IoT Community Management via Policy-Based Device Grouping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IoT and IoE systems lack an efficient infrastructure to automatically and dynamically create and manage communities of network-connected devices, especially in heterogeneous scenarios, leading to underutilization of collected information due to the need for manual intervention and pre-configuration.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing policy servers, fog devices, and AI to automatically identify and manage communities of network-connected devices based on shared attributes, with software agents monitoring and analyzing data to create and manage communities with minimal human intervention, enabling dynamic community formation and communication among disparate devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual intervention and pre-configuration are used to create and manage communities of network-connected devices, then device compatibility and community formation are achieved, but system complexity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables devices to automatically join communities based on their attributes and policies without manual intervention. Devices self-configure by matching their functional, physical, or relational attributes against defined community policies, eliminating the need for manual community creation and device assignment.
Solution Approach 2:
Community policies are pre-defined with criteria for device inclusion based on attributes. Before devices need to join communities, the selection criteria and rules are already established, allowing devices to automatically determine their community membership by comparing their attributes against these pre-configured policies.
2Productivity
If manual configuration is used for heterogeneous devices, then device-specific control is maintained, but productivity and data utilization efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses universal policies that can apply to multiple device types simultaneously. Instead of creating separate configurations for each device type, a single policy framework handles heterogeneous devices by evaluating their attributes against common criteria, enabling one policy to serve multiple device categories.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically determines device community membership by evaluating device attributes (parameters) against policy criteria. Device attributes such as functional capabilities, physical characteristics, or relational properties are assessed to automatically assign devices to appropriate communities based on matching parameter values.
3Loss of time
If pre-configuration is required for device communities, then device compatibility is ensured, but loss of time and operational flexibility increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables dynamic community formation where devices can join or leave communities based on changing conditions. Community membership is not fixed but can change as devices are added to the network or as their attributes change, allowing the system to adapt to new devices and evolving requirements without manual reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors device attributes and community policies to maintain accurate community memberships. When devices are added, removed, or modify their attributes, the system evaluates these changes against community policies and automatically updates community assignments, providing ongoing feedback-based adjustment without manual intervention.
Data Source
AI summary
Presented herein are techniques for automatically creating communities of network-connected devices, i.e., Internet of Thing (IoT) devices. One or more of a plurality of network-connected devices are identified based on one or more policies that define one or more communities of network-connected devices. A community of network-connected devices includes network-connected devices that share common functional, physical or relational attributes. Information is stored that indicates the one or more communities of which each of the one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices is a member based on the policies that define the one or more communities and functional, physical or relational attributes of the one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices.