Self-describing device module and system and computer-readable medium for the production thereof

Abstract

A system, method, and computer-readable medium for generation of a controlled device Module are provided. Various components are provided to a Module designer for selection, and the designer defines the interface APIs specifying the component functionalities. The designer may specify custom commands or events for the Module including Commands, Properties, and Parameters, and custom components corresponding to the custom commands are generated. A self-describing capabilities component is then generated for each component, and a composite capabilities component may then be generated from the capabilities components of each of the components. The completed Module package is then produced by an integrated development environment station.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving a custom command for a module;   generating, by an integrated development environment station, a custom component corresponding to the custom command;   generating a capabilities component from the custom component and a definition of an application programming interface for at least one software development kit component to be included in the module;   generating a software development kit component class corresponding to the selected software development kit component;   generating a device component class corresponding to the software development kit component class from the definition of the application programming interface; and   generating a custom device component class corresponding to the custom component.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving selection of the at least one software development kit component. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device component class and the custom device component class inherit from a device component base class. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the integrated development environment station, a capabilities class. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising querying, by the capabilities class, the device component class and the custom device component class for a respective capabilities object. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the capabilities class, a first capabilities object from the device component class; and   receiving, by the capabilities class, a second capabilities object from the custom device component class.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 generating a composite capabilities object by the capabilities class from the first capabilities object and the second capabilities object; and   conveying, by the capabilities class, the composite capabilities object to an Open Service Gateway initiative (OSGi) device class that provides an interface to the module.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the composite capabilities object specifies the capabilities of each of the device component class and the custom device component class, wherein the capabilities include commands, parameters, and properties of the respective device component class and the custom device component class. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving a definition of the application programming interface for the at least one software development kit component. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system that cause the processing system to:
 receive a custom command for a module;   generate, by an integrated development environment station, a custom component corresponding to the custom command;   generate a capabilities component from a definition of an application programming interface and the custom component;   generate a custom device component class corresponding to the custom component;   generate, by the integrated development environment station, a capabilities class; and   query, by the capabilities class, the device component class and the custom device component class for a respective capabilities object.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , having computer-executable instructions for execution by the processing system that cause the processing system to generate selection of at least one software development kit component. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the device component class and the custom device component class inherit from a device component base class. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processing system to generate the definition of the application programming interface for the least one software development kit component to be included in the module. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processing system to:
 receive, by the capabilities class, a first capabilities object from the device component class; and   receive, by the capabilities class, a second capabilities object from the custom device component class.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processing system to:
 generate a composite capabilities object by the capabilities class from the first capabilities object and the second capabilities object; and   convey, by the capabilities class, the composite capabilities object to an OSGi device class that provides an interface to the module.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the composite capabilities object specifies the capabilities of each of the device component class and the custom device component class, wherein the capabilities include commands, parameters, and properties of the respective device component class and the custom device component class. 
     
     
         17 . A system, comprising:
 a module configured to receive a custom command; and   an integrated development environment station configured to:
 generate a custom component that corresponds to the custom command; 
 generate a capabilities component from the custom component and a definition of an application programming interface for at least one software development kit component to be included in the module; 
 generate a software development kit component class that corresponds to the selected software development kit component; 
 generate a device component class that corresponds to the software development kit component class from the definition of the application programming interface; and 
 generate a custom device component class that corresponds to the custom component. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the module is configured to receive selection of the at least one software development kit component. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the device component class and the custom device component class inherit from a device component base class. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the integrated development environment station generates a capabilities class.