Hierarchical IoT Edge Resource Sharing for Scalable Service Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing edge-based IoT platforms face management complexity issues due to rapidly increasing interconnectivity, limiting their application to small IoT systems like smart homes, and there is a need for a scalable and manageable resource-sharing mechanism.
Innovation Solution
An IoT edge system with a tree-shaped hierarchical structure where middleware in higher layers utilizes services published by lower layers to generate and share new composite services, allowing for dynamic service execution and management across multiple IoT devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a mesh network is used for interconnectivity between edges, then extensibility is improved, but management complexity increases rapidly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the mesh network into hierarchical layers with gateway edges and regular edges. Gateway edges manage service registration and discovery, while regular edges focus on service consumption. This segmentation reduces management complexity by distributing responsibilities across different node types in the hierarchy.
Solution Approach 2:
Gateway edges act as intermediaries between regular edges and external systems or upper-layer applications. They handle service registration, publication, and discovery operations, shielding regular edges from complex management tasks and enabling easier system extension.
2Productivity
If services are shared across multiple edges, then resource utilization is improved, but service management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a vertical hierarchy dimension to service management, with services organized at different levels (local edge services, gateway services, cloud services). This hierarchical dimension simplifies cross-edge service sharing by providing structured service discovery and access control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Gateway edges provide universal service management capabilities including registration, publication, and discovery functions that serve multiple regular edges. This multi-functional approach simplifies service sharing across edges by centralizing management operations at the gateway level.
3Device complexity
If a hierarchical structure is implemented, then management complexity is reduced, but service generation capability may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
Gateway edges perform preliminary service registration and publication operations before services are consumed by regular edges. Services are pre-configured and published at the gateway level, enabling regular edges to simply discover and use services without complex generation operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables automated service discovery and registration through self-service mechanisms. Regular edges automatically discover services published by gateway edges, and gateway edges automatically register services from connected devices, reducing manual management complexity while maintaining service generation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An Internet of Things (IoT) edge system enables resource sharing among hierarchically structured IoT edges. The system includes IoT devices that register service lists with IoT edge devices in the same network and process service execution requests. Each IoT edge device includes middleware that manages services, sets publication status, and controls access rights. The IoT edge devices form a tree-shaped hierarchical structure where higher-layer devices receive published service lists from lower layers and have access rights to those services. Higher-layer devices can generate super services by combining services from multiple layers, enabling efficient resource utilization across the hierarchical IoT network.