Page 164 - Unleashing the potenti al of the Internet of Things

3 Unleashing the potential of the Internet of Things

3.1.5 ubiquitous sensor network (USN) [ITU-T Y.2221]: A conceptual network built over
existing physical networks which make use of sensed data and provide knowledge services to
anyone, anywhere and at anytime, and where the information is generated by using context
awareness.

3.1.6 USN middleware [ITU-T Y.2221]: A set of logical functions to support USN applications
and services.

NOTE – The functionalities of USN middleware include sensor network management and connectivity,
event processing, sensor data mining, etc.

3.2 Terms defined in this Recommendation

This Recommendation defines the following terms:
3.2.1 open application interface: An interface used by USN applications to access USN
middleware.
3.2.2 processed data: Data that are processed from raw sensed data by sensor network or USN
middleware.

3.2.3 sensed data: Data sensed by a sensor that is attached to a specific sensor node.
3.2.4 sensor network common interface: An interface used between USN middleware and a
sensor network/radio frequency identification (RFID) reader.
3.2.5 sensor network metadata: Information about a sensor network, such as description of the
sensor network, sensor node identifier, supported sensor type, the number of attached sensors for
each sensor node, and the number of sensor nodes connected to the specific sensor network, etc.
3.2.6 sensor network metadata directory service: A directory service that provides sensor
network metadata.

4 Abbreviations and acronyms

This Recommendation uses the following abbreviations and acronyms:
ECG Electrocardiogram
RFID Radio Frequency Identification

USN Ubiquitous Sensor Network
WSN Wireless Sensor Network

5 Conventions

None.

6 Description of USN services, USN middleware and use cases

6.1 Description of USN services

USN is a conceptual network built over existing physical networks that make use of sensed data and
provide knowledge services to anyone, anywhere and at anytime, and where the information is
generated by using context awareness. USN utilizes wireline sensor networks and/or wireless sensor
networks (WSNs). See [ITU-T Y.2221].
USN applications and services can be used in many civilian application areas such as, industrial
automation, home automation, agricultural monitoring, healthcare, environment, pollution and
disaster surveillance; in homeland security, military field, etc., see [ITU-T Y.2221].

150 Rec. ITU-T Y.4104/F.744 (12/2009)