Accessing hardware devices using web server abstractions

Abstract

In the new architecture, a client that desires access to a piece of hardware sends HTTP requests to a device server. The server receives a HTTP requests, accesses a device on behalf of the client, and send the device's response back to the client in the form of an HTTP response. This architecture has three primary advantages. First, it offers a clean interface for clients where all devices are accessed as if they are web servers. Second, it helps make devices more secure whereby clients can be prevented from accessing hardware directly, and all device access is forced through the narrow HTTP access protocol and checked for compliance with a desired security policy. Third, since HTTP allows local and remote servers to be contacted, the proposed architecture makes it easy for clients to communicate with devices that are not physically co-resident with the client but which are accessible via a network connection.