# A Model Based Framework for IoT-Aware Business Process Management
## 1 Introduction  
The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm refers to the interoperability of physical devices such as sensors and actuators, appliances, wearable technology, vehicles, and other objects, embedded with software capabilities and network connectivity that allow these items to collect and exchange data among them and from/to a cloud environment [1]. In this context, IoT-aware Business Processes (BPs) describe, from an operational point-of-view, how data collected by sensors can be processed and provided to human and automated process participants, for promptly reacting to changes in the monitored environment. Due to their complexity, the development of IoT systems and relevant IoT-aware BPs claim the adoption of innovative methodologies that support all involved stakeholders from the early stages of the development process. As an example, at design time, various alternatives have to be evaluated in order to identify the one that better fits with the system requirements. At execution time, the process behavior has to be constantly monitored in order to identify issues (e.g., performance downgrades, failures, etc.) and timely plan and execute appropriate corrective actions. Among the various approaches for planning such actions, the use of simulation is acknowledged to be the most valuable and effective [2]. In this respect, this work proposes a novel framework which aims at supporting the development and simulation-based analysis of IoT-aware BPs. The framework conceptual design has been based on principles introduced in the Model-driven Engineering (MDE) field and makes use of technologies and standards provided by the OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA) [3], which have proven to be effective for simulation-based analysis of complex systems [4]. The development of executable simulations requires building and parameterizing a simulation model, according to the structure and relevant properties of the process under study. The simulation model parameters may change during the process operational life, thus making the simulation model invalid with respect to the actual state of the simulated process. In this respect, the proposed framework exploits the digital twin (DT) paradigm [5] and introduces _model transformations_ for the automated development of a DT corresponding to the actual BP under analysis. Data retrieved from IoT sensors are also used to automatically reconfigure the simulation model, to make the DT continuously coherent and compliant with its actual process counterpart. In this regard, the objective of this paper is to tackle the analysis of IoT-aware BPs from conceptual, methodological and technical perspectives, so as to address the three following Research Questions (RQs):  
* _How can we represent a model of an IoT system, consisting of a network of sensors, that includes enough information to ease and possibly automate the implementation of both the actual system and its DT?_
* _Which steps do we need to undertake and which technologies do we need to introduce to effectively exploit the IoT system model for implementing both the actual system and its DT?_
* _What Architectural Building Blocks (ABBs) and relevant capabilities does the Framework Architecture provide to effectively guide its implementation?_  
According to this point of view, the contribution proposed by this paper can be summarized as follows:  
* An IoT metamodel that provides a flexible and coherent description of entities involved in an IoT system consisting of a _sensors network_, i.e., an interconnected collection of IoT sensors, is introduced. According to the founding principles of MDA, the specification of a metamodel which describes domain entities and their relationships is the first and essential task to carry out.