FPWD: Web of Things (WoT) Architecture

Web of Things (WoT) Architecture

https://www.w3.org/TR/2017/WD-wot-architecture-20170914/

Abstract


The W3C Web of Things (WoT) is intended to enable interoperability across IoT Platforms and application domains. Primarily, it provides mechanisms to formally describe IoT interfaces to allow IoT devices and services to communicate with each other, independent of their underlying implementation, and across multiple networking protocols. Secondarily, it provides a standardized way to define and program IoT behavior.

This document describes the abstract architecture for the W3C Web of Things. It is derived from a set of use cases and can be mapped onto a variety of concrete deployment scenarios, several examples of which are given. This document is focused on the standardization scope of W3C WoT, which consists of three initial building blocks that are briefly introduced and their interplay explained.

The WoT Thing Description (TD) provides a formal mechanism to describe the network interface provided by IoT devices and services, independent of their implementation. Provision of a TD is the primary requirement for a device to participate in the Web of Things. In fact, defining a Thing Description for an existing device allows that device to participate in the Web of Things without having to make any modifications to the device itself. WoT Binding Templates define how a WoT device communicates using a concrete protocol. The WoT Scripting API—whose use is not mandatory—provides a convenient mechanism to discover, consume, and expose Things based on the WoT Thing Description.

Other non-normative architectural blocks and conditions underlying the Web of Things are also described in the context of deployment scenarios. In particular, recommendations for security and privacy are included, while the goal is to preserve and support existing device mechanisms and properties. In general, W3C WoT is designed to describe what exists rather than to prescribe what to implement.

Status of the Document


This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.
 
 Editor's note : The W3C WoT WG is asking for feedback 

Please contribute to this draft using the GitHub Issue feature of the WoT Architecture repository. For feedback on security and privacy considerations, please use the WoT Security and Privacy Issues, as they are cross-cutting over all our documents. 

This document was published by the Web of Things Working Group as a First Public Working Draft. This document is intended to become a W3C Recommendation.

Comments regarding this document are welcome. Please send them to public-wot-wg@w3.org (subscribe, archives).

Publication as a First Public Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

This document is governed by the 1 March 2017 W3C Process Document.