Deploying Wifi, RF and BLE sensors for pervasive monitoring and control

This paper presents the structure and the main functionalities of a cyber-physical-system, denoted as CPSc, to monitor and control common applications in the field of domotics and healthcare. From the features to be owned by such CPSc, the paper derives some guidelines for their implementation. In particular, the paper suggests: i) the use of the secured version of the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol to collect data taken by the sensors and to send commands to the actuators, ii) how to use the main types of devices, i.e., Wifi, RF and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), for pervasive monitoring and control, and iii) how to use an automation system integrated with MQTT to react timely to undesired events. The use of smartphones for data visualization and not for bridging control services and sensors/actuators is widely discussed. Also, the paper illustrates how CPSc may be implemented and some code examples are provided to contribute to the implementation. Alternative solutions to be compared in further studies are outlined. The proposed architecture is under testing in the I-HOSP project, an initiative supported by EC Regional Funds aiming to deploy a healthcare system to assist remotely patients affected by risky pathologies.