Gateway Equipment Association via Server Authorization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems lack the ability to restrict when new equipment can be associated with a gateway, potentially causing interference with other equipment and disrupting their operation.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where the association of equipment with a gateway is authorized and managed through a server, allowing for asynchronous or synchronous control of association times, with authorization stored in the gateway and communicated via a communication network, ensuring that equipment can only be associated during permitted periods and upon receiving specific permissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a user can associate new equipment with a gateway at any time, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of existing equipment operation deteriorates due to potential interference and disturbances
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway's association capability is made dynamic through time-varying authorization. The gateway transitions between authorized and unauthorized states based on received authorization messages, allowing equipment association only during permitted time windows. This dynamic control resolves the contradiction by enabling easy association when authorized while preventing interference when unauthorized.
Solution Approach 2:
A server acts as an intermediary between the user and the gateway for equipment association. The server manages the authorization process by sending authorization messages to the gateway, which then controls whether new equipment can be associated. This intermediary layer resolves the contradiction by mediating between user convenience and system stability through centralized authorization management.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gateway accepts equipment association requests at any time, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to need for authorization management and time control
Solution Approach 1:
The complex authorization management functionality is extracted from the gateway and placed in an external server. The gateway only needs to store and process simple authorization messages received from the server, rather than implementing complex time management and authorization logic internally. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining gateway simplicity while enabling flexible authorization control through the external server.
3Productivity
If equipment association is unrestricted, then the productivity of equipment deployment is improved, but the loss of information increases due to potential conflicts and interference between equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The server sends authorization messages to the gateway in advance, establishing permitted time windows for equipment association before deployment activities occur. This preliminary authorization prevents configuration conflicts by ensuring that equipment association only happens when the gateway is in an authorized state, resolving the contradiction between fast deployment and conflict prevention.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and to system for combining a device with a gateway. According to the invention, said gateway communicates with the device via a communication network and moreover communicates with another so-called "server" device. The method is characterized by comprising a step for sending, via the server to the gateway, a permission for a device to be able to be combined with said gateway.