MAGIC Broker 2: An open and extensible platform for the Internet of Things

Abstract

One of the challenges of creating applications from confederations of Internet-enabled things is the complexity of having to deal with spontaneously interacting and partially available heterogeneous devices. In this paper we describe the features of the MAGIC Broker 2 (MB2) a platform designed to offer a simple and consistent programming interface for collections of things. We report on the key abstractions offered by the platform and report on its use for developing two IoT applications involving spontaneous device interaction: 1) mobile phones and public displays, and 2) a web-based sensor actuator network portal called Sense Tecnic (STS). We discuss how the MB2 abstractions and implementation have evolved over time to the current design. Finally we present a preliminary performance evaluation and report qualitatively on the developers' experience of using our platform.