Software product line applied to the internet of things: A systematic literature review

Context: Internet of Things (IoT) is a promising paradigm due to the growing number of devices that may be connected, defined as things. Managing these things is still considered a challenge. One way to overcome this challenge may be by adopting the software product line (SPL) paradigm and the variability management (VM) activity. SPL engineering consists of mechanisms that provide identification, representation, and traceability, which may be helpful to things management supported by VM organizational and technical activities. Objective: This research aims to investigate how SPL engineering has been applied along with the IoT paradigm, as well as how VM is being carried out. Method: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted considering papers available until March 2019. This systematic review identified 1039 papers. After eliminating the duplicated titles and the ones not related to the review, 112 papers remained. The number of papers was narrowed to 56 after applying the exclusion criteria. Results: The results provide evidence on the diversity of proposed SPLs used to specify approaches for managing IoT systems. However, most SPLs and research developed for IoT lack a systematic and detailed specification to ensure their quality, as well as tailoring guidelines for further use.