SYSTEM AND METHOD TO MANAGE NETWORK-ENABLED EMBEDDED DEVICES OPERATING UNDER VARIOUS PROTOCOLS

摘要

A device management system (DMS) enables a plurality of network-enabled embedded devices potentially having a variety of device protocols to communicate via a network (102) with a remote device system server. The DMS (110) includes a back-end management applications server (112), and a module (114) to translate different interface protocol formats associated with various of the devices into formats suitable for the applications server. The applications server is enabled to use multiple protocols and representations, and can use protocols and interfaces that are simpler than what the devices actually use, thus hiding potential complexity. Especially advantageous is the ability of the DMS to manipulate the representations and behaviour of the devices, including the ability to augment functionality and to merge devices to create virtual devices.