Using extended web technologies to develop Bluetooth multi-platform mobile applications for interact with smart things

• Published in: Information fusion 2015-01, Vol.21, p.30-41
• Main Authors: Espada, Jordán Pascual, Díaz, Vicente García, Crespo, Rubén González, Martínez, Oscar Sanjuán, G-Bustelo, B.Cristina Pelayo, Lovelle, Juan Manuel Cueva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bluetooth; Context-aware communication; Internet of things; Mobile Web Applications; Web browser; Web information fusion
• ISSN: 1566-2535; 1872-6305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.inffus.2013.04.008

Nowadays the classic web paradigms are being subjected to changes; every day millions of users around the world use their Smartphones to access web applications from anywhere. The World Wide Web it is one of the biggest repositories of information in the world, and that information is stored in internet servers and repositories, but today in the real world there are many other information sources such as electronic devices with communication capabilities: smart appliances and sensor networks. The Smartphones are equipped with communication hardware elements like the Bluetooth module, which allows the Smartphone to exchange information with nearby electronic devices. Every day more and more mobile applications are being developed for native platforms that use Bluetooth’s communication module to send and receive information from different sources. Native mobile applications use the specific platform’s APIs to manage the Bluetooth communication actions (send and receive information, search for devices, etc.), however, web applications do not have technical capabilities to manage the Smartphone’s Bluetooth communication module and thereof cannot use that kind of information. The main objective of this research work is to design a novel framework that allows classic web applications to use information from nearby electronic devices. The proposed framework must be easy to use and able to be integrated with common web technologies. Developers can use this framework to include new information sources and data exchange procedures in an easy way. The new type of information can be merged with the web to develop or improve algorithms and web applications.