Efficient resource management based on non-functional requirements for sensor / actuator networks

In this paper, a novel resource management approach is presented for publish-subscribe middleware for sensor/actuator networks. The resource management was designed with the possibility to add non-functional requirements at runtime to subscription messages. This approach allows utilizing service level agreements that can then be employed in order to guarantee a certain quality of service or to reduce the energy consumption of a sensor node in a sensor/actuator network. As an example, a sensor/actuator network for facility logistics system (a conveyor belt system) is evaluated with respect to energy consumption. This sensor/actuator network is mostly controlled by image processing based sensor nodes. It is shown that an adaptive processing interval for these sensor nodes can reduce the energy consumption of the entire network. The utilization of non-functional requirements allows the system to adapt -- after software development -- to context changes such as the extension of the conveyor belt systems topology.