IoT-based Architectures for Sensing and Local Data Processing in Ambient Intelligence: Research and Industrial Trends

This paper presents an overview of new-generation technologies based on Internet of Things (IoT) and Ambient Intelligence (AmI), which create smart environments that respond intelligently to the presence of people, by collecting data from sensors, aggregating measurements, and extracting knowledge to support daily activities, perform proactive actions, and improve the quality of life. Recent advances in miniaturized instrumentation, general-purpose computing architectures, advanced communication networks, and non-intrusive measurement procedures are enabling the introduction of IoT and AmI technologies in a wider range of applications. To efficiently process the large quantities of data collected in recent AmI applications, many architectures use remote cloud computing, either for data storage or for faster computation. However, local data processing architectures are often preferred over cloud computing in the cases of privacy-compliant or time-critical applications. To highlight recent advances of AmI environments for these applications, in this paper we focus on the technologies, challenges, and research trends in new-generation IoT-based architectures requiring local data processing techniques, with specific attention to smart homes, intelligent vehicles, and healthcare.