TY - JOUR
T1 - Automated synthesis of mediators for middleware-layer protocol interoperability in the IoT
AU - Bouloukakis, Georgios
AU - Georgantas, Nikolaos
AU - Ntumba, Patient
AU - Issarny, Valérie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - To enable direct Internet connectivity of Things, complete protocol stacks need to be deployed on resource-constrained devices. Such protocol stacks typically build on lightweight IPv6 adaptations and may even include a middleware layer supporting high-level application development. However, the profusion of IoT middleware-layer interaction protocols has introduced technology diversity and high fragmentation in the IoT systems landscape with siloed vertical solutions. To enable the interconnection of heterogeneous Things across these barriers, advanced interoperability solutions at the middleware layer are required. In this paper, we introduce a solution for the automated synthesis of protocol mediators that support the interconnection of heterogeneous Things. Our systematic approach relies on the Data eXchange (DeX) connector model, which comprehensively abstracts and represents existing and potentially future IoT middleware protocols. Thanks to DeX, Things seamlessly interconnect through lightweight mediators. We validate our solution with respect to: (i) the support to developers when developing heterogeneous IoT applications; (ii) the runtime performance of the synthesized mediators.
AB - To enable direct Internet connectivity of Things, complete protocol stacks need to be deployed on resource-constrained devices. Such protocol stacks typically build on lightweight IPv6 adaptations and may even include a middleware layer supporting high-level application development. However, the profusion of IoT middleware-layer interaction protocols has introduced technology diversity and high fragmentation in the IoT systems landscape with siloed vertical solutions. To enable the interconnection of heterogeneous Things across these barriers, advanced interoperability solutions at the middleware layer are required. In this paper, we introduce a solution for the automated synthesis of protocol mediators that support the interconnection of heterogeneous Things. Our systematic approach relies on the Data eXchange (DeX) connector model, which comprehensively abstracts and represents existing and potentially future IoT middleware protocols. Thanks to DeX, Things seamlessly interconnect through lightweight mediators. We validate our solution with respect to: (i) the support to developers when developing heterogeneous IoT applications; (ii) the runtime performance of the synthesized mediators.
KW - Internet of Things
KW - Interoperability
KW - Middleware
KW - Protocol mediators
KW - Software composition
U2 - 10.1016/j.future.2019.05.064
DO - 10.1016/j.future.2019.05.064
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85072755416
SN - 0167-739X
VL - 101
SP - 1271
EP - 1294
JO - Future Generation Computer Systems
JF - Future Generation Computer Systems
ER -