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Provisioning has two sides:
  • Decision support for devices answers whether an incoming friendship, sensor-read, or control request is allowed.
  • Provisioning for owners lets owners answer new questions and manage the rules used for later decisions.

Fail-closed flow

Devices cache decisions to avoid a network round trip for every operation. When an owner changes rules, the provisioning server instructs affected devices to clear cached answers.

What a rule can constrain

  • requester identity/domain;
  • device, data source, node, and field;
  • sensor field categories and time range;
  • control parameter/action;
  • service, device, or user token;
  • time and contextual restrictions supported by the provider.

Implementation rules

  • Deny unknown situations by default.
  • Cache the full constrained decision, not a broad boolean.
  • Put an expiry on cached permissions where policy requires it.
  • Authenticate provisioning messages and protect them end-to-end when sensitive.
  • Make rule updates and cache clears idempotent.
  • Keep an audit trail of owner decision, requester, resource, constraints, and outcome.
  • Provide a safe offline policy for devices that cannot reach provisioning.
Smart contracts can automate provisioning when owner and service terms are already signed and machine readable.