ISO/IEC 29182-2:2013

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 29182-2
First edition
2013-06-01
Information technology — Sensor
networks: Sensor Network Reference
Architecture (SNRA) —
Part 2:
Vocabulary and terminology
Technologies de l’information — Réseaux de capteurs: Architecture de
référence pour réseaux de capteurs —
Partie 2: Vocabulaire et terminologie
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2013
© ISO/IEC 2013
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
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ii © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Terms and definitions . 1
2.1 General . 1
2.2 Reference architecture . 2
2.3 Communications and networking . 2
2.4 Data and information processing . 3
2.5 Interfaces . 4
2.6 Security and privacy . 4
2.7 Provision of service . 5
2.8 Others . 5
Annex A (informative) Alphabetical index . 7
Bibliography .10
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved iii

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting.
Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies
casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This part of ISO/IEC 29182 was prepared by joint technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1.
ISO/IEC 29182 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Sensor
networks: Sensor Network Reference Architecture (SNRA):
— Part 1: General overview and requirements
— Part 2: Vocabulary and terminology
— Part 3: Reference architecture views
— Part 4: Entity models
— Part 5: Interface definitions
— Part 7: Interoperability guidelines
The following part is under preparation:
— Part 6: Applications
iv © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

Introduction
A wide range of applications has been proposed for sensor networks. In practice, however, sensor
networks have been built and deployed for a relatively small number of applications. This is partly due
to the lack of a business case for certain applications and partly due to technical challenges in building a
non-trivial sensor network of reasonable complexity. The main reason for this impediment is that multi-
disciplinary expertise – such as sensors, communications and networking, signal processing, electronics,
computing, and cyber security – is required to design a sensor network. Presently, the design process
is so complex that one can leverage little from one sensor network design to another. It appears as if
one has to start from almost scratch every time one wishes to design and deploy a sensor network. Yet,
upon closer inspection, there are many commonalities in instantiations of sensor networks that realize
various applications. These commonalities include similarities in the choice of network architecture and
the entities/functional blocks that are used in the architecture.
The purpose of the ISO/IEC 29182 series is to
— provide guidance to facilitate the design and development of sensor networks,
— improve interoperability of sensor networks, and
— make sensor networks plug-and-play, so that it becomes fairly easy to add/remove sensor nodes
to/from an existing sensor network.
The ISO/IEC 29182 series can be used by sensor network designers, software developers, and service
providers to meet customer requirements, including any applicable interoperability requirements.
The ISO/IEC 29182 series comprises seven parts. Brief descriptions of these parts are given next,
followed by an introduction to Part 4.
ISO/IEC 29182-1 provides a general overview and the requirements for the sensor network reference
architecture.
This part of ISO/IEC 29182 provides definitions for the terminology and vocabulary used in the reference
architecture.
ISO/IEC 29182-3 presents the reference architecture from various viewpoints, such as business,
operational, system, technical, functional, and logical views.
ISO/IEC 29182-4 categorizes the entities comprising the reference architecture into two classes of
physical and functional entities and presents models for the entities.
ISO/IEC 29182-5 provides detailed information on the interfaces among various entities in the reference
architecture.
ISO/IEC 29182-6 provides detailed information on the development of International Standardized Profiles.
ISO/IEC 29182-7 provides design principles for the reference architecture that take the interoperability
requirements into account.
There are no requirements for compliance in ISO/IEC 29182-1 to ISO/IEC 29182-7. Users should ensure
that the sensor nodes, and the related sensor network, are compliant with the application or deployment
governing body.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved v

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 29182-2:2013(E)
Information technology — Sensor networks: Sensor
Network Reference Architecture (SNRA) —
Part 2:
Vocabulary and terminology
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 29182 is intended to facilitate the development of international standards in sensor
networks. It presents terms and definitions for selected concepts relevant to the field of sensor networks.
It establishes a general description of concepts in this field and identifies the relationships among those
concepts. It may also be used as guidance for development of other parts of ISO/IEC 29182 and any other
sensor network related standard.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1 General
2.1.1
actuator
device that provides a physical output in response to an input signal in a predetermined way
2.1.2
backbone network
network that connects to sensor network gateways through different access networks to transmit
information from sensor network to service provider or user
Note 1 to entry: The Internet is one example of backbone networks.
2.1.3
entity
unit having distinct set of attributes and connected to other unit(s) defined in the sensor network
reference architecture
2.1.4
personal area network
network consisting of sensor nodes, communication devices, or networked peripheral devices all in the
vicinity of a person
2.1.5
sensor
device that observes and measures a physical property of a natural phenomenon or man-made process
and converts that measurement into a signal
Note 1 to entry: Signal can be electrical, chemical, etc.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 1

2.1.6
sensor network
system of spatially distributed sensor nodes interacting with each other and, depending on applications,
possibly with other infrastructure in order to acquire, process, transfer, and provide information extracted
from its environment with a primary function of information gathering and possible control capability
Note 1 to entry: Distinguishing features of a sensor network can include wide area coverage, use of radio networks,
flexibility of purpose, self-organization, openness, and providing data for multiple applications.
2.1.7
sensor network gateway
sensor network element that connects a sensor network to another network with different architectures
or protocols, permitting information exchange between them
Note 1 to entry: Sensor network gateway functionalities may include address or protocol translation.
2.1.8
sensor node
sensor network element that includes at least one sensor and, optionally actuators with communication
capabilities and data processing capabilities
Note 1 to entry: It may include additional application capabilities.
2.2 Reference architecture
2.2.1
reference architecture
framework that provides common features collected from different types of sensor networks not only
to provide developmental guidelines and reuse but also to describe the interrelations and interactions
among the entities in a sensor network and possibly between sensor networks
2.2.2
sensor network application
use case of sensor networks, which provides a set of functions to users to meet defined requirements
EXAMPLE Monitoring forests to detect natural fires; monitoring seismic activity; monitoring pollution levels
in environment.
2.2.3
sensor network service
set of functionalities offered by individual sensor network elements or the sensor network
EXAMPLE Generating an alarm signal if the measurement made at a sensor exceeds or drops out of certain
prescribed range; providing average sensor measurements over a given geographic area.
2.2.4
sensor network service provider
agent that offers sensor network services to users
2.3 Communications and networking
2.3.1 Protocol stack
2.3.1.1
application layer
layer that provides means for the application processes to access the OSI environment
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-26:1993]
Note 1 to entry: This layer provides means for the application processes to exchange data and it contains the
application-oriented protocols by which these processes communicate.
2 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

2.3.1.2
data link layer
layer that provides services to transfer data between network layer entities, usually in adjacent nodes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-26:1993]
Note 1 to entry: The data link layer detects and possibly corrects errors that may occur in the physical layer.
2.3.1.3
media access control
data link sublayer that is responsible for transferring data to and from the physical layer
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 8802-3:2000]
Note 1 to entry: It provides channel access control mechanisms that make it possible for several sensor nodes to
communicate within a sensor network that incorporates a shared medium.
2.3.1.4
network layer
layer that provides for the entities in the transport layer the means for transferring blocks of data, by
routing and switching through the network between the open systems in which those entities reside
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-26:1993]
Note 1 to entry: The network layer may use intermediate systems.
Note 2 to entry: Network layer intermediate systems are commonly referred to as “routers” and may be used to
perform network layer routing of communications between nodes.
2.3.1.5
physical layer
layer that provides the mechanical, electrical, functional, and procedural means to establish, maintain
and release physical connections for transfer of bits over a transmission medium
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-26:1993]
...