CoAP Resource Delta Updates for IoT Bandwidth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Constrained networks face inefficiencies due to continuous transfer of entire resource states, leading to excessive network traffic and resource wastage, especially in scenarios where resource representations are large or complex, and existing CoAP extensions do not adequately reduce unnecessary information transfer.
Innovation Solution
Introduction of a delta attribute and an Entity-tag (ETag) attribute to enable partial updates and modifications of CoAP resources, allowing only changed parts of resources to be transmitted, thereby enhancing network bandwidth utilization and reducing traffic in constrained networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the complete resource state is continuously transferred to update CoAP clients, then the clients maintain up-to-date resource representations, but the network traffic increases excessively and bandwidth is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the modified portions (delta) from the complete resource state and transmits only these differences to CoAP clients. This is achieved by identifying changed resource representations and sending them as separate delta updates rather than transmitting the entire resource state, thereby reducing network traffic while maintaining data accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the resource update process into identifying modified portions, calculating deltas between old and new resource representations, and transmitting only these segmented differences. This segmentation allows the system to send minimal necessary data rather than complete resource states, optimizing bandwidth usage.
2Loss of information
If the complete resource state is transferred for every update, then clients receive all resource information, but the power consumption of constrained devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only the essential delta information that clients need to update their local resource representations. By extracting only the modified portions and their associated deltas, the system minimizes the data that constrained devices must process and store, thereby reducing their power consumption while maintaining complete resource update information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by sending only the necessary portion of resource updates (the delta) rather than the complete resource state. This partial transmission approach provides exactly the right amount of information needed for clients to maintain accurate representations without the excessive energy cost of processing and storing unnecessary data.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional CoAP methods (GET, PUT, POST) are used for resource updates, then resource modifications are achieved, but the efficiency is reduced due to large data transfers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter being transmitted from the complete resource state to the delta (difference) between old and new resource representations. This parameter change from full state to differential update maintains the ease of resource modification while dramatically improving network efficiency by reducing the volume of data that must be transferred and processed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a delta calculation mechanism as an intermediary step between resource modification and client notification. This intermediary process computes the difference between resource states and uses this delta as the actual transmission payload, thereby maintaining resource update capability while improving network efficiency through reduced data transfer.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a first communication device (10) for handling data in a communication network (1). The first communication device transmits, to a second communication device (12), a first indication indicating a configuration enabling the first communication device (10) to receive a partial modification of resources. The first communication device (10) receives, from the second communication device (12), a second indication indicating a partial update, in time, associated with a resource and a value of a part of the resource. The first communication device further maintains an internal value of the part of the resource based on the second indication. For example, it is herein disclosed a method to interact with resources in a more granular way in Internet of Things. Resources in Internet of Things are treated in an atomic way, as minimal units of information and the method is for partially update resources in Internet of Things. The new degree of granularity may make more efficient use of the network bandwidth and the limited resources of the constrained networks. Furthermore, the method may include performing an Observation of two instances of the same information in time; and using ETags to classify the different instances over time.