An Architecture to Support the Collection of Big Data in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) relies on physical objects interconnected between each others, creating a mesh of devices producing information. In this context, sensors are surrounding our environment (e.g., cars, buildings, smartphones) and continuously collect data about our living environment. Thus, the IoT is a prototypical example of Big Data. The contribution of this paper is to define a software architecture supporting the collection of sensor-based data in the context of the IoT. The architecture goes from the physical dimension of sensors to the storage of data in a cloud-based system. It supports Big Data research effort as its instantiation supports a user while collecting data from the IoT for experimental or production purposes. The results are instantiated and validated on a project named SMARTCAMPUS, which aims to equip the SophiaTech campus with sensors to build innovative applications that supports end-users.