物聯網為近年全球發展的趨勢，其中物聯網裝置可透過不同的通訊技術連上網路，使資訊世界的網際網路與物理世界的實體物件相互連結，使用者得以透過網際網路來操控連上網路的實體物件。一般而言，物聯網裝置有兩項主要功能，分別是感測功能以及制動功能，感測功能透過物聯網物件中內嵌入的各式感測器，讓物件能夠監測本身的狀態或是周遭的環境變數。而制動功能可以使其他的物件或是使用者得以透過網際網路或是各類通訊技術來遠端操控該物件。透過這兩項功能，許多新穎的自動化物件混搭(physical mashup)應用將可透過不同的物聯網裝置實現。 然而，不同廠牌的物聯網裝置往往採用不同的通訊平台及協定，因此使用者僅能透過該裝置特定的應用程式來操作這類連網的裝置。如想透過統一平台的方式來控制不同物聯網的裝置，使用者需要客製化連結器以操作不同的裝置，而無法透過一個統一的通訊方式來操作以及管理物聯網裝置。 為了解決上述通訊協定異質性(heterogeneity)之問題，本發明旨在提出一標準化的網路服務描述資料模型(data model)作為一輕量化且通用的描述文檔。該文檔可支援描述不同裝置的通訊協定，在每份描述中定義裝置通訊的要件，並用「關鍵字取代」的方式，從使用者發送的命令中透過特定的關鍵字將使用者輸入之參數置於網路服務描述中的對應的位置，組成一完整的網路服務請求(request)，以達到控制物聯網裝置的目的。此方法讓使用者可透過統一的網路服務協定操作及管理各廠牌之物聯網裝置，即便裝置之網路服務協定具有異質性。對於物聯網之應用開發商，應用端僅需支援一種通訊協定，即可連接不同裝置，進而可大幅降低其開發成本。此外，本研究嘗試將所提出之方法與OGC SensorThings API整合，讓整合後之Extended SensorThings API可同時透過統一的通訊協定支援物聯網的感測功能及制動功能。透過實際紀錄物聯網裝置的描述文檔及開發物件混搭應用，指出本研究所提出之解決方案可實現自動化且具互操作性的物聯網架構與應用。 ;The Internet of Things (IoT) is an infrastructure that interconnects uniquely-identifiable devices using the Internet. By interconnecting everyday appliances, various monitoring and physical mashup applications can be constructed to improve human’s daily life. In general, IoT devices provide two main capabilities. The sensing capability monitors device statuses or the environmental properties of their surroundings such as air temperature and humidity. The tasking capability allows other devices or users to actuate devices via the Internet. While the sensing capability is similar to the World-Wide Sensor Web, this research focuses on the tasking capability. To remotely control an IoT device, the device can be regarded as a Web service that receives requests from clients and responds accordingly. However, currently, IoT devices created by different manufacturers follow different proprietary protocols and are locked in many closed ecosystems. This heterogeneity issue impedes the interconnection between IoT devices and damages the potential of the IoT. To address this issue, this research aims at proposing an interoperable solution that allows users to control different IoT devices using a uniform web service interface. To be specific, this research defines a data model, which is named the Tasking Capability Description, to describe the Web service protocols of IoT devices in a uniform manner. In this case, a web service can be implemented to understand device protocols automatically and help users to connect with different IoT devices. This study demonstrates the contribution of the proposed solution by interconnecting three different IoT devices for different IoT applications. In addition, the proposed solution is integrated with the OGC SensorThings API standard, which is a Web service standard defined for the IoT sensing capability. Meanwhile, this study also implements two physical mashup applications to demonstrate the contribution of the Extended SensorThings API. Consequently, the Extended SensorThings API can realize both IoT sensing and tasking capabilities in an integrated and interoperable manner.
