IoT Edge Data Filtering Reduces Communication Costs

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Solution Overview

Problem

In IoT networks, transmitting large amounts of data from IoT devices to servers can be costly and inefficient, as all data is often collected without filtering, leading to high communication costs and processing loads.

Innovation Solution

An information processing apparatus with a collecting unit, receiving unit, selecting unit, and output unit that filters data based on selection conditions, such as keywords, to reduce the amount of data transmitted to a management server, only sending data that meets specific criteria, thereby reducing communication costs and processing loads.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all data from IoT devices is transmitted to the server, then complete data collection is achieved, but communication cost and processing load increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata collection completenessVSAvoidcommunication cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by performing data filtering and selection at the edge device before transmission. The edge device pre-processes the data by comparing it against stored reference data and selection conditions, extracting only relevant portions that meet predetermined criteria. This preliminary filtering action reduces the data volume before transmission to the server, thereby lowering communication costs while maintaining the reliability of collecting necessary data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Quantity of substance

If data filtering is performed at the server, then all data can be received, but processing load and time increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata transmission volumeVSAvoidprocessing time

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the data filtering function into two parts: the edge device handles initial filtering based on selection conditions and reference data, while the server performs further processing on the already-reduced dataset. This segmentation of processing tasks across different locations (edge and cloud) reduces the overall processing time by distributing the workload and preventing the server from being overwhelmed with raw, unfiltered data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Loss of information

If no data reduction is performed, then all relevant information is captured, but communication efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation completenessVSAvoiddata transmission efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the extraction principle by selectively removing unnecessary data from the collected dataset at the edge device. The system extracts only the portions of data that meet predetermined selection conditions and have meaningful differences from reference data. This extraction process maintains information completeness for relevant data while significantly reducing the overall data volume, thereby improving communication efficiency without losing essential information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS11475217B2Information processing apparatus and non-transitory computer readable medium storing information processing program

Publication Date: 2022.10.18 FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP

AI summary

An information processing apparatus includes a collecting unit that collects data from communication devices, a receiving unit that receives a selection condition, a selecting unit that selects a piece of data from the collected data based on the selection condition received by the receiving unit, and an output unit that outputs the selected piece of data to a subsequent processing unit.