The University of Manchester Research A User-Oriented Language for Specifying Interconnections between Heterogeneous Objects in the Internet of Things DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2019.2891545 Document Version Accepted author manuscript Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): González García, C., Zhao, L., & García-Díaz, V. (2019). A User-Oriented Language for Specifying Interconnections between Heterogeneous Objects in the Internet of Things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal . https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2019.2891545 Published in: IEEE Internet of Things Journal Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. 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Citation information: DOI 10.1109/JIOT.2019.2891545, IEEE Internet of Things Journal 1 A User-Oriented Language for Specifying Interconnections between Heterogeneous Objects in the Internet of Things Cristian González García*, Liping Zhao and Vicente García-Díaz Abstract—We propose a user-oriented language to enable users to specify interconnections between heterogeneous objects in the Internet of Things (IoT). Based on the idea of the use case specification technique in software engineering, our language provides users with a natural language like syntax to allow them to specify when or under what conditions they want which objects to be connected. To support this language, we have also developed a transformation mechanism that automatically translates users’ specification into the source code. We have evaluated this language through an experiment and a survey. The main contributions of this paper are: (1) a simple natural language that enables the users to specify which objects to connect and when, and (2) a transformation mechanism that automatically translates users’ specifications into source code and dynamically attaches the code to relevant applications. Our work represents a first step in bringing the IoT closer to their users. Index Terms—Internet of Things, Smart Objects, Interoperability, Application Platforms, Service Functions and Management, Service Middleware and Platform, User experience —————————— —————————— 1 INTRODUCTION HE vision of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to reach out ‘Conventional objects’, such as sewing machines, exer- T everyday objects in the real world and connect them to cise bikes, electric toothbrushes, washing machines, elec- the Internet, thus achieving anytime and anyplace connec- tricity meters and photocopiers, can have a ‘digital make- tivity for anyone and anything [1], [2]. According to HIS over’, that is, by adding the capabilities of digital objects, Markit1 , by 2020 there will be 17.6 billion physical objects to enhance their functionality [3]. With digitalisation (dig- connected to the Internet. If we exclude smartphones, ital objects) and sensors, we can connect both smart and tablets, and computers, Gartner estimates 6.4 billion. non-smart objects to the Internet [7], make them Smart objects, such as smartphones, smartwatches and communicate with each other and create value-added, in- tablets, play a key role in the IoT vision as they are pro- telligent applications such as ‘Smart Homes’ and ‘Smart grammed with intelligent information and communication Cities’ – the dream of the IoT [8]. However, sometimes, the software. Thus, when connected to sensors, these objects need of good or special practices is necessary because of are able to perceive their context and location; with their the different necessities or limitations of the hardware, like built-in networking capabilities, they can communicate the battery [9], [10] and the energy consumption [11], [12], with each other, access Internet services and interact with the low computing power [13], the centralised control of people [3]. The same occurs with road vehicles and trans- many devices [14], or a standardisation, data management portation, which are under the term Internet of Vehicles or security, among others [15], [16]. (IoV), a very important branch of the IoT. For instance, try- In the IoT, however, things, which can be smart and ing to obtain real-time information about the roads, pro- non-smart [7], are usually diverse, as they are made by dif- tecting our travel, improving our comfort, the onboard ferent manufacturers, serve different purposes, contain equipment, and vehicular applications [4], [5]. In this way, different physical components, use different interface the main idea is that vehicles can exchange information standards, have different communication protocols, em- amongst themselves and with the rest of their environment bed different software technologies, and so on [17]–[19]. [6]. These differences inevitably result in heterogeneous ob- jects that cannot directly communicate [17], [20]. Although ———————————————— global standards on the IoT may ease the heterogeneity C. González García is with Department of Computer Science, University of problem, creating such standards is currently a major chal- Oviedo, Federico García Lorca 18, 33007, Oviedo, Spain. E-mail: gonza- [email protected]. lenge to the IoT [3], [21]–[24]. For example, a recent work L. Zhao is with School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Ox- [25] focuses on the great number of services that are emerg- ford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom, E-mail: ing with the diversity in IoT. Thus, they propose an ap- [email protected]. proach for developing such services based on different as- V. García-Díaz with Department of Computer Science, University of Oviedo, Federico García Lorca 18, 33007, Oviedo, Spain. E-mail: garciavi- pects such as a technology independent modelling step, an [email protected]. implementation step and a simulation of those services. * Corresponding author A common solution to this problem combines the prin- Copyright (c) 2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. How- ciple of information hiding and encapsulation with the ever, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to [email protected]. 1 https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/popular-internet- of-things-forecast-of-50-billion-devices-by-2020-is-outdated 2327-4662 (c) 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information. This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/JIOT.2019.2891545, IEEE Internet of Things Journal 2 Figure 1 The syntax and structure of MUCSL concept of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). This ap- language, we have also developed a transformation mech- proach provides each object with a service, which acts as a anism that automatically translates users’ specification communicator (i.e., interface) for the object and hides the into the source code. object details from the client [17]. By using such an ap- The main contributions that can be identified from this proach, objects heterogeneity is hidden from the service paper are: consumers, allowing applications to use those objects via 1. A Domain-Specific Language (DSL), very similar to standard services. natural language. Yet, the IoT-based applications are dynamic. We quote 2. A DSL that enables the users to specify the intercon- this example from [17]: ‘A device such as a Bluetooth nection among objects in an easy and simple way smartphone might become unavailable to a system as soon without programming. as it moves out of range. Regarding autonomy concerns, a 3. A transformation mechanism that automatically simple sensor cannot perform its task anymore if its battery translates users’ specifications into source code that is depleted. As a consequence, a system hosting IoT-based includes all the necessary logic. pervasive applications must be highly dynamic to manage This contribution can be applied to any field of the IoT. the devices, which continuously leave or enter the system.’ The requirement is a central platform in which the differ- This kind of application, therefore, cannot be fully de- ent objects have to be registered. scribed beforehand due to the non-deterministic nature of Although there are already some related works, there is service availability. a great absence on DSLs in the IoT and more specifically in While dynamic SOA [26] offers a promising solution to the scope of this same work [29]. Thus, our work repre- this problem