An Architectural Reference Model for IoT Device Management

Smart homes, smart cities, smart farms, and smart factories fostered the development of a wide variety of IoT devices. The different requirements of each domain lead to a heterogeneous IoT ecosystem utilizing a multitude of technologies. A vital part of every IoT solution is the management of its devices. This includes device registration, message monitoring, and adjusting device behavior. These management features are often implemented in use case-specific processes that only apply to single technology stacks. More complex use cases that combine different devices, networks, and applications often rely on middleware for device management. Previously proposed approaches that aim to simplify device management are often limited to single use cases, management features, or devices. In this paper we propose an architectural reference model that overcomes these limitations for the management of IoT devices. Our model combines the management features of five distinct IoT device types that we defined by their processing and connectivity capabilities. The IoT device types are based on recommendation Y. 4460 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Additionally, we implemented a proof of concept of our architectural reference model to demonstrate its usefullness in a real world scenario.