2023 International Russian Automation Conference (RusAutoCon)

Development of IoT Gateway and Cloud Platform for

Software Defined Mesh Network of Internet of
Things Devices
2023 International Russian Automation Conference (RusAutoCon) | 979-8-3503-4555-1/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/RusAutoCon58002.2023.10272962

Dmitry Perepelkin Daniil Tkachev

Faculty of Computer Engineering Faculty of Computer Engineering
Ryazan State Radio Engineering University Ryazan state radio engineering university
Ryazan, Russia Ryazan, Russia
perepelkin.d.a@rsreu.ru fenix784@mail.ru

Abstract—Mesh networks are becoming increasingly popular

in the field of the Internet of Things. The use of such networks
allows you to create distributed systems where devices can
exchange data with each other without the need to connect to a
central server. The aim of the work is to develop an IoT gateway
that provides interaction between IoT devices, collects data from
a software defined mesh network of Internet of Things devices
and transmits them to a cloud platform for further processing.
The cloud platform, in turn, provides storage, processing and
analysis of data from Internet of Things devices, as well as
provides various services that allow you to monitor the status of
devices and manage them. To confirm the effectiveness of the
proposed approach, a visual software system IoT Configuration
Map has been developed, which allows you to automate the
process of configuring Internet of Things devices, and also
displays data from devices and network topology.
Keywords—Internet of Things, mesh network, software defined
network, cloud platform, visual software system, network
architecture
I. INTRODUCTION
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices that
can exchange data and interact with each other without the
need for human intervention. Currently, IoT devices are used
in many fields, such as smart home, medicine, manufacturing
and transportation. However, in order for these devices to
work together and be effectively managed, it is necessary to
combine them into a single system.
To solve this problem, this paper proposes a software
defined mesh network of Internet of Things devices, where
each device can communicate with others, forming a set of
routes for data transmission. However, for effective
management of such a network, it is necessary to have a
central element – an IoT gateway that will provide
communication between devices and the cloud platform. The
cloud platform, in turn, allows you to manage and configure a
network of IoT devices, as well as provides data storage and
processing.
The developed visual software system has a graphical
interface that displays the network topology and data from end
devices, and also provides a set of tools that allows you to
create automation and configure Internet of Things devices.
The work is performed at the support of the Grant of the President of the
Russian Federation (МД-3201.2022.1.6).
II. THEORETICAL STUDIES
The paper [1] presents a software system for configuring a
network of Internet of Things devices. The visual system and
infrastructure for distributed data processing are considered in
[2]. Methods of dynamic traffic management in software
defined networks are described in [3]. Various cloud platforms
for the implementation of software systems based on the
concept of the Internet of Things are considered in [4], their
main capabilities, advantages and disadvantages are identified.
Technologies, protocols, standards and architectures used to
create intelligent devices and systems based on the Internet of
Things concept are described in [5]. The paper [6] describes a
smart home management system with an integrated cloud
environment that provides remote control of devices and the
ability to monitor data. The paper [7] provides descriptions
and examples of the use of various sensors, modules and
components to create smart devices and Internet of Things
systems, as well as describes the stages of development and
configuration of Internet of Things platforms. The paper [8]
discusses the use of cloud platforms in the construction of
systems based on the concept of the Internet of Things.
Application models, the role of the Internet of Things
platform, and the architecture of systems based on the Internet
of Things concept are discussed in [9]. In [10], ETSI's
proposals in the field of the Internet of Things and the
principle of operation of the oneM2M standard are considered.
[11] presents the main approaches for traffic management in
the cloud infrastructure of software defined networks. Traffic
processing in hyper convergent structures with software
switching based on traditional approaches and the OpenFlow
protocol is investigated in [12]. The theoretical and practical
bases of construction, design and support of software-
configurable networks are considered in [13]. Approaches to
international standardization and programming of the Internet
of Things, issues of cybersecurity of the Internet of Things are
considered in [14]. Various programming models for Internet
of Things applications are proposed in work [15], depending
on their complexity, scale and types of supported devices.
Various application-level interfaces for software defined
networks are considered in [16]. Various cloud platforms for
the implementation of software systems based on the concept
of the Internet of Things are considered in work [17], their

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main capabilities, advantages and disadvantages are identified.
Application models, the role of the Internet of Things
platform, application architecture based on the Internet of
Things concept are discussed in [18]. The paper [19] describes
a smart home management system with an integrated cloud
environment that provides remote device management and
data monitoring capabilities. The paper [20] discusses the use
of cloud platforms in building systems based on the concept of
the Internet of Things. The article [21] describes a method for
determining the state of devices using classification
technology, which is based on the composition of time series
processing algorithms that reflect the operation of elements
during the execution of processes and are trained
independently of each other.
The analysis of the above works showed that the
development of an IoT gateway and a cloud platform for a
software defined mesh network of Internet of Things devices
is an urgent task that allows you to create flexible and fault-
tolerant networks of IoT devices that are easily configured and
managed using a graphical interface.
III. DEVELOPMENT OF A MESH NETWORK OF DEVICES
To implement a software defined mesh network (Fig. 1), an
ESP32 microcontroller is used, which has a low cost, a wide
range of interfaces for connecting sensors, built-in Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth modules, which makes it an ideal choice for
developing a mesh network. To collect parameters, the DHT11
temperature and humidity sensor, the GL5537 photoresistor
and the HC-SR501 motion sensor are connected to the ESP32.
To create a mesh network on ESP32 microcontrollers, the
PainlessMesh library is used, which provides a simple interface
for creating a mesh network and exchanging data between
devices. The library works on the basis of the OLSR protocol,
which allows devices to automatically configure message
Fig. 1. Software defined mesh network.
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transmission routes and bypass nodes that do not work. One of
the nodes of the mesh network is the main one and transmits all
the information to the IoT gateway. In the case when the main
node is no longer available, its responsibilities are randomly
transferred to another node.
To create a mesh network using the PainlessMesh library,
an object of the PainlessMesh class is created and the init()
method is called, to which the SSID, password and port
numbers of the mesh network being created are passed
The receivedCallback() function is responsible for
processing received data from other nodes of the mesh
network. This function calls the sendMessageToServer()
function, which sends data received from other nodes to the
IoT gateway if the current node is the main one. In this
function, the ESP32 is first connected to a Wi-Fi access point
and an IP address is obtained using the WiFi library. To send
data to the IoT gateway, a WiFiClient class object is created
and the connect() method is called to connect to the IoT
gateway, then the print() method is used to send data.
IV. IOT GATEWAY DEVELOPMENT
The gateway of Internet of Things devices (IoT gateway)
allows you to manage and coordinate the work of other Internet
of Things devices. It is the central element in the local Internet
of Things network and provides communication between all
devices, their management, as well as data processing and
sending them to the cloud platform.
As Internet of Things devices connected to the IoT
gateway, TP-Link Tapo P100 smart sockets, TP-Link Tapo
L530 smart bulbs and ESP32 microcontrollers are used,
forming a mesh network and collecting information about
temperature, humidity, ambient light level and the presence of
movement using sensors.
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The IoT gateway also scans the Wi-Fi network to which it
is connected and detects all wireless devices available on this
network (Fig. 2). Scanning by an IoT gateway of a Wi-Fi
network is performed using utilities implemented in the Python
programming language based on ICMP and ARP protocols.
The ping_device() function takes an IP address as an input
parameter and uses the ping() method of the pythonping library
to determine the availability of the device at this IP address. To
speed up the scanning of the Wi-Fi network by the IoT
gateway, the ping_device() function is called for each IP
address in a separate thread.
The interaction of the gateway of Internet of Things devices
and the cloud platform occurs using a socket. The device
Gateway collects data from connected devices and transmits it
to the cloud platform, where it is processed and analyzed. The
cloud platform can send commands to manage devices through
the gateway.
The send_messages() method is responsible for sending
data to the cloud IoT platform via a socket in json format. The
receive_messages() method is responsible for listening to
incoming messages from the cloud IoT platform that contain
commands for managing Internet of Things devices. If the
cloud IoT platform is currently unavailable, the IoT gateway
will attempt to connect to it in the do_connection_attempt()
method until a connection is established.
V. DEVELOPMENT OF A CLOUD IOT PLATFORM
The cloud IoT platform aggregates information about the
network structure, data from end devices, and also allows you
to make decisions and manage a network of Internet of Things
devices in real time based on the analysis of the collected data.
To interact with the visual software system, the cloud IoT
platform implements API interfaces, which provides the ability
to display data and control Internet of Things devices through a
graphical interface. The database of the cloud platform stores
information about all types of IoT end devices and their
functions, which is then transmitted to the visual software
system and displayed as graphical controls using the designer.
Fig. 2. Devices scanned by the IoT gateway.
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The cloud IoT platform includes a controller that monitors
the status of user-generated automations for a software defined
mesh network of Internet of Things devices. The listing of the
function responsible for the implementation of the cloud IoT
platform controller is presented below. The algorithm of the
controller's operation consists in obtaining a list of automations
from the database and verifying their validity. If the
automation rule is met, the controller sends a command to the
corresponding IoT gateway.
VI. DEVELOPMENT OF A VISUAL SOFTWARE SYSTEM IOT
CONFIGURATION MAP
A visual software system IoT Configuration Map was
developed to visualize the network topology, data from the
Internet of Things end devices and manage them, as well as
create automations (Fig. 4). The system is developed in the
Python programming language using the library for creating
PyQt5 graphical applications, which allows it to be used on
Windows, Linux and Mac OS operating systems.
One of the main features of this system is its flexibility.
The system can be adapted to work with various IoT devices,
thanks to the constructor contained in the IoTDevice class,
which converts the string representation of information about
the list of parameters and functions of the device into
graphical elements. The IoTDeviceManage class is used to
transmit commands for managing Internet of Things devices
to the cloud platform and updating parameter values.
Fig. 3 shows a UML class diagram of the developed
visual software system IoT Configuration Map.
The AdaptiveDimensions class contains the sizes of all
graphical components of the software system, which
automatically adjust to the size of the user's screen at startup
and are dynamically calculated using the scaling_dimensions()
and init_placement() methods when the user changes the scale
of the graphical editor.
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Fig. 3. Class diagram of the visual software system IoT Configuration Map.

Fig. 4. Graphical interface of the IoT Configuration Map software system.

The Device class is the parent class for all device classes.
It contains fields that store data about the type of device, its IP
and MAC addresses, network availability and data
transmission delay. By default, the device does not have any
functions and does not contain parameters, however, the
return_functions() method, which is responsible for the
graphical representation of device parameters and functions,
can be overridden by the successor classes.
The core of the visual software system is contained in the
UpdateDevices class, which is responsible for data exchange
with the cloud platform, as well as updating the list of devices.
To place device instances inside the graphical editor, the
Device Layout class is used. This class contains the
changing_placement() method, which is responsible for
calculating coordinates and moving objects to the specified
coordinates.
The ConnectionWindow class creates a window for
adding automation (Fig. 5), which allows you to create new
device configuration rules. The RulesWindow class displays a
window of automations already set for the device (Fig. 6),
which are stored in the cloud platform. The TimeWindow
class represents a window for creating automation by time. To
save automation in the cloud platform, the SendControl class
is used.
For authorization, the AuthorizationWindow class is used
in the application, which allows the user to log in using a

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username and password or log in using an IP address. In the
case of user authorization by IP address, devices will be
available to him only inside his local network.
Fig. 5. Device automation creation window.
Fig. 6. Device automation window.
VII. CONCLUSION
The article has developed an IoT gateway that provides
interaction of devices in a software defined mesh network of
the Internet of Things, data collection and sending to the cloud
IoT platform for further processing and analysis, as well as
redirecting commands from the cloud platform to the end IoT
devices. A software defined mesh network allows Internet of
Things devices to exchange data among themselves without
the need to connect to a common access point. A cloud-based
IoT platform is used to store and process data, generate
commands for managing Internet of Things devices. To
visualize a software defined mesh network of Internet of
Things devices and create automations, a visual software
system has been developed, the architecture of which is
described using a UML class diagram.
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