IoT Digital Twin Trait Modeling for Valid State Requests
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IoT systems lack integration of device twins and trait or capability models, leading to inefficiencies in managing IoT device states and behaviors, particularly when desired actions conflict with device capabilities or states.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that combine device twins with trait or capability models to create a unified model, allowing IoT devices to embody both their states and behaviors. This involves identifying traits for connected devices, receiving action requests, calculating desired states based on trait configurations, and transmitting appropriate messages to the devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If device twins and trait models are kept independent, then system simplicity is maintained, but integration efficiency and behavioral accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the device twin (state representation) and trait model (capability representation) into a unified digital twin framework. The state machine integrates both state data and trait data, allowing the system to simultaneously track device state and device capabilities/behaviors. This integration enables efficient processing of action requests by considering both current state and device traits together, rather than as separate independent models.
2Loss of energy
If all action requests are transmitted to IoT devices, then communication completeness is maintained, but network traffic and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation of action requests against the device's current state and traits before transmission. The state machine evaluates whether the desired state is achievable given the device's current state and capabilities (traits). Only valid, achievable action requests are transmitted to the IoT device, preventing unnecessary communications that would waste energy while ensuring all necessary communications are sent.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors device state changes and uses this feedback to determine whether action requests need to be transmitted. If the device state has already changed to match the desired state or if the action would conflict with device traits, the system suppresses transmission. This feedback mechanism ensures communication completeness only when necessary, optimizing energy usage.
3Reliability
If action requests are validated against device traits, then request accuracy improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device traits and state transition rules are pre-configured and stored in the state machine. When an action request arrives, the system performs rapid lookup and validation against these pre-established rules rather than performing complex real-time analysis. This preliminary structuring of validation criteria enables fast, accurate determination of whether an action request is valid without significant processing delays.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and storage media for communicating with connected devices are disclosed. Exemplary implementations may: identify one or more traits for a connected device; receive an action request, wherein the action request corresponds to a first desired state of the connected device; receive a trait configuration for the one or more traits; calculate a second desired state for the connected device, wherein the second desired state is calculated based on one or more of the action request and trait configuration for the connected device; and at least one of transmit a first message to the connected device, including an indication of the first or the second desired state, or transmit a second message, including an indication of an estimated state, to the first computing device.