In addition to the evolution of the more traditional uses and current trends of the Internet, the Internet is extending its reach to the real world through innovations collectively termed the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT concept was initially based around enabling technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSAN), but nowadays spawns a wide variety of devices with different computing and communication capabilities - generically termed networked embedded devices (NED). While originating from applications such as supply chain management and logistics, IoT now targets multiple domains including automation, energy, e-health etc. More recent ideas have driven the IoT towards an all encompassing vision to integrate the real world into the Internet.

The basic idea underlying the RWI is that the ubiquity of mobile devices and proliferation of wireless networks will allow everyone permanent access to the Internet at all times and all places. The increased computational power of these devices has the potential to empower people to generate their own applications for innovative social and cognitive activities in any situation and anywhere. This wireless connection is not limited to user devices, almost any artefact from clothing to buildings can be connected and collaborate as a NED. Furthermore new sensor technologies and wireless sensor networks provide environmental intelligence and the capability to sense, reason and actuate. This leads to the exciting vision of the interconnection of artefacts embedded in our real environment, forming a society of "intelligent things" and "smart spaces".

Among the research areas in this topic, the idea of networked knowledge and context is emerging. The level of detailed information will increase beyond any previously imaginable levels. Raw data generated by the trillions of sensors is just the beginning - this information is composable. Processors and services can aggregate and fuse this information to provide higher level contextual information, forming complex control loops or delivering real-time streams of accurate real world information for post processing or statistical information. What are the mechanisms that we need to filter and search this knowledge? What will be the traffic patterns that we have to deal with in addition to the commonly seen data traffic (email, web-browsing, IPTV) on the Internet and will the collective use of the Real World Internet impact these services? How can this data be modeled and represented? How can we compose new context information on the fly?

Our objectives in this research area are focused on the management and understanding of the raw data coming from heterogeneous sensor networks and data streams by means of semantic technologies.

Projects

Currently we have one EU project in execution in this area, SemsorGrid4Env and UpGrid.

Main results

The work done by our group in this research area is mainly focusing on the generation of ontologies that allow describing sensor networks and the data that can be obtained from them, and on the provision of semantic-based access to these data sources, by means of appropriate extensions of Semantic Web query languages like SPARQL. We also participate in the W3C incubator group on Semantic Sensor Networks, and have participated in the organization of several events related to this area, including a workshop on semantic Sensor networks (http://semsensweb.di.uoa.gr) and a special track at ESWC2010 on sensor networks (http://www.eswc2010.org).

Some of the most relevant publications in this area are:

• ESWC 2010 poster of Jean Paul Calbimonte
• Sequeda, J F. Corcho, O. Gomez-Perez, A. (2009) Linked Stream Data: a short paper. 2nd Semantic Sensor Network Workshop at International Semantic Web Conference. Washington DC, US Link

There are also some software downloads or available services at: ODEMapster SPARQLSTR.

Members

This research area is led by Oscar Corcho, and the team behind is formed by the postdoctoral researcher Raúl García-Castro, and by the PhD student Jean Paul Calbimonte.

Job opportunities

There are currently no job offers or studentships available in this research area. For offers in other areas of the group, please check in our job opportunities section.

However, you may contact Asunción Gómez-Pérez or Oscar Corcho to check whether there are any potential open positions in the near future.