MergePoint: A Graphical Web-App for merging HTTP-Endpoints and IoT-Platform Models

More and more devices are connected to Internet of Things Platforms in various application domains. The resulting device integration effort is moderated by the concrete integration syntax and the technical abilities of the device integrator. Therefore, researchers from various communities have been investigating and designing component coupling architectures to achieve interoperability for more than 30 years. Emerging Smart Home scenarios challenges classical integration approaches as no single formal integration standard exists. In this paper we introduce a reference architecture called MergePoint that automates HTTP-Endpoint integration with smart home platforms such as openHAB in a plug-and-play manner. Based on a prototypical system implementation, our empirical evaluation demonstrates that average integration time can be reduced by 78% and average tool usability score is increased by 65% compared to textual integration approaches. MergePoint can serve as a reference implementation for practitioners that want to automate the integration between HTTP-Endpoints and IoT Platform Models