Towards a Comprehensive BPMN Extension for Modeling IoT-Aware Processes in Business Process Models

Abstract

Internet of Thing (IoT) devices enable the collection and exchange of data over the Internet, whereas Business Process Management (BPM) is concerned with the analysis, discovery, implementation, execution, monitoring, and evolution of business processes. By enriching BPM systems with IoT capabilities, data from the real world can be captured and utilized during process execution in order to improve online process monitoring and data-driven decision making. Furthermore, this integration fosters prescriptive process monitoring, e.g., by enabling IoT-driven process adaptions when deviations between the digital process and the one actually happening in the real world occur. As a prerequisite for exploiting these benefits, IoT-related aspects of business processes need to be modeled. To enable the use of sensors, actuators, and other IoT objects in combination with process models, we introduce a BPMN 2.0 extension with IoT-related artifacts and events. We provide a first evaluation of this extension by applying it in two case studies for modeling of IoT-aware processes.

Modeling, Executing and Monitoring IoT-Driven Business Rules with BPMN and DMN: Current Support and Challenges

“…Figure 2 [6]), the data values provided by sensors in real-time (cf. Figure 2 [2]), and data from a database (cf. Figure 2 [3]) in DMN.…”

“…We studied literature and IoTdriven business rules from different domains modeled in terms of either BPMN or BPMN + DMN. Moreover, we were able to identify additional challenges in the context of the two IoT-related projects BPMN Extension for IoT (BPMNE4IoT) [2] and IoT Decision Making for BPMN (IoTDM4BPMN) [10] we are involved in. We discuss the derived challenges and divide them along the modeling, execution, and monitoring of IoT-driven business rules.…”

“…Possible solution: There exist several works [2,19,33,34] that introduce extensions for representing IoT devices in the context of BPMN 2.0. These extensions enable the explicit modeling of IoT participation by introducing IoT specific elements.…”

“…Description: As discussed in the context of C1 and C2, the complexity of both the process and the decision model increases when involving IoT devices. Modeling IoT-awareness for a process and decision model is a complex undertaking, and the resulting model often turns out to be difficult to understand due to the potentially ambiguous use of modeling elements [2]. IoT-driven business rules become more complex when modeling them with BPMN 2.0 as the involvement of IoT is not supported by the standard.…”

“…As electronic components have become smaller, less expensive, and more powerful, the Internet of Things (IoT) has received an upswing [3]. Many embedded components are equipped with software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable the collection and exchange of data (sensors) as well as physical responses to events (actuators) [2]. Such physical objects can be embedded in everyday devices such as smartphones, wearable devices, washing machines, or refrigerators.…”