Lessons learned from implementing the Devices Profile for Web Services

In recent years a movement from distributed systems controlled by users to automatic, autonomous and self-configuring distributed systems is noticeable. Web services is one approach but lacking the secure integration of resource-constrained devices. This paper describes the devices profile for web services (DPWS), underlying protocols and a DPWS toolkit implementation based on C and gSOAP and discusses its current state. It has enormous relevance for embedded systems and industrial automation since DPWS targets resource-constraint devices explicitly, and has the potential to shift the industrial landscape which is characterized of heterogeneous devices.