Devices-as-Services: Rethinking Scalable Service Architectures for the Internet of Things

We investigate a new distributed services model and architecture for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In particular, we observe that devices at the edge of the network, although resource constrained, are increasingly capable—performing actions (e.g. data analytics, decision support, actuation, control, etc.) in addition to event telemetry. Thus, such devices are better modeled as servers, which applications in the cloud compose for their functionality. We investigate the implications of this "flipped" IoT client-server model, for server discovery, authentication, and resource use. We find that by combining capability-based security with an edge-aware registry, this model can achieve fast response and energy efficiency.