US Patent 9425978 Method and apparatus for configuring and controlling interfacing devices

A device-controlling system configures, monitors, and controls one or more interfacing devices, such that an interfacing device can obtain and disseminate sensor data from one or more attached physical devices that include sensors for measuring physical attributes. During operation, the system can configure an interfacing device by establishing a network connection with an interfacing device, and determining one or more rules for the interfacing device. A rule can indicate an action description for performing an action, and indicates a condition that indicates criteria for processing the rule's action description. The system can configure the interfacing device to process its associated rules.