Semantic Interoperability on Iot: Aligning Ifc and Smart Application Reference (Saref) Sensor Data Models

This paper proposes an extension of the Smart-Application-Reference (SAREF) ontology to enable the modeling of sensors based on the Industry-Foundation-Classes (IFC) standard to help semantic interoperability between IoT and BIM. The study proposed the Information-Assigned-to-Device-Structural-Based-Ontology-Matching approach (IAD-SOM) to align the saref:sensor and Ifc:sensor data models. The study leveraged the RDF Semantic-Web technology for modeling and querying the sensor data models in the Protégé software environment to explore the basic information that defines the sensor (device), such as class, properties, relations, attributes, geometry, and interaction. The ontology results indicate that saref:Sensor and IfcSensor have similarities and differences in their properties and interactions. The extended ontology provides a standardized and interoperable representation of sensor data and their relationships within BIM. The results indicate that the extended SAREF ontology enhances semantic interoperability between IoT devices and BIM systems, facilitating efficient data exchange and enabling advanced analytics and decision-making processes in smart buildings.