Device model and communication protocol with low overhead for sensors and actuators in smart buildings
Svetozar Ilchev, Ekaterina Otsetova-Dudin · 2022
The paper presents the results of the development of a device model and a communication protocol for use with devices and actuators in smart buildings and other similar environments such as smart classrooms. Considering the application field and its requirements, the paper shows how the model and the communication protocol are designed in order to achieve low data exchange overhead and good flexibility regarding the enhancement of the devices with new data elements and functions. At the present research stage, the paper targets serial-based connections established over USB or Bluetooth, over which multiple small data elements are regularly updated. The implementations of both the device firmware and the remote system software show that the communication is performed in a reliable manner and continuous data logging is possible for long periods of time. The future work will encompass the improvement of longer operations such as remote firmware upgrade, experiments with a packet-oriented data exchange, e.g. over UDP, and the inclusion of security features such as authentication and encryption.