IP Library Granted Patent US 10,567,367
Granted Patent B2
US 10,567,367 · App. 16/224,276 · Granted Feb 18, 2020

Method, system, and program storage device for managing tenants in an industrial internet of things

Inventors: Vineet Banga (San Ramon, CA); Vipul Parmar (San Ramon, CA); Ilya Lipkind (San Ramon, CA)
Assignee: General Electric Company
H04L63/08H04L63/10H04L63/102H04L67/42H04W4/02H04W4/70
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,567,367
App. No.
16/224,276
Granted
Feb 18, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

In an example embodiment, a method, system, and program storage device for binding an industrial application to a plurality of services in an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is provided. For each of a plurality of tenants, a service template corresponding to a group in which the corresponding tenant belongs is retrieved and an instance of the industrial application is instantiated for the corresponding tenant. Then, at runtime of an instance of the industrial application, a number of actions are taken. A request by the instance of the industrial application for a service identified by a first service name is detected. Then a credential for the service name is retrieved, with the credential identifying a location where an instance of the service identified by the first service name resides. The service identified by the first service name is then dynamically called using the location.

Claims (49)

1. A method of binding an industrial application to a plurality of services in an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), comprising:

for each of a plurality of tenants:

creating an instance of a tenant service for the corresponding tenant;

binding the industrial application to the instance of the tenant service;

registering a client identification for the corresponding tenant with a user account and authentication (UAA) zone;

performing a lookup to locate a location of the instance of the tenant service;

requesting credentials for the tenant from the UAA zone using the client identification;

retrieving a service template corresponding to a group in which the corresponding tenant belongs, the service template containing a plurality of service identifications representing a bundle of services assigned to the group;

instantiating an instance of the industrial application for the corresponding tenant;

at runtime of an instance of the industrial application:

detecting a request by the instance of the industrial application for a service identified by a first service name;

retrieving an electronic credential for the service name, the credential identifying an electronic address where an instance of the service identified by the first service name resides; and

dynamically calling the service identified by the first service name using the electronic address such that the application need not be restarted for a binding to take effect;

wherein the industrial application operates on an IIoT cloud to provide access to data gathered by an IIoT machine coupled to a physical industrial machine;

wherein the data gathered includes time series data captured by one or more sensors on the physical industrial machine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service template additionally includes a plurality of service plans.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instance of the tenant service for each of the plurality of tenants accesses a tenant registry that tracks which tenants have been assigned which service.

4. A system comprising:

one or more hardware processors;

an instance of an IIoT application operating on an IIoT cloud, the IIoT application coupled to an IIoT machine gathering data from a physical industrial machine not located on the IIoT cloud;

an instance of a tenant service corresponding to a first tenant of the industrial application, the instance of the tenant service executable by the one or more hardware processors and configured to:

use a template identified by the industrial application to provision the first tenant with the instance of the industrial application, the service template containing a plurality of service identifications representing a bundle of services assigned to a group in which the first tenant belongs;

detect a request by the instance of the industrial application for a service identified by a first service name;

send an electronic credential for the service name to the instance of the industrial application, the credential identifying an electronic address where an instance of the service identified by the first service name resides, the credential established using the service template; and

the IIoT application executable by one or more processors and configured to:

dynamically call the service identified by the first service name using the electronic address such that the application need not be restarted for a binding to take effect;

wherein a different instance of the tenant service is created for each tenant of the industrial application and bound to the instance of the industrial application;

wherein a location of the instance of the tenant service is identified by the instance of the industrial application by performing a lookup;

wherein the instance of the industrial application operates on the IIoT cloud to provide access to the data gathered by the IIoT machine coupled to the physical industrial machine;

wherein the data gathered includes time series data captured by one or more sensors on the physical industrial machine.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the service template additionally includes a plurality of service plans.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the instance of the tenant service accesses a tenant registry that tracks which tenants have been assigned which service.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more machines, cause the one or more machines to perform operations, the operations comprising:

for each of a plurality of tenants:

creating an instance of a tenant service for the corresponding tenant;

binding the industrial application to the instance of the tenant service;

registering a client identification for the corresponding tenant with a user account and authentication (UAA) zone;

performing a lookup to locate a location of the instance of the tenant service;

requesting credentials for the tenant from the UAA zone using the client identification;

retrieving a service template corresponding to a group in which the corresponding tenant belongs, the service template containing a plurality of service identifications representing a bundle of services assigned to the group;

instantiating an instance of the industrial application for the corresponding tenant;

at runtime of an instance of the industrial application:

detecting a request by the instance of the industrial application for a service identified by a first service name;

retrieving an electronic credential for the service name, the credential identifying an electronic address where an instance of the service identified by the first service name resides; and

dynamically calling the service identified by the first service name using the electronic address such that the application need not be restarted for a binding to take effect;

wherein the industrial application operates on an IIoT cloud to provide access to data gathered by an IIoT machine coupled to a physical industrial machine;

wherein the data gathered includes time series data captured by one or more sensors on the physical industrial machine.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the service template additionally includes a plurality of service plans.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the instance of the tenant service for each of the plurality of tenants accesses a tenant registry that tracks which tenants have been assigned which service.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 17, 2023
From: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
To: GE DIGITAL HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 065612/0085 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 18, 2018
From: BANGA, VINEET; PARMAR, VIPUL; LIPKIND, ILYA
To: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Reel/Frame 047809/0735 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15077885 · Mar 22, 2016
Provisional Application 62288951 · Jan 29, 2016
Related Publication 20190132301A1 · May 2, 2019