Service Layer Freshness-Based Request Processing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional M2M/IoT Service Layer technologies do not effectively enable applications to discover or retrieve content based on freshness requirements, nor do they efficiently re-target requests to ensure content freshness, leading to the use of stale data and increased overhead on IoT devices.
Innovation Solution
Implementing freshness-based processing mechanisms in the Service Layer to examine content age and re-target requests, allowing for the provision of fresh content by detecting stale resources and triggering updates from Content Sourcing Apps, and enabling point-of-contact information management for efficient content retrieval and re-targeting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional M2M/IoT Service Layer technologies are used for content retrieval, then applications can access stored content, but applications cannot effectively discover or retrieve content based on freshness requirements leading to use of stale data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a freshness parameter (createdAfter filter criteria) to the content retrieval process. The Service Layer evaluates this parameter against the creationTime attribute of stored content instances, dynamically determining whether to return cached content or trigger updates based on freshness requirements. This parameter-based filtering resolves the contradiction by enabling reliability through freshness validation while preventing information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the Service Layer monitors content freshness and automatically triggers update operations when content becomes stale. When a retrieve request with createdAfter criteria is received, the Service Layer compares the current time against the content's creationTime, and if the content is outdated, it initiates an update from the Content Sourcing Application. This closed-loop feedback ensures applications consistently receive fresh data without manual intervention.
2Productivity
If conventional request processing is used without freshness-based re-targeting, then the Service Layer processes all requests, but this increases overhead on IoT devices and network usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-evaluating content freshness before processing retrieve requests. The Service Layer checks the creationTime attribute against the requested createdAfter criteria in advance. If content is already fresh, the request is served from cache without further processing. If stale, the system proactively triggers an update operation before the actual data retrieval is needed. This preliminary freshness check prevents unnecessary processing and reduces device overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the freshness evaluation function from the general request processing flow, creating a separate pre-processing step that filters requests based on content age. By separating the freshness check from the main retrieval logic, the system can quickly determine whether full processing is necessary. This extraction allows the Service Layer to bypass unnecessary processing steps for fresh content, improving productivity while reducing energy consumption for stale content scenarios.
3Ease of operation
If the Service Layer stores and processes all content requests, then content can be retrieved, but unnecessary requests and data processing increase network usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by selectively processing only those requests that require actual data retrieval. The Service Layer performs a partial evaluation of the content freshness using the createdAfter filter criteria before committing to full request processing. If content is fresh, only a minimal acknowledgment is returned without triggering data transfer. If stale, the full update and retrieval process is initiated. This partial processing approach maintains ease of operation while significantly reducing network overhead by avoiding unnecessary data transfers.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices may be used to support freshness-based processing of requests. Freshness-based processing may involve the service layer examining the age of stored content (e.g., resource representation) that it hosts and determining whether it is fresh enough to satisfy a retrieve or discovery request with a specified freshness requirement. If not fresh, the service layer can contact an application to refresh the content. In addition, freshness-based processing can also involve the service layer examining the semantic state of a command oriented update request to determine whether its state is fresh or not with respect to prior commands processed by the service layer. For example, the service layer may compare stored content associated with controlling a particular application (e.g. door is locked) and against the semantic content of an update request (e.g., unlock door) to determine whether it is the same (e.g., stale) or not (e.g., fresh). If fresh, the service layer can then re-target the update request to an application to have it perform the command (e.g., unlock door).