[Paper Review] Technical Report: Rapid Reviews on Engineering of Internet of Things Software Systems

Rebeca Campos Motta, Káthia de Oliveira+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jan 14, 2021

Software System Performance and Reliability4 citations

TL;DR

This technical report presents a systematic rapid review framework for engineering Internet of Things (IoT) software systems, applying a generic meta-protocol to analyze six core facets—Connectivity, Things, Behavior, Smartness, Interactivity, and Environment—alongside Security as a cross-cutting concern. The study identifies key challenges and research gaps across these dimensions, offering a structured, reusable methodology for future IoT software engineering research.

ABSTRACT

We conducted a set of Rapid Reviews to characterize Internet of Things facets. We formatted a generic meta-protocol that was instantiated for each of the six facets presented (Connectivity, Things, Behavior, Smartness, Interactivity, and Environment)and considering the issue of Security, one of the most important and frequent challenges in the context of IoT. The meta-protocol is detailed and the results of each review are presented.

Motivation & Objective

• To systematically characterize the current state of research in IoT software engineering across multiple dimensions.
• To identify recurring challenges and research gaps in IoT software development, particularly focusing on security.
• To develop and validate a generic meta-protocol for rapid reviews applicable to diverse IoT facets.
• To support future research by providing a structured, repeatable framework for analyzing emerging IoT software engineering topics.

Proposed method

• A generic meta-protocol was designed to standardize the review process across multiple IoT facets.
• The meta-protocol was instantiated for six specific facets: Connectivity, Things, Behavior, Smartness, Interactivity, and Environment.
• Security was analyzed as a cross-cutting concern across all facets using the same protocol.
• Each review followed a standardized procedure: question formulation, search strategy, selection criteria, data extraction, and synthesis.
• The protocol ensured consistency and transparency in identifying, selecting, and analyzing relevant literature.
• Results were synthesized per facet, highlighting key themes, challenges, and research gaps.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary research challenges in engineering IoT software systems across the six core facets?
• RQ2 How is security addressed across different dimensions of IoT software engineering?
• RQ3 What common methodological patterns emerge in the literature when studying IoT software engineering?
• RQ4 What gaps exist in current research that could guide future studies?
• RQ5 How can a standardized meta-protocol improve the efficiency and consistency of rapid reviews in IoT software engineering?

Key findings

• Security emerged as a critical and recurring concern across all six IoT facets, indicating its pervasive importance.
• The meta-protocol enabled consistent and repeatable analysis across diverse IoT software engineering topics.
• Significant research gaps were identified in the areas of Smartness and Interactivity, particularly regarding dynamic adaptation and user interaction modeling.
• Connectivity and Environment facets showed high research density, reflecting their foundational role in IoT systems.
• Behavior and Things facets revealed challenges in formal specification and interoperability, especially in heterogeneous environments.
• The study demonstrates the feasibility and value of applying rapid review methods with a standardized meta-protocol to accelerate knowledge synthesis in emerging domains like IoT software engineering.