Microservices in IoT Middleware Architectures: Architecture, Trends, and Challenges

Abstract

AbstractThe Internet of Things (IoT) enables humans and computers to learn from and interact with billions of devices such as sensors, actuators, services, and other Internet-connected gadgets. The implementation of IoT technologies leverages seamless integration of the cyber and physical worlds, radically altering and empowering human interaction. Middleware, commonly described as a software system designed to be the intermediary between IoT devices and applications, is a fundamental technology in developing IoT systems. The IoT middleware solutions must match the requirements of the IoT ecosystem to acquire the widespread adoption. Among various approaches to middleware, service-oriented approach (SOA) is most suitable. Extending advantages of SOA, the special case of service orientation paradigm called microservices approach that has created a hype in the domain of cloud and enterprise application business. Furthermore, the microservices model has several advantages, particularly in dynamic IoT applications, where it is highly straightforward to utilize microservices-based architectures. This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art and practice regarding the usage of microservice architectures by IoT. More specifically, we examine the requirements of a typical IoT middleware and presents an in-depth investigation of microservice-based IoT middlewares to address the middleware requirements and their implementation.KeywordsInternet of ThingsCyber-physical systemsMiddlewareMicroservices