Abstract
This article focuses on IoT interoperability challenges that limit the applicability of IoT-related services due to the variety of IoT data protocols utilized by different sensors and data nodes. Through the agility brought by virtualization, which allows gateway functions to be deployed on demand in an agile manner, this chapter discusses the concept of interoperability provision over heterogeneous IoT data protocols. More specifically, this chapter discusses the problem of interoperability in IoT domains by introducing the most popular IoT data protocols that are commonly used today. Then, a proposed solution is described based on the agility offered by virtualized infrastructures with SDN/NFV capabilities. The basic functionalities of these technologies are briefly presented and finally a proposed approach towards the deployment on-demand of date protocol GWs is described.
TopBackground
During 1980s and 1990s, there was the concept of making objects smart, by integrating to them processing and connectivity capabilities, but it was slowed down due to the low progress in technological advancements (Ranger, 2018). Additionally, in the book “When Things Start to Think”, professor Neil Gershenfeld used the term “Things” which shows that there was an initial vision of Internet of Things (IoT) concept, back in 1999 (Rouse, 2018). The term IoT was coined by Kevin Ashton in a presentation regarding supply-chain management in 1999 (Kramp 2013). While he was part of the Auto-ID Center at MIT, he was involved in the Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) applications extension in broader domains which is the basis of the Internet of Things (Buyya & Vahid Dastjerdi, 2016). Kevin Ashton with the term IoT wanted to describe a system that the real world is being connected using a ubiquitous network of sensors (Corcoran, 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Network Virtualization: Abstracting network resources traditionally delivered in hardware to software. It can combine multiple physical networks to one virtual, software-based network, or it can divide one physical network into separate, independent virtual networks.
NFV: Network function virtualization. Network architecture concept that uses the technologies of IT virtualization to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building blocks that may connect, or chain together, for creating/providing communication services
IoT: Internet of things. The interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.
SDN: Software-defined networking. SDN architecture aims to make networks agile and flexible. Dynamic, programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring making it more like cloud computing than traditional network management.
IoT Protocols: A standard set of rules that allow IoT devices to communicate with each other. These rules include what type of data may be transmitted, what commands are used to send and receive data, and how IoT data transfers are confirmed.
IoT Interoperability: The ability for IoT systems or components of systems to communicate with each other, regardless of their manufacturer, technical specifications, or data protocols.