Interoperability in Sensor-Actuator Networks

The paper describes results of analysis of interoperability issues encountered when interconnecting systems that use heterogeneous communication interfaces. The initial analysis has been focused to issues faced when interconnecting heterogeneous fieldbuses. However the results obtained from the study are generally applicable to all systems that need to exchange information through incompatible interfaces using a broker that transforms data from one interface to the other. However, the research has shown that many interoperability problems can be eliminated by use of common concept for expression of sensor data regardless of the protocols used for the actual data exchange. The root cause of interoperability problems has been identified in the heterogeneity of concepts used for description of the reality. The authors argue, that common concept for sensor-actuator networks (SANETS) is needed to prevent unnecessary interoperability problems especially when building platforms for generic SANETS.