Utilizing semantic Web Services in factory automation towards integrating resource constrained devices into enterprise information systems

This paper proposes an advanced two-part middleware solution to the problem of integrating resource constrained devices located in the field of factory automation, such as Wireless Sensor Networks, into an enterprise information system. These networks seem to present the most difficult part to be integrated into such information systems. The first part of the proposed middleware is implemented at the client side and provides a Service Oriented Architecture connection to the Internet. The second part provides to the wireless sensors a Service Oriented Architecture connection to the Internet by enhancing the exchanged information with semantic expressivity. Both parts are based on the Device Profile for Web Services which is a Service Oriented Architecture technology at the device level. By utilizing the proposed two-part middleware, we explain how such a Wireless Sensor Network can interact with a client with no previous knowledge on each other's services achieving in this way an automatic integration of the Wireless Sensor Network into the enterprise information system.