A Compilation-and Remote-Programming-as-a-Service Platform for IoT Devices

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) presents itself as an emerging technology, which is able to interconnect a massive number of heterogeneous smart objects. These ubiquitous object-enabled networks, which may operate for several years in variable conditions, are used for supporting complex data-driven applications such as smart cities applications, home automation, health monitoring, etc. Throughout their extended lifetime, the devices forming the IoT networks need to be re-programmed, so that new features are added and software bugs or security vulnerabilities are resolved. In this work, we present work-in-progress on the design of a Compilation-and Remote-Programming-as-a-Service platform that enables cloud-based compilation and build of device firmware, as well as remote firmware updates for deployed IoT devices, in a reliable and secure way. We introduce the functional architecture of our platform and elaborate on the interaction of functional components. Our solution can easily support various embedded operating systems and heterogeneous hardware platforms, as well as different communication patterns for firmware transfer.