Thing Model Mapping for IoT Digital Twins
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In the Internet of Things (IoT) context, there is a need to efficiently and accurately represent real-world entities and their measurements in a digital model, as existing methods are time-consuming and lack integration, making it difficult to create reliable representations of physical things and devices.
Innovation Solution
A two-level logical framework is introduced, where physical things and devices are modeled as virtual things and devices using mathematically based data structures, with a mapping mechanism that bridges measurements from physical devices to the appropriate properties of physical things, enabling efficient and accurate representation across abstraction layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If each physical thing and device is manually defined in the digital world, then accurate representation is achieved, but the process becomes extremely time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies (digital twins) of physical things and devices by automatically generating their representations in the digital world. Instead of manually defining each entity, the system automatically copies physical entities into virtual form, maintaining their characteristics and relationships while eliminating manual modeling time
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining thing models and device models with their properties, relationships, and operating characteristics before actual IoT deployment. This preparation work is done in advance using automated processes rather than manual effort during implementation
2Reliability
If detailed operating characteristics and measurements are collected for accurate modeling, then representation reliability improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex IoT modeling task into two distinct levels: thing models representing physical entities and their properties, and device models representing measurement devices and their capabilities. This segmentation allows detailed characteristics to be organized systematically without overwhelming system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mapping mechanism as an intermediary layer that connects device models to thing models. This mapping layer manages the complexity of relating detailed measurements to physical entities by providing a structured association system, thereby maintaining reliability while controlling complexity
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive device definitions are created for all physical entities, then digital representation accuracy improves, but the integration effort increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates universal thing models and device models that can represent multiple types of physical entities and measurement devices using common structures and properties. This universality allows the same modeling framework to handle diverse IoT entities without requiring separate integration efforts for each device type
Solution Approach 2:
By automatically copying physical entities into virtual models with standardized properties and relationships, the system maintains high representation accuracy while reducing integration effort. The automated copying process handles the complexity of comprehensive device definitions without requiring manual integration work
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method, and computer-readable medium, to define and represent real world physical devices and physical things and corresponding virtual representations thereof and to define relationships between the virtual representations of the physical devices and physical things. The defined relationships can be saved to a memory, retrieved from the memory, and used by one or more applications.