Wireless Sensor Networks in IPv4/IPv6 Transition Scenarios

The wireless sensor networks (WSNs) concept was appeared in the middle of 90s and have been a subject under intensive research in the past few years. Several factors have contributed to this, but the potential for application of WSNs in almost every aspect of day-to-day life is the predominant one. This type of networks has been developed using proprietary solutions instead of standard solutions. More recently, the importance of standards motivated the use of IETF standards in WSNs, making the Internet integration easier. However, more efforts are necessary in order to provide a full integration. The WSNs use mainly IPv6 protocol, but the IPv4 is the predominant one in the Internet. As a consequence, IPv4 to IPv6 transition mechanisms must be provided to allow the interaction between all Internet connected devices independently of the supported IP version. It is also critical to provide a standard application interface to make easier the application development and independently of the hardware platform used. The RESTfull Web services can provide this standard interface. So, combine RESTfull Web services with IPv4 to IPv6 transition mechanisms can increase the WSN services dissemination. The transition mechanisms and the REST Web services are supported in the gateway in order to save the wireless sensor device resources’. The smartphone with Internet connectivity can also be the drive to the WSNs growth, because user-friendly applications can be used to retrieve and collect sensed data. This paper proposes a solution based on REST web services to permit the interaction between a mobile application and the IPv6 compliant WSN.