Sensing as a Service: Challenges, Solutions and Future Directions

Sensors on (or attached to) mobile phones can enable attractive sensing applications in different domains, such as environmental monitoring, social networking, healthcare, transportation, etc. We introduce a new concept, sensing as a service (S²aaS), i.e., providing sensing services using mobile phones via a cloud computing system. An S²aaS cloud needs to meet the following requirements: 1) it must be able to support various mobile phone sensing applications on different smartphone platforms; 2) it must be energy-efficient; and 3) it must have effective incentive mechanisms that can be used to attract mobile users to participate in sensing activities. In this vision paper, we identify unique challenges of designing and implementing an S²aaS cloud, review existing systems and methods, present viable solutions, and point out future research directions.