Device Shadowing Service Group Command Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IoT systems face challenges in managing commands for groups of physical devices due to intermittent connectivity, limited network bandwidth, and computing capacity, which hinders efficient communication and state management across devices.
Innovation Solution
A device shadowing service manages device representations to group physical devices, allowing for group commands to be executed by updating desired states and instructing devices to assume specified states through named logical channels, even when devices are intermittently connected, using a publication/subscription broker service for efficient message forwarding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If group commands are sent to all devices in a network, then complete device control is achieved, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by maintaining device representations locally at the edge device rather than requiring continuous cloud communication. Each edge device stores and manages representations of devices in its local network, allowing group commands to be executed locally without consuming network bandwidth for state synchronization. This resolves the contradiction by enabling complete device control through local caching while minimizing network bandwidth usage.
2Reliability
If device states are continuously synchronized with the cloud, then real-time monitoring is achieved, but network connectivity requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-caching device representations and states locally at the edge device before cloud connectivity is needed. The edge device maintains up-to-date device representations and can execute group commands and track state changes even when offline. When connectivity is restored, only the essential state changes are synchronized with the cloud, achieving reliable state tracking while tolerating intermittent connectivity.
3Productivity
If device representations are cached at the edge device, then offline command execution is enabled, but memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing device representations into essential and non-essential components. The edge device caches only the critical device state information and metadata needed for group command execution, while more detailed device information can be retrieved from the cloud when needed. This segmentation enables offline command execution with improved productivity while keeping memory requirements manageable by storing only the most essential device representation data locally.
Data Source
AI summary
A technology is described for operating a device shadowing service that manages commands associated with groups of device representations. An example method may include receiving a group command associated with a group of device representations managed by a device shadowing service. Device representations included in the group of device representations represent physical devices that connect to the device shadowing service over one or more computer networks. In response to the group command, the device representations included in the group of device representations may be identified and an instruction to perform an action indicated by the group command may be sent to the physical devices represented by the device representations. Thereafter, indications may be received that at least a portion of the physical devices performed the action.