A conceptual perspective on interoperability in context-aware software systems

Context: Context-aware software systems can interact with different devices to complete their tasks and act according to the context, regardless of their development and organizational differences. Interoperability is a big challenge in the engineering of such systems. Objective: To discuss how interoperability has been addressed in context-aware software systems, strengthening the scientific basis for its understanding and conceptualization. Method: A quasi-systematic literature review was undertaken to observe interoperability in such context-aware software systems to support the discussions. Its dataset includes 17 from 408 papers identified in the technical literature. The extracted information was qualitatively analyzed by following the principles of Grounded Theory. Results: The analysis allowed to identify ten interoperability concepts, organized into a Theoretical Framework according to structural and behavioral perspectives, which deals with interoperability as the ability of things (an object, a place, an application or anything that can engage interaction with a system) to interact for a particular purpose, once their differences (development platforms, data formats, culture, legal issues) have been overcome. Once the interoperability is established from structural concepts (context, perspective, purpose, the level of provided support and system attributes), it can be measured, improved and observed from the behavioral concepts (evaluation method, challenges, issues, and benefits). Conclusions: The Interoperability Theoretical Framework provides relevant information to organize the knowledge related to interoperability, considering context, and can be used to guide the evolution of software systems regarding changes focused on interoperability.