A Survey of Outlier Detection Techniques in IoT: Review and Classification

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a fact today where a high number of nodes are used for various applications. From small home networks to large-scale networks, the aim is the same: transmitting data from the sensors to the base station. However, these data are susceptible to different factors that may affect the collected data efficiency or the network functioning, and therefore the desired quality of service (QoS). In this context, one of the main issues requiring more research and adapted solutions is the outlier detection problem. The challenge is to detect outliers and classify them as either errors to be ignored, or important events requiring actions to prevent further service degradation. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive literature review of recent outlier detection techniques used in the IoTs context. First, we provide the fundamentals of outlier detection while discussing the different sources of an outlier, the existing approaches, how we can evaluate an outlier detection technique, and the challenges facing designing such techniques. Second, comparison and discussion of the most recent outlier detection techniques are presented and classified into seven main categories, which are: statistical-based, clustering-based, nearest neighbour-based, classification-based, artificial intelligent-based, spectral decomposition-based, and hybrid-based. For each category, available techniques are discussed, while highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The related works for each of them are presented. Finally, a comparative study for these techniques is provided.