Lego-like middleware for heterogeneous sensor and actuator networks

Applications for Sensor and Actuator Networks (SANs) are being spread to areas in which easy configuration by non-programmers will enhance acceptance, and also contexts where reconfiguration is needed during the application lifespan. Wireless SAN (WSAN) may include wired and/or wireless devices, PCs and control stations arranged in a heterogeneous distributed system. Instead of assuming that embedded device nodes (e.g. a TelosB mote) and gateways (e.g. PC running Linux) are disparate entities with their own programming and processing model, it should be viewed as a single heterogeneous distributed system, offering more uniformity, simplicity and flexibility. In this paper we propose MidSN - an approach to hide heterogeneity and offer a single common configuration and processing component for all nodes of that heterogeneous system. The main contribution of this paper is how to design a middleware architecture with a single uniform component to work with such heterogeneous underlying parts as a WSAN. We have successfully applied an embodiment of this concept as middleware component in an industrial refinery setting and in our lab testbed within EU project Ginseng.