An Aggregated Data Integration Approach to the Web and Cloud Platforms through a Modular REST-Based OPC UA Middleware.

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) empowers the development of heterogeneous systems for various application domains using embedded devices and diverse data transmission protocols. Collaborative integration of these systems in the industrial domain leads to incompatibility and interoperability at different automation levels, requiring unified coordination to exchange information efficiently. The hardware specifications of these devices are resource-constrained, limiting their performance in resource allocation, data management, and remote process supervision. Hence, unlocking network capabilities with other domains such as cloud and web services is required. This study proposed a platform-independent middleware module incorporating the Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and Representational State Transfer (REST) paradigms. The object-oriented structure of this middleware allows information contextualization to address interoperability issues and offers aggregated data integration with other domains. RESTful web and cloud platforms were implemented to collect this middleware data, provide remote application support, and enable aggregated resource allocation in a database server. Several performance assessments were conducted on the developed system deployed in Raspberry Pi and Intel NUC PC, which showed acceptable platform resource utilization regarding CPU, bandwidth, and power consumption, with low service, update, and response time requirements. This integrated approach demonstrates an excellent cost-effective prospect for interoperable Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, enables remote process supervision, and offers aggregated bulk data management with wider domains.