Transport-Agnostic IoT Broker Bridge Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for connecting multiple MQTT brokers in a publish-subscribe architecture face challenges such as increased latency, inefficiency, and complexity due to polling mechanisms, bridge congestion, and asymmetric functionality, which hinder reliable and scalable message delivery to subscribers.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where brokers establish internal bridge connections before opening external ports for clients, allowing for symmetric broker code and multiple bridge connections to reduce latency, and using a transport-agnostic IoT messaging protocol stack to process messages independently of the transport mechanism, ensuring secure and efficient communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If polling mechanisms are used to synchronize brokers, then message delivery can be achieved, but latency increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by establishing bridge connections between brokers before clients connect. The bridge connections are pre-configured with message forwarding rules, so when a publisher publishes a message, it is immediately forwarded to subscribers across brokers without polling delays. This pre-establishment of communication paths eliminates the latency inherent in polling mechanisms.
2Reliability
If multiple bridge connections are established between brokers, then message delivery reliability improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by implementing a standardized bridge connection interface that all brokers follow. Each broker implements the same bridge establishment and message forwarding logic, making the system multi-functional yet uniform. This standardization allows multiple bridge connections to be established between brokers without increasing complexity, as each broker handles connections through the same universal mechanism.
3Ease of manufacture
If symmetric broker code is implemented, then ease of deployment improves, but handling asymmetric traffic patterns becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry within symmetry by using identical broker code that dynamically adapts to asymmetric traffic patterns. Each broker implements the same symmetric code, but the code itself handles asymmetric scenarios by directing messages only to brokers that have explicit bridge connections. This allows uniform deployment while naturally handling asymmetric traffic through the bridge connection topology.
4Ease of operation
If brokers accept client connections immediately, then service availability improves, but connection management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having brokers accept client connections immediately without waiting for bridge connections to be fully established. The broker code is pre-configured to handle client connections and forward messages through bridge connections as they become available. This separates client connection management from bridge connection management, improving service availability while maintaining manageable complexity through independent handling of each connection type.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods are provided for communicating between devices in a network and remote servers, which may be located behind intermediate devices such as load balancers, by encapsulating messages sent by those devices and, in one implementation, to a load balancer in a transport header that may be understood by that load balancer; decapsulating the message from the transport header; re-encapuslating the message in a GRE tunnel and passing the message to a server, where the GRE tunnel is removed. Methods are also provided for communicating between devices in a network and local gateways by encapsulating messages sent by those devices and, in one implementation, to a load balancer in a transport header that may be understood by that gateway, and decapsulating the message from the transport header at the gateway.