Ontology-Based Modelling and Information Extracting of Physical Entities in Semantic Sensor Networks

ABSTRACT

The semantic sensor web adds semantic web technologies such as ontology to sensor network. Semantic technologies can help the better management of query and data aggregation of the sensor network. So far, several ontologies have been presented for the semantic presentation of sensor networks concepts. However, applications and end-users require physical entities information rather than technical details and information regarding sensors and sensor network. This paper semantically models physical entities whose information is collected by sensor networks at a level higher than sensors and their observations. Hence, first, an ontology is presented for semantically modelling physical entities in the real world. Then, essential extensions are added to the model for modelling time, place, and relations of the entities with each other. In the end, a method was proposed for extracting the semantic information of entities from the data collected based on the presented model. Result of the modelling and simulation of the presented strategies on climate data indicates the desirable performance of modelling and entity-based information reasoning as compared to works carrying out sensor-based semantic modelling.

KEYWORDS:

• Ontology
• Physical entity modelling
• Semantic query
• Semantic sensor network

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammad Ahmadinia

Mohammad Ahmadinia received the BS degree in software engineering from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran, in 2006 and MS degree from IAU University, Tehran, in 2009. Currently, he is a PhD student in IAU University, Tehran, in Software Engineering, and he also is a Lecturer in Computer Engineering Department, IAU University, Kerman, Iran. His research interests include wireless sensor network, semantic web and learning systems.

Ali Movaghar

Ali Movaghar received the BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran in 1977 and the MS and PhD degrees in computer, information, and control engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1979 and 1985, respectively. He is currently a professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, where he joined first as an assistant professor in 1993. He visited INRIA in France in 1984, worked at AT&T Laboratories from 1985 to 1986, and taught at the University of Michigan from 1987 to 1989. His main areas of interest include performance and dependability modelling, formal verification, wireless and mobile networks, and distributed real-time systems. He is also a senior member of the IEEE and a senior member of the ACM.

E-mail: [email protected]

Amir Masoud Rahmani

Amir Masoud Rahmani received his BS in computer engineering from Amir Kabir University, Tehran, in 1996, the MS in computer engineering from Sharif University of technology, Tehran, in 1998 and the PhD degree in computer engineering from IAU University, Tehran, in 2005. He is a professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at the IAU University. He is the author/co-author of more than 200 publications in technical journals and conferences. His research interests are in the areas of distributed systems, internet of things, wireless networks and evolutionary computing.

E-mail: [email protected]