Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution
Embedded systems, particularly when integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, are critical for projects requiring robust, energy-efficient interfaces to collect real-time data from the environment. As these systems become complex, the need for dynamic reconfiguration, improved availabi...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | Future Internet |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/1/23 |
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| author | Elmin Marevac Esad Kadušić Nataša Živić Nevzudin Buzađija Samir Lemeš |
| author_facet | Elmin Marevac Esad Kadušić Nataša Živić Nevzudin Buzađija Samir Lemeš |
| author_sort | Elmin Marevac |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Embedded systems, particularly when integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, are critical for projects requiring robust, energy-efficient interfaces to collect real-time data from the environment. As these systems become complex, the need for dynamic reconfiguration, improved availability, and stability becomes increasingly important. This paper presents the design of a framework architecture that supports dynamic reconfiguration and “on-the-fly” code execution in IoT-enabled embedded systems, including a virtual machine capable of hot reloads, ensuring system availability even during configuration updates. A “hardware-in-the-loop” workflow manages communication between the embedded components, while low-level coding constraints are accessible through an additional abstraction layer, with examples such as MicroPython or Lua. The study results demonstrate the VM’s ability to handle serialization and deserialization with minimal impact on system performance, even under high workloads, with serialization having a median time of 160 microseconds and deserialization having a median of 964 microseconds. Both processes were fast and resource-efficient under normal conditions, supporting real-time updates with occasional outliers, suggesting room for optimization and also highlighting the advantages of VM-based firmware update methods, which outperform traditional approaches like Serial and OTA (Over-the-Air, the ability to update or configure firmware, software, or devices via wireless connection) updates by achieving lower latency and greater consistency. With these promising results, however, challenges like occasional deserialization time outliers and the need for optimization in memory management and network protocols remain for future work. This study also provides a comparative analysis of currently available commercial solutions, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-696c59d446a24777be1429b877a6708b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1999-5903 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Future Internet |
| spelling | doaj-art-696c59d446a24777be1429b877a6708b2025-01-24T13:33:35ZengMDPI AGFuture Internet1999-59032025-01-011712310.3390/fi17010023Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code ExecutionElmin Marevac0Esad Kadušić1Nataša Živić2Nevzudin Buzađija3Samir Lemeš4Polytechnic Faculty, University of Zenica, 72000 Zenica, Bosnia and HerzegovinaFaculty of Educational Sciences, University of Sarajevo, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaFaculty of Digital Transformation, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, 04277 Leipzig, GermanyPolytechnic Faculty, University of Zenica, 72000 Zenica, Bosnia and HerzegovinaPolytechnic Faculty, University of Zenica, 72000 Zenica, Bosnia and HerzegovinaEmbedded systems, particularly when integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, are critical for projects requiring robust, energy-efficient interfaces to collect real-time data from the environment. As these systems become complex, the need for dynamic reconfiguration, improved availability, and stability becomes increasingly important. This paper presents the design of a framework architecture that supports dynamic reconfiguration and “on-the-fly” code execution in IoT-enabled embedded systems, including a virtual machine capable of hot reloads, ensuring system availability even during configuration updates. A “hardware-in-the-loop” workflow manages communication between the embedded components, while low-level coding constraints are accessible through an additional abstraction layer, with examples such as MicroPython or Lua. The study results demonstrate the VM’s ability to handle serialization and deserialization with minimal impact on system performance, even under high workloads, with serialization having a median time of 160 microseconds and deserialization having a median of 964 microseconds. Both processes were fast and resource-efficient under normal conditions, supporting real-time updates with occasional outliers, suggesting room for optimization and also highlighting the advantages of VM-based firmware update methods, which outperform traditional approaches like Serial and OTA (Over-the-Air, the ability to update or configure firmware, software, or devices via wireless connection) updates by achieving lower latency and greater consistency. With these promising results, however, challenges like occasional deserialization time outliers and the need for optimization in memory management and network protocols remain for future work. This study also provides a comparative analysis of currently available commercial solutions, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/1/23IoTembedded systemsdynamic reconfigurationhot reloadsvirtual machinehardware-in-the-loop |
| spellingShingle | Elmin Marevac Esad Kadušić Nataša Živić Nevzudin Buzađija Samir Lemeš Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution Future Internet IoT embedded systems dynamic reconfiguration hot reloads virtual machine hardware-in-the-loop |
| title | Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution |
| title_full | Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution |
| title_fullStr | Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution |
| title_short | Framework Design for the Dynamic Reconfiguration of IoT-Enabled Embedded Systems and “On-the-Fly” Code Execution |
| title_sort | framework design for the dynamic reconfiguration of iot enabled embedded systems and on the fly code execution |
| topic | IoT embedded systems dynamic reconfiguration hot reloads virtual machine hardware-in-the-loop |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/1/23 |
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