Middleware Mechanisms for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

• Published in: Wireless Sensors in Heterogeneous Networked Systems pp. 61 - 76
• Main Authors: Furtado, Pedro, Cecílio, José
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2014; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Computer Communications and Networks
• Subjects: Communications engineering / telecommunications; Embedded Devices; Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks; Middleware Architecture; Middleware Mechanisms; Network hardware; Systems analysis & design; Translation Gateways
• ISBN: 9783319092799; 3319092790
• ISSN: 1617-7975
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-09280-5_5

Taking into account the application scenarios raised in Chap. 3, in this chapter the middleware mechanisms that are necessary for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks are described. The chapter starts by describing the main requirements and defines an architecture of a generic solution for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. This architecture spans every part of the system, from platforms and nodes to communication protocols and gateways that translate different dialects. The solutions to platform and communication protocol independency include a set of drivers that are able to abstract the underlying heterogeneity. The architecture also includes a data management engine that is autonomous in each device and independent of node type. The objective of this chapter is therefore to propose mechanisms to design a middleware that provide uniform stream-based configuration and processing over heterogeneous distributed systems with constrained embedded devices as well as other computing devices.