Sensor virtualization through cloud storage and retrieval mechanisms
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing system, causes the data processing system to:
- obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors;
store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format;
receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data;
retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and
return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing system to retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request further by;
determining if there is a constraint associated with the portion of the sensor data, wherein the constraint specifies a limitation on which requestors may be provided the portion of the sensor data;
determining if the requestor satisfies a condition of the constraint; and
retrieving the portion of the sensor data only in response to the requestor not satisfying a condition of the constraint.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Mechanisms are provided for virtualizing physical sensors and providing sensor data to a requestor using the virtualized physical sensors. The mechanisms obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors and storing the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format. A request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data is received which does not specify a particular physical sensor. A portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system is retrieved in response to receiving the request, the portion of sensor data corresponding to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor. The retrieved portion of the sensor data is returned to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing system, causes the data processing system to:
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obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing system to retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request further by; determining if there is a constraint associated with the portion of the sensor data, wherein the constraint specifies a limitation on which requestors may be provided the portion of the sensor data; determining if the requestor satisfies a condition of the constraint; and retrieving the portion of the sensor data only in response to the requestor not satisfying a condition of the constraint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8)
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6. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing system, causes the data processing system to:
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obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein; the sensor data is obtained via one or more standardized sensor interfaces that provide a communication pathway between the plurality of physical sensors and the virtual sensor storage system, the request is received from the requestor via one or more standardized application programming interfaces (APIs), the computer readable program causes the data processing system to obtain sensor data via one or more standardized sensor interfaces by identifying a constraint associated with a subset of the sensor data as specified by a supplier of the subset of the sensor data, and the computer readable program further causes the data processing system to store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system by storing an identification of the constraint in association with the subset of the sensor data in the virtual sensor storage system, wherein the constraint specifies a limitation as to which requestors may be provided the associated subset of the sensor data.
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9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing system, causes the data processing system to:
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obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data, wherein the request does not specify a particular physical sensor; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing system to retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request by; retrieving sensor data obtained from more than one physical sensor in the plurality of physical sensors based on the type of sensor data requested in the request and criteria specified in the request; and combining the sensor data from the more than one physical sensor into a single resultant set of sensor data representing a sensor output of a single virtual sensor, and wherein returning the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor comprises returning the single resultant set of sensor data to the requestor as the sensor output of the single virtual sensor.
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10. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request further by; determining if there is a constraint associated with the portion of the sensor data, wherein the constraint specifies a limitation on which requestors may be provided the portion of the sensor data; determining if the requestor satisfies a condition of the constraint; and retrieving the portion of the sensor data only in response to the requestor not satisfying a condition of the constraint. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17)
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15. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the sensor data is obtained via one or more standardized sensor interfaces that provide a communication pathway between the plurality of physical sensors and the virtual sensor storage system, and wherein the request is received from the requestor via one or more standardized application programming interfaces (APIs), and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to; obtain sensor data via one or more standardized sensor interfaces by identifying a constraint associated with a subset of the sensor data as specified by a supplier of the subset of the sensor data, store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system by storing an identification of the constraint in association with the subset of the sensor data in the virtual sensor storage system, wherein the constraint specifies a limitation as to which requestors may be provided the associated subset of the sensor data.
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18. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; obtain sensor data from a plurality of physical sensors; store the sensor data in a virtual sensor storage system of the data processing system in at least one standardized format; receive a request from a requestor for a first type of sensor data, wherein the request does not specify a particular physical sensor; retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request, wherein the portion of sensor data corresponds to the type of sensor data requested in the request from the requestor; and return the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor in a format corresponding to a physical sensor configured to provide the requested type of sensor data, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to retrieve a portion of the sensor data stored in the virtual sensor storage system in response to receiving the request by; retrieving sensor data obtained from more than one physical sensor in the plurality of physical sensors based on the type of sensor data requested in the request and criteria specified in the request; and combining the sensor data from the more than one physical sensor into a single resultant set of sensor data representing a sensor output of a single virtual sensor, and wherein returning the retrieved portion of the sensor data to the requestor comprises returning the single resultant set of sensor data to the requestor as the sensor output of the single virtual sensor.
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Specification