by Konstantina Papachristopoulou, Eight Bells Ltd.
The Data Format Fusion (DFF) mechanism is a data fusion and management application from multiple system data sources. It provides data-level interoperability and analytics between heterogeneous IoT devices and other functional data pipelines. It was developed based on open-source standards and tools. The DFF mechanism includes a bundle of software services with functions for data source management, secure data flow, system data exchange, efficient data access and retrieval, and system interface.
The mechanism is realised through 8BELLS’ DFF platform, either via the GUI or API endpoints. By using API endpoints, data can be fed into the DFF mechanism exclusively via specific HTTP requests. DFF API uses FIWARE Core IoT Components, a software stack that aims to establish data-level interoperability and manageability between complex IoT devices. One of the main components is the Context Broker, which is the mediator that handles information from Systems with IoT devices utilizing the Orion Context Broker NGSIv2 protocol.
The data format fusion mechanism exposes a REST API that other clients can interact with, to:
– send their data generated by their systems for storage in DFF.
– enable their system to receive updates from DFF from other systems via subscriptions.
– perform queries to retrieve data from its storage.
In the DFF concept, we define two types of actors, producers and consumers of data. By the term producer, we refer to a data source that is able to transmit signals in a predefined format over a network. By the term consumer, we mean an application or other component that can use an API to retrieve data from a data storage. DFF can manage different types of data (input/output) encapsulated in JSON objects.
In the context of REWIRE project, we will investigate how the Data Format Fusion mechanism can become a secure step between the Firmware (FW) and Software (SW) automated validation and verification engine, and the related entries of verified updates and patches shared through the blockchain, in the form of different types of Smart Contracts. On one end, the FW/SW automated validation and certification engine will be used for validating and certifying secure FW updates and SW patching in connected devices, assuming the role of Producer. On the other end, REWIRE blockchain infrastructure will include all auditing information that can be shared with the needed certification entities, as a data Consumer.
