Methods and systems for acquiring and processing data at intelligent edge devices via software kernels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10951711-B2
Application number	US-201916596337-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2019
Priority date	Oct 8, 2018
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

A method and system are disclosed for acquiring and processing data, the exemplary system includes: one or more intelligent devices connected in a dynamic ad hoc network as a network of edge devices which can optionally access a cloud storage, at least one intelligent device being configured with a software installation to selectively receive and execute analytics on data received; at least one of the intelligent devices being configured to identify data to be requested from at least one other edge device for enhancing analytics performed on the at least one intelligent device; and a switchboard for maintaining a current view of resources in the network, and functions for which each resource is tasked, the resources including the at least one intelligent device and those edge devices which can communicate with the at least one intelligent device on the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An edge device in a system of sensors and other edge devices for acquiring and processing data about an environment, the edge device comprising:
memory and a processor,
wherein the memory stores:
information about the system, the information including libraries identifying a communication and data protocol for each other edge device, for non-edge devices, and for each sensor available to the system, wherein each sensor is configured to monitor the environment;
information about the environment;
software code that causes the processor to:
operate as a sensor gateway for managing communication with the other edge devices and the sensors;
perform edge environment analytics based on the environment information and sensor data; and
operate as a switchboard to perform edge switchboard analytics based on the system information;

wherein when operating as the sensor gateway, the processor:
manages the communication with the other edge devices, the non-edge devices, and the sensors available to the system based on at least one of the libraries included in the system information;

wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor:
identifies at least a portion of the system information and stores the identified system information in the memory, the system information further including:
one or more resources associated with any of the other edge devices;
communication information including protocols, data formats, and properties associated with each of the system, the other edge devices, and the resources associated with the other edge devices; and
operational status and information associated with each of the system, the other edge devices, and the resources associated with the other edge devices;

sends a request to another edge device to obtain or update system information for performing the switchboard analytics;
uses at least one of the libraries in the system information to identify the resources associated with the other edge devices that are available to provide data which can be used in performing the environment analytics;
sends request to another edge device to obtain environment information;
establishes a registry of the other edge devices and sensors in the environment;
manages the use of available communications protocols to communicate with non-edge devices and the other edge devices in the system based on the communication information;
manages a frequency and size of data communicated to another edge device or non-edge device based on a capacity of available communication protocols/channels;
converts system information to appropriate formats and protocols based on the communication information, the conversion enabling communication with the other edge devices and enabling environment information to be provided in formats appropriate for the other edge devices to perform edge environment analytics using that information;
receives a request from another edge device to provide environment information that the requesting edge device requires to perform edge environment analytics;
receives environment information from other edge and non-edge devices; and
sends environment information to another edge device in response to a request to provide the environment information the other edge device requires to perform edge environment analytics.

2. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein the sensors include one or more of a GPS unit, a camera, a microphone, an antenna.

3. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein the communication channels and protocols include radio frequency (RF) and other non-Internet Protocol (IP) and/or cellular communication protocols.

4. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor establishes a connection with another edge device and communicates with the other edge device in an environment lacking an IP and/or cellular communication protocol.

5. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor connects to the other edge devices and establishes a dynamic ad hoc network.

6. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor dynamically connects to the other edge devices when in range and in ad hoc fashion to establish a mesh network.

7. The edge device according to claim 6 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor establishes alternate communication paths as a function of dynamic changes in the network.

8. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor accesses a cloud storage.

9. The edge device according to claim 1 , wherein when operating as the switchboard, the processor accesses a cloud storage through at least one of the connected edge devices.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software code for performing a method of acquiring and processing data about an environment, the software code causing a processor of each edge device in a system of edge devices and sensors to perform the method comprising:
operating as a sensor gateway for managing communication with the other edge devices and the sensors;
performing edge environment analytics based on information about the environment and sensor data; and
operating as a switchboard to perform edge switchboard analytics based on information about the system, the information including libraries identifying a communication and data protocol for each other edge device, for non-edge devices, and for each sensor available to the system;
wherein when the processor operates as the sensor gateway, the method further comprises the steps of:
managing the communication with the other edge devices, the non-edge devices, and the sensors available to the system based on at least one of the libraries included in the system information;

wherein when the processor operates as the switchboard, the method further comprises the steps of:
identifying at least a portion of the system information and storing the identified system information in the memory, the system information further including:
one or more resources associated with any of the other edge devices;
communication information including protocols, data formats, and properties associated with each of the system, the other edge devices, and the resources associated with the other edge devices; and
an operational status and information associated with each of the system, the other edge devices, and the resources associated with the other edge devices;

sending a request to another edge device to obtain or update system information for performing the switchboard analytics;
using at least one of the libraries in the system information to identify the resources associated with the other edge devices that are available to provide data which can be used in performing the environment analytics;
sending a request to another edge device to obtain environment information;
establishing a registry of the other edge devices and sensors in the environment;
managing a use of available communications protocols to communicate with another edge device or non-edge device in the system based on the communication information;
managing a frequency and size of data communicated to another edge device or non-edge device based on a capacity of available communication protocols/channels;
converting system information to appropriate formats and protocols based on the communication information, the conversion enabling communication with another edge device and enabling environment information to be provided in formats appropriate for the other edge device to use in performing edge environment analytics;
receiving a request

Assignees

• Booz Allen Hamilton Inc

Inventors

• Hardman Iii Raymond Charles
• Lee Ki Hyun
• Alston Tyler James
• Madhu Rohit Leena
• Gandomkar Yarandi Parisa

Classifications

• H04L45/22

  Alternate routing · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• H04L67/12 Primary

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L67/1093

  Some peer nodes performing special functions · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title