Normalization of data originating from endpoints within low power wide area networks (LPWANs)

A low power wide area network abstraction layer (LPWAL), comprising:

• a low power wide area network (LPWAN) interface interfacing with a plurality of LPWANs, each of the plurality of LPWANs including:
• i) at least one network server,
• ii) at least one gateway,
• iii) a plurality of endpoints, the plurality of endpoints being solely battery-operated devices, and
• iv) wherein the at least one network server interfaces with the LPWAN interface and the at least one gateway, and the plurality of endpoints interface with one or more of the at least one gateway;
• an application interface interfacing with at least one application connected thereto via the Internet or other communication network;
• a message handler interfacing messages between the LPWAN interface and the application interface, the message handler normalizing data carried within messages received at the LPWAN interface such that disparate data formats employed therewith are normalized to a common format prior to being interfaced to the at least one application via the application interface;
• a processor and non-transitory computer-readable medium having a plurality of non-transitory instructions executable with the processor, the plurality of non-transitory instructions being sufficient to facilitate:
• receiving a plurality of translation instructions from a plurality of applications, the plurality of translation instructions being sufficient for normalizing the data carried within the messages received at the LPWAN interface according to formatting characteristics of the plurality of endpoints and the LPWAN associated therewith,
• controlling the message handler on a message-by-message basis to lookup one or more of the plurality of translation instructions for each message received at the LPWAN interface, and based thereon, normalize the data included therewith prior to the data being interfaced to the at least one application,
• collecting accounting information for each of the plurality of LPWANs, the accounting information including a volume of data traffic for each of the LPWANs, and
• transmitting an accounting report to each operator associated with the plurality of LPWANs, the accounting report including the accounting information.