Integration of Wireless Sensor and Actuator Nodes With IT Infrastructure Using Service-Oriented Architecture

Abstract

A large number of potential applications for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSAN) have yet to be embraced by industry despite high interest amongst academic researchers. This is due to various factors such as unpredictable costs related to development, deployment and maintenance of WSAN, especially when integration with existing IT infrastructure and legacy systems is needed. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is seen as a promising technique to bridge the gap between sensor nodes and enterprise applications such as factory monitoring, control, and tracking systems where sensor data is used. To date, research efforts have focused on middleware software systems located in gateway devices that implement standard service technology, such as Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS), for interacting with the sensor network. This paper takes a different approach-deploying interoperable Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)-based web services directly on the nodes and not using gateways. This strategy provides for easy integration with legacy IT systems and supports heterogeneity at the lowest level. Twofold analysis of the related overhead, which is the main challenge of this solution, is performed; Quantification of resource consumption as well as techniques to mitigate it are presented, along with latency measurements showing the impact of different parts of the system on system performance. A proof-of-concept application using Mulle-a resource-constrained sensor platform-is also presented.