A hybrid strategy for integrating sensor information

The combination of sensor networks with databases has led to a large amount of real-time data to be managed, and this trend will still increase in the next coming years. With this data explosion, current integration systems have to adapt. One of the main challenges is the integration of information coming from autonomously deployed sensor networks, with different geographical scales, but also with the combination of such information with other sources, such as legacy systems. Two main approaches for integrating sensor information are generally used: virtual and warehousing approaches. In the virtual approach, sensor devices are considered as data sources and data are managed locally. In contrast, in the warehousing approach, sensor data are stored in a central database and queries are performed on it. However, these solutions turn out to be difficult to exploit in the current technology landscape. This paper focuses on the issue of integrating multiple heterogeneous sensor information and puts forward a framework for decision making process.