Application Platform Operable on Network Node

• US 20160142514A1
• Filed: 11/19/2014
• Published: 05/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Itron, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Itron, Inc.
• Inventors: Gillmore, Matthew Keith, Stuber, Michael T. Garrison, Buffington, John
• Granted Patent: US 9,781,231 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/408 characterised by data handling or data format, e.g. reading, buffering or conversion of data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/31 Programming languages or programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

A formula-driven programming-environment is described, which may be used to provide an environment for applications to operate within a network node or other computing device. In one example, statements of a program may be interpreted to thereby execute formula-style commands within an address space defined and constrained in a memory device by the integrated development environment. The commands may obtain data, assign values to variables and access data from other node(s) by the interpretation of statements in the program and communicating over a network. The communicating may include queuing a message for transmission by the formula-driven programming-environment. The commands may provide named access or relative access to data in response to the interpretation of statements in the program. The commands may communicate with at least one application located on a remote computing device in response to the interpretation of statements in the program.

Claims

1. A method of operating a formula-driven programming-environment within a network node, the method comprising:

interpreting statements of a program defined in a memory device of the network node, the interpreting comprising;

executing a command within an address space defined in the memory device by the formula-driven programming-environment; and

obtaining data and assigning values to variables based on the executing of the command;

accessing data from a second node by the interpretation of the statements in the program and communicating over a network, the communicating comprising queuing a message for transmission by the formula-driven programming-environment;

providing named access or relative access to data in response to the interpretation of the statements in the program; and

communicating with at least one application located on a remote computing device in response to the interpretation of statements in the program.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein interpreting the statements of the program comprises evaluating:

a syntax; and

an argument.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein accessing the data comprises accessing data at locations comprising:

local nodes;

neighbor nodes;

arbitrary groups of nodes;

or

parent, sibling and child nodes.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, additionally comprising limiting transmission as required to below a threshold.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein accessing the data comprises use of a node:

variable syntax.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein queuing the message for transmission by the formula-driven programming-environment comprises transparent message queuing of sensor data, constants, derived data and/or commands for transmission over the network.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein providing relative access to data comprises:

identifying a second node within a network based on a relationship to the network node; and

obtaining data from the second node.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, additionally comprising:

recognizing an event with the network node; and

determining if the event is also recognized by;

parent nodes of the network node;

child nodes of the network node;

or

sibling nodes of the network node.

9. A network, comprising a plurality of network nodes operated according to the method as recited in claim 1, each node comprising:

an embedded system; and

a rules engine and a calculation engine, both configured to utilize resources provided by the embedded system using both local addresses and relative addresses of nodes and data on the network.

10. A node, comprising:

at least one sensor;

an embedded operating system, configured to communicate with the at least one sensor; and

a formula-driven programming-environment, configured to interpret commands of one or more applications and to make calls to the embedded operating system, the formula-driven programming-environment comprising;

a variable manager, to obtain and assign variable values;

an address manager, to provide access to data sources, including the at least one sensor, by absolute access or relative access;

a communications manager, to provide intrinsic network communications, including automatic message queuing and limiting of message transmission; and

an applications manager, to communicate with an application regarding sensor data and to retrieve and provision data.

11. The node as recited in claim 10, wherein the address manager is configured to define variables based on a storage location, a syntax, and a variable name.

12. The node as recited in claim 10, wherein the formula-driven programming-environment additionally comprises an event manager, to respond to an event notification and to trigger:

variable assignment to put data into appropriate data structures;

functional evaluation to calculate a value of a function given an input value;

or

statement interpretation within the formula-driven programming-environment.

13. The node as recited in claim 10, wherein the formula-driven programming-environment is configured to execute a block of statements in response to an event notification, wherein:

the block of statements is indicated by a defined syntax;

a name of the block of statements is located with respect to the defined syntax; and

a plurality of statements are associated with the name of the block of statements.

14. The node as recited in claim 10, wherein the formula-driven programming-environment additionally comprises a function definition comprising an indicating syntax and a call to the formula-driven programming-environment or to the embedded system.

15. The node as recited in claim 10, wherein the integrated development environment:

limits interpretation of commands to a defined area of memory; and

limits program utilization to prevent excessive resource consumption.

16. A system, comprising:

at least one sensor;

an embedded operating system, in communication with the at least one sensor; and

a formula-driven programming-environment, configured to make calls to the embedded operating system and to interpret statements of one or more applications, the formula-driven programming-environment comprising;

a variable definition manager configured to define variables having addresses based at least in part on named access, and to define variables having addresses based at least in part on relative access, to data sources;

an event manager configured to execute at least one statement in response to a specific event;

a function manager configured for to execute a function based at least in part on an identifying syntax, a function identifier, and an argument; and

a block statement manager configured to execute a block of statements at least in part by recognizing;

an indicating syntax;

a name of the block of statements; and

a plurality of statements associated with the name.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the event manager is additionally configured to:

define a plurality of events;

provide notice upon occurrence of an event from among the plurality of events; and

execute a block of statements in response to the notice.

18. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the variable definition manager uses at least a two-part format, comprising a location on which variable information is stored and a name of a variable.

19. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the function manager is configured to restrict functions to only those provided by the formula-driven programming-environment.

20. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the block of statements comprises two or more of:

a statement executed in response to an event;

a function; and

a name of a block of statements.