ISO/IEC 30181:2024

ISO/IEC 30181
Edition 1.0 2024-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Internet of Things (IoT) – Functional architecture for resource identifier
interoperability
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ISO/IEC 30181
Edition 1.0 2024-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Internet of Things (IoT) – Functional architecture for resource identifier

interoperability
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 35.020 ISBN 978-2-8327-0065-5

– 2 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Abbreviated terms . 9
5 IoT resource name system. 10
5.1 Requirements for the interoperability of the resource ID in an IoT platform . 10
5.1.1 General . 10
5.1.2 Uniqueness . 10
5.1.3 Equality . 11
5.1.4 Persistency . 11
5.1.5 Scalability . 11
5.1.6 Security . 11
5.2 IoT RNS architecture . 11
5.2.1 Assumption . 11
5.2.2 Architecture . 12
5.2.3 Metamodel . 14
5.2.4 Sequence and algorithms . 15
Annex A (informative) Resource identifier format of various IoT platforms . 18
A.1 Overview. 18
A.2 oneM2M . 18
A.3 GS1 Oliot . 20
A.4 IBM Watson IoT . 21
A.5 OCF IoTivity . 22
A.6 FIWARE . 22
A.7 Identification Link . 23
Annex B (informative) Resource interoperability scenario and implementation
examples between heterogeneous IoT platforms in a smart city . 24
B.1 Overview. 24
B.2 Resource registration and deletion . 25
B.3 Discovery service and path conversion . 26
B.4 Resource request . 29
Bibliography . 30

Figure 1 – The IoT metamodel . 10
Figure 2 – Overview of system structure and components . 13
Figure 3 – The IoT RNS architecture . 14
Figure 4 – The metamodel of IoT RNS . 15
Figure 5 – Resource registration and deletion of IoT RNS . 16
Figure 6 – Discovery service and path conversion in the local IoT RNS . 16
Figure A.1 – International OID tree . 19
Figure A.2 – oneM2M standard object identifiers . 19
Figure A.3 – oneM2M resource structure . 20
Figure A.4 – GS1 ID key value . 21

Figure A.5 – FIWARE IoT device management architecture based on IoT agents . 22
Figure A.6 – Example of Identification Link with QR-Code in Identification Link frame . 23
Figure A.7 – Example of RFID emblem with Identification Link frame . 23
Figure B.1 – IoT RNS interoperability scenario in a smart city . 24
Figure B.2 – Scenario-based sequence diagram that converts the resource path among
heterogeneous IoT platforms . 25
Figure B.3 – Resource registration example of IoT RNS . 26
Figure B.4 – Resource deletion example of IoT RNS . 26
Figure B.5 – Discovery service example of IoT RNS . 27
Figure B.6 – Path conversion example in the local IoT RNS: phases 1 and 2 . 27
Figure B.7 – Path conversion example in the local IoT RNS: phases 3 and 4 . 27
Figure B.8 – Results of path conversion in each local IoT RNS . 28
Figure B.9 – Resource request example of IoT RNS . 29

Table A.1 – Comparison of five IoT platforms' resource ID formats . 18
Table A.2 – GS1 identification key type . 20
Table A.3 – Type of Watson IoT client ID . 21
Table A.4 – Request identifier parameter . 21
Table B.1 – Mapping table example of IoT RNS . 28

– 4 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) –
FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE FOR RESOURCE IDENTIFIER
INTEROPERABILITY
FOREWORD
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ISO/IEC 30181 has been prepared by subcommittee 41: Internet of Things and Digital Twin, of
ISO/IEC joint technical committee 1: Information technology. It is an International Standard.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
JTC1-SC41/458/FDIS JTC1-SC41/471/RVD

Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, and the ISO/IEC Directives, JTC 1 Supplement
available at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs and www.iso.org/directives.

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– 6 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
INTRODUCTION
Internet of Things (IoT) is defined as an infrastructure of interconnected entities, people,
systems and information resources together with services which processes and reacts to
information from the physical world and virtual world. IoT has attracted significant social
attention globally and is expanding in various fields such as smart homes, healthcare, smart
cities, logistics, smart cars, etc. In particular, IoT platforms are essential because they connect
various devices (e.g. sensors, access points, and data networks) and provide services to the
user. Heterogeneous IoT platforms refer to IoT platforms developed based on different
standards such as various data models, policies, vendors, interfaces, and specifications.
Therefore, interoperability, such as requesting services and sharing resources among
heterogeneous IoT platforms, is important, and it is essential for a real IoT system.
IoT platform has many challenges to interoperability, such as support for diverse protocols,
discovery service, well-defined semantic management, and processing of data formats in
heterogeneous IoT platforms. However, current diverse IoT platforms and related standards
make it difficult to achieve interoperability and collaboration between heterogeneous IoT
platforms. Especially regarding resource interoperability issues, each IoT platform has been
developed using a specific and unique resource identifier, including a different type of resource-
request format, so it is difficult to identify resources among heterogeneous IoT platforms.
Furthermore, the existing approaches mainly focus on integrating and managing each IoT
platform's ontology and a method of duplicating resources for the target IoT platforms. It makes
it a burden for the developer to construct specific ontologies for the diverse IoT platforms.
This document provides a functional architecture for resource identifier (ID) interoperability,
which converts the format of a resource identifier among heterogeneous IoT platforms. This
document concentrates on converting resource paths (e.g. uniform resource identifier (URI))
used in a specific IoT platform to the target IoT platform. In addition, this document provides an
IoT resource name system (RNS) architecture based on the comparative analysis of
heterogeneous IoT platforms and a smart city scenario, including resource registration,
resource deletion, sharing mapping tables, and resource path conversion. To ensure the user
can use heterogeneous IoT resources, IoT RNS analyses and converts identifier into desired
resource-request formats, including reconfiguring resource requests between heterogeneous
IoT platforms as appropriate for the user-requested resources.
This document has the ISO/IEC 30141 [1] IoT reference architecture as a reference to consider
interoperability among heterogeneous components and systems. In addition, this document has
IEC 61406-2 [2] as a reference to specify minimum requirements for a globally unique
identification of resources which constitutes a link to its related digital information. Furthermore,
the IoT RNS in this document can be modularized in middleware as edge computing in the IoT
system. Therefore, this document has as a reference ISO/IEC TR 30164 [3], which describes
the general concepts, terms, characteristics, use cases, and techniques (e.g. data management,
coordination, processing, network functionality, heterogeneous computing, security, hardware
and software optimization) of edge computing for IoT system applications.

___________
Numbers in square brackets refer to the Bibliography.

INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) –
FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE FOR RESOURCE IDENTIFIER
INTEROPERABILITY
1 Scope
This document specifies functional requirements and architecture about the following items for
resource interoperability among heterogeneous IoT platforms through the conversion of
resource identifiers (IDs) and paths (e.g. uniform resource identifier (URI)):
– requirements for interoperability of resource IDs in the heterogeneous IoT platforms;
– functional architecture for converting IDs and paths of resources on heterogeneous IoT
platforms; and,
– functional architecture for mapping and managing resource IDs among heterogeneous IoT
platforms.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
identifier
information that unambiguously distinguishes one entity from other entities in a given identity
context
Note 1 to entry: It refers to a name used to identify and distinguish an object.
Note 2 to entry: In the IoT system, it is used to identify resources such as devices and services and related policies
can be different for each platform.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20924:2024, 3.1.19 [4], modified – The Notes to entry have been added.]
3.2
identity context
environment where an entity can be sufficiently identified by a certain set of its attributes and
values
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20924:2024, 3.1.20]

– 8 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
3.3
Internet of Things
IoT
infrastructure of interconnected entities, people, systems and information resources together
with services which processes and reacts to information from the physical world and virtual
world
Note 1 to entry: In this document, IoT is described as a hyper-connection among smart things, services, and humans
that provides useful and seamless services with minimum human involvement.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20924:2024, 3.2.8 modified – Note 1 to entry has been added.]
3.4
IoT platform
software that connects various devices, including sensors, access points, and data networks
Note 1 to entry: An IoT platform is the role of middleware that can connect to networked devices and provide a hosted
infrastructure to cost-effectively and securely manage and path data.
Note 2 to entry: It is important that scalable and provide interoperability that handles connectivity to large numbers
of devices and easily interacts with them.
Note 3 to entry: It provides user security such as authentication and access control, and a service that collects,
visualizes, and analyses data from sensors.
3.5
IoT resource name system
IoT RNS
module that converts resource requests into the respective format of each IoT platform
Note 1 to entry: The IoT RNS can be implemented as local IoT RNS or root IoT RNS.
Note 2 to entry: The local IoT RNS is modularized on each IoT platform to store metadata of registered devices and
services. It also converts the resource paths of heterogeneous IoT platforms.
Note 3 to entry: All resource metadata are stored in the root resource table of the root IoT RNS and sent to each
local IoT RNS if the root resource table is updated.
3.6
near field communication
NFC
wireless technology that enables communication between devices over a short distance
[SOURCE: ISO 20252:2019, 3.55]
3.7
next generation service interface for linked data
NGSI-LD
information model and API for publishing, querying and subscribing to context-aware
information management in IoT systems
3.8
object identifier
OID
ordered list of primary integer values from the root of the international object identifier tree to a
node, which unambiguously identifies that node
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9834-1:2012, 3.5.11]

3.9
resource
application service used between devices based on various IoT platforms

3.10
radio frequency identification
RFID
wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically
identifying and tracking tags attached to objects
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 18038:2020, 3.25]
3.11
discovery service
service to find resources, entities, or services based on a specification of the desired target
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20924:2024, 3.1.14, modified – Note 1 to entry has been deleted.]
3.12
uniform resource identifier
URI
compact sequence of characters that identifies an abstract or physical resource
Note 1 to entry: It is a conceptual term that refers to a unified identifier for Internet application information resources.
Note 2 to entry: It includes a URN indicating an identifier using the name and a URL indicating a resource path.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 12785-1:2009, 3.23, modified – Note 1 to entry has been replaced and
Note 2 to entry has been added.]
4 Abbreviated terms
ADN application dedicated node
ASN application service node
CSE common service entity
ID identifier
IN infrastructure node
IoT Internet of Things
MN middle node
OID object identifier
RNS resource name system
URI uniform resource identifier
URL uniform resource locator
URN uniform resource name
– 10 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
5 IoT resource name system
5.1 Requirements for the interoperability of the resource ID in an IoT platform
5.1.1 General
IoT systems consist of devices or smart objects that can interrelate and interconnect among
themselves and the environment to provide services to end-users. Figure 1 shows an illustrative
example of the IoT metamodel provided in [5]. It shows the relationships of the main elements
in the IoT system and is not prescriptive. IoT metamodels are used to understand the complexity
of IoT systems and simplify the design, development, and management process. It supports
optimizing system architecture and minimizing the problems. In addition, it facilitates
communication between various stakeholders in an IoT system. IoT systems distinguish three
types of node: physical, intermediate, and application. Every node can uniquely identify each
node and component in an IoT system with a URI. A physical node represents the things within
an IoT system, such as sensors and actuators. Application service used between devices based
on various IoT platforms is referred to as the resource. Application nodes consume resources
from physical nodes and provide them to users. Intermediate nodes connect physical and
application nodes when they belong to different networks. It can be a bridge or gateway and
connect networks using different protocols.
Interoperability in IoT systems is an important requirement so that nodes can exchange
resources with each other, regardless of the specific technology or protocol used by service
providers and device manufacturers. IoT systems are usually composed of various devices,
services, and applications from different vendors or service providers that use different
communication technologies and data exchange formats. This document describes the
requirements for the interoperability of the resource ID in an IoT system.

Figure 1 – The IoT metamodel
5.1.2 Uniqueness
Unique ID shall identify entities within the specific application, and IDs used across the IoT
platform shall also be unique. Thus, ID allocation shall be organized such that individual IoT
platforms can allocate their own set of IDs without conflicting with other IoT platforms.

5.1.3 Equality
Various established and emerging IDs used by the many different IoT platforms shall be
considered and supported. Even if IoT platforms use IDs in different formats, equality can be
supported by converting the IDs of each platform into a common identifier format. In addition,
methods that support ID mapping between different IoT platforms shall be supported to satisfy
equality among heterogeneous ID systems.
5.1.4 Persistency
Some users ask that an ID persists throughout the entity's lifetime, whereas others allow IDs to
change (e.g. if the entity owner changes), and hence IDs are revocable and replaceable. The
persistence of identifiers requires restrictions for some identifier types, such as IP addresses,
because identifiers are requested in many requests and responses over the lifetime of an entity.
In addition, different persistency policies can be allowed between heterogeneous IoT platforms.
Each IoT platform shall explicitly specify its policies and implement strategies to prevent
accidental errors that could impact third-party resources (e.g. data corruption due to software
malfunctions or service interruptions from hardware failures). Therefore, the IoT platform shall
consider the ID treatment method in which the issued ID identifies the correct entity and remains
during allocation, transfer, and use.
5.1.5 Scalability
Scalability refers to the ability to be extensible in terms of the number of users and physical
nodes without negatively affecting the quality of the services provided by the IoT system.
Implementing scalability between nodes in heterogeneous IoT platforms requires an efficient
way to manage an IoT system's internal and external nodes. This node management includes
node registration and identification and storing and processing the massive volume of data
generated by physical nodes. In addition, metadata values such as IDs of nodes used in various
IoT platforms require efficient management.
5.1.6 Security
Authenticating the ID shall avoid duplication of ID used for other entities, and verification of ID
authenticity shall be possible both online and offline as proof that the ID is assigned to the
correct entity. Security requirements (e.g. ID anonymization, using IDs that contain no personal
data, disabling ID tracking, and access control to ID information) that the system shall support
for ID interoperability between heterogeneous IoT platforms are provided in [6].
5.2 IoT RNS architecture
5.2.1 Assumption
To describe the architecture for the IoT RNS, the following assumptions are made in this
document.
– In numerous IoT platforms, various devices are abstracted to different levels. For example,
some devices may be core devices performing data collection, calculation, and processing.
Some may be sensors that only measure specific data or devices that perform simple
services. These low-performance sensors have limitations for requesting and processing
resources. Since there are many different types of device in the IoT system, it is difficult to
generalize. Therefore, in this document it is assumed that resource requests using the
converted resource table are not sent directly to the end device but are sent through the
specific platform.
– Currently, some IoT platforms only provide discovery services to users. Discovery service
is the service to find available resources based on a specification of the desired target. In
the scenario of this document, the root IoT RNS must manage the information of resources
registered to each IoT platform. Therefore, this document assumes that each platform can
provide a discovery service.
– 12 – ISO/IEC 30181:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
– As mentioned previously, this document defines a resource as the application service used
between devices based on various IoT platforms. The interoperability framework
concentrates on converting resource paths (e.g. URI used in heterogeneous IoT platforms)
in a specific IoT platform to the target IoT platform. The assumed request is limited to one
direction, and additional data exchange issues according to the request are not considered.
– The structure, function, and sequence of
...