Toward semantic interoperability in oneM2M architecture

TLDR

The oneM2M standard, a global initiative for M2M communications, achieves interoperability at the communication level but lacks semantic interoperability. This work extends the oneM2M standard to enable semantic data interoperability through the IoT‑O ontology. IoT‑O builds on existing ontologies for sensors, observations, services, quantities, units, and time, while adding missing concepts such as thing, node, actuator, and actuation. Comprehensive use cases show that the extended standard enables heterogeneous device interoperability and autonomic behavior via automated reasoning.

Abstract

The oneM2M standard is a global initiative led jointly by major standards organizations around the world in order to develop a unique architecture for M2M communications. Prior standards, and also oneM2M, while focusing on achieving interoperability at the communication level, do not achieve interoperability at the semantic level. An expressive ontology for IoT called IoT-O is proposed, making best use of already defined ontologies in specific domains such as sensor, observation, service, quantity kind, units, or time. IoT-O also defines some missing concepts relevant for IoT such as thing, node, actuator, and actuation. The extension of the oneM2M standard to support semantic data interoperability based on IoT-O is discussed. Finally, through comprehensive use cases, benefits of the extended standard are demonstrated, ranging from heterogeneous device interoperability to autonomic behavior achieved by automated reasoning.