# US 10,503,484 B2 · Virtual replication of physical things for scale-out in an internet of things integrated developer environment > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,503,484 B2 - Document ID: US10503484B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/176,877 - Filed: 2016-06-08 - Published: 2016-12-08 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2015-06-08 - Assignees: Cisco Technology, Inc. - Applicants: Cisco Technology, Inc. - Inventors: Yajun Zhang; Susie Wee; Ashutosh A. Malegaonkar - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10503484B2 ## CPC - G06F 8/34: Graphical or visual programming - G06F 8/60: Software deployment - G06F 9/455: Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, virtual replication of physical things for scale-out in an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE) is shown and described. In particular, in one embodiment, a computer operates an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE) that accesses one or more real-world physical devices within a computer network that are configured to participate with the IoT IDE. The IoT IDE may then virtually replicate the one or more real-world physical devices within the IoT IDE into a configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE, such that simulating an IoT application within the IoT IDE results in relaying input and/or output (I/O) messages between the IoT IDE and the one or more real-world physical devices, and virtually replicating those I/O messages according to the configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: operating, by a computer, an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE); accessing, by the IoT IDE, one or more real-world physical devices within a computer network that are configured to participate with the IoT IDE; virtually replicating the one or more real-world physical devices within the IoT IDE into a configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; simulating, within the IoT IDE, an IoT application that includes one or more graphs of connectivity of real-world physical devices, wherein the simulating a) relays input and/or output (I/O) messages between the IoT IDE and the one or more real-world physical devices, and b) virtually replicates those I/O messages according to the configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; and scaling-out the IoT application by virtually replicating a real-world physical graph of connected real-world physical devices multiple times until forming a larger virtual graph of virtualized devices that represent a larger scale deployment than the real-world physical devices, wherein scaling-out the IoT application further comprises: scaling-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a logical graph of the IoT IDE. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, wherein the IoT application further includes one or more virtual devices logically interconnected with the one or more real-world physical devices. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, wherein scaling-out the IoT application further comprises: scaling-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a plurality of logical sub-graphs of the IoT IDE. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, wherein the real-world physical devices are selected from a group consisting of: sensors; actuators; fog nodes; cloud-processing devices; and end-user devices. ### Claim 5 A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program instructions, which when executed on a processor are configured to: operate an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE); access one or more real-world physical devices within a computer network that are configured to participate with the IoT IDE; virtually replicate the one or more real-world physical devices within the IoT IDE into a configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; simulate, within the IoT IDE, an IoT application that includes one or more graphs of connectivity of real-world physical devices, wherein the simulating a) relays input and/or output (I/O) messages between the IoT IDE and the one or more real-world physical devices, and b) virtually replicates those I/O messages according to the configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; and scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating a real-world physical graph of connected real-world physical devices multiple times until forming a larger virtual graph of virtualized devices that represent a larger scale deployment than the real-world physical devices, wherein the program instructions when executed to scale-out are further configured to: scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a logical graph of the IoT IDE. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The computer-readable media as in claim 5, wherein the IoT application further comprises one or more virtual devices logically interconnected with the one or more real-world physical devices. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The computer-readable media as in claim 5, wherein the program instructions when executed to scale-out are further configured to: scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a plurality of logical sub-graphs of the IoT IDE. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The computer-readable media as in claim 5, wherein the real-world physical devices are selected from a group consisting of: sensors; actuators; fog nodes; cloud-processing devices; and end-user devices. ### Claim 9 An apparatus, comprising: a processor adapted to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to: operate an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE); access one or more real-world physical devices within a computer network that are configured to participate with the IoT IDE; virtually replicate the one or more real-world physical devices within the IoT IDE into a configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; simulate, within the IoT IDE, an IoT application that includes one or more graphs of connectivity of real-world physical devices, wherein the simulating a) relays input and/or output (I/O) messages between the IoT IDE and the one or more real-world physical devices, and b) virtually replicates those I/O messages according to the configuration of virtual devices within the IoT IDE; and scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating a real-world physical graph of connected real-world physical devices multiple times until forming a larger virtual graph of virtualized devices that represent a larger scale deployment than the real-world physical devices, wherein the process when executed to scale-out is further operable to: scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a logical graph of the IoT IDE. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus as in claim 9, wherein the IoT application further comprises one or more virtual devices logically interconnected with the one or more real-world physical devices. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The apparatus as in claim 9, wherein the process when executed to scale-out is further operable to: scale-out the IoT application by virtually replicating individual real-world physical devices within a plurality of logical sub-graphs of the IoT IDE.