Interaction patterns for bridging the gap between sensor networks and the Sensor Web

The Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) defines standards for Web Service interfaces and data encodings usable as building blocks to implement a Sensor Web for geospatial applications. These standards encapsulate heterogeneous sensors installed in existing sensor networks for web-based discovery, scheduling and access. SWE has been applied in a multitude of projects in the recent years, showing its suitability in real world scenarios. However, there is still a fundamental challenge to be tackled. While SWE enables interoperability and is well-designed towards the upper application layer, the interaction between the Sensor Web and the underlying sensor network layer is not yet sufficiently described. This work identifies five fundamental interaction patterns between the Sensor Web and sensor networks by introducing an intermediary layer, prototypically implemented using Twitter. The patterns bridge the gap between the two distinct layers and are essential for enabling future sensor plug & play within the Sensor Web.