Secure Gateway for Telemetry Data Processing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Exposing web services for dispenser machines to administrator systems over computer networks poses security risks due to the lack of specific addressing of message integrity, authentication, and confidentiality in the layered architecture of web services, potentially allowing unauthorized access.

Innovation Solution

Implementing secure gateways at both the dispenser machine and the administrator system to provide message integrity, authentication, and confidentiality, separate from the applications creating request and response messages, and using message queuing with multiple threads for parallel and scalable processing of telemetry data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If web services are exposed for telemetry data transmission, then connectivity and data processing capability are improved, but security risks increase due to lack of message integrity, authentication, and confidentiality

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveconnectivityVSAvoidsecurity risks
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

A secure gateway is introduced as an intermediary component between the dispenser machine and the administrator system. The gateway handles security functions including message integrity verification, authentication, and confidentiality protection, allowing the web service to remain exposed for connectivity while mitigating security risks through dedicated security processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If secure gateways are implemented for message integrity and authentication, then security is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesecurityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system is segmented into distinct functional components: the dispenser machine, the secure gateway, and the administrator system. The secure gateway is implemented as a separate module that can be independently deployed, allowing security functions to be isolated from the main application logic and reducing overall system complexity through modular architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Productivity

If multiple threads are used for parallel processing of telemetry data, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata processing throughputVSAvoidprocessing architecture
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The data processing workload is segmented across multiple threads, with each thread responsible for processing telemetry data from specific dispenser machines or data types. This segmentation enables parallel processing to improve throughput while maintaining manageable complexity through thread-specific processing logic.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The processing architecture transitions from single-threaded sequential processing to multi-threaded parallel processing by adding the time dimension. Multiple threads operate concurrently to handle telemetry data streams, improving productivity without requiring complex synchronization mechanisms for each individual data processing task.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP3920513B1Parallel and scalable processing of telemetry data from connected dispensing machines
Publication Date: 2023.06.07 PEPSICO INC
  • EP3920513B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3920513B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3920513B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for parallel and scalable processing of messages containing telemetry data at an administrator system. The administrator system can receive a large number of messages containing telemetry data from many dispenser machines in a short amount of time. To receive and process those messages, the systems and methods of the present disclosure provide a message queuer to queue the messages (or at least the telemetry data in the messages) in a plurality of queues and a different thread or process for each of the plurality of queues. Each thread or process can pull messages out of its assigned queue in order and process the telemetry data of the messages. The threads or processes can run on one or more central processing unit cores at the administrator system. This setup allows for horizontal scaling in terms of message processing throughput.