Automatic creation and management of a community of things for Internet of Things (IoT) applications

A server comprising:

• at least one network interface to enable connectivity to a plurality of network-connected devices;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the network interface and to the memory, the processor being configured to:
• receive, from a plurality of network devices, information representing identities and attributes of a plurality of network-connected devices that are connected to the plurality of network devices, wherein the information is collected by the plurality of network devices by monitoring data traffic associated with the plurality of network-connected devices;
• store the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices that are connected to the plurality of network devices;
• analyze the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices to generate one or more policies based on functional, physical or relational attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices for dynamically creating one or more communities of network-connected devices, the information is analyzed using artificial intelligence to structure the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices;
• group results of structuring the information into categories for use in assigning network-connected devices to communities;
• store one or more policies, wherein the one or more policies define one or more attributes associated with the one or more communities;
• send from the server to the plurality of network devices data representing the one or more policies, the one or more policies instructing the plurality of network devices to identify one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices as members of a community;
• receive, from the plurality of network devices, information identifying one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices based on the one or more policies that define the one or more attributes associated with the one or more communities of network-connected devices;
• store information indicating the one or more communities of which each of the one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices is a member based on the policies;
• and
• establish a publish-subscribe bus connecting the plurality of network devices for the members of the communities of network-connected devices, wherein via the publish-subscribe bus the members publish messages without knowledge of a subscriber and express interests in one or more classes of messages without knowledge of a publisher.

A system comprising:

• a plurality of network devices in communication with a plurality of network-connected devices;
• a server in communication with the plurality of network devices;
• wherein each of the network devices:
• sends, to a server, information representing identities and attributes of a plurality of network-connected devices that are connected to the plurality of network devices, wherein the information is collected by the plurality of network devices by monitoring data traffic associated with the plurality of network-connected devices;
• receives, from the server, one or more policies that define one or more attributes associated with one or more communities of network-connected devices, wherein the one or more communities of network-connected devices include network-connected devices that share common functional, physical or relational attributes, wherein the one or more policies are dynamically sent by the server in response to receiving the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices;
• identifies one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices based on the one or more polices that define the one or more attributes associated with the one or more communities of network-connected devices;
• stores information indicating the one or more communities of which each of the one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices in communication therewith is a member based on the policies that define the one or more attributes associated with the one or more communities and the functional, physical or relational attributes of the one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices;
• and
• establishes a publish-subscribe bus connecting the plurality of network devices for the members of the communities of network-connected devices, wherein via the publish-subscribe bus the members publish messages without knowledge of a subscriber and express interests in one or more classes of messages without knowledge of a publisher;
• and
• wherein the server generates and sends the one or more policies that define the one or more attributes associated with the one or more communities of network-connected devices, the one or more policies instructing the plurality of network devices to identify one or more of the plurality of network-connected devices as members of a community,
• wherein the server:
• stores information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices;
• and
• analyzes the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices to generate the one or more policies based on the functional, physical or relational attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices for dynamically creating the one or more communities, and
• uses artificial intelligence to structure the information representing identities and attributes of the plurality of network-connected devices;
• and
• groups results structuring the information into categories for use in assigning network-connected devices to communities.