MACHINE-TO-MACHINE

OR THE INTERNET OF
THINGS
 M2M 2

Overview
• What is M2M precisely?
• What is it good for?
• A taxonomy
• Technical challenges for M2M
• Research examples: SECE and EnHANTS
 M2M 3

What is M2M?
• Machine-to-machine:
• “Machine to machine (M2M) refers to technologies that allow both
wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the
same ability.” (Wikipedia)
• sensors and actuators
• often within a control loop
• long history: telemetry, SCADA, industrial automation, building HVAC and
security (e.g., BACnet)
• difference: IP-based protocols and/or Internet
• no direct human consumer or producer
• IoT  from custom communication to common stack
• No single dominant application, but thousands of embedded
applications
•  need low cost to develop & deploy
 M2M 4

Key enablers
Cellular
Cellular Unlicensed
connectivity

Mature Analytics
Internet
protocols (“big data”)

Cheap
Io Application

T
SOCs s
 M2M 5

IoT = cheap microcontrollers + network interfaces

Raspberry PI
PI ($35)
($35)

Arduino Uno, €20

Gumstix (WiFi, BT): 58 mm, $199

 M2M 6
Major market segments

external hardware, fixed or wireless

sensors, and RFID, end networking connectivity
point devices

to connect these devices and sensors

to a central server and transmit
to collect data and monitor status information about the objects

service layer Application services

infrastructure and and system
associated services integration

to address the common needs across to seamlessly integrate the disparate

multiple vertical domains M2M solution components

Harish Viswanathan, Alcatel-Lucent, 2012

 M2M 7

M2M is not…
• does not always uses cellular networks
• is not always energy-constrained
• is not always cost-constrained
• only uses puny microcontrollers
• is not always run by large organizations
• many small & mid-sized providers
• usually embedded into other products
M2M 8
 M2M 9

A taxonomy of selected M2M applications

Application Energy- Processor or Reliability Unsupervised Cellular,
constrai memory unlicens
ned constrained (= $) ed?

Automotive V2I, I2V C

V2V ✔ ✔ U
Agriculture environmental ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ C, U
sensors

Industrial plant ✔? ✔? ✔ ? C, U
monitoring &
control
Infrastructure utility - ✔ ✔ ✔ C, U?
monitoring
traffic - ✔ ✔ ✔ C, U?

Medical physio ✔ ✔ ✔ ? C, U
 M2M 10

Market size by vertical

2012 Application Services Revenue in $B

Transportation, Buildings, 15.3 Consumer/Profes

23 sional, 9.8
Security/Public
Energy, 51
Safety, 30.9

Industrial, 34.9
Retail, 133.7 Healthcare, 10.2

Source: Beecham Report, 2008

 M2M 11

Connections and revenue

Signage Automotive
Home Energy Industry Tourism Security Transportation Environment
Healthcare
 M2M 12

M2M communication models

Smart grid, meter, city Car automation
Remote monitoring eHealth
dispersed

Logistics
Portable consumer electronics

smart home on-site logistics

concentrated

factory automation
eHealth

fixed mobile

Source: OECD (2012), “Machine-to-Machine Communications: Connecting Billions of Devices”, OECD Digital
Economy Papers, No. 192, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k9gsh2gp043-en
 M2M 13

M2M networking technologies

PSTN 2G/3G/4G
Broadband satellite
dispersed

2G/3G/4G
Power line communications

wireless personal area networks WiFi

concentrated

wired networks WPAN

indoor electrical wiring
WiFi

fixed mobile

Source: OECD (2012), “Machine-to-Machine Communications: Connecting Billions of Devices”, OECD Digital
Economy Papers, No. 192, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k9gsh2gp043-en
 M2M 14

M2M varies in communication needs

sensors

1/hour 1/minute 1/second 10/second

actuators
 M2M 15

Not just cellular or unlicensed

 M2M 16

Technical challenges
XML • secure upgrades
SensorML Application • software quality
Zigbee profile

HTTP, • event notification (pub/sub)?

CoAP, •
SIP,
Session, control common abstractions?
• firewalls & NATs
XMPP

UDP • reliability
TCP Transport • complexity (SCTP)
SCTP

IPv4, • IPv4 address exhaustion

IPv6
6LowPAN Network • security?
ROLL • resource control
802.15.4
• E.164 numbers
802.11 • signaling load
GSM PHY & L2 • authentication
LTE • radio diversity
 M2M 17

Network challenges
• Unlicensed
• How do I attach and authenticate a device to a (home)
network?
• Credentials?
• Licensed
• Reliability  multiple simultaneous providers
• Mobility  different providers in different regions
• Charging  often low, intermittent usage, sometimes
deferrable (“Whispernet”)
• From $50/device/month  < $1/month?
• Authentication
• Which devices can be used by whom and how?
• “Any employee can monitor the room temperature in any
public space, but only Facilities staff can change it”
Signaling increases 30-50% faster than data
M2M data plane load vs capacity,
CDMA 1x/EVDO, NY metro, 2014
Data Plane
 Isolate M2M traffic from 9,000,000

regular traffic 8,000,000

7,000,000 < 1% of
data plane
6,000,000 M2M load

traffic(kbps)
 Flexible scaling requirements
5,000,000 Cellular capacity

capacity is
4,000,000
3,000,000

because of bulk contracts 2,000,000

1,000,000
-
consumed
 Signaling traffic management DL
UL by M2M but
more than
 Low Power, short payloads, M2M control plane load vs capacity, 30% of
bursty traffic CDMA 1x/EVDO, NY metro, 2014
Control Plane
signaling
 Low cost but also low 80,000,000
capacity is
70,000,000

performance requirements 60,000,000 consumed

50,000,000 M2M load
sessions(hourly)

 In network monitoring 40,000,000 Cellular capacity

30,000,000

20,000,000
33 %
5%
M2M traffic modeling shows 10,000,000

disproportionately large Cellular capacity DL

UL

signaling M2M peak (hourly) traffic

Harish Viswanathan, Alcatel-Lucent, 2012

 M2M 19

FCC TAC preliminary recommendations

• R1: Additional M2M unlicensed band (1.2 – 1.4, 2.7 – 3.1
GHz)
• R2: M2M service registration
• R3: Numbering and addressing plan
• IPv4  IPv6
• R4: M2M center-of-excellence at FCC
• R5: Certification lite
• R6: 2G sunset roadmap
• 2G re-farming, security issues  LTE with IPv6
• R7: Encourage 3G/4G module building
 M2M 20

Current unlicensed spectrum

+ TV white spaces (in 476-692 MHz range) – availability varies

 M2M 21

FCC actions for (M2M) spectrum

• More than 300 MHz of additional spectrum in pipeline
• Encourage unlicensed & lightly-licensed spectrum
• TV white spaces: geographical databases
• 3.5 GHz & 4.9 GHz
• incentive auction guard bands as new unlicensed UHF spectrum
(600 MHz)
• Experimental licensing review
 M2M 22

Extreme M2M: self-powered devices

Leviton WSS0S - Remote Switch

EnHANT project (Columbia U.)

indoor lighting  10 kb/s
 M2M 23

Example: SECE (Sense Everything, Control

Everything)
• Web-based user
interface
• Rules in domain
specific language
• Interface to online
services
• Interface to
communication devices
• Sensor and actuator
infrastructure
 M2M 24

SECE User Interface

 M2M 25

Infrastructure for Sensors and Actuators

•Conventional
Devices
•USB (Phidgets)
•Wireless (XBee)
•Tiny (Arduino)
•Communication
•VoIP phone
•Skype
•Legacy (X10)
 M2M 26

Sensors and Actuators in IRT lab

What it really looks like

Sensor and actuator testbed XBee door lock

 M2M 27

smobd: Subsystems & Interfaces on Linux

 M2M 28

Potential M2M Services

Works?
 One can buy soft drinks, flowers, etc from
vending machine in self service manner
Once the vending machine detects the item in
out-of-stock, it sends message to order
management server through 3G/4G
communication link which further send
information to vendor
The vendor re-stocks the vending machine
Vending machine stores daily sales data in
internal database and sends information to
vendor
Vendor will know which product has been sold
and the total daily revenue
Glossary of M2M Capabilities
-Generic M2M Device Application Enablement (GMDAE)
-Generic M2M Network Application Enablement (GMNAE)
-Reachability, Addressing and Device Application Repository
(RADAR)
-Network and Communication Service Selection (NCSS)
-M2M Device and M2M Gateway Management (MDGM)
-Security Capability (SC)
-History and Data Retention (HDR)
-Transaction Management (TM) Capability
-Compensation and Billing (CB) Capability
 M2M Architecture (ETSI)
M2M Application
M2M Area Network

M2M
Service Core

Capabilities
M2M
Gateway

Client
Application

Application Network M2M Device

Domain Domain Domain
 M2M Network/App Domain
Network Service Capabilities


-Provide functions that are shared by different applications

-Expose functionalities through a set of open interfaces
-Use Core Network functionalities and simplify and optimize applications
development and deployment whilst hiding network specificities to
applications
-Examples include: data storage and aggregation, uni-cast and multi-cast
message delivery, etc.

M2M Applications (Server)



 Applications that run the service logic and use service capabilities
accessible via open interfaces.
 M2M Device Domain
* M2M Device
– A device that runs application(s) using M2M capabilities
and network domain functions. An M2M Device is either
connected straight to an Access Network or interfaced to
M2M Gateways via an M2M Area Network.
 M2M Device Domain
•*M2M Area Network
• -A M2M Area Network provides connectivity between
M2M Devices and M2M Gateways. Examples of M2M
Area Networks include: Personal Area Network
technologies such as IEEE 802.15, SRD, UWB, Zigbee,
Bluetooth, etc or local networks such as PLC, M-BUS,
Wireless M-BUS.
•*M2M Gateways
• -Equipments using M2M Capabilities to ensure M2M
Devices interworking and interconnection to the Network
and Application Domain. The M2M Gateway may also run
M2M applications.
M2M Market Characteristics

 Initial investment is difficult (e.g., license fees)

Complex supply chain: from chipset to network to mobile
operators
 Long-tail business
 Low ARPU (<$10) compared to voice (<$30)
 Lagging standards
Conclusion
- M2M related technologies are in place and the market
has massive potential for growth
- Standardization is essential for long term development of
the technology and for interoperability of networks and
services
- Operators, integrators and vendors have expressed the
need to standardize end to end M2M
- Regulation in Europe, USA and Asia is pushing for a
standards based solution
- It is essential to have globally compatible standards
 M2M 38

Conclusion
• M2M is not a single technology 
technology enabler
• Build on secret of Internet: simple
protocol building blocks that can be
combined
• accommodate wide
• Address key infrastructure challenges:
• flexible network access
• in-field upgrades
• scalable security models