IoT Bluetooth Maintenance Link with DTLS Data Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing deployment of internet of things (IoT) devices among enterprise and individual users leads to rising operations and maintenance costs, and existing serial port methods pose safety risks for maintenance personnel, especially for off-ground devices.
Innovation Solution
Establish a Bluetooth connection and a DTLS protocol-based encrypted data channel between IoT devices and terminal devices to facilitate secure communication of configuration and user data, using a pre-shared key negotiation to ensure trust and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If serial port operations and maintenance methods are used to connect cables between personal computers and IoT devices, then operations and maintenance personnel can directly communicate configuration data, but operations and maintenance costs rise and safety risks increase for personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical cable connection system with a wireless communication system. Specifically, it uses Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology to establish wireless connections between terminal devices and IoT devices, eliminating the need for physical cable connections. This substitution maintains the communication functionality while removing the safety risks associated with personnel physically connecting cables to off-ground devices.
2Ease of operation
If serial port operations and maintenance methods are used, then configuration data can be communicated, but operations and maintenance costs rise with increasing device deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical cable-based serial port communication system with a wireless communication system using Bluetooth low energy (BLE). This allows operations and maintenance personnel to remotely configure and maintain multiple IoT devices without physical connections, significantly reducing time and cost expenses as device deployment scales.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal wireless communication interface that can be used across all IoT devices in the system. The Bluetooth low energy module provides a standardized communication channel that works with different device types and locations, allowing a single terminal device to manage multiple IoT devices uniformly, thereby improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
3Speed
If serial port cables are used for off-ground devices, then direct data transmission is possible, but significant safety risks are posed to operations and maintenance personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the mechanical cable connection system with a wireless Bluetooth low energy communication system. This replacement eliminates the need for personnel to physically connect cables to off-ground devices, removing the safety hazards while maintaining efficient data transmission capabilities through wireless protocols.
4Reliability
If Bluetooth connection with DTLS protocol is established, then secure encrypted data channel is created, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security) protocol as an intermediary security layer between the application layer and the Bluetooth transport layer. This intermediary provides encrypted communication channels without requiring changes to the underlying Bluetooth hardware or protocol, thereby enhancing security while adding manageable complexity through a standardized security layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements security by changing the parameter of data transmission from plain text to encrypted format using DTLS protocol. The encryption parameters (keys, algorithms) are dynamically managed during the connection establishment phase, allowing secure communication without permanently increasing device complexity, as the encryption overhead is temporary and protocol-based.
Data Source
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AI summary
This application discloses an internet of things communication method and a device, to reduce operations and maintenance costs of internet of things devices and ensure safety of operations and maintenance personnel. The method may be applied to a main control CPU in an IoT device. The main control CPU may be connected to a Bluetooth chip, establish a Bluetooth connection with a terminal device by using the Bluetooth chip, establish a DTLS protocol-based encrypted data channel with the terminal device based on the Bluetooth connection, and then communicate user data over the encrypted data channel. In this way, even if the Bluetooth chip fails to establish an encrypted Bluetooth connection with the terminal device, transmitting the user data over the encrypted data channel ensures security of the user data. The encrypted data channel may be a TLS protocol-based encrypted data channel or the DTLS protocol-based encrypted data channel that is established through PSK negotiation.