GATEWAY DEVICE AND A GATEWAY SYSTEM FOR AN INTERNET-OF-THINGS ENVIRONMENT

• US 20150381737A1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Davra Networks Limited
• Original Assignee: Davra Networks Limited
• Inventors: Quinn, Joseph Anthony, Ryan, Colin Francis, McGlynn, Brian Michael
• Application Number:
  US14/319,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20150381737A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A gateway device is disclosed for use in an internet-of-things environment. The gateway device comprises a sensor interface for interfacing with a plurality of sensors. A first memory unit is provided for storing sensed data received from the sensors. A second memory unit is provided for storing template data associated with the sensors which is generated by the sensor interface. A processing module is configured for generating encoded messages associated with the respective sensors containing the sensed data and the template data. A communication module is operable for communicating the encoded messages to a central server for decoding.

Claims

1. A gateway device for an internet-of-things environment, the gateway device comprising:

a sensor interface for interfacing with a plurality of sensors;

a first memory unit for storing sensed data received from the sensors;

a second memory unit for storing template data associated with the sensors which is generated by the sensor interface;

a processing module configured for generating encoded messages associated with the respective sensors containing the sensed data and the template data; and

a communication module for communicating the encoded messages to a central server for decoding.

2. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contents of the first memory unit is deleted during a reboot of the gateway device.

3. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contents of the second memory unit is retained during a reboot of the gateway device.

4. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing module is further configured for comparing current sensor data against previous sensor data stored in the first memory unit for determining output data.

5. A gateway device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the comparison step is implemented in real-time.

6. A gateway device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the encoded messages contain the output data.

7. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encoded messages are compatible with an internet protocol flow information export (IPFIX) format.

8. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor interface is configured to interrogate the sensors for retrieving sensed data therefrom.

9. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor interface is configured to listen for data output by the sensor.

10. A gateway device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sensor interface is operable to interrogate the sensors for retrieving data therefrom.

11. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor interface comprises a plurality of interface modules for interfacing with a plurality of sensors.

12. A gateway device as claimed in claim 11, wherein two or more of the interface modules are configured for communicating with sensors having different communication protocols.

13. A gateway device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the respective interface modules comprise a binary library.

14. A gateway device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the respective interface modules comprise a script.

15. A gateway device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the respective interface modules for configurable for facilitating writing data thereto.

16. A gateway device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the respective interface modules retrieve raw sensor data from corresponding sensors.

17. A gateway device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the respective interface modules pass the raw sensor data into their associated binary library via an application programming interface.

18. A gateway device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the respective interface modules publish the raw sensor data and template data to a discovery layer.

19. A gateway device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the template data for the respective sensors are provided in corresponding descriptor files.

20. A gateway device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the respective descriptor files include one or more of the following pieces of data type, units, labels, and descriptive text.

21. A gateway device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the template data has an associated identifier for each sensor value.

22. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encoded messages are communicated to the central server using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

23. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing module is operable to receive information from multiple interface modules each communicable with a corresponding sensor.

24. A gateway device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the processor module is configured to selectively filter raw sensor data for determining the output data.

25. A gateway device as claimed in claim 24, wherein the output data includes only sensor values which have changed since a previous sensor reading.

26. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein encoded messages are synchronised with a remote central database at predetermined time intervals.

28. A gateway device as claimed in claim 26, wherein the configuration data includes threshold values for determining when to generate alerts.

29. A gateway device as claimed in claim 26, wherein the configuration data includes a time schedule for determining how regularly to synchronise the encoded messages with the central database.

30. A gateway device as claimed in claim 26, where the configuration data includes information for determining when to synchronise the encoded messages with the central database.

31. A gateway device as claimed in claim 26, wherein the configuration data includes details of specific actions to implement if a threshold is exceeded.

32. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a predictive analysis module provides an intelligent service for predicting issues with sensors.

33. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a thresholding parameters module is configured to compare raw sensor data against threshold values.

34. A gateway device as claimed in claim 32, wherein the thresholding parameters module generates an appropriate alert message if a threshold value is exceeded.

35. A gateway device as claimed in claim 33, wherein the communication module is configured to transmit the generated alert message to the central server for initiating a course of actions.

36. A gateway device as claimed in claim 34, wherein the communication module is operable to monitor the signal strength of a cellular network.

37. A gateway device as claimed in claim 35, wherein if the signal strength deviates below an acceptable level the output data is buffered until the signal strength increases above the acceptable level.

38. A gateway device as claimed in claim 36, wherein the output data is buffered in the short term memory unit.

39. A gateway device as claimed in claim 37, wherein the first memory unit includes a mechanism for preventing the information contained therein exceeding a limit.

40. A gateway device as claimed in claim 38, wherein the mechanism deletes data in the first memory unit if the buffered output data exceeds the limit.

41. A gateway device as claimed in claim 39, wherein the mechanism deletes data according to a set of priority rules.

42. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module includes a subscriber identify module.

43. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module is operable to select an access point name (APN) for communicating the gateway device and the central server.

44. A gateway device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module is operable to send data to the central server via a short message service (SMS).

45. A gateway device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the encoded messages contain a flag to indicate that an acknowledgement is required when received at the central server.

46. A gateway device as claimed in claim 44, wherein the communication module is configured to resend the encoded message if an acknowledgement is not received from the central server within a predetermined time limit.

48. A central server as claimed in claim 46, wherein the gateway interface is configured to decode the output data received from the respective gateway devices.

50. A central server as claimed in claim 46, further comprising a predictive analysis module which is configured to compare data patterns for predicting sensor faults.

52. A central server as claimed in claim 46, wherein the central server is provided on the cloud.

27. A gateway device as claimed in claimed 23, wherein the processing module has associated configuration data.

47. A central server for an internet-of-things environment;

the central server comprising;

a gateway interface for interfacing with a plurality of gateway devices;

a central database comprising records of sensors associated with the respective gateway devices;

the records including sensed data and template data received from the respective gateway devices;

a synchronisation module configured for facilitating the synchronisation of the central database with the respective gateway devices; and

a synchronisation module configured for facilitating the synchronisation of the central database with the respective gateway devices; and

a processing module for controlling the respective gateway devices.

49. A central server as claimed in claim 47, wherein the gateway interface is operable to parse IPFIX messages received from the respective gateway devices.

51. A central server as claim in claim 49, wherein the processing module is operable to transmit updates to the respective gateway devices if a sensor fault is predicted.

53. An internet-of-things (IoT) system comprising:

a plurality of gateway devices which comprise

a sensor interface for communicating with a plurality of sensors;

a local database for storing records associated with the respective sensors;

the records include sensed data and template data;

a gateway synchronising module configured for synchronising the local database with a remote central database associated with a central server; and

a communication module for communicating data between the gateway device and the central server,

the IoT system further comprising;

a central server comprising;

a gateway interface for interfacing with the plurality of gateway devices;

a central database comprising records of sensors associated with the respective gateway devices;

the records including sensed data and template data;

a server synchronisation module being co-operable with the gateway synchronising module; and

a controlling module for controlling the respective gateway devices.