directly to the device, and the command is considered to have been successfully sent.

[0078] If the device is offline, wait for it to come back online or for the next scanning cycle.

[0079] The contents of the instruction memory block are shown in Table 2.

[0080] Table 2: Memory Block Content Format of Operation Instructions

[0081]

[0082]

[0083] like Figure 6 The illustrated normal offline process for a terminal device involves the main station persisting certain information about the terminal device's connection when it goes offline normally. This includes the terminal device's IP address, geographical location, and version number. The application then deletes the memory blocks corresponding to the terminal device to improve memory utilization on the main station. These deleted memory blocks include both data and instruction memory blocks.

[0084] An embodiment of a computer system:

[0085] A computer system includes a processor for executing a computer program to implement the steps of a communication method for an Internet of Things device as described above.

[0086] The power system master station of the present invention is used to implement a communication method for Internet of Things devices as described above.

[0087] One communication method for IoT devices has been described in detail in an embodiment of a communication method for IoT devices, and will not be repeated here.

[0088] The process of multiple applications on the main site side of this invention requesting terminal device status and attribute values ​​is as follows: Figure 4 As shown (for ease of description, this process is referred to as process ③), under process ③, regardless of how many applications request the status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device, the master station no longer needs to communicate with the terminal device to obtain the latest status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device. This greatly reduces the IoT card traffic during communication between the master station and the terminal device. The higher the concurrency of applications on the master station side, the more significant the traffic reduction effect. If the concurrency on the master station side is M:

[0089] Before the optimization of process ③, the traffic consumption between the main site and the terminal device is M*a (a is the traffic consumption for each request), and the terminal device needs to make M requests.

[0090] After process ③ optimization, since the terminal device only needs to report data once, the traffic consumption between the main station and the terminal device is 'a', and the traffic saved is (M-1)*a. The terminal device only needs to report data once, which greatly reduces the operating load of the terminal device.

[0091] Additionally, when terminal devices frequently log on and off in poor network environments, if the concurrency on the main station side is M:

[0092] Before the optimization of process ③, according to test statistics, 0.5*M requests failed to obtain the status and attribute values ​​of the terminal device;

[0093] After process ③ optimization, all M requests can obtain the terminal device's status and attribute data. Furthermore, since the terminal device status and attribute data involved in process ③ are stored in memory, the application experiences less latency, significantly improving the system's real-time performance and stability.

[0094] The process of the main station application sending operation commands to the terminal device is as follows: Figure 5 As shown (for ease of description, this process is referred to as process ④), when the network condition is poor, the terminal device will frequently go online and offline:

[0095] Before the optimization of process ④, the success rate of the main station application sending operation commands to the terminal device was less than 50%.

[0096] After process ④ optimization, even with frequent online and offline of terminal devices, the operation commands from the main station can still be sent to the terminal devices with a high success rate. According to tests, the command sending success rate is greater than 95%.

[0097] By comparing the terminal device's connection information when it goes offline with its connection information when it comes back online—specifically, the terminal device's IP address, geographical location, and version—the risk of the terminal device being hijacked is comprehensively assessed, thereby improving system security and ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power grid.

Claims

1. A communication method for IoT devices, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: When the time interval between the current online and offline times of a terminal device exceeds a certain range, a warning of terminal device hijacking is issued based on the changes in terminal device data between the current online and offline times, so as to identify whether the terminal device has been hijacked in a timely manner; the terminal device data includes any one, two, or three of the following: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

2. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system determines whether the terminal device data has changed since the last time it was taken offline, based on the priority order of the terminal device data from highest to lowest. The priority of the terminal device data from highest to lowest is: IP address, geographical location information, and version number.

3. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 1, characterized in that, The warning includes: If the geographical location information and version number of the terminal device change when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time, a warning will be issued for a high risk level of terminal device hijacking; if the version number of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time, a warning will be issued for a medium risk level of terminal device hijacking; if the IP address or geographical location information of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time, a warning will be issued for a low risk level of terminal device hijacking.

4. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 3, characterized in that, The warnings are also issued in the following order: Determine whether the geographical location information and version number of the terminal device have changed since its last shutdown: If so, issue a warning indicating a high risk of terminal device hijacking; Otherwise, if the version number of the terminal device changes from the version number when it was last taken offline, a warning will be issued indicating a medium risk level of the terminal device being hijacked. If the geographical location information of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time, or if it is determined that the IP address of the terminal device changes when it goes online this time compared to when it went offline last time, an early warning will be issued indicating that the risk level of the terminal device being hijacked is low.

5. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: 1) After the terminal device goes online, the main site creates a data memory block to store the terminal device data; 2) The main station updates the data memory block based on the data reported by the terminal device; 3) When the main station application requests data from the terminal device, the data memory block is read.

6. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step 2) also includes the operation of persisting the updated data in the data memory block to the database.

7. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 5, characterized in that, When the main site application requests terminal device data, it first reads the data memory block. If the data memory block is matched, the data in the data memory block is read directly; otherwise, the terminal device data is retrieved from the database.

8. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: When the master station application sends control commands to the terminal device, the master station application creates an instruction memory block to store the control commands received by the terminal device and stores the control commands in the instruction memory block. The listening program of the instruction memory block scans the instruction memory block periodically, and when the terminal device is online, it sends the control commands to the terminal device.

9. The communication method for IoT devices according to claim 8, characterized in that, When periodically scanning the instruction memory block, it also determines whether the control instruction has expired. If it has expired, it determines that the control instruction has failed to be issued; otherwise, if the terminal device is online, the control instruction will be issued to the terminal device.

10. A computer system, comprising a processor, characterized in that, The processor is used to execute a computer program to implement the steps of the communication method for IoT devices as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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