This paper introduces a proposal for a smart grid management platform built on the distributed programming paradigm. Besides it is based on an information model and event architecture. The information model defines a set of clear interfaces to manage every "grid node". We built an actual implementation of a low-cost embeddable control/meter device that may even be attached to individual appliances. These devices behave as conventional autonomous remote distributed objects and provide full support for the information model and also for integration with the communication middleware. The resulting event architecture provides great flexibility to manage information flows from services and applications.

Traditionally, the standards of spatial modeling are oriented to represent the quantitative information of space. However, in recent years an increasingly common challenge is appearing: flexibly and appropriately integrating quantitative information that goes beyond the purely geometric. This problem has been aggravated due to the success of new paradigms such as the Internet of Things. This adds an additional challenge to the representation of this information due to the need to represent characteristic information of the space from different points of view in a model, such as WiFi coverage, dangerous surroundings, etc. While this problem has already been addressed in indoor spaces with the IndoorGML standard, it remains to be solved in outdoor and indoor–outdoor spaces. We propose to take the advantages proposed in IndoorGML, such as cellular space or multi-layered space model representation, to outdoor spaces in order to create indoor–outdoor models that enable the integration of heterogeneous information that represents different aspects of space. We also propose an approach that gives more flexibility in spatial representation through the integration of standards such as OpenLocationCode for the division of space. Further, we suggest a procedure to enrich the resulting model through the information available in OpenStreetMap.

Sensor networks are becoming an essential part of ubiquitous systems and applications. However, there are no well-defined protocols or mechanisms to access the sensor network from the enterprise information system. We consider this issue as a heterogeneous network interconnection problem, and as a result, the same concepts may be applied. Specifically, we propose the use of object-oriented middlewares to provide a virtual private network in which all involved elements (sensor nodes or computer applications) will be able to communicate as if all of them were in a single and uniform network.

A solid and versatile communications platform is very important in modern Ambient Intelligence (AmI) applications, which usually require the transmission of large amounts of multimedia information over a highly heterogeneous network. This article focuses on the concept of Process-in-Network (PIN), which is defined as the possibility that the network processes information as it is being transmitted, and introduces a more comprehensive approach than current network processing technologies. PIN can take advantage of waiting times in queues of routers, idle processing capacity in intermediate nodes, and the information that passes through the network.

Heterogeneous system architectures are currently the main platform on which an ever increasing number of innovative applications (i.e. smart home or ambient intelligence applications) rely. When designing these complex systems, one of the most time-consuming tasks is the definition of the communication interfaces between the different components through a number of scattered heterogeneous processing nodes. That is not only a complex task, but also very specific for a particular implementation, which may limit the flexibility of the system, and makes the solutions difficult to reuse. In this paper, we describe how to provide a unified abstraction for both hardware and software components that have to cooperate with each other, independently of their implementation and their location. Based on this abstraction, we define a low-overhead system-wide communication architecture that offers total communication transparency between any kind of components. Since the architecture is highly compatible with standard object-oriented distributed software systems, it also enables seamless interaction with any other kind of external network.