Multi-tenant IoT Gateway Routing with Rule-Based Tiers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current IoT device network deployments face challenges in managing diverse data streams from multiple devices with different communication requirements, security constraints, and urgency levels, necessitating custom solutions for data handling and routing.
Innovation Solution
A multi-tenant IoT gateway routing system that uses rule-based routing tiers to manage and process data streams from various IoT devices, defining communication and processing protocols based on customer-defined rules, enabling efficient routing and edge processing across multiple communication technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single hub is used to collect IoT device data, then device complexity is reduced, but it becomes difficult to manage diverse communication requirements and security constraints from multiple tenants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the hub functionality into multiple virtual hubs, each serving a specific tenant with dedicated communication protocols and security policies. This allows the system to handle diverse communication requirements from multiple tenants while maintaining a single physical hub infrastructure, thus reducing device complexity while preserving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The hub is designed with multi-functionality to support multiple communication frameworks (e.g., Thread, Wi-Fi, Ethernet) and protocols simultaneously. By integrating universal communication capabilities and automated protocol selection, the hub can accommodate diverse tenant requirements without requiring separate dedicated hubs for each communication type.
2Reliability
If custom solutions are deployed for each IoT deployment, then communication requirements are met, but deployment cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses parameter changes by dynamically adjusting communication parameters (protocols, frequency bands, data intervals) based on tenant-specific configurations stored in a database. This allows the hub to adapt to different communication requirements through software parameter adjustments rather than hardware customization, reducing deployment cost while maintaining compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The hub implements self-service capabilities by automatically detecting device types, selecting appropriate communication protocols, and configuring routing rules without manual intervention. This automated configuration process eliminates the need for custom solution deployment for each tenant, reducing both cost and time while ensuring communication requirements are met.
3Device complexity
If data from all IoT devices is processed uniformly, then processing simplicity is maintained, but data integrity and security for different tenants are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data processing into tenant-specific virtual processing channels, where each tenant's data is handled according to its own integrity and security requirements. The hub maintains separate processing pipelines for different tenants while using a unified physical infrastructure, thus preserving data integrity without significantly increasing processing complexity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple communication frameworks are supported, then adaptability increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (the hub) that mediates between multiple communication frameworks and the backend system. The hub handles protocol translation, packet routing, and framework-specific processing, allowing multiple communication frameworks to be supported without increasing the complexity of the overall system architecture.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
Novel techniques are described for gateway routing and/or processing of multi-tenant Internet-of-Things (IoT) device data streams. For example, a single IoT routing gateway can be used to route device data streams from IoT devices of multiple customers according to rule-based routing tiers. The routing tiers define routing protocols, including which communication technologies to use for transmission of the device data streams over a cloud network to remote servers. In some cases, the routing tiers further define processing protocols to facilitate rule-based edge processing (and/or remote processing) of some or all device data streams. Some routing tiers can define a primary and one or more secondary solution for routing and/or processing, according to customer-defined rules. In some cases, the routing tiers further enable rule-based control of interconnectivity among IoT devices.