Kaala

Abstract

We introduce Kaala, a scalable, hybrid, end-to-end IoT system simulator that can integrate with diverse, real-world IoT cloud services. Many IoT simulators run in isolation and do not interface with real-world IoT cloud systems or servers. This isolation makes it difficult for experiments to fully replicate the diversity that exists in end-to-end, real-world systems. Kaala is intended to bridge the gap between IoT simulation experiments and the real world. The simulator can interact with cloud IoT services, such as those offered by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Kaala leverages vendor-provided software development kits (SDKs) to implement the vendor-specific protocols that are necessary permit simulated IoT devices and gateways to seamlessly communicate with real-world cloud IoT systems. Kaala has the ability to simulate a large number of diverse IoT devices, as well as to simulate events that may simultaneously affect several sensors. Evaluation results show that Kaala is able to, with minimal overhead, seamlessly connect simulated IoT devices to real-world cloud IoT systems.