System and method of abstracting communication protocol using self-describing messages

• US 9,560,170 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2014
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PTC Inc.
• Original Assignee: PTC Inc.
• Inventors: Bullotta, Rick, Canosa, John, DeRemer, Bob, Mahoney, Mike
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mendaye, Kidest
• Application Number:
  US14/222,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20150271299A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A system and method for abstracting communication protocol using self-describing messages. The method includes providing a first communication protocol having control codes and binary messages having a self-describing schema of a data object model. The method includes providing a second communication protocol where instances of the second communication protocol are associatively mapped to the instances of the first communication protocol. The method includes receiving a message in the second communication protocol. The method includes classifying the message as being either a control message or a data message and translating it to a second message where upon the message has been classified as a control message, the processor maps the control message to one or more control codes and where upon the message has been classified as a data message, the processor maps the data message to a corresponding binary message having the self-describing schema.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for receiving data structured according to a second communication protocol and transmitting the data structured according to a first communication protocol in the network, wherein the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, the method comprising:

providing an associative mapping between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol in a memory of a computing device, wherein a data message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a serialized-binary message having a self-describing schema, the serialized-binary message comprising i) a data set comprising data values originating from a connected device, and ii) a metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the data set, and wherein the associative mapping includes one or more control parameters associated with transmission events of the data message to one or more devices in the network, wherein a configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a second serialized-binary message having the self-describing schema, the second serialized binary message comprising i) the one or more control parameters associated with the transmission events of the data message to the one or more devices in the network, and ii) a second metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the one or more control parameters;

in response to receiving, at a port of the computing device, from a given connected device, a first data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generating, at the computing device, according to the associative mapping, a second data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmitting, according to the associative mapping, the second data message to a device in the network;

in response to receiving, at the port of the computing device, from the device in the network, a given configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol, wherein the given configuration message includes one or more control parameters associated with one or more transmission events of a given data message to one or more devices in the network, updating the associative mapping with the one or more control parameters of the given configuration message; and

in response to receiving, at the port of the computing device, from the given connected device, a third data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generating, at the computing device, according to the updated associative mapping, a fourth data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmitting the fourth message, according to the updated associative mapping, to a device in the network.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first and third data messages are received via a wireless connection.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the wireless connection includes a network selected from the group consisting of Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiMax (WiMAX Forum Protocol), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Alliance Protocol), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), PCS (Personal Communications Services protocol), D-AMPS (Digital- Advanced Mobile Phone Service Protocol), 6LoWPAN (IPv6 Over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Networks Protocol), Ant (ANT network protocol), DASH7(DASH7 Alliance Protocol), EnOcean, INSTEON, NeuRF ON, Senceive, WirelessHART (Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol), Contiki, TinyOS (Tiny OS Alliance Protocol), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol), CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol), MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport), TR-50 (Engineering Committee TR-50 Protocol, OMA LW M2M (Open Mobile Alliance LightWeight machine-to-machine Protocol), and ETSIM2M (European Telecommunication Standards Institute machine-to-machine Protocol).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the metadata construct associated with the data set includes a name of the connected-device and a type description of the data set.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing device transmits the second and fourth data messages to a platform server and over a web-socket connection.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the associative mapping between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol is stored in persistent memory of the computing device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second and fourth data messages include control codes based on a HTML framework.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second and fourth data messages include a service request code selected from the group consisting of a GET request code, a PUT request code, a POST request code, and a DELETE request code.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the second metadata construct includes an event name and an event threshold to transmit the data message.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instruction stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

provide an associative mapping for a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol in a memory, wherein the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, wherein a data message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a serialized-binary message having a self-describing schema, the serialized-binary message comprising i) a data set comprising data values originating from a connected device, and ii) a metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the data set, and wherein the associative mapping includes one or more control parameters associated with transmission events of the data message to one or more devices in the network, wherein a configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a second serialized-binary message having the self-describing schema, the second serialized binary message comprising i) the one or more control parameters associated with the transmission events of the data message to the one or more devices in the network, and ii) a second metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the one or more control parameters;

in response to receiving, from a given connected device, a first data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generate, according to the associative mapping, a second data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmit, according to the associative mapping, the second data packet to a device in the network;

in response to receiving, from the device in the network, a given configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol, wherein the given configuration message includes one or more control parameters associated with one or more transmission events of a given data message to one or more devices in the network, update the associative mapping with the one or more control parameters of the given configuration message; and

in response to receiving, from the given connected device, a third data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generate, according to the updated associative mapping, a fourth data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmit, according to the updated associative mapping, the fourth data message to a device in the network.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first data message and the third data message are received via a wireless connection.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the wireless connection includes a network selected from the group consisting of Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiMax (WiMAX Forum Protocol), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Alliance Protocol), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), PCS (Personal Communications Services protocol), D-AMPS (Digital- Advanced Mobile Phone Service Protocol), 6LoWPAN (IPv6 Over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Networks Protocol), Ant (ANT network protocol), DASH7(DASH7 Alliance Protocol), EnOcean, INSTEON, NeuRF ON, Senceive, WirelessHART (Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol), Contiki, TinyOS (Tiny OS Alliance Protocol), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol), CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol), MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport), TR-50 (Engineering Committee TR-50Protocol, OMA LW M2M (Open Mobile Alliance LightWeight machine-to-machine Protocol), and ETSIM2M (European Telecommunication Standards Institute machine-to-machine Protocol).

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the metadata construct associated with the data set includes a name of the connected device and a type description of the data set.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the second and fourth data messages include control codes based on a HTML framework.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the second and fourth data messages include a service request code selected from the group consisting of a GET request code, a PUT request code, a POST request code, and a DELETE request code.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the second and fourth data messages include a service request code selected from the group consisting of a GET request code, a PUT request code, a POST request code, and a DELETE request code.

15. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

provide an associative mapping between a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol in the memory, wherein the second communication protocol is different from the first communication protocol, wherein a data message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a serialized-binary message having a self-describing schema, the serialized-binary message comprising i)a data set comprising data values originating from a connected device, and ii) a metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the data set, and wherein the associative mapping includes one or more control parameters associated with transmission events of the data message to one or more devices in the network, wherein a configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol comprises a second serialized-binary message having the self-describing schema, the second serialized binary message comprising i) the one or more control parameters associated with the transmission events of the data message to the one or more devices in the network, and ii) a second metadata construct that includes one or more description values of the one or more control parameters;

in response to receiving, from a given connected device, a first data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generate, according to the associative mapping, a second data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmit, according to the associative mapping, the second data message to a device in the network;

in response to receiving, from the device in the network, a given configuration message structured according to the first communication protocol, wherein the given configuration message includes one or more control parameters associated with one or more transmission events of a given data message to one or more devices in the network, update the associative mapping with the one or more control parameters of the given configuration message; and

in response to receiving, from the given connected device, a third data message transmitted according to the second communication protocol, generate, according to the updated associative mapping, a fourth data message structured according to the first communication protocol and transmit, according to the updated associative mapping, the fourth data packet to a device in the network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the metadata construct associated with the data set includes a name of the connected device and a type description of the data set.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the second and fourth data messages include control codes based on a HTML framework.