A middleware based architecture for the industrial internet of things

Abstract

Due to its potential, the Internet of Things (IoT) begins to be used in the industrial field. Nevertheless, although the concept called the Industrial Internet of Things does not know a widely accepted definition, it is based on the existing technology, and introduces the IoT in the industrial environment through the compliance with specific additional requirements and by integrating various fieldbuses with distinctive features, from the real-time point of view. The aim of this paper is to propose a practical architecture for the Industrial Internet of Things. The proposed architecture is designed around the Data Distribution Service for Real Time System (DDS) middleware protocol, and it is organized on four levels. Between these levels, it is defined standard interface, and they can be developed independently. For this reason, the architecture is scalable because at the middleware level, the DDS can be replaced by other middleware systems. At the final, it is performed a comparison between several middleware systems used in the proposed architecture.