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Volume 3 Supplement 1

Special Issue on the Future of Middleware (FOME'11)

Middleware for wireless sensor networks: an outlook

Journal of Internet Services and Applications volume 3, pages 31–39 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

In modern distributed computing, applications are rarely built directly atop operating system facilities, e.g., sockets. Higher-level middleware abstractions and systems are often employed to simplify the programmer’s chore or to achieve interoperability. In contrast, real-world wireless sensor network (WSN) applications are almost always developed by relying directly on the operating system.

Why is this the case? Does it make sense to include a middleware layer in the design of WSNs? And, if so, is it the same kind of software system as in traditional distributed computing? What are the fundamental concepts, reasonable assumptions, and key criteria guiding its design? What are the main open research challenges, and the potential pitfalls? Most importantly, is it worth pursuing research in this field?

This paper provides a (biased) answer to these and other research questions, preceded by a brief account on the state of the art in the field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Isafjordsgatan 22, Stockholm, Sweden

    Luca Mottola

  2. Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, v. Sommarive 14, 38100, Trento, Italy

    Gian Pietro Picco

Authors
  1. Luca Mottola
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  2. Gian Pietro Picco
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gian Pietro Picco.

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Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Mottola, L., Picco, G.P. Middleware for wireless sensor networks: an outlook. J Internet Serv Appl 3, 31–39 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13174-011-0046-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13174-011-0046-7

Keywords

  • Middleware
  • Wireless sensor networks