CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Section 371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/FR2019/051132, filed May 17, 2019, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety and published as WO 2019/229328 A2 on Dec. 5, 2019, not in English.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the general field of telecommunications networks and more particularly to the Internet of Things.

PRIOR ART

For a few years now, the Internet of Things—or IoT—has been in use in the public arena and in the business world. Connected objects include, for example, household objects such as cameras, bulbs, lamps, radiators, or audio or video devices, electricity meters, vehicles, watering systems, etc. Connected objects communicate with one another via several categories of networks, which may be wired or wireless.

These objects are generally limited in terms of functionalities, in particular those which are not in direct relation with the service implemented by means of the object as initially intended by its maker.

It is therefore desirable to be able to group them together in order to benefit from extended functionalities.

There are solutions for grouping connected objects. For example, patent application US 2014/0241354 A1 describes a system for communication between one or more IoT groups. Predefined object groups may be formed because they perform similar activities or come within certain contexts (location, presence of the owner, state of the devices, use of a common resource, etc.). In addition, IoT groups may be organized hierarchically in order to ensure effective communication within groups and between different groups.

However, these solutions constitute object catalogs whose goal is to access connected objects more quickly and to make them communicate more straightforwardly. The objects of the group remain independent of one another.

There are also solutions for creating scenarios involving a plurality of household objects. For example, the aforementioned application proposes a scenario in which a plurality of connected objects are used to provide a given user with a given temperature: when a user enters a room, their personal tablet is detected and then the temperature is controlled and adjusted according to the preferences of the user. This scenario involves at least three connected objects which may advantageously be grouped together: an object for detecting the presence of the user, a temperature sensor and a heating/air-conditioning element for adjusting it.

These solutions constitute scenarios whose aim is to provide a service by linking the actions of the connected objects of a group. However, the objects of the group remain independent of one another.

This presents a certain number of problems: first of all, the group is considered as a collection and not as an aggregation of objects. Moreover, all of the features of the objects thus grouped remain accessible to the owner and to the users of the group, which is not desirable. For example, in the above scenario, if the object used to detect the presence of the user in the room is a camera, it is not necessarily desirable for any user in the group to access all of the functions of the camera, but rather only the result of the detection.

The invention offers a solution which does not have the drawbacks of the prior art.

THE INVENTION

To this end, according to one functional aspect, one subject of the invention is a method for an aggregation of at least two connected objects of a communications network, said connected objects having at least one feature, called a basic feature, said method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps on an aggregation device, in order to obtain a representation of the group, called a group avatar, suitable for representing said connected objects to be aggregated:obtaining at least one basic feature of said connected objects;obtaining at least one feature of the group object, said feature being linked to at least one basic feature of said connected objects;creating the group avatar, said avatar comprising:at least one first data structure for said connected objects, called a basic structure, comprising said at least one basic feature;a second data structure, called a group structure, comprising said at least one feature of the group object;a third data structure, called a link structure, for linking said feature of the group object to at least one basic feature;an address management structure, called a group proxy, comprising at least one correspondence between at least one address of the group avatar and at least one address of said connected objects.

What is meant by “connected object” here is any physical or logical entity capable of rendering a service to a user in a communications network, for example:connectable personal equipments (smartphone, connected watch, connected headset, home automation equipment, etc.);equipments in the public space to which the user may have access;content (films, music) and access to content.

A connected object comprises a set of features:functions (giving the time, the temperature, streaming a video stream, etc.);streams associated with the input or output functions of the object: commands, responses, messages, data streams, for example audiovisual, etc. The term “stream” is considered here in the broad sense. For example, a message (command, request, response, acknowledgment, etc.) is a time-limited data stream.

What is meant by “aggregation” is the creation of a (virtualized) group object associated with several connected objects, the group object having an address for accessing each of the connected objects. The group object, after its creation, offers, or shows, its own features which may correspond to any combination of the features of the connected objects (enhancement, cascading, cooperation, etc.)

What is meant by “group object” is an object which comprises the connected objects and their encapsulation according to the present invention, that is to say an avatar of the objects. The avatar is called a “group avatar”.

What is meant by “group avatar” is a representation, or encapsulation of a plurality of objects; the group avatar therefore comprises:one or more features (functions and streams) of each of the objects of the group;one or more features (functions and streams) specific to the group object;a set of links, or functions, for linking (combining, exploiting, etc.) together one or more features of the basic objects and of the objects of the group;a proxy structure in order to allow a user of the group to access each of the connected objects via at least one address of the connected object. What is meant by address of the connected object is any type of address corresponding to the access to all or some the features of the connected object. Such an address may be physical (http://192.145.1.1) or symbolic (zoom.ov3@mypasserelle.fr in order to access the zoom function of the camera object via the home gateway). It may take the form of a universal address (URI, URL), an IP address, etc.

According to the invention, the accessible functions or the streams generated by the group object are encapsulated in a virtualized object, called a group avatar, such that the connected objects are “hidden” behind the group object and its avatar. The connected object may also remain directly accessible, or form part of another group, a collection, etc.

Advantageously, a user of the group object does not access it directly but via its group avatar. The user can therefore invoke the group avatar in order to access the connected objects of the group. The group object, that is to say the entity formed by the connected objects and their group avatar, implements the features of the connected objects and the specific features of the group object.

For example, a webcam may be associated with a thermometer and/or a clock and/or a motion detector. According to another example, all of the communicating objects in a meeting room, a bedroom, a house, etc. may be grouped together in a virtual object called “meeting room” “my room”, “my house”, etc.

Advantageously, the connected objects of the group are not a simple collection but are linked so as to form a new (group) object which, for example, fulfills a PLC function by using the input-output streams of several objects in cascade. For example, if the camera and motion detector mentioned above form part of the same group, it may be imagined that the detection of motion by the detector triggers still image capture by the camera which outputs an image (photograph) of the detected person. A link is therefore created between the two objects of the group so as to offer a function specific to the group object (detecting a person).

According to one particular embodiment of the invention, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that the group avatar also comprises a data structure, called a rights structure, comprising at least one right associated with a feature, and in that the method further comprises:a step of obtaining at least one right associated with a feature;a step of registering said right in said structure of the group avatar.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, it is possible to benefit from a control of the rights to the group object and/or the connected objects of the group. Thus, a right may be granted for a feature of the group object or of an object of the group such that the owner controls the rights of the users on their group object and the connected objects constituting it. For example, the owner may have all the rights but grant to a user of the group object only the rights to the features of the group object but not to the features of the connected objects constituting it, the user distinct from the owner not being able, in this case, to implement the feature (function or stream) of the connected object.

According to one variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that the rights structure further comprises an identification of at least one beneficiary of the right and in that the method further comprises:a step of obtaining said at least one beneficiary of the right associated with a feature;a step of registering said at least one beneficiary in said structure of the group avatar.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, the owner of the group object and/or of the connected objects may share them with another user or a group of users. Such a group may refer, for example, to a group of users of the local area network, or of the wide area network, or located in a certain geographical proximity, or users identified by name, etc. This makes it possible to discriminate simply between users who have the right to use/compose/transmit an object and those who do not.

According to another variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented as an alternative or in addition to the preceding one, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that said right is a right of use allowing the associated feature to be implemented.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, the owner of the group object and/or of the connected objects may share them with another user or a group of users for their implementation, either in the group object or as a connected object. Thus some features may be implemented and others not.

According to another variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented as an alternative or in addition to the preceding ones, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that said right is a composition right allowing the use of an object of the group or the group object in a new group object.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, the owner of the group object and/or of the connected objects may authorize another user or a group of users to compose their own group object from the group object or from the connected objects which constitute it.

According to another variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented as an alternative or in addition to the preceding ones, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that said right is a transmission right allowing the transmission of a right of use or composition right.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, the owner of the group object and/or of the connected objects may authorize another user to transmit the right of use and composition right to a third-party user or group of users.

According to another variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented as an alternative or in addition to the preceding ones, the aggregation method is characterized in that the step of obtaining the right is a step of deducing the right associated with a feature of the group object according to at least one right associated with a basic feature.

Advantageously according to this embodiment, since a right has been granted to a feature of one of the connected objects (for example the camera), a right to the group object may be deduced therefrom automatically. For example, the group object may directly inherit the rights of the camera, or a combination of the rights of the camera and the motion detector, or inherit the most restrictive, the broadest, right of one of the connected objects, etc.

According to another variant of this particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented as an alternative or in addition to the preceding one, the aggregation method as described above is characterized in that it further comprises a step of deducing the right associated with a basic feature according to at least one right associated with a feature of the group.

Advantageously according to this variant, since a right has been granted to one of the features of the group object (for example, the person detector), the connected objects which constitute the group (for example the camera) may be deduced therefrom automatically. For example, the camera object may directly inherit the right of the “person detector” group object.

According to another functional aspect, the invention also relates to a method for an implementation of a group object aggregating at least two objects connected in a communications network, said group object comprising a group avatar, the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps on a device for the implementation of the group object:obtaining a message to use the group object, said message comprising at least one feature of the group object to be implemented;obtaining the avatar of the group object, said avatar comprising at least:a first data structure, called a basic structure, comprising said at least one basic feature of each of the aggregated connected objects;a second data structure, called a group structure, comprising at least one feature of the group object;a third data structure, called a link structure, for linking said feature of the group to at least one basic feature;an address management structure, called a group proxy, comprising a correspondence at least between at least one address of the group avatar and at least one address of said aggregated connected objects;comparing the group feature to be implemented with the features of the group avatar;depending on the results of the comparison:analyzing the feature of the group object to be implemented;obtaining, in the link structure, the link from said group feature to at least one basic feature;implementing said at least one basic feature of a connected object.

The subjects according to this functional aspect of the invention provide at least the same advantages as those provided by the method according to the first functional aspect. The optional features mentioned for the first aspect may also apply. In particular, the group object encapsulates the connected objects of the group so as to be able to access the features (functions and streams) of the connected objects by virtue of the group avatar. Thus, implementation, composition, transmission rights may be inserted into the structure of the group object and used by the method for the implementation of the group object via a step of analyzing said rights. The right of the user who made the request is compared with the right associated with the feature. If the user does not have the right of use (or composition, transmission right) with respect to the required feature, it is not implemented.

According to one hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a device for an aggregation of at least two connected objects in a communications network, said connected objects having at least one feature, called a basic feature, said device being characterized in that it comprises the following modules in order to obtain a representation of the group, called a group avatar, suitable for representing said connected objects to be aggregated:a module for obtaining at least one basic feature of said connected objects;a module for obtaining at least one feature of the group object, said feature being linked to at least one basic feature of said connected objects;a module for creating the group avatar, said avatar comprising:at least one first data structure for said connected objects, called a basic structure, comprising said at least one basic feature;a second data structure, called a group structure, comprising said at least one feature of the group object;a third data structure, called a link structure, for linking said feature of the group to at least one basic feature;an address management structure, called a group proxy, comprising at least one correspondence between at least one address of the group avatar and at least one address of said connected objects.

The term module used in the present description may correspond equally to a software component or to a hardware component or to a set of software and hardware components, a software component itself corresponding to one or more computer programs or subroutines or, more generally, to any element of a program able to implement a function or a set of functions such as described for the modules in question. In the same way, a hardware component corresponds to any element of a hardware assembly able to implement a function or a set of functions for the module in question (integrated circuit, chip card, memory card, etc.).

According to another hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a device for an implementation of a group object aggregating at least two connected objects and having a group avatar in a communications network, the implementation device comprising:a module for obtaining a message to use the group object, said message comprising at least one feature of the group object to be implemented;a module for obtaining the avatar of the group object, said avatar comprising at least:a first data structure, called a basic structure, comprising said at least one basic feature of said connected objects;a second data structure, called a group structure, comprising at least one feature of the group object;a third data structure, called a link structure, for linking said feature of the group to at least one basic feature;an address management structure, called a group proxy, comprising a correspondence at least between at least one address of the group avatar and at least one address of said aggregated connected objects;a module for comparing the group feature to be implemented with the features of the group avatar;a module for analyzing the feature of the group object to be implemented;a module for obtaining, in the link structure, the link from said group feature to at least one basic feature;a module for implementing said at least one basic feature.

According to another hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a home gateway comprising an aggregation device and/or a device for the implementation of a group object as described above.

According to another hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a group object comprising:at least two connected objects having at least one basic feature and one address;an avatar of said group object, comprising:at least one first data structure, called a basic structure, comprising said at least one basic feature of said aggregated connected objects;a second data structure (SD_OG), called a group structure, comprising at least one feature of the group object;a third data structure, called a link structure, for linking said feature of the group to at least one basic feature;an address management structure, called a group proxy, comprising a correspondence at least between at least one address of the group avatar and at least one address of said aggregated connected objects.

According to another hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a computer program suitable for being implemented on an aggregation device as described above, the program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the aggregation method defined above.

According to another hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a computer program suitable for being implemented on an implementation device as described above, the program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method for the implementation of a group object defined above.

According to yet another hardware aspect, the invention pertains to a recording medium suitable for being read by a data processor and on which is recorded a program comprising program code instructions for the execution of the steps of whichever of the methods defined above.

The subjects according to the hardware aspects of the invention provide at least the same advantages as those provided by the method according to the first functional aspect. The optional features mentioned for the first aspect may be applied to the hardware aspects.

The invention will be better understood from reading the following description, given by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings.

