Spreading the Love: Standards for Building Smart Sensors

Make Any Sensor a Smart Sensor with PICMG IoT.1, Part 2: What is a Data Model and How Does it Apply to PICMG IoT.1?

(Editor's Note: For a specific part of the series, click below:

Part 1: What Makes a Sensor Smart?

Part 2: What is a Data Model and How Does it Apply to PICMG IoT.1?

Part 3: How Do I Create Smart Sensor Firmware?

Part 4: What is A?Builder, and How Do I Get Started?)

In Part 2, we explore what a data model is, how it works, and the ways the PICMG IoT.1 data model enables smart sensors.

A data model, for the uninitiated, is a structured way of organizing data that contains specific rules or instructions for how that data is packaged. In situations where you are dealing with vast quantities of data, data models help keep data accessible and easily managed.

Think about it as a database record consisting of multiple predefined fields.?The data model for a car, for instance, might contain information about the make, model, color, trim style, total miles driven, and so forth.?Having a common database representation (data model) that can be used for all cars makes operating on a vast database of car data simple since all the records contain the same fields.?

Similarly, a smart sensor data model might configure the unique model number, minimum and maximum values, readout types, and linearization of a smart sensor in preparation for transport to a system. In settings where there may be hundreds or thousands of sensors capturing data, like in a smart factory, there could be dozens of different types of data.?

In these cases, data models are critical to keeping track of all that information. After all, data is only useful if it’s usable and it’s only usable if you know what and where it is.

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