The Internet of Things (IoT), where physical objects provide data that may be delivered over the Internet, can work in conjunction with cyber-physical systems, where collaborating computational elements can control those objects. For example, sensor readings such as temperatures can create events, leading to enormous amounts of real-time data as event streams if collected continuously. Integrating that data in a meaningful and valuable way into traditional business processes is non-trivial. This paper describes an approach to enable the necessary integration.

The authors introduce an abstraction mechanism called event stream processing units (SPUs). These SPUs enable the encapsulation of stream-related business functions in a self-contained way, with business process modeling (BPM), business execution, and the information technology (IT) infrastructure. This effectively integrates event stream processing with traditional business processes.

The paper illustrates how event stream processing works with an example that involves tracking a product shipment from its departure point to its final destination. During the physical transport of the order, an event stream, such as continuous temperature readings in a refrigerated container, can now be captured, providing environmental monitoring information related to the shipment. For example, temperatures that exceed a threshold can be detected. Thus, a shipment monitoring SPUs must be instantiated with the shipment of the order. The net result is that customers for whom temperature control is essential now have temperature monitoring information integrated with the existing business process system.

Concepts such as the SPUs introduced in the paper facilitate the integration of event streams with BPM. As sensor readings from the IoT expand, this integration should become quite important. Readers who are interested in how this might be done will find this paper useful.