IAL: An Information Abstraction Layer for IoT Middleware

Abstract

The internet of things is an ever-expanding world of connected devices and services. Through observation of analog and digital processes, plenty of information is continuously produced. More than often, the information thus obtained is tailored to serve one separate purpose. Existing architectures omit the fact that partial results can be enriched with meta information and can be shared among network participants while information is processed. We show that enriched and simplified information packages can be shared to facilitate cooperation between constrained and smart devices as well as to serve for system optimization. In this work, we propose an implementation of the so-called information abstraction layer which serves as collective resource for querying mechanisms to provide information. To emphasize and illustrate the need for a standardized information abstraction layer into existing middleware, we outline a realistic example of use and introduce concepts to build and evaluate shared information in networks.