The Internet of Things revolution started in 2015 and will continue to be strong in 2016. 2015 was the year everyone talked about the Internet of Things. (So was 2014. And 2013.) But unlike before, it was the year everyone started making plans, laying groundwork, and building the infrastructure. Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. The premise of IoT is that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called the next Industrial Revolution — it will change the way all businesses, governments, and consumers interact with the physical world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer the data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)
and the Internet. IoT is also called the Internet of Everything. A critical component for the IoT system to be a success will be secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization services.
In the future, everything will be connected. It won’t just be our phones that access the Internet; it will be our light bulbs, our front doors, our microwaves, our comforters, our blenders. You can call it the Internet of Things, The Internet of Everything, Universal Object Interaction, or your pick of buzzwords that begin with Smart. They all hold as inevitable that everything, everything will be connected, to each other and to the Internet. And this is promised to change the world. Remember that the objects themselves do not benefit us, but what services and functions they make it possible to obtain. We will enjoy the outcome, hopefully even better quality products, informative and reliable services, and even new applications.
There will be lots of money spend on IoT in 2016, the exact sum is hard to define, but it is estimated that nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years. IoT is now a very large global business dominated by giants (IBM, Intel, Cisco, Gemalto, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Bosch, GE, AT&T, T-Mobile, Telefonica and many others). I see that because it is still a young and quickly developing market, there will be lots of potential in it for startups in 2016.
There will be a very large number of new IoT devices connected to Internet in the end of 2016. According to Business Insider The Internet of Things Report there was 10 billion devices connected to the internet in 2015 and there will be will be 34 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devicesw ill comprise 10 billion (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.). Juniper research predicted that by 2020, there will be 38.5 billion connected devices. IDC says it’ll be 20.9 billion. Gartner’s guess? Twenty-five billion. The numbers don’t matter, except that they’re huge. They all agree that most of those gadgets will be industrial Internet of Things. The market for connecting the devices you use all day, every day, is about to be huge.
Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they see ways the IoT can improve their bottom line: lowering operating costs, increasing productivity, expand to new markets and develop new product offerings. Sensors, data analytics, automation and wireless communication technologies allow the study of the “self-conscious” machines, which are able to observe their environment and communicate with each other. From predictive maintenance that reduces equipment downtime to workers using mobile devices on the factory floor, manufacturing is undergoing dramatic change. The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling increased automation on the factory floor and throughout the supply chain, 3D printing is changing how we think about making components, and the cloud and big data are enabling new applications that provide an end-to-end view from the factory floor to the retail store.
Governments are focused on increasing productivity, decreasing costs, and improving their citizens’ quality of life. The IoT devices market will connect to climate agreements as in many applicatons IoT can be seen as one tool to help to solve those problems. A deal to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C was agreed at the climate change summit in Paris in December 2015. Sitra fresh market analysis indicates that there is up to an amount of EUR 6 000 billion market potential for smart green solutions by 2050. Smart waste and water systems, materials and packaging, as well as production systems together to form an annual of over EUR 670 billion market. Smart in those contests typically involves use of IoT technologies.
Consumers will lag behind businesses and governments in IoT adoption – still they will purchase a massive number of devices. There will be potential for marketing IoT devices for consumers: Nine out of ten consumers never heard the words IoT or Internet of Things, October 2015! It seems that the newest IoT technology extends homes in 2016 – to those homes where owner has heard of those things. Wi-Fi has become so ubiquitous in homes in so many parts of the world that you can now really start tapping into that by having additional devices. The smart phones and the Internet connection can make home appliances, locks and sensors make homes and leisure homes in more practical, safer and more economical. Home adjusts itself for optimal energy consumption and heating, while saving money. During the next few years prices will fall to fit for large sets of users. In some cases only suitable for software is needed, as the necessary sensors and data connections can be found in mobile phones. Our homes are going to get smarter, but it’s going to happen slowly. Right now people mostly buy single products for a single purpose. Our smart homes and connected worlds are going to happen one device, one bulb at a time. The LED industry’s products will become more efficient, reliable, and, one can hope, interoperable in the near future. Companies know they have to get you into their platform with that first device, or risk losing you forever to someone else’s closed ecosystem.
The definitions what would be considered IoT device and what is a traditional computing devices is not entirely clear, and I fear that we will not get a clear definition for that in 2016 that all could agree. It’s important to remember that the IoT is not a monolithic industry, but rather a loosely defined technology architecture that transcends vertical markets to make up an “Internet of everything.”
Too many people – industry leaders, media, analysts, and end users – have confused the concept of
“smart” with “connected”. Most devices – labeled “IoT” or “smart” – are simply connected devices. Just connecting a device to the internet so that it can be monitored and controlled by someone over the web using a smart phone is not smart. Yes, it may be convenient and time saving, but it is not “smart”. Smart means intelligence.
IoT New or Not? YES and NO. There are many cases where whole IoT thing is hyped way out of proportion. For the most part, it’s just the integration of existing technologies. Marketing has driven an amount of mania around IoT, on the positive side getting it on the desks of decision makers, and on the negative generating ever-loftier predictions. Are IoT and M2M same or different? Yes and no depending on case. For sure for very many years to come IoT and M2M will coexist.
Nearly a dozen contenders are trying to fill a need for long distance networks that cut the cost and power consumption of today’s cellular machine-to-machine networks. Whose technology protocols should these manufacturers incorporate into their gear? Should they adopt ZigBee, Apple’s HomeKit, Allseen Alliance/AllJoyn, or Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium? Other 802.15.4 technologies? There are too many competing choices.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, two pioneers of the Internet of Things are expanding their platforms and partnerships. Crowdfunding sites and hardware accelerators are kicking out startups at a regular clip, typically companies building IoT devices that ride Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth Special Interest group is expected to release in2016 support for mesh networks and higher data rates.
Although ZWave and Zigbee helped pioneer the smart home and building space more than a decade ago, but efforts based on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 6LoWPAN are poised to surpass them. Those pioneering systems are actively used and developed. Zigbee Alliance starts certification for its unified version 3.0 specification in few months (includes profiles for home and building automation, LED lighting, healthcare, retail and smart energy). EnOcean Alliance will bring its library of about 200 application profiles for 900 MHz energy harvesting devices to Zigbee networks. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities. The Z-Wave Security 2 framework will start a beta test in February and Z-Wave aims to strike a collaboration withleading IoT application framework platforms. Zigbee alredy has support Thread.
The race to define, design and deploy new low power wide area networks for the Internet of Things won’t cross a finish line in 2016. But by the end of the year it should start to be clear which LPWA nets are likely to have long legs and the opportunities for brand new entrants will dim significantly. So at the moment it is hard to make design choices. To protect against future technology changes, maybe the device makers should design in wireless connectivity chips and software that will work with a variety of protocols? That’s complicated and expensive. But if I pick only one technology I can easily pick up wrong horse, and it is also an expensive choice.
Within those who want to protect against future technology changes, there could be market for FPGAs in IoT devices. The Internet of Things (IoT) is broken and needs ARM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology to fix it, an expert told engineers at UBM’s Designers of Things conference in San Jose. You end up with a piece of hardware that can be fundamentally changed in the field.
There seems to be huge set of potential radio techniques also for Internet of Things even for long distance and low power consumpion. Zigbee will roll out a new spec for smart cities in February based on the 802.15.4g standard for metro networks. It will compete with an already crowded field of 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz networks from Sigfox, the LoRa Alliance, Ingenu and others. Weightless-P is an open standard announced by Weightless SIG, which operates at frequencies below one gigahertz. Weightless-P nodes and development cards will be expected to be in the market already during the first quarter of 2016, at the moment Weightless IoT Hardware Virtually Unavailable.
I expect LoRa Technology is expected to be hot in 2016. The LoRaWAN standard enables low-data-rate Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless communication with a range of up to 10 miles, a battery life of 10 years, and the ability to connect millions of wireless sensor nodes to LoRaWAN gateways. LoRa® technology works using a digital spread spectrum modulation and proprietary protocol in the Sub-GHz RF band (433/868/915 MHz). I see LoRa technology interesting because lots of activity around in Finland in several companies (especially Espotel) and I have seen a convincing hands-in demo of the LoRa system in use.
It seems that 3GPP Lost its Way in IoT and there is fragmentation ahead in cellular standards. In theory 3GPP should be the default provider of IoT connectivity, but it seems that it has now failed in providing one universal technology. At the moment, there are three major paths being supported by 3GPP for IoT: the machine-type version of LTE (known as LTE-M) and two technologies coming from the Cellular-IoT initiative — NB-IoT and EC-GSM. So here we are with three full standardization efforts in 3GPP for IoT connectivity. It is too much. There will like be a base standard in 2016 for LTE-M.
The promise of billions of connected devices leads everyone to assume that there will be plenty of room for multiple technologies, but this betrays the premise of IoT, that a connected world will offer gains through efficiency. Too many standard will cause challenges for everybody. Customers will not embrace IoT if they have to choose between LTE-M and Sigfox-enabled products that may or may not work in all cases. OEM manufacturers will again bear the cost, managing devices at a regional or possibly national level. Again, we lose efficiency and scale. The cost of wireless connectivity will remain a barrier to entry to IoT.
Today’s Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts, quite propably supplied by different companies. An Internet of Things product or service ultimately consists of multiple parts. One is the end device that gathers data and/or executes control functions on the basis of its communications over the Internet. Another is the gateway or network interface device. Once on the Internet, the IoT system needs a cloud service to interact with. Then, there is the human-machine interface (HMI) that allows users to interact with the system. So far, most of the vendors selling into the IoT development network are offering only one or two of these parts directly. Alternatives to this disjointed design are arising, however. Recently many companies are getting into the end-to-end IoT design support business, although to different degrees.
Voice is becoming more often used the user interface of choice for IoT solutions. Smartphones let you control a lot using only your voice as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung have their solutions for this. For example Amazon, SoundHound and Nuance have created systems that allow to add language commands to own hardware or apps. Voice-activated interface becomes pervasive and persistent for IoT solutions in 2016. Right now, most smart home devices are controlled through smartphones, and it seems like that’s unlikely to change. The newest wearable technology, smart watches and other smart devices corresponding to the voice commands and interpret the data we produce – it learns from its users, and generate as responses in real time appropriate, “micro-moments” tied to experience.
Monitoring your health is no longer only a small group oriented digital consumer area. Consumers will soon take advantage of the health technology extensively to measure well-being. Intel Funds Doctor in Your Pocket and Samsung’s new processor is meant for building much better fitness trackers. Also, insurance companies have realized the benefits of health technologies and develop new kinds of insurance services based on data from IoT devices.
Samsung’s betting big on the internet of things and wants the TV to sit at the heart of this strategy. Samsung believes that people will want to activate their lights, heating and garage doors all from the comfort of their couch. If smart TVs get a reputation for being easy to hack, then Samsung’s models are hardly likely to be big sellers. After a year in which the weakness of smart TVs were exploited, Samsung goes on the offensive in 2016. Samsung’s new Tizen-based TVs will have GAIA security with pin lock for credit card and other personal info, data encryption, built-in anti-malware system, more.
This year’s CES will focus on how connectivity is proliferating everything from cars to homes, realigning diverse markets – processors and networking continue to enhance drones, wearables and more. Auto makers will demonstrate various connected cars. There will be probably more health-related wearables at CES 2016, most of which will be woven into clothing, mainly focused on fitness. Whether or not the 2016 International CES holds any big surprises remains to be seen. The technology is there. Connected light bulbs, connected tea kettles, connected fridges and fans and coffeemakers and cars—it’s all possible. It’s not perfect, but the parts are only going to continue to get better, smaller, and cheaper.
Connectivity of IoT devices will still have challeges in 2016. While IoT standards organizations like the Open Interconnect Consortium and the AllSeen Alliance are expected to demonstrate their capabilities at CES, the industry is still a ways away from making connectivity simple. In 2016 it will still pretty darn tedious to get all these things connected, and there’s all these standards battles coming on. So there will be many standards in use at the same time. The next unsolved challenge: How the hell are all these things going to work together? Supporting open APIs that connect with various services is good.
Like UPnP and DLNA, AllJoyn could become the best-kept secret in the connected home in 2016 — everyone has it, no one knows about it. AllJoyn is an open-source initiative to connect devices in the Internet of Things. Microsoft added support for AllJoyn to Windows in 2014.
Analysis will become important in 2016 on IoT discussions. There’s too much information out there that’s available free, or very cheaply. We need systems to manage the information so we can make decisions. Welcome to the systems age.
The rise of the Internet of Things and Web services is driving new design principles. The new goal is to delight customers with experiences that evolve in flexible ways that show you understand their needs. “People are expecting rich experiences, fun and social interactions… this generation gets bored easily so you need to understand all the dimensions of how to delight them”
With huge number of devices security issues will become more and more important. In 2016, we’ll need to begin grappling with the security concerns these devices raise. The reality of everything being connected can have unintended consequences, not all of them useful – Welcome to the Internet of stupid (hackable) things.
Security: It was a hot topic for 2015 and if anything it will get hotter in 2016. The reason is clear. By adding connectivity embedded systems not only increase their utility, they vastly increase their vulnerability to subversion with significant consequences. Embedded systems that add connectivity face many challenges, of which the need for security is both vital and misunderstood. But vendors and developers have been getting the message and solutions are appearing in greater numbers, from software libraries to MCUs with a secure root of trust.
Bruce Schneier is predicting that the IoT will be abused in conjunction with DMCA to make our lives worse instead of better. In theory, connected sensors will anticipate your needs, saving you time, money, and energy. Except when the companies that make these connected objects act in a way that runs counter to the consumer’s best interests. The story of a company using copy-protection technology to lock out competitors—isn’t a new one. Plenty of companies set up proprietary standards to ensure that their customers don’t use someone else’s products with theirs. Because companies can enforce anti-competitive behavior this way, there’s a litany of things that just don’t exist, even though they would make life easier for consumers.
Internet of Things is coming. It’s not a matter of if or whether, but when and how. Maybe it’ll be 2016, maybe the year after, but the train is coming. It’ll have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and probably eight other things, and you’ll definitely get a push notification when it gets here.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Press Amazon’s IRL Button to Call a Cab, Brew Coffee, or Whatever
http://www.wired.com/2016/05/aws-iot-dash/
This week Amazon quietly listed customizable AWS IoT Buttons for sale on its site, customizable versions of its Amazon Dash buttons. The Dash buttons take the company’s “one-click” ordering quasi-offline by letting you let you order products such as pet food, toilet paper, or caffeinated beverages by pressing an internet-connected physical button.
Amazon pitches the new AWS IoT buttons, which cost $19.95 and should be in stock May 151, as a way for developers to learn how to use the company’s various cloud services, including its “IoT” offering for powering Internet of Things devices. “You can click the button to unlock or start a car, open your garage door, call a cab, call your spouse or a customer service representative, track the use of common household chores, medications or products, or remotely control your home appliances,” the Amazon site boasts.
The possibilities are many, but it’s not clear how useful any of them actually are. Amazon doesn’t indicate any plans to expand its platform to enable non-programmers could make their own buttons, or to allow companies to offer their own Dash buttons to sell to customers (though Amazon does plan to offer the buttons in bulk).
But other companies are already thinking along these lines. The startup IFTTT (short for “if this, then that”) doesn’t offer physical buttons. But the company already makes it possible for consumers to create single-purpose icons on their phones that can be set to, say, send the words “running late” to your spouse or company chat room.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RetroFab: Machine Designed Control of All the Things
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/14/retrofab-machine-designed-control-of-all-the-things/
On the Starship Enterprise, an engineer can simply tell the computer what he’d like it to do, and it will do the design work. Moments later, the replicator pops out the needed part (we assume to atomic precision). The work [Raf Ramakers] is doing seems like the Model T ford of that technology. Funded by Autodesk, and as part of his work as a PhD Researcher of Human Computer Interaction at Hasselt University it is the way of the future.
The technology is really cool. Let’s say we wanted to control a toaster from our phone. The first step is to take a 3D scan of the object. After that the user tells the computer which areas of the toaster are inputs and what kind of input they are. The user does this by painting a color on the area of the rendering, we think this technique is intuitive and has lots of applications.
The computer then looks in its library of pre-engineered modules for ones that will fit the applications. It automagically generates a casing for the modules, and fits it to the scanned surface of the toaster.
RetroFab: A Design Tool for Retrofitting Physical Interfaces using Actuators, Sensors and 3D Printing
http://www.raframakers.net/wiki/Main/RetroFab
RetroFab is an end-to-end design and fabrication environment that allows non-experts to retrofit physical interfaces. Our approach allows for changing the layout and behavior of physical interfaces. Unlike customizing software interfaces, physical interfaces are often challenging to adapt because of their rigidity. With RetroFab, a new physical interface is designed that serves as a proxy interface for the legacy controls that are now operated by actuators. RetroFab makes this concept of retrofitting devices available to non-experts by automatically generating an enclosure structure from an annotated 3D scan. This enclosure structure holds together actuators, sensors as well as components for the redesigned interface. To allow retrofitting a wide variety of legacy devices, the RetroFab design tool comes with a toolkit of 12 components. We demonstrate the versatility and novel opportunities of our approach by retrofitting five domestic objects and exploring their use cases. Preliminary user feedback reports on the experience of retrofitting devices with RetroFab.
RetroFab goes beyond the traditional IoT vision of interconnecting and monitoring multiple heterogeneous devices, and enables users to change the behavior of devices and rearrange the layout of user interfaces. Novel opportunities include, resolving design flaws in physical interfaces or enabling shortcuts to frequently used or personalized actions.
To make it possible for users without electronics knowledge to use the RetroFab toolkit, wires have a color coding scheme and integrate the necessary electronic components, such as resistors, in them. Our toolkit is easiest to deploy using the Adafruit Motor Shield , which avoids complex H-bridge electronic constructions. As such, components are connected directly to the microcontroller by following instructions provided in the RetroFab design tool, avoiding the need for complex electronic wiring designs on breadboards.
Using the RetroFab design tool, 5 legacy interfaces were retrofitted:
(a) A wall switch, exposing a rocker switch on the retrofitted interface: Every retrofit interface created by the user is available through the RetroFab mobile application. This makes it possible to control devices and appliances remotely, such as the light switch when one forgets to turn off the lights. A retrofit interface can also serve as a remote for another retrofit interface.
(b) A lamp, converting a legacy rocker switch into a push button: People with disabilities are often unable to operate controls that are found on most devices,
(c) A toaster: As highlighted in the walkthrough, the retrofit interface for the toaster can integrate a personalized button for automatically toasting bread to one’s favorite toast settings.
(d) An oven: RetroFab also facilitates the process of resolving poor design decisions found in physical interfaces.
(e) An alarm clock: Setting the time and alarm on an ordinary alarm clock is often tiring. By retrofitting the interface using RetroFab, a shortcut can be designed for automatically setting the current time after the lock is unplugged or a power outage occurs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a Sturdy Remote Control Mailbox
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/14/building-a-sturdy-remote-control-mailbox/
This DIY mailbox pretty much has it all. Not only is it waterproof and secure, it’s beautifully built and unlikely to arouse the suspicion of or induce fear in the mailman.
That 12V solar panel under the address number is connected to a solar charge controller and charges a small battery. Pushing the A button on the key fob remote triggers the latch to slide over, unlocking the door.
Now, the coolest feature: when mail passes through the slot, it lets [George] know by calling his cell phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make Your Mailman Nervous With a Wifi Enabled Mailbox
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/05/make-your-mailman-nervous-with-a-wifi-enabled-mailbox/
“It’s not a bomb,” the mailman whispered to himself as he reached for [atxguitarist]’s mailbox, giving a nervous glance at the small black box stuck to the side. “This is THAT house, it’s not a bomb. I’m sure it’s not a bomb,”
The mailbox enhancement in question is a hacked Amazon Dash Button in a project box. When the door of the mailbox is opened, a magnetic reed switch simulates a button press on the Dash. The Dash transmodulates the signal into WiFi pixies which are received by a Raspberry Pi. The Pi’s sole purpose in life is to run a 24-line Python script that plays the famous sound from AOL’s mail software and sends a notification to his phone.
Wifi Mailbox
http://imgur.com/a/Xz9Iu
The purpose of this circuit is to provide a momentary close of another circuit connected to a relay regardless of how long the reed switch is activated. It is setup to simulate a button push on my Amazon Dash button. It will be connected to my mailbox to alert me when the mailbox is open. I’ll have to learn a bit of Python code to trigger an audio file to be played on my computer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A mile-supporting wireless local area network
Currently used wireless network standard 802.11ac operates five gigahertz frequency range. Next steps The WLAN standard are 802.11ad and 802.11ah.
Ad-standard focuses on further improving the transmission capacity of wireless networks by using a very high level of 60 gigahertz frequency range. Its maximum speed is rated promises up to seven gigabits per second. Tens of gigahertz-frequency, however, the microwaves pass through materials weakly. In practice, 802.11ad’s use requires a direct line of sight to the base station.
a completely new, designed specifically for long distances 802.11ah standard, which is nicknamed Wi-Fi HaLow.
It operates in the frequency range of 900 MHz that is the same frequencies as several kilometers distance work a longer-range mobile phone networks. Europe activity is limited in practice rather narrow 863-868 MHz region, as most of the 800-900 MHz area is reserved for GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks.
The standard range is not yet published in the official estimates, but probably adequate for the future up to almost a mile distances between the base station and the terminal. the use of directional antennas are likely to increase the possible distances of several kilometers category.
The lower-frequency side of the coin is also lower communication ability. 802.11ah’s maximum speed is likely to be a few tens of megabits per second, and larger distances still considerably lower than that.
In addition to the long-range Wi-Fi halow’n assets such devices include a lot of other WLAN standards for power consumption reduction promised to be with the same order of the Bluetooth protocol. Power saving is achieved by a variety of techniques.
the design of the new standard has been from the very beginning of the Internet of Things, and various control and automation applications. One 802.11ah base station can serve up to thousands of terminal devices within range.
Sluggish schedule of trouble ah-standard sized, with new support for low-power devices is about to enter, as well as Bluetooth for short-range and long-range LTE technologies.
While bluetooth devices allows direct communication with each other and LTE while a direct connection to the Internet without an access point, can the acquisition of new base stations requiring WLAN remain marginalized in many applications.
The most promising applications 802.11ah for there are differences in the control, automation and data collection technologies with the need to direct Internet connection is not necessarily the case, and the range of technologies such as Bluetooth, for example, a large enough property in the area.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/kilometrin-kantava-langaton-lahiverkko-6550041
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intellect became the lighting: the Finnish company a pioneer in the field
The Internet of Things will revolutionize now also in lighting technology and intellect will be lighting. Finnish lighting company Helvar is one of the IoT’s use of the pioneers.
“Lighting can serve as a basis for intelligent buildings and entire him, smarter cities,” says Tommi digital Raivisto. He moved from early spring to Nokia’s HERE Maps service Helvar’s chief digital officer (CDO). He is also a member of the company’s management team.
Helvar delivers programmable lighting control systems, learn to say, the customers of the shopping center, as well as the movement of sunlight on the basis of the amount of control the amount of lighting. At the same time saves electricity.
“Once built big destinations: hotels, office complexes and shopping centers, they will require up to thousands of lamps. A centrally controlled lighting systems produced by analyzing the sensor data can be optimized, for example, the amount of light and energy
The sensor data can be utilized in planning the use of space or cleaning needs assessment.
“Intelligence software and the cloud moves to a different building systems, such as, say, air conditioning, access control, curtain control and fire alarms to exchange information and talk to each other. This simplifies the management of real estate and reduce duplication of effort, ”
“Helvar is an exciting company: 95 percent of our products are exported. The company has nearly a hundred years old and has made during its history many complete total change of direction; changed the industry on oil imports to radios, televisions and fluorescent tubes. Now, the center of activities are digitally controlled and learn lighting systems. ”
Raivisto is responsible for research and development activities and software products such as cloud computing and mobile applications Helvar’s digital business, in addition. 43-year-old engineer is also a member of the company’s management team.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/aly-tuli-valaistukseen-suomalaisyhtiosta-alan-edellakavija-6550686
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT and data networks – from hackers Wild West to scalable production tool
The last phase of industrialization is the Internet of Things. First, universities combined, then households, and finally the objects. The data network is not like electric light self-evident, but has developed applications with the architecture of a demanding working tool. Plug & Play type of networking is possible only if all the figuring out in advance.
The Internet, or a network of networks composed of data networks and routers connecting them. This is a very brutal characterization can be found in data networks, the default gateway is behind the world in 2015. The modern network requires an architecture which addresses the capacity, scalability, security, and application awareness. The network for all users you have the experience of the current level of electric lighting. The service needs to be such as it is assumed, uninterrupted, be added and removed as needed – and heaven preserve us, if it is annoying “räpsyy” between the user’s need. solemn SLA agreement between the provider and the client does not help, awkward if the total service time of 2% of the network outage hits just among the important trade act or other similar network traffic peak.
Internet addresses communication needs. taken in the 1970s the use of IPv4 addresses begin to be at the end. The new and certainly adequate capacity (the Earth every square meter over 1000 addresses), IPv6 continues to make slow in coming. In fact, I believe that the IoT is exactly the technique that forces many organizations truly IPv6-based network solutions.
A modern network provides application awareness. This means, for example, that the priority network is able to provide the desired application Quality of Service (QoS). Data security, this means ground-breaking issues with regard to the network device, that is, the filtering decision is not based communication parameter, but the traffic is able to identify and operate on the basis of application-level information. Application Awareness for load balancing and application optimization, it is commonplace for new networks.
I have long been working on security and I can only marvel at the level of application awareness of Finnish networks. Many organizations do not have any information about which applications are used within the dataverkojen what they communicate and what they include. This is a challenging theme also because the majority of organizations are using some of the applications based on cloud services. Application conscious data network must be able to provide services in a hybrid cloud environment. The organization must know where data is located. This also applies to cloud services.
When we talk about the Internet of Things, both facts is that these network aware sensors and the like. Equipment convey the most part, the data data centers, where the application implementing the party store and operates the IoT data collected by the device. I strongly believe that direct communication on the Internet of Things devices among each other is not the main purpose of IoT solutions, but information is supplied to the machine hall, which, for example, devices are managed centrally.
IoT is a wild west for hacker. Consider the situation where the data network connecting devices, which are not to update the first place. This means that a malicious entity is a great time to look for the network, operating system and application security threats. I can be sure that just discovering security flaws the update will not be repaired.
If the security can not be achieved at the level of the terminal, then take the next point is the data network or a data network edge. This is clearly reflected in the new generation of firewall devices (Next Generation Firewall, NGFW). These devices are truly aware of the application and to identify the remains insecure applications and even rarer for example, used by industry protocols. These devices provide the tools to implement application-level security.
IoT is a change so big that networks are implemented, unfortunately, just all kinds of organizations. For example, industrial automation networks are focused almost entirely on the functionality, so the implementation of information security is not primarily the idea of the world. This is also reflected in the security researchers findings.
Task The idea was to show the role of the network of coordinates, in which the entities were scalability, simplicity, security, and application intelligence. I got many, very diverse and well-founded answers.
Source: http://iotfinland.fi/iot-ja-dataverkot-hakkereiden-villista-lannesta-skaalautuvaksi-tuotannon-valineeksi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino Tutorial: Temperature Sensor
https://www.raywenderlich.com/38841/arduino-tutorial-temperature-sensor
The problem is, standard weather apps tell you about the temperature in a nearby city or suburb – but not necessarily about extremely local conditions. And what about that aquarium you would like to monitor, or your mini indoor greenhouse?
This is a job for the latest open source microcontroller – the Arduino.
In this tutorial, you’ll build an Arduino project for the iPhone that lets you connect multiple temperature probes you can place in different locations and query for their readings.
This tutorial requires some specific hardware components to interface with the temperature probes. You’ll be making use of a microcontroller (the Arduino), an Ethernet interface, and connecting status and temperature probes.
You might have initially thought about plugging the Grove Shield in first, then placing the Ethernet Shield on top of that. Unfortunately, this won’t work due to the Grove Shield not passing the 6 pins on the back through to the front.
To install the Grove Shield, first turn off your Arduino by disconnecting it from the USB connector.
Carefully place the Grove Shield board in place onto the stackable headers without bending or missing any pins.
Reading Temperatures
Open the LEDBlinkAndEthernetFakeTemperatureJSON sketch
Earlier in the JSON section, you had two variables, temperatureIndoor and temperatureOutdoor, that for testing purposes had hard-coded temperature values. Now comes the magic of the sensors: you’ll use these same variables, but store real temperatures in them.
Now comes the iOS! You will build an iPhone app to get your temperatures.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Small Collection of NodeMCU Lua Scripts
http://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2016/04/17/A-Small-Collection-of-NodeMCU-Lua-Scripts-for-Data-Collection
Anyway, the ‘standard’ way of compiling programs for this neat little chip involves installing a cross-compiling toolchain on a Linux computer (or VM), and then using a dedicated tool to flash your program to the ESP8266.
As you can guess, this can quickly get tiring if all you want to do is blink an LED… but then I stumbled upon NodeMCU and Domoticz.
NodeMCU is an open-source firmware and development kit that helps electronics enthusiasts to prototype IoT products within a few Lua script lines. Concretely, it is a firmware you can flash to any ESP8266 board, which will then interpret a text file which contains your commands.
Getting data isn’t particularly useful if it can’t correctly be stored and displayed to the user.
Domoticz is a Home Automation System that lets anyone monitor and configure various devices like lights, switches, various sensors/meters like temperature, rain, wind, UV and much more. It is open source, can be installed on Linux, Windows and embedded devices.
In my case I had it installed on my usbarmory and could access it in my browser in less than 10 minutes. You’ll find Domoticz main user manual here.
In the Domoticz interface, simply add a virtual device of “light/switch” type and use this domoticz.lua script
Second Small Project: DHT22 Temp & Humidity Sensor
Third Small Project: Sleep Cycle Monitor
Fourth Small Project: Switching on Lights by Tapping on Furniture
Doing More with NodeMCU and Domoticz
As you can guess I’ve shown here basic examples of the capabilities of the NodeMCU + Domoticz combo. Domoticz allows much more complex actions using scripts which can be triggered by the output of your installed sensors.
In my case I’m only using the monitoring capabilities of Domoticz, even though its main purpose it to automatize your complete home!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Minimal MQTT: Networked Nodes
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/17/minimal-mqtt-networked-nodes/
Last time on Minimal MQTT, we used a Raspberry Pi to set up an MQTT broker — the central hub of a home data network. Now it’s time to add some sensor and display nodes and get this thing running. So pull out your ESP-8266 module of choice, and let’s get going.
DSCF8443For hardware, we’re using a WeMos D1 Mini because they’re really cute, and absolutely dirt cheap, but basically any ESP module will do. For instance, you can do the same on the simplest ESP-01 module if you’ve got your own USB-serial adapter and are willing to jumper some pins to get it into bootloader mode.
We’re using the NodeMCU firmware because it’s quick and easy to get running. But you’re not stuck with NodeMCU if you want to go it alone: MQTT has broad support. [TuanPM] ported over an MQTT library to the native ESP8266 SDK and of course there’s espduino, a port for an Arduino-plus-ESP combo. He also ported the MQTT module to NodeMCU that we’ll be using today. Thanks, [TuanPM]!
Head over to NodeMCU custom builds and build yourself a custom firmware with only the modules compiled in that you need. Here, I’ve included dht, file, gpio, mqtt, node, tmr, uart, wifi, and ws2812.
To upload the NodeMCU firmware to the ESP8266, I use esptool.py, which should work on any platform that Python runs on.
MQTT in NodeMCU
So let’s get a little experience with MQTT on the NodeMCU platform. The online documentation is pretty good, so open that up to follow along. The MQTT library centers around the mqtt.Client() object and its methods, connect(), publish(), subscribe(), and close(). When you create the client, you can also register some callback functions that you’d like to be triggered by certain events, namely connect, offline, and message for when the client connects, goes offline, or receives a message.
If you’ve got your broker set up from last time, let’s send it some messages and monitor them on the broker. Open up a window on the Pi and type mosquitto_sub -h localhost -v -t home/#.
The node’s MQTT client needs an ID, keepalive time in seconds, username and password, and a clean-session flag. Connecting to the server can be as simple as specifying its IP address, and publishing takes the usual topic, message, QoS, and retain flags.
The client code continually listens for messages or state changes, and sends the appropriate strings to the client:on() function that then runs your code when the named event occurs. It’s a lot like the way Javascript uses callbacks, if you’ve done any of that.
The WeMos module I used has DHT-11 and DHT-22 shields available. The sensor is hooked up to NodeMCU pin D4, which is GPIO2 in the ESP8266 datasheet. The NodeMCU DHT library docs for using the DHT units are short and sweet, with one function that you’ll care about, dht.read().
As mentioned above, NodeMCU runs many commands asynchronously. That means that we can’t just write code that says “do this, wait for a return value, and then do that” like you often do in C or C++, because the first function doesn’t block. Everything happens almost at once. The upside of this is that we call m:subscribe() and it just runs in the background. The downside is that when we don’t want everything happening at once, we need a timer.
Say we want to publish the temperature of our sensor every ten seconds. We set a repeating timer, for ten seconds, that calls our publishing function, and we’re done. The timer command runs as soon as it is called, but the function that the timer contains is only called periodically
Typing code directly into the nodes clearly won’t do. We need to store our code on the device. NodeMCU has an emulated filesystem that we can use to upload our code to.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft:
UK startup SAM Labs is making the Internet of Things into everyone’s thing — How Microsoft is helping SAM Labs level the playing field for non-engineers who want to build IOT devices.
Making the Internet of Things everybody’s thing
http://news.microsoft.com/stories/people/joachim-horn.html
There are some 10 billion hardware devices connected to the Internet today. By 2020, this Internet of Things will power over 50 billion connected cars, dog collars, toothbrushes and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
But while it’s now easier than ever for people to use or even create new software, innovative hardware design has remained a distant frontier, accessible only to trained engineers and the most diehard of soldering gun-slinging hobbyists.
As connected devices march toward ubiquity, a small vanguard of technologists, like Joachim Horn, founder of London-based startup SAM Labs, is working to democratize their future. Horn contends that it will take creators with a greater range of diverse perspectives to realize the full potential of the Internet of Things.
His goal is to put the future of the Internet of Things in more people’s hands – literally. SAM Labs’ construction kits consist of wireless building blocks that empower budding inventors, from seven-year-olds to seniors, to create just about anything they can imagine.
“You turn it on and start creating. We’re leveling the playing field to empower kids, designers, startups or anyone else who wants to build an Internet of Things device and never thought they could.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
Sources: Google Home, Google’s voice-activated Amazon Echo competitor, will be unveiled at I/O and ship this fall — SAN FRANCISCO — Google will introduce its much-anticipated entry into the voice-activated home device market on Wednesday, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Google to Introduce Its Voice-Activated Home Device
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/technology/google-to-introduce-its-voice-activated-home-device.html?_r=0
Google will introduce its much-anticipated entry into the voice-activated home device market on Wednesday, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Named Google Home, the device is a virtual agent that answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks. It is to be announced at Google’s annual developers’ conference in Silicon Valley.
Google Home will come to market in the fall — a long time away, given the speed of technology, but Google needed to plant a stake in the ground now. The device will compete with Amazon’s Echo, which was introduced less than two years ago. Amazon has already sold an estimated three million units.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Nest adds new integrations with August, LIFX, Belkin WeMo, Misfit, SkyBell, others — Nest products just got a whole lot more powerful thanks to a suite of integrations with third-party products, software, and services. Starting today, Nest devices can link up to products from August, LIFX, Misfit, WeMo, and others.
Nest products gain a ton of new smart home integrations
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/17/11692172/nest-smart-home-integrations-august-wemo-lifx
Nest products just got a whole lot more powerful thanks to a suite of integrations with third-party products, software, and services. Starting today, Nest devices can link up to products from August, LIFX, Misfit, WeMo, and others. Many of the supported companies have already built integrations for Nest’s thermostats and cameras, but developers can build in more down the line.
Some Nest integrations are mundane, but others are super useful
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino card now is more suitable for the development of IoT
Arduino can be a Raspberry addition to pin the world’s most popular embedded development board, but until now the basic card is not supported by the low power consumption ble- ie low energy bluetooth connections. Now the base has become the new Primo card can be found in Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52832 circuit.
Primo is a new low-cost basic Arduino board series. NRF52832-circuit time, it supports ble-, NFC and Wi-Fi links. Earlier ble access required a connection to the daughter board Arduino-based card.
NFC applications development Primo is ideally suited, because ble connection NFC yhtyes can be formed that is paired devices to each other by touching (Touch-to-Pair).
NRF52832 circuit has a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F processor. Radio-part supports the Bluetooth 4.2 specification and functionality.
Arduino Primo are soon bringing Primo features a Core version, which is circular with a diameter of 40 millimeter-card wearable device development. PrimoCore the same characteristics as Primo otherwise, but your Wi-Fi connection has been left out.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4433:arduino-kortti-sopii-nyt-paremmin-iot-kehitykseen&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: IoT will be like a bullet train
Affairs and the internet industry for there is no alternative, is expected to Schneider Electric in the 2020s IoT report. IoT becomes according to a report in a few years a key tool for business development and value-added production.
by Schneider Electric IoT 2020 Business Report report seeks to explain how companies received full advantage of the IoT through the next five years. “There’s no need to question it, produces value-added Internet issues, said Prith Banerjee, Schneider Electric’s chief technology officer.
” Companies now need to make informed decisions as to position themselves so that the IoT’s added value can be maximized,”
According to the report, Schneider IoT launch of digital change by combining the company’s business operations and information technology, as well as putting workers to exploit the potential of mobile and digital with more effectively.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/05/17/raportti-iot-tulee-kuin-luotijuna/
Report: http://www.schneider-electric.com/ww/en/download/document/98-19699217_IoT_Report_2016_v2_DOT_pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
The operator live or die with IoT
Tele2 operator IoT business drive marketing director Rami Avidan IoT stressed the importance of the operator’s point of view. – The operator either to live or die IoT’s time.
Avidan justified his view by the fact that the company – the operator – will have to change the technology involved. – Traditional operator does not grow. We IoT business grows 14 percent every month, Avidan praised.
As a result, the operator must create a large ecosystem. – Contact with partners to innovate together. These include hardware and module suppliers, cloud vendors, system integrators and application developers IoT.
IoT is not a technology but a strategy.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4455:operaattori-elaa-tai-kuolee-iot-n-kanssa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT network is leaking at every point
When the Internet of Things devices connected collect vast amounts of information, with many concerned about the security of this information. Arrow Electronics IoT Summit Cygate Kari Melkko told reporters that the reason for concern really is. IoT network may leak from almost every point.
IoT network consists of roughly sensors, IoT device with anturieden collected information is handled, the network connection, an application which often acts as a cloud, and the user interface. Kari Melkon, the network is only as secure as its weakest link.
Examples of poor information security is a lot.
Shodan is a hacker loved search engine
A big threat to the IoT information security is already in the physical devices from the USB port. If it is accessible, it is usually quite easy to reset the device and to access the factory settings. – Data recorded by the device should always be strongly encrypted, Melkko victuals.
Web traffic is also a problem in cleartext. PSK keys are leaking, the equipment associated with the network is not detected, and the network can be a large number of nodes, which is not controlled by anyone.
- IoT network is unprotected excellent platform botnet, warns Melkko.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4456:iot-verkko-vuotaa-joka-kohdasta&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lauren Fedor / Financial Times:
ARM buys computer vision specialist Apical for $350M to bolster its IoT initiatives
Arm buys imaging specialist Apical as it eyes ‘internet of things’
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0%2F6f00905c-1ccc-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html#axzz49ARMFcVQ
UK chip designer Arm Holdings has bought imaging specialist Apical as the tech company shifts its focus away from smartphones and steps up its investments in new markets.
Apical specialises in technology for analysing images, known as embedded computer vision.
“Computer vision is in the early stages of development and the world of devices powered by this exciting technology can only grow,”
With a market capitalisation of about £13bn, Arm is one of Britain’s few large global tech companies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Internet of Things
http://ibminternetofthingsfi.tumblr.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fully Wearable Enclosures
https://www.eeweb.com/news/fully-wearable-enclosures
OKW has launched BODY-CASE – the company’s first ever fully wearable standard electronic enclosures.
Smart new BODY-CASE is OKW’s first enclosure designed specifically for fitting a standard 18 mm wrist strap – so i can be worn just like a watch! Each enclosure is supplied with two 18 mm spring bars for fitting the wrist strap.
And with the optional fastening kit, BODY-CASE can also be hung around the neck on a lanyard, clipped to a belt/pocket or carried loose.
BODY-CASE is available in one size (2.17” x 1.81” x 0.67”). It can be specified either with or without a recessed top for a membrane keypad or product label.
Body-Case
Small enclosure with flair – comfortable to wear on the body
https://www.okwenclosures.com/en/Plastic-enclosures/Body-Case.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM’s Articles
Machine Learning in Every Application
https://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/ibm/machine-learning-in-every-application/
Machine learning aids almost everything an engineer can imagine.
It is not surprising that many design engineers are using internet connectivity to enable new features in their system designs. If an engineer is designing medical equipment, an industrial machine, a field service tool, or a vending machine, the design can almost always benefit from being connected to the web (with the required security elements, of course). Today’s technology makes it easy to find sensors and IoT tools to collect information about an assets health, enablingdesign engineers to significantly enhance their products.
Users will immediately benefit when an asset is connected. They can read the asset’s status any time they choose, whether it’s in their facility or remote some 1,000 miles away, andperform maintenance based on what they know about the asset’s behavior. Meaning, define rules on the behavior of the asset and if the asset behaves beyond the known thresholds then schedule a maintenance appointment. However, much more can be done with the help of machine learning algorithms.
If the asset is connected and sensory data is available, the asset manager can take advantage of machine learning to leverage continuous feedback, solve operational challenges, and transform customer experiences.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Self-charging battery stretches over skin to power wearables
http://www.gizmag.com/solar-power-battery-band-aid/43413/
While we’ve seen promising prototypes of computers that conform to the contours of human wrists and forearms, the technology isn’t quite ready for mainstream adoption yet. But this hasn’t stopped one forward-thinking team of researchers from coming up with a new way to power these wearable electronics, developing a soft, millimeter-scale battery that can be stretched over the skin like a band-aid.
Sensors that are wearable and flexible promise a diverse range of applications including things like health monitoring, ticketing for sporting events and robots with human-like sense of touch. Some of these need to be hooked up to an external power source, while others have shown the ability to harvest mechanical energy from movement to power themselves.
To address some of the problems in building flexible power supplies, the researchers chopped a regular lithium-ion battery up into tiny ultrathin tiles. These tiles were then connected with wires and the array was integrated into a soft, rubbery material before receiving a final coat of stiffer rubber. Tiny solar cells were then layered on top of the battery cells, along with biosensors and chips.
The resulting device is super thin, waterproof and because the wires connecting the tiles are actually longer than the space between them, able to be stretched out of shape.
The team says this proof-of-concept device could be applied to human skin like a band-aid to offer an endless flow of biosensor data.
Stretchable batteries that can be applied to the skin like a band-aid (w/ video)
http://techxplore.com/news/2016-05-stretchable-batteries-skin-band-aid-video.html
(Tech Xplore)—An international team of researchers has developed a means for applying a stretchable battery to human skin that not only carries enough charge to power a portable device, but can be applied like a band-aid. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes the technology they built, how it works and a how they combined their battery technology with tiny solar cells to build an actual working monitoring device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IOT Cloud Connector for LabVIEW
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2016/03/iot-cloud-connector-for-labview.html
National Instrument’s LabVIEW is leading technology for test and measurement domain. Today, IOT Cloud Connector, a LabVIEW library for IBM Bluemix / Watson IOT Platform was published in LabVIEW Tools Network. The library is contributed by Espotel and is freely available.
IOT Cloud Connector for LabVIEW by Espotel Oy
Connectivity for IBM Watson IOT Platform and Bluemix Cloud
http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/fi/nid/213661
IOT Cloud Connector is a LabVIEW library for fast and easy integration of any application on a real-time target or PC with the IBM Watson IOT platform in the cloud. It offers secure data exchange, storage, device management, and integration. The standardized MQTT protocol ISO/IEC 20922 is used for cloud connectivity. It provides a lightweight publish/subscribe mechanism especially suitable for IOT devices. The Watson IOT and Bluemix platforms enable countless applications for advanced analytics, web and UI integrations, data storage, and integration with any other cloud solutions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watson IoT Platform and data storage
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2016/03/watson-iot-platform-and-data-storage.html
In December 2015, IBM opened new unit Watson Internet of Things, with its global headquarter in Munich, Germany. The core of the the new portfolio is Watson IoT Platform, formerly known as IBM IOT Foundation (IOTF).
Watson IoT Platform is handy way to connect IoT devices into the cloud. It provides device connectivity with MQTT – the standardized IoT protocol ISO/IEC 20922. Device management, token authentication, data storage and integration interfaces for further cloud applications.
Here comes the catch: Even if IOTF provides data storage, it should not considered as primary storage of your device data in production use. There are two main reasons:
Storing excess amount of data in IOTF is expensive
IOTF database does not provide QoS, data may be lost if delivered at high rate
So, what instead? Better way is to use IOTF only as an interface to cloud for your connected devices, and store your data in some No-SQL database like Mongo, Couch, Cloudant or Cassandra. This is much more robust solution as IOTF does provide QoS for data delivered.
Majority of device data generated in the world is deprecated just few seconds after it’s created. Data aggregation may significantly reduce the amount of data that really needs to be stored for later use. However, if you wish to store all raw device data for later use like analytics not invented yet, it’s better to use some long term data storage solution like Object storage, as data over there costs only a fraction of what it would cost to store it in the active No-SQL database.
No-SQL database is the place where active application data is processed, and finally a Object storage or similar place is the attic for historical data perhaps never needed, but nobody dares to throw away.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hack the turbine
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2016/05/hack-turbine.html
Final day of Fortum IndustryHack is over (13-15 of May, 2016) and the winner is a joint team of IBM and Ixonos. IndustryHack is a Finnish company that organizes series of hackathons with various industries. Past hacks have been organized with many international enterprises like Nokia, Kone, and Konecranes. Company hosting the event opens access to data via APIs and competing teams innovate new digital value-add services a top of that.
IndustryHack defines itself as bringing together software developers and tech startups to create new product concepts. Hack event is open to anybody to attend, but in practice most of the attending teams are organized by software consulting companies. This time, the list of winners is following:
1. IBM + Ixonos (software consulting company)
2. Cybercom (software consulting company)
3. Symbio (software consulting company)
The IndustryHack has emerged quite far away from the original idea of hackathons bringing students, hobbyists and makers together, this time there was no student or hobbyist team involved. The new concept is rather unique; leading software companies are bringing their best forces, free of charge, to innovate new solutions for the given host company, during a weekend event. Ideas are pitched and shared publicly among participants.
“You are what you share” is the slogan of the new sharing economy. Expressing your ideas with your competitors does not necessarily make you weaker but stronger. Motivation for companies to do so is the positive PR, this is what we can and that’s how we do it. Some lucky one may also end up in having commercial contract for actual implementation project.
Hack the Turbine
Fortum industryhack powered by Espotel
May 13-15, 2016
http://fortumhack.mybluemix.net/
Real-time condition monitoring instrumentation of the Fortum Suomenoja CHP plant, edge analytics and cloud API in IBM Bluemix provided by Espotel.
This page contains overall system description, API reference, and instructions how to interprete the data.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rapid dashboarding with Node-RED
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2016/02/rapid-dashboarding-with-node-red.html
Node-RED is great tool for data flow integrations. Even if Node-RED itself has graphical Web UI, it is not originally intended for UI development. Don’t worry, awesome people in the open source community have contributed an extension to Node-RED for rapid dashboard development.
Project called node-red-contrib-ui introduces number of widgets (nodes) in Node-RED enabling rapid dashboard implementation.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-red-contrib-ui
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Things Network
https://thethingsnetwork.org/
Unleashing the Internet of Things
We are on a mission to build a global open crowdsourced Internet of Things data network.
We crowdsourced a complete city-wide Internet of Things data network with the people of Amsterdam in 6 weeks using a new technology named LoraWAN™. Now we are launching our global campaign to repeat this in every city in the world.
The technology allows for things to talk to the internet without 3G or WiFi. So no WiFi codes and no mobile subscriptions.
It features low battery usage, long range and low bandwidth. Perfect for the internet of things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beacons Entering Industrial Service
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329726&
eacon technology, exemplified by Apple’s iBeacon and Google’s Eddystone, is typically seen as serving the retail market. Beacon devices continually broadcast a tidbit of information that apps on smartphones can use for micro-location services and to retrieve location-specific notifications from the cloud. But in China and other places around the world, modified beacon technology is now being used to implement an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), an application enhanced by a new base station unit from beacon vendor Sensoro.
The original iBeacon technology only provides one type of information: a device identifier that an app must reference against a database to understand the beacon’s significance. Eddystone adds options for broadcasting a web link that an app would use to find beacon-specific information, or telemetry data describing the device’s operational state. But beacon vendors have been expanding these protocols to include other types of sensor data, such as motion, ambient light, and temperature, in order to extend beacons beyond their retail market orientation. Beacons from Estimote, for instance, are available with accelerometers to sense the beacon’s motion.
The ability to include telemetry in the beacon’s data greatly expands their utility outside of retail settings. When operating in a telemetry mode, they can broadcast data from virtually any type and number of sensors as long as the data payload is under about a kilobit. Combined with the micro-positioning ability beacon technology provides, the systems can be used for monitoring and tracking of fixed and moving assets.
The trouble with using expanded protocols, Sensoro CEO Tony Zhao told EE Times, is that they are often proprietary, especially in China where beacon technology is being increasingly embraced.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BeagleBone Green, Now Wireless
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/21/beaglebone-green-now-wireless/
Over the past few years, the BeagleBone ecosystem has grown from the original BeagleBone White, followed two years later by the BeagleBone Black. The Black was the killer board of the BeagleBone family, and for a time wasn’t available anywhere at any price. TI has been kind to the SoC used in the BeagleBone, leading to last year’s release of the BeagleBone Green, The robotics-focused BeagleBone Blue, and the very recent announcement of a BeagleBone on a chip. All these boards have about the same capabilities, targeted towards different use cases
Wireless
WirelessAs with any single board computer with a fast ARM chip running Linux, comparisons must be made to the Raspberry Pi. Since this is the first BeagleBone released with wireless connectivity baked into the board, the most logical comparison would be against the recently released Raspberry Pi 3.
The Pi 3 includes an integrated wireless chipset for 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. The BeagleBone Green Wireless has this, but also adds 802.11 b and g networks. This gives the BBGW the ability to sense when anyone is using a microwave in the vicinity – a boon for that Internet of Things thing we’ve been hearing so much about.
Unlike the Pi 3, the BBGW has connections for additional antennas in the form of two u.FL connectors.
Grove Connectors
The BeagleBone Green Wireless is a Seeed joint, and as with the original BeagleBone Green, there are Grove connectors right on the edge of the board. These connectors provide one I2C bus and one serial connection each for Seeed Studio’s custom modules.
We don’t have DE-9 connectors anymore, and a smaller, easier to use connector is appreciated, especially when the connectors are a mere $0.15/piece.
Then again, the intelligence of a Grove module is purely dependant on the operator. On the BeagleBone Green, there are two Grove connectors, one for I2C, and another for serial.
The BeagleBone Green Wireless doesn’t really do anything new. The SoC is the same, and of course the PRUs in every BeagleBone are the killer feature for really, really fast digital I/O. The addition of WiFi is nice, and the inclusion of extra antenna connectors phenomenal, but it’s nothing a USB WiFi dongle couldn’t handle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Polymorphic Hardware
https://hackaday.io/project/11191-polymorphic-hardware
Applying polymorphism to hardware enables users to do more with their devices while avoiding IoT pitfalls.
Polymorphism is traditionally defined as the ability of a piece of software to process objects differently depending on their data type or class. Effectively this allows a function to do different things depending on what is passed to it.
Polymorphic Hardware will apply the concept of polymorphism to traditional embedded hardware. This will enable a single electronic device to fulfill multiple functional roles by allowing the user to run multiple firmwares and applications with said device.
Polymorphic Hardware is an extension of open source hardware and is intended to be a more consumer ready derivative. Because of its open nature it will also avoid many of the pitfalls of traditional IoT devices that are dependent on a single host cloud service
Tomi Engdahl says:
Networked Solar Birdhouses Deep in the Woods
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/20/making-solar-powered-networked-birdhouses-putting-them-in-the-middle-of-the-woods/
[Oitzu] in Germany wrote in to let us know about a series of short but very informative blog posts in which he describes building a series of solar-powered, networked birdhouses with the purpose of spying on the life that goes on within them. He made just one at first, then expanded to a small network of them. They work wonderfully, and [Oitzu]’s documentation will be a big help to anyone looking to implement any of the same elements – which include a Raspberry Pi in one unit as a main gateway, multiple remote units in other birdhouses taking pictures and sending those to the Pi over an nRF24L01+ based radio network, and having the Pi manage uploading those images using access to the mobile network. All with solar power.
http://blog.blackoise.de/category/nesting-box/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Internets Of Energy
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/20/hackaday-prize-entry-internets-of-energy/
More and more, the power grid is distributed. Houses have solar panels on their roofs, and where possible, that excess power is sold back to the grid. The current trend is towards smart meters that record consumption for an entire household and relay it back to the power plant every day or so. The future is decentralized, through, and a meter that is smart once a day simply won’t do. A team on Hackaday.io has put together the ultimate in decentralized energy modernization. It’s the InternetS of Energy, and it removes the need for power companies completely.
The team has identified a few key features of the current power grid that don’t make sense in the age of the Internet. The power company doesn’t have extremely granular data, and sending power over long distances is either inefficient or expensive. The solution for this is to have distributed power plants, all connected together into a truly intelligent power grid.
InternetS of Energy : Call me DAISEE
https://hackaday.io/project/10879-internets-of-energy-call-me-daisee
Decentralized Autonomous Interconnected Systems for Energy Efficiency, a blockchain based energy DAO
Tomi Engdahl says:
Where Is Top 10 IoT Processor List?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329732&
Tell us who makes the best 10 IoT processors. Is there a table somewhere that lists the top 10 IoT processors? What makes one IoT processor more successful than others?
If we assume that the IoT market is picking up momentum, can we add the corollary that IoT processors are keeping pace and the semiconductor industry is hitting the jackpot?
If so, where are these IoT processors? Is there a table somewhere that lists the top 10 IoT processors? What makes one IoT processor more successful than others?
These aren’t unreasonable questions.
IoT, after all, has been the flavor of the month among chip vendors for several years. Riding the coattails of IoT, they have been eagerly shopping their product portfolios while touting their growth potential.
I’ve come to understand that there are several reasons why the state of the market is still in such a flux and no such list as “top 10 IoT processors” exists.
First, the IoT market — no matter how you slice and dice it — isn’t much different from the embedded system market. Yes, these “embedded” IoT devices are “connected.”
Second, the unprecedented number of M&As in the chip industry in the last 18 months is also at play.
Third, there’s the matter of what-the-heck. How do we define an IoT processor?
“By our definition,” Demler said, “an IoT processor must provide some built-in connectivity function, even if it’s just the wireless baseband.”
The Linley Group excludes from the category standard embedded processors and MCUs that many vendors now call IoT processors, since those devices have served for many years in non-Internet-connected applications. “So, integrated wireless connectivity is a key differentiator,” Demler said.
Those who lack that capability may combine their processors with a separate radio in a multichip package, suggested Demler, “but that increases cost, footprint, and possibly power.” The radio chip might also be from a third-party supplier, but then, “it raises support issues.”
“Using an embedded flash process reduces cost, size, and power, and enables running the Bluetooth or ZigBee protocol from on-chip memory.”
Fourth, what about sensor fusion? Aside from its connectivity to the Internet, the element that makes an IoT processor different from the usual MCUs is that it can collect — and possibly process — a volume of data coming from different sensors.
Questions to ask: Are IoT system vendors looking for a solution combined with an app processor (which can become a sensor hub)? Or do they want a standalone processor – capable of collecting and processing sensory data without an apps processor?
When it comes to sensor fusion, though, Massimini believes that MIPI’s upcoming I3C will play a key role in future IoT processor designs.
The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance has designed a new extension of the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C or I2C) interface between microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and other sensors to either a hub or processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Internets Of Energy
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/20/hackaday-prize-entry-internets-of-energy/
InternetS of Energy : Call me DAISEE
https://hackaday.io/project/10879-internets-of-energy-call-me-daisee
Decentralized Autonomous Interconnected Systems for Energy Efficiency, a blockchain based energy DAO
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Standard EEBus Available for Everyone
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329738&
After a series of successful field tests, the EEBus Initiative has released version 1.0 of its interoperability standard. Based on the idea of open systems, the specifications can be downloaded freely for everybody; a membership in the EEBus group is not required. To ensure planning security, possible further alterations will remain compatible, the group promises.
The goal of the standard is establishing the widest possible interoperability in the Internet of Things. Members of the EEBus Initiative are about 60 companies from a host of different industrial branches including energy, home appliances, telecommunications, automotive, heating and electronics.
Neutral messages (SPINE) as a bridge between the sectors. SPINE stands for Smart Premises Neutral-message Exchange.
The EEBus approach distinguishes between content – the data model – and the transport specifications. The data model SPINE (Smart Premises Interoperable Neutral Message Exchange), contained in EEBus v1.0, can be transported across multiple communication paths and protocols. A possible transport protocol is IP-based SHIP (Smart Home IP), developed also by the EEBus initiative. SHIP meets the security requirements of the BSI, the German federal agency for IT security. Based on widely known RFCs, it can be applied in existing IP infrastructure.
Thanks to several cooperation agreements with international partnering initiatives the EEBus standard is organised on a world-spanning basis.
EEBus has harmonised the data model for White Goods; along with CENELEC it introduced it into the European Smart Appliance Standard prEN50631.
A fast implementation of real-world application is possible also for the reason that component technologies such as Modbus, Zigbee or KNX can be combined effortlessly with or integrated into applications based on EEBus.
More information and free download: http://www.eebus.org
https://www.eebus.org/en/about-us/
Tomi Engdahl says:
NXP Aims to Target IoT
Cable may become wireless gateway
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329731&
By taking Freescale Semiconductor’s communications chip expertise and combining it with free internet of things (IoT) integration software, NXP aims to stop users from cutting the cable by offering smart, easy-to-use home-wide IoT integration services that turn cable operators into super-internet-service-providers (super ISPs).
“There’s no reason all types of Internet of Things devices around the home cannot be integrated by a smart gateway centered on WiFi, but also supporting the other communications standards like Bluetooth and regular TV,” Jim Bridgwater, senior product manager for digital networking at NXP Semiconductors told EE Times.
In an era where more and more people are cutting the cable—especially in neighborhoods that have alternative internet service providers (ISPs) such as fiber—cable operators are looking for ways to keep from becoming irrelevant.
The key for cable companies to keep the younger audiences coming to them is offering them a free smart gateway that integrates all their IoT devices, plus offers them Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and the legions of look-a-likes on whichever screen they wish to view it at the moment. These home gateways have also got to be smart, so that handling voice, data and video is all done seamlessly without interruption or compromise.
To simplify the cable engineers job of integrating all the IoT devices into their traditional TV-only modem, the company has added a software stack to Freescale’s chips that comes free with the QorIQ chips called the OpenWrt operating system and its associated application development kit.
The up to 20-gigabit per second bi-directional broadband chip sets consumes the usual amount of power for a traditional TV modem, but can also are cranked down to as slow as 1-Gbps for a significant savings in power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arrow-Indiegogo Announce Deal: Introduce Crowdfund-to-Production Platform
https://www.eeweb.com/news/arrow-indiegogo-announce-deal-introduce-crowdfund-to-production-platform
Indiegogo, the global platform for entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life, and Arrow Electronics, the global technology company providing products and solutions that guide innovation forward, today forged a strategic alliance to create a groundbreaking new crowdfund-to-production platform aimed at accelerating the pace of innovation for technology and Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneurs.
Arrow is integrating its comprehensive design and production platform into Indiegogo’s crowdfunding engine—creating a first-of-its-kind program that will provide qualifying Indiegogo entrepreneurs with direct online access to Arrow’s design tools, engineering experts, prototype services, manufacturing support and even supply chain management—a total package of benefits worth up to $500,000. Arrow will assess select Indiegogo campaigns for their technical feasibility, manufacturability and overall impact; Arrow-supported campaigns will be denoted on the Indiegogo site with a special Arrow badge.
“This is a completely new model of social funding, innovation and production in the technology and IoT space.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRa® Technology Eval Kits for LPWAN
https://www.eeweb.com/company-news/microchip/lora-technology-eval-kits-for-lpwan/
Microchip Technology Inc. introduced its first complete LoRa® technology evaluation kits. The new kits provide customers with all required components to create a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) in Europe (DV164140-1 for the 868 MHz band) or North America (DV164140-2 for the 915 MHz band). Each kit includes two Motes (LoRaWAN™ sensors) based on Microchip’s RN2483 or RN2903 LoRa modules, a LoRaWAN gateway and a local LoRaWAN server application.
Driven by the LoRa Alliance, LoRa technology is able to achieve a range of up to 10 miles and 10-year battery life. The technology targets low data rates and low-duty-cycle applications for tracking and monitoring such things as energy, location, utility infrastructure, smart city, environment, agriculture and public safety. Although predominantly used for the uplink of sensor data, bidirectional communications allow real-time acknowledgement of mission-critical data and downlink control of remote actuator nodes.
Each kit can serve as a building block for development of a long-range LoRa network where designers can expect up to 10 miles of range and 10 years of battery life using two AAA batteries.
Microchip Debuts Industry’s First LoRa® Technology Evaluation Kits for Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN)
https://www.microchip.com/en/pressreleasepage/microchip-debuts-industry-s-first-lora-technology-evaluation-kits-for-low-power-wide-area-networks-%28lpwan%29?utm_source=eeweb&utm_medium=tech_community&utm_term=news&utm_content=microchip&utm_campaign=source
The DV164140-1 and DV164140-2 are in production now. They are available at microchipDIRECT (www.microchipdirect.com) for $499.00 each.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The old workhorses for smart home automation
Mozilla’s Firefox phone involved in the project have been invented by Dietrich Ayala to take advantage of a variety of smart phones Items scattered in the corners of the home automation tasks. The smartphone can sense motion, sound, presence, and the disappearance of telecommunications services. Embedded Linux Conference Ayala, his idea certainty smartphone sensors signals.
Ayala idea rests on the simple on facts that the smartphone to know many things about themselves and their environment, which other consumer electronics do not know. Intelligent thermostat does not know whether it was moved for, but know the cell phone.
Ayala software works with Firefox OS smartphone, but a big part of the function can be turned also to other platforms.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4476:vanhat-alypuhelimet-kotiautomaation-tyojuhdiksi&catid=13&Itemid=101
Turning Sensors into Signals: Humanizing IoT with Old Smartphones and the Web by Rambimba Karanjai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLGeM09tlguZRbcUfg4rmRZ1TjpcQQFfyr&v=4RWSXlai6PE
People are already tired of the over-promise of IoT – the slew of marginally useful products, the overly confusing and crowded developer space, and endless examples of how to turn an LED on and off.
Take a break, step back from the crowd, and come learn how to solve real human problems with that old phone that’s collecting dust on your shelf.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hack the Turbine
Fortum industryhack powered by Espotel
May 13-15, 2016
http://fortumhack.mybluemix.net/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watson IoT Platform and data storage
http://embeddedexperience.blogspot.fi/2016/03/watson-iot-platform-and-data-storage.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Compact Controllers Automate Window Blinds
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/24/compact-controllers-automate-window-blinds-on-the-cheap/
Commercially available motorized window blinds are a nice high-end touch for today’s automated home, but they tend to command a premium price. Seems silly to charge so much for what amounts to a gear motor and controller, which is why [James Wilcox] took matters into his own hands and came up with this simple and cheap wireless blind control.
[James] started his project the sensible way, with a thorough analysis of the problem. Once COTS alternatives were eliminated – six windows would have been $1200 – he came up with a list of deliverables, including tilting to pre-determined positions, tilt-syncing across multiple windows, and long battery life. The hardware in the head rail of each blind ended up being a Moteino on a custom PCB for the drivers, a $2 stepper motor, and a four-AA battery pack. The Moteino in one blind talks to a BeagleBone Black over USB and wirelessly to the other windows for coordinated control.
DIY motorized blinds for $40
http://snorp.net/2016/05/20/blinds-controller.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Polymorphic Hardware
https://hackaday.io/project/11191-polymorphic-hardware
Applying polymorphism to hardware enables users to do more with their devices while avoiding IoT pitfalls.
Polymorphism is traditionally defined as the ability of a piece of software to process objects differently depending on their data type or class. Effectively this allows a function to do different things depending on what is passed to it.
Polymorphic Hardware will apply the concept of polymorphism to traditional embedded hardware. This will enable a single electronic device to fulfill multiple functional roles by allowing the user to run multiple firmwares and applications with said device.
Polymorphic Hardware is an extension of open source hardware and is intended to be a more consumer ready derivative. Because of its open nature it will also avoid many of the pitfalls of traditional IoT devices that are dependent on a single host cloud service.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet-of-things with CC3200 Dev Board
https://hackaday.io/project/10375-internet-of-things-with-cc3200-dev-board
Internet-of-things with CC3200 development board or my new wireless Thingamajiggy.
The goal of the project is to develop an IoT system with CC3200MOD or CC3200 development board. Created for the Internet of Things (IoT), the SimpleLink CC3200 Internet-on-a-chip solution is a wireless MCU that integrates a high-performance ARM Cortex-M4 MCU allowing the development of entire application with a single IC.
The goal of the project is to develop an IoT system with CC3200MOD or CC3200 development board. Created for the Internet of Things (IoT), the SimpleLink CC3200 Internet-on-a-chip solution is a wireless MCU that integrates a high-performance ARM Cortex-M4 MCU allowing the development of entire application with a single IC.
What I am planning on doing at this point is to make modifications to the original code to monitor and control electronic devices that will be attached to the board. I am planning on adding analog interface. This chip can run HTTP server which makes it possible to run cloud applications. I
In this example CC3200 runs Exosite website, it allows remotely see data, interact with devices, and build dashboards / alerts. The Exosite free account in the ti.exosite.com domain is provided by TI and Exosite for evaluation purposes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet-of-Things Power Meter
https://hackaday.io/project/6938-internet-of-things-power-meter
Simple, cheap, easy to build and deploy, the IoT Power Meter provides accurate statistics on household power consumption.
The Internet-of-Things Power Meter (IPM) is a device fixed on top of the regular household power meter that provides detailed information about the electricity usage. Modern power meters have a LED blinking every time a watt-hour is used, the IPM detects these flashes using a light sensor, counts them, saves the values to an SD card. Later the data is stored to the cloud.
Usually power companies provide very rough electricity usage data, the IPM provides data with a minute resolution.
The device is easy to build, program and cheap to deploy and use. One can basically buy the parts, assemble, program and deploy it without any knowledge about the inner workings
The ESP8266 being an IoT platform it would be suitable to make it upload the power usage data to the cloud.
Uploading data to Google Spreadsheets is not the most straight forward task to however: a script (written in JavaScript) must receive, process and save the data in the right cell, under the correct date and time.
Here are the steps to get your IPM to upload hourly data to Google Spreadsheets, you can use the same method for any kind of IoT logger of course.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One of the radio circuit supports all IoT networks
There are several different techniques viable, ie the implementation of the Internet of Things IoT network referred to. IoT developer is guaranteed to be sometimes difficult to choose the right radio for your application. This problem can, however, soon to leave.
The Belgians IMEC- and the Holst Institute researchers have jointly developed a very low power radio circuit, which supports all possible IoT protocols. It can be carried out so as LoRa- SIGFOX networks, as well as future mobile networks operating in NB-IoT implementations.
In addition, the radio circuit also supports emerging standards such as IEEE 802.15.4g / k, W-MBUS and KNX-RF. Some on my list according to a variety of IoT standards is several tens or even a hundred.
IMECin presented at the annual ITF Technology Forum in Brussels, the IC covers the 780-930 MHz frequency band. It is a system circuit that includes the RF front-end, power management, ARM processor, 160 KB of SRAM memory, as well as a wide range of interfaces such as SPI, I2C and UART.
The reception power consumption is recorded as 8 mW in, sending the reading is 113 milliwatts (13.5 dBm output).
3GPP is next month, publishing the NB-IoT protocol.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4485:yksi-radiopiiri-tukee-kaikkia-iot-verkkoja&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eric Zeman / InformationWeek:
Samsung and SK Telecom partner to deploy LoRaWAN-based IoT-dedicated wireless network in South Korea by midyear
Samsung Building IoT-Dedicated Network
http://www.informationweek.com/iot/samsung-building-iot-dedicated-network-/a/d-id/1325642
Samsung and SK Telecom have partnered up to create what they say will be the world’s first network specifically for the Internet of Things.
Samsung Tuesday said it is working with SK Telecom in its home market of South Korea to launch a wireless network specifically for the Internet of Things. The companies claim it will be the first such network anywhere in the world. Commercial enterprises will be able to put the network to use to bring their connected services to life.
The network will mark its debut in the city of Daegu in June, with the rest of the country to follow shortly thereafter. Daegu is Korea’s fourth-largest city. The companies are using the 900 MHz frequency band, which in Korea is unlicensed public spectrum called the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band.
The LoRaWAN — long-range WAN — will support the Listen Before Talk function in order to prevent degradation of other industrial communications services in the ISM band.
Internet of Small Things, lets businesses connect to the network with low-power devices. Such devices (mostly sensors) won’t need much bandwidth or speed, and can connect at only 5Kbps
Samsung and SK Telecom plan to use Daegu as a test bed for the IoT network to see how it performs at a citywide level. It already has cloud platforms, healthcare and medical services, and electric vehicle infrastructure waiting to use the network. Daegu plans to use streetlights, for example, to collect weather, pollution, and traffic information while they also dynamically change in intensity to match the need for illumination.
“Now is a critical moment for ICT companies looking for new future business opportunities such as IoT services,” president and head of networks business at Samsung Electronics Youngky Kim said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung claims its IoT network will be the first of its kind, but others are already in progress. For example, Swisscom will have a nationwide IoT network up and running later this year, as will KPN in The Netherlands.
Wireless network operators in the US have a somewhat different strategy. Rather than put up a single network dedicated to the IoT, companies such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless are using their main cellular networks to connect devices around the country.
Source: http://www.informationweek.com/iot/samsung-building-iot-dedicated-network-/a/d-id/1325642
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Chip Supports Five Networks
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329745&
The Imec research institute (Leuven, Belgium) has designed an SoC integrating support for five low power wide area (LPWA) networks for the Internet of Things. Separately, it struck a deal to collaborate with Infineon Technologies AG on the design of a CMOS-based 79 GHz radar chip for cars, it announced at its annual Imec Technology Forum here.
Imec claims its LPWA chip—co-developed with the Holst Center, a sister institute in the Netherlands—is the most integrated and lowest cost of its kind to date. The chip supports five nets that run in the 780-930 MHz ISM band and are geared for smart meters or smart cities—802.15.4g/k, LoRa, KNX-RF, Sigfox and Wireless M-Bus.
The SoC includes an RF front end, power management, an unidentified ARM core, 160 Kbytes SRAM and peripherals. It consumes just 8 milliWatts in receive mode and 113mW while transmitting at 13.5 dBm output power.
The chip has a -120 dBm sensitivity at 0.1% BER at 1 Kbit/second and a 105 dB dynamic range. Output power can be controlled at levels ranging from less than -40 dBm to 15 dBm.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tower Debuts RF Process For IoT Front Ends
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329749&
pecialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Migdal Haemek, Israel) has said it has begun mass production of a silicon-germanium process tailored to meet the demands of wireless front-ends on an integrated circuit for the Internet of Things (IoT).
The process is suitable for power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers and switches as well as integrated CMOS digital and power control on a single die. Tower, which trades as TowerJazz, is delivering products based on this process for smartphones, tablet computers and wearable electronics.
The process is a 180nm SiGe that can support RF devices and 5V CMOS for power control and 180nm CMOS for the construction of MIPI and other interface logic as well as thick copper layers for the creation of low-loss inductors on-chip.