Abstract: According to methods, apparatuses, and computer program products described by way of non-limiting examples presented herein, a computer system operates as an intelligent node in a distributed network. In one or more embodiments, the installation and execution of a node operating computer program product (“node software”) on a computer system configures that computer system to operate as an intelligent node in a distributed network. The computer system may reside at the edge of the network and thus may include a number of physical world sensors and/or actuators that represent valuable but hard-to-reach data sources/sinks from the perspective of the network at large. The node software operates the computer system as an edge application server and enterprise service bus, intelligently processing data from sensors, actuators, and other edge systems and devices. Other applications, such as server-based data processing and storing, are also easily implemented via the node software.

Abstract: A system for deploying component-based software systems for the implementation of desired sensor data process flows makes use of a toolset of software components specially tailored for building sensor data process flows. In one or more embodiments, the system comprises a front-end application operative to generate system specifications from user input, each system specification defining a desired component-based software system of one or more sensor components and their corresponding configurations in accordance with sensor component class definitions (e.g., the toolset) for a predefined set of sensor components tailored for building desired sensor data process flows.