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THIS IS DRAFT AND NOT TO BE USED AT THIS TIME. This is in DEVELOPMENT. The product name spelling might not be correct.
This page contains the following topics:
Introduction
Edge X Foundry is where the Internet of Things meets the Cloud.
Edge X Foundry is the open source software that interacts with the physical, every day working world of devices, sensors, actuators, and other IoT objects. Edge X Foundry monitors these physical world items, sends instructions to them, collects data from them, and sends the data to the Cloud where the data is then collected, stored, aggregated, analyzed, and turned into information, actuated, and acted upon. From the information from the physical world items, decisions and plans are made concerning those items, and concerning anything relevant to those items.
"South Side" and "North Side"
Edge X Foundry is "X" that marks the spot where the South Side and the North Side meet.
South Side: All IoT objects, the physical realm, is referred to as the "south side" of the network: it is the edge of the network that communicates directly with those devices, sensors, actuators, and other IoT objects.
North Side: The Cloud where data is collected, stored, aggregated, analyzed, and turned into information is referred to as the "north side" of the network.
Edge X Foundry Service Layers
Edge X Foundry is a collection of open source microservices. The microservices are organized into four service layers and two underlying augmenting system services. The four service layers traverse the physical realm to the information realm.
The four layers of Edge X Foundry are as follows:
The two underlying System Services of Edge X Foundry are as follows:
Device Services Layer
The Device Services Layer interacts with Device Services.
Device Services (DS) are the edge connectors interacting with the Devices or IoT objects that include, but are not limited to: appliances in your home, alarm systems, heating and air conditioning systems, lights, machines in any industry, irrigation systems, drones.
Device services may service one or a number of devices (sensor, actuator, and so forth) at one time. A "device" that a DS manages, could be something other than a simple single physical device and could be another gateway (and all of that gateway's devices); a device manager; or a device aggregator that acts as a device, or collection of devices, to Edge X Foundry.
The Device Services Layer's microservices communicate with the devices, sensors, actuators, and other IoT objects through protocols native to the IoT object. The DS Layer converts the data produced and communicated by the IoT object, into a common Edge X Foundry data structure, and sends that converted data into the Core Services Layer, and to other microservices in other layers of Edge X Foundry.
The Edge X Foundry Device Services Layer at this time, includes the following microservices:
Examples of Device Services
- A BACNet DS converts the BACNet device-supplied temperature and humidity readings into a common Edge X Foundry object data structure.
- A DS receives and translates commands from other Edge X Foundry services or enterprise systems, and communicates those requests to the devices for actuation in a programming language that the device understands.
- A DS may receive a request to turn off a Modbus PLC controlled motor. The DS would translate the generic Edge X Foundry "shutoff" request into a Modbus serial command that the PLC-controlled motor understands for actuation.
Core Services Layer
The Core Services (CS) Layer separates the north side and south side layers at the edge on the gateway. Core services include the following components:
- Core data: a persistence repository and associated management service for data collected from the south side objects
- Core metadata: a repository and associated management service of metadata about the objects that are connected to Edge X Foundry
- Core command microservices: a service that facilitates and controls actuation requests from the north side to the south side
The Edge X Foundry Core Services Layer at this time, includes the following microservices:
- Data
- MetaData – provides the capability to provision new devices and pair them with their owning device services
- Command
- Configuration and Registration – provides other Edge X Foundry microservices with information about associated services within Edge X Foundry and microservices configuration properties
Supporting Services Layer
The Supporting Services (SS) Layer encompass a wide range of microservices that provide the edge analytics and intelligence, and provide service to Edge X Foundry itself. Normal software application duties such as logging, scheduling, and data clean up (scrubbing) are performed by microservices in the SS Layer.
The rules engines, and alerting and notification microservices are within the SS Layer because they operate on top of the Core Services Layer. The local analytics capability or rules engine is also located in this layer and is a recipient of the Export Services Layer.
The Edge X Foundry Supporting Services Layer at this time, includes the following microservices:
- Logging
- Alerts and Notifications
- Scheduling
- Rules Engine
Export Services Layer
Edge X Foundry operates independently of other systems when necessary. Gateways often operate in isolated and sometimes disconnected environments and monitor and manage a collection of sensors and devices that have little or no outside monitoring or control. Therefore, Edge X Foundry is able to operate and sustain itself over long periods of time without connection to the "north side" systems. The data and intelligence that is created at the edge should be collected often and transported to enterprise (cloud) systems, which is performed by the Export Services (ES) Layer.
The ES Layer provides a set of microservices that performs the following activities:
- Enables off-gateway clients to register for data that interests them, coming from the south side objects
- Informs where and when the data is to be delivered
- Informs the format and shape in which that data is to be delivered
For example, the "where and when" could be sending temperature data to a REST address every hour, and the format and shape could be to supply JSON data in compressed form.
The Export Services Layer at this time, includes the following microservices:
- Client Registration
- Distributor
Security Infrastructure
Security elements both inside and outside of Edge X Foundry protect the data and command of devices, sensors, and other IoT objects managed by Edge X Foundry.
System Management
System management facilities provide the installation, upgrade, start, stop, and monitoring of Edge X Foundry microservices and BIOS firmware, operating system, and other gateway-related software, and can also support these functions from off-box, enterprise-based systems.
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