Internet of Things as System of Systems: A Review of Methodologies, Frameworks, Platforms, and Tools

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the latest example of the System of Systems (SoS), demanding for both innovative and evolutionary approaches to tame its multifaceted aspects. Over the years, different IoT methodologies, frameworks, platforms, and tools have been proposed by industry and academia, but the jumbled abundance of such development products have resulted into a high (and disheartening) entry-barrier to IoT system engineering. In this survey, we steer IoT developers by: 1) providing baseline definitions to identify the most suitable class of development products—methodologies, frameworks, platforms, and tools–for their purposes and 2) reviewing seventy relevant products through a comparative and practical approach, based on general SoS engineering features revised in the light of main IoT systems desiderata (i.e., interoperability, scalability, smartness, and autonomy). Indeed, we aim to lessen the confusion related to IoT methodologies, frameworks, platforms, and tools as well as to freeze their current state, for eventually easing the approach towards IoT system engineering.