IoT Subcomponent Shadow Representations for Offline State Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IoT systems face challenges with intermittent connectivity, bandwidth limitations, and computing capacity constraints, making it difficult to manage device representations and subcomponent states across networks.
Innovation Solution
A device shadowing service that maintains cached device representations and subcomponent representations, allowing applications and services to access state information without needing the device to be connected, using data-interchange formats like JSON and NoSQL or relational data stores, and enabling state updates and queries through a network even when devices are unreachable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If device representations are maintained in real-time on the network, then state information is immediately accessible, but network bandwidth and computing capacity are consumed continuously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a shadow device representation that is a copy of the actual device representation, stored separately in a data store. This copy contains the same state information but can be accessed independently without requiring the device to be online or consuming continuous network bandwidth. The shadow representation is updated asynchronously when device state changes, enabling reliable state access while reducing ongoing network resource consumption.
2Reliability
If device connectivity is required for state access, then data accuracy is maintained, but system availability decreases during connectivity interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining a shadow device representation that is updated with device state information before connectivity is needed. The shadow representation is kept synchronized with the actual device representation during periods when the device is accessible, so that state information can be retrieved later even when the device is offline or connectivity is interrupted, ensuring continuous system availability.
3Loss of information
If complete device representations are stored for all devices, then full state information is available, but storage requirements and data management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the device representation data model into hierarchical components including device representations, subcomponent representations, and state representations. This segmentation allows the system to store and manage only the necessary portions of device state information in the shadow representation, reducing overall storage requirements while maintaining access to complete state data when needed. The segmented structure also simplifies data management by allowing selective updates and queries of specific state elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A technology is described for a device shadowing service that manages device states. An example method may include receiving a state change message associated with a device that a subcomponent of the device has assumed a first state. In response to the state change message, a subcomponent representation associated with a device representation may be updated to indicate the first state received, where the device representation represents the device and the subcomponent representation represent the subcomponent of the device. Thereafter, a request may be received for the first state of the subcomponent of the device. The first state indicated by the subcomponent representation associated with the device representation may be determined, and the first state may be returned in response to the request.