Patent Application
20140122642
The embodiments herein relate to Machine to Machine (M2M) based systems and, more particularly, to managing application and services data in M2M based systems.
Machine to Machine (M2M) systems comprise of an interconnected web of devices, wherein the devices use wired and/or wireless based communication networks to communicate with each other. The system may be a one to one system, wherein one device communicates with only one other device at a time. The device may also be a one to many system, wherein one device may communicate with multiple devices at the same time. The M2M system may be a centralized system, wherein the devices communicate via a centralized hub, wherein the hub performs analysis on data received from devices, before forwarding the data and/or analysis to the other devices. The M2M system may also be a peer to peer system, wherein the devices communicate to each other directly; wherein analysis may be performed at the source device or the destination device(s).
Currently in distributed M2M networks, application and services data, device configuration rules and processed sensor data are stored in the sensor or intermediate concentrator memory and are eventually transported to a back-end server with several stops along the way in memory. Due to the multiple stops along the way, there is a time delay involved in accessing application and services data, device configuration rules and processed sensor data.
The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The embodiments herein disclose a system and method for managing application and services data in a distributed wireless M2M system. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Embodiments disclosed herein disclose direct transport of device configuration rules and processes sensor data to and from a back-end configuration and data management and to-from the sensors via intermediate concentrator devices within the M2M system.
The M2M platform 102 provides transport processing and storage of payload data. The M2M platform 102 comprises a means for receiving software and commands to generate an update and to report status, wherein the status may be reported back to at least one network operator. The M2M platform 102 can further specify, on receiving at least one command from a user or the network operator, the type of transport processing to be done to data. The M2M platform 102 is further configured for creating a downloadable image with the desired transport processing. The data may be fetched from a remote location such as a server. The M2M platform 102 is configured for downloading transport updates in to the M2M devices 101. The M2M platform 102 may hold the updates in a suitable location. The M2M platform 102 is further configured to restart the M2M devices 101 and running the new updates on the M2M devices 101. The M2M platform 102 provides a means for displaying the status of the update and versioning status.
The traffic concentrator module 202 provides transport processing and storage of payload data. The traffic concentrator module 202 comprises a means for receiving software and commands to generate an update and to report status, wherein the status may be reported back to at least one network operator. The payload data may be fetched from a remote location and may be transported to and from the plurality of M2M sensors 204, wherein the M2M sensors 204 comprise of a plurality of sensors using cellular technology, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee and so on. The rules for triggering of sensors, scaling and ranging, and first-level processing, are maintained in the remote location and pushed down into the M2M sensors 204 via the traffic concentrator module 202 as a transient application as-needed and changed as-desired. The traffic concentrator module 202 transports the payload data directly to the remote location for further processing.
The central configuration module 201 can specify, on receiving at least one command from a user or the network operator, the type of transport processing to be done to data. The central configuration module 201 is further configured for creating a downloadable image with the desired transport processing. The central configuration module 201 is configured for downloading transport updates in to the M2M devices 101.
The central office configuration module 201 is further configured for automatically downloading updates into the M2M devices 101, holding these updates in the memory 206, and restarting the M2M devices 101 to accept and run the new update.
The central office configuration module 201 further provides a display of current device update status and versioning for a network operator, wherein the network operator may connect to the M2M platform 202 using the API 205.
The data gathering module 203 fetches data related to the M2M devices 101 and the related updates and stores the data in the memory 206.
Embodiments herein provides for more flexible user control of the M2M system since rules for triggering of sensors, scaling and ranging, and first-level processing, are maintained in the back-end server and pushed down into the sensor as a transient application as-needed and changed as-desired. The network can be easily completely reconfigured and changes pushed into the sensors, and payload data is not stored along the way but immediately transported back to the back-end server for further processing.
The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in
The embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system and method for managing application and services data in a distributed wireless M2M system. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of device, which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof, e.g. one processor and two FPGAs. The device may also include means, which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware, and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. Thus, the means are at least one hardware means and/or at least one software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in pure hardware or partly in hardware and partly in software. The device may also include only software means. Alternatively, the embodiment may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.
