HTTP and MQTT: A comparison in the context of Industry 4.0

Since the beginning of the Internet spread, HTTP has represented and still represents, the most widely used protocol for the exchange of information. However, with the ever-increasing diffusion of IoT networks, some characteristics of HTTP (e.g. the large overhead produced) brought researchers and companies to implement different protocols. Between them, MQTT is the one that is spreading faster. The aim of this thesis is to compare the various technical aspects of the two protocols, especially for what concerns their performance and security. The two protocols will be evaluated from a practical point of view through their implementation in the Myna software suite, an open-source energy management system developed by Myna-Project.Org s.r.l., with two industrial use cases in the context of the H.O.M.E. (Hierarchical Open Manufacturing Europe) project.