Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us. Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. As the power and capability of many mobile devices increases, the increased demand on networks. We watch more videos, and listen to music on our phones. Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use. Mobile network operators would have had an easier life if it wasn’t for smartphones and the flood of data traffic they initiated, and soon there will be also very many Internet of Things devices. Businesses and consumers want more bandwidth for less money.
More and more network bandwidth is being used by video: Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2014 expects that Software Defined Anything is a new mega-trend in data centers. Software-defined anything (SDx) is defined by “improved standards for infrastructure programmability and data center interoperability driven by automation inherent to cloud computing, DevOps and fast infrastructure provisioning.” Dominant vendors in a given sector of an infrastructure-type may elect not to follow standards that increase competition and lower margins, but end-customer will benefit from simplicity, cost reduction opportunities, and the possibility for consolidation. More hype around Software-Defined-Everything will keep the marketeers and the marchitecture specialists well employed for the next twelve months but don’t expect anything radical.
Software defined technologies are coming quickly to telecom operator networks with Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV). Intel and rather a lot of telcos want networks to operate like data centres. Today’s networks are mostly based around proprietary boxes designed to do very specific jobs. It used to be that way in the server business too until cheap generic x86 boxes took most of the market. The idea in NFV is that low-cost x86 servers can successfully many of those those pricey proprietary boxes currently attached to base-stations and other parts of the network. This scents a shift in the mood of the telcos themselves. This change is one that they want, and rather a lot of them are working together to make it happen. So the future mobile network will have more and more x86 and ARM based generic computing boxes running on Linux.
With the introduction of Network Functions Virtualisation base stations will have new functions built into them. For example NSN has announced a mobile edge computing platform that enables mobile base stations to host data and run apps. Think of this as an internet cloud server that’s really close to the customer.
Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker are talked about. Telecom companies and cloud service providers are selling together service packages that have both connectivity and cloud storage sold as single service. Gartner suggests that bringing together personal clouds and external private cloud services is essential.
The type of device one has will be less important, as the personal or public cloud takes over some of the role. The push for more personal cloud technologies will lead to a shift toward services and away from devices, but there are also cases where where there is a great incentive to exploit the intelligence and storage of the client device. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable, although many would like to see this working.
“Internet of Things” gets more push. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. The concept of “Internet of Things” will evolve a step toward The Internet of Everything. Gartner identifies four basic usage models that are emerging: Manage, Monetize, Operate, Extend. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Industrial Internet of Things will be talked about. IoT takes advantage of mobile devices’ and sensors’ ability to observe and monitor their environments
Car of the future is M2M-ready and has Ethernet. Many manufacturers taking an additional step to develop vehicle connectivity. One such example is the European Commission’s emergency eCall system, which is on target for installation in every new car by 2015.
Smart Home Systems Are on the Rise article tells that most automated technology is found in commercial buildings that feature automated lighting that changes in intensity depending on the amount of sunlight present. Some of these buildings have WiFi incorporated into their lighting systems. There will be new and affordable technology on the market, but people today are still reluctant to bring automation to their homes.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast plans data caps for all customers in 5 years, could be 500GB
Cable company already enforces 300GB limit in seven states.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/05/comcast-plans-data-caps-for-all-customers-in-5-years-could-be-500gb/
A Comcast executive said he expects the company will roll out “usage-based billing”—what most people call “data caps”—to all of its customers within five years.
Comcast, which has about 20 million broadband customers, has rolled out caps to some of the areas that it serves, including Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama; Atlanta, Augusta, and Savannah, Georgia; Central Kentucky; Maine; Jackson, Mississippi; Knoxville and Memphis, Tenessee; and Charleston, South Carolina. Customers generally get 300GB of data per month, with $10 charges for each extra 50GB.
Comcast told Ars last November that “98 percent of our customers nationally don’t use 300GB/month.” Cohen today said that Comcast will raise the limit over time so that the large majority of users won’t go over it, suggesting that 500GB is a possible monthly limit five years from now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T’s GigaPower plans turn privacy into a luxury that few would choose
http://gigaom.com/2014/05/13/atts-gigapower-plans-turn-privacy-into-a-luxury-that-few-would-choose/
Customers of AT&T’s GigaPower service could end up paying more than double the $29 advertised cost to keep Ma Bell from monitoring their web surfing if they elect to get video with their broadband.
AT&T’s GigaPower service, which currently delivers 300 Mbps to homes and will eventually get upgraded to a gigabit, launched last December in Austin. It did so with two different pricing plans, one that cost $99 a month for typical service, and another that cost $70 a month provided users agreed to let AT&T monitor their packets to see where on the web the user has been. In turn, AT&T would sell ads targeted to that customer based on his or her habits.
But the $29 more a month to keep your privacy isn’t actually $29 a month. As you add video service, the price differential between choosing privacy and letting AT&T snoop rose to $62 a month for an equivalent package
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Play nice and share’: OECD to spectrum owners
A shot at solving the capacity crunch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/15/play_nice_and_share_oecd_to_spectrum_owners/
It’s a given that the world is short of radio spectrum: now, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is calling on new models of spectrum management involving license-holders sharing their spectrum for unlicensed applications, and “incentive auctions” designed to persuade licensees like broadcasters into relinquishing some of their holdings.
However, the more devices there are – and the more densely they’re packed, since in countries like Australia there are already more wireless devices than people – the available unlicensed spectrum has become crowded (so has licensed spectrum, as NBN Co found to its cost).
the paper proposes, mechanisms like Authorised Shared Access (ASA) and Licensed Shared Access (LSA) should be investigated on an international level.
Possible frequency bands in which sharing would be allowed include:
1.675 – 1.710 GHz in the US, currently used for meteorological applications;
1.755 – 1.780 GHz in the US, where it would be shared with a variety of US government applications;
2.3 – 2.4 GHz in Europe, sharing with defence, radiolocation and broadcasting support applications;
3.550 – 3.650 GHz in the US, sharing with radiolocation and aeronautical users; and
3.4 – 3.8 GHz worldwide, the 3GPP E-UTRA (evolved universal terrestrial radio access) bands.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Convergence as a new new thing
The only way performance can go is up, says Dave Cartwright
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/15/enterprise_it_convergence_feature/
When we were talking about CTI convergence in the 1990s it was primarily about bringing telephony into a world where it communicated using the same networks (primarily Ethernet) and protocols (generally IP) as data systems, thus eliminating the need for complex gateways and expensive software that translated between two separate worlds. These days IP is ubiquitous and so there’s a far lesser need for gateway devices and inter-protocol translation.
The problem is, though, that a standard such as Ethernet and IP is merely a lowest-common-denominator means of making A communicate with B.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FCC votes for Internet “fast lanes” but could change its mind later
Chairman: “There is one Internet: Not a fast internet. Not a slow Internet.”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/fcc-votes-for-internet-fast-lanes-but-could-change-its-mind-later/
The Federal Communications Commission today voted in favor of a preliminary proposal to allow Internet “fast lanes” while asking the public for comment on whether the commission should change the proposal before enacting final rules later this year. The order was approved 3-2, with two Republican commissioners dissenting.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerns “network neutrality,” the concept that Internet service providers should treat all Internet traffic equally, even if it comes from a competitor. But the rules, while preventing ISPs from blocking content outright, would allow ISPs to charge third-party Web services for a faster path to consumers, or a “fast lane.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s that FCC net neutrality compromise everyone demanded. And here’s the problem.
http://gigaom.com/2014/05/15/net-neutrality-2014/
The FCC is sticking to its guns on net neutrality, voting to approve a framework for rules that could create an internet fast lane, while trying to patch up the loopholes that would make that fast lane possible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft gets into the home automation game with Insteon partnership
The tech giant’s set to make its first foray into the smart home next month.
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-gets-into-the-home-automation-game-with-insteon-partnership/
Microsoft announced a partnership with Insteon today, along with some big plans to fully incorporate the popular home automation network into its ecosystem. Starting June 1, an enhanced version of the Insteon app with exclusive features will be made available for Windows Phone 8 devices, along with any tablet, laptop, or desktop running Windows 8.1.
In addition, it won’t be long after that before you start seeing Insteon products lining Microsoft Store shelves. These include individual products like the Insteon LED Bulb, as well as complete smart-home packages consisting of the Insteon Hub and select peripheral devices, similar to the Insteon Starter Kit we reviewed last year. Devices will range in price from $30 to $80, with kits starting at $199.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FCC Passes 2015 Spectrum Auction Framework On Party-Line 3-2 Vote
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/15/fcc-passes-2015-spectrum-auction-framework-on-party-line-3-2-vote/
Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve a framework for its coming spectrum auction, which it calls the ‘Broadcast Television Incentive Auction,’ that will ensure that the largest providers can’t snag all the new capacity.
The sale, to take place in 2015, will see broadcast companies voluntarily shed spectrum, that will then be sold to wireless companies, with the original broadcast firms collecting a cut of the proceeds.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Commission Document
Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet NPRM
http://www.fcc.gov/document/protecting-and-promoting-open-internet-nprm
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world reacts to the FCC’s net neutrality vote
Reactions vary from outrage to cautious optimism
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/15/5721276/FCC-reactions-net-neutrality-ohanian-franken
Today, the FCC voted to accept “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet,” a provisional set of rules meant to protect net neutrality. After weeks of discussion inside and outside the FCC, the commission has passed a proposal with a lot of wiggle room and put it up for public comment. People on both sides of the aisle are just as conflicted as you’d expect. There’s been a tremendous amount of debate over what “protecting net neutrality” actually means, but the truth is that things are really only getting started.
The minimum level of service is one of the core elements of the plan.
Net neutrality supporters and opponents have spent the last few weeks in varying levels of frustration at Wheeler’s proposal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brazil Drives to 4G for World Cup
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322300&
The eyes of soccer fans around the globe will be on Brazil June 12 when at least 3.7 million people descend on the country for the World Cup. A race is on to deploy new networks to ensure the influx of fans will be able to get on the mobile web, but the outcome is still uncertain.
Six of 12 total stadiums are still undergoing WiFi and 4G network testing — and two are still under construction.
With 268 million subscribers, Brazil has the fifth-most mobile phone users in the world, Bloomberg reported. Observers expect existing 3G infrastructure won’t be adequate to handle the millions of fans.
That’s one reason why the Brazilian government used the convergence of three events — last year’s Confederations Cup, the 2014 World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics — to push for deploying 4G networks. The decision raised broad questions about whether Brazil is serving its urban elites at the expense of its rural poor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fluke Connect: A Cool Concept That Begs for More
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322381&
This week, Fluke Corp. introduced Fluke Connect, a technology that not only links handheld instruments to smartphones, it lets iOS 7 or Android 4.4 phones share measurement data anywhere in the world through an app. Upon hearing of Fluke Connect, I immediately thought of how it could do more.
Fluke Connect lets you share measurements from multimeters, infrared thermometers, and AC/DC current meters. A local phone connects over BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to a meter or over WiFi to an infrared thermometer. If the local phone has internet access through a WiFi or cellular connection, it can send the data to a remote phone through the app, assuming that phone has internet access.
Such connectivity can be a great time saver because you can see what’s happening on equipment without being there
Having remote access to measurement through your phone is a great time saver, money saver, and maybe even a job or life saver, but I immediately wondered about other possibilities.
What if you could take action remotely, even if just to change a meter setting to get better resolution? When I asked Fluke about that, a spokesperson replied that early customers had already asked about remote control, but there are issues to resolve. Many of the meters, for example, can’t be controlled remotely. You need to turn a knob or push a button to change a setting.
What else would you like to do once you have that data in your phone?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fast Internet Connectivity Solutions
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/digikey/fast-internet-connectivity-solutions/
Digi-Key Corporation declared its global distribution agreement with OPTION N.V., an M2M communication company that provides solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT). The CloudGate internet gateway platform of OPTION provides a fast, low-cost connectivity solution to designers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MetaWear: Make Wearables in 30 Minutes or Less!
http://techmarinade.com/2014/04/metawear-make-wearables-in-30-minutes-or-less/
A new Kickstarter by the team at mbientlab (mbientlab.com) features a device that promises to cut prototyping times and hardware development costs for hardware projects. Their device, the MetaWear, is a small development board, 17mm by 26 mm in size, that packs a Cortex-M0 microcontroller and Bluetooth 4.0. A simple API for iOS and Android makes it easy to utilize the MetaWear without writing a line of firmware.
Mbientlab wants the MetaWear to remove the hassle of hardware design so they designed it to be fully cost-optimized and production ready. Unlike an Arduino and breadboard prototype, the MetaWear needs no re-design after the prototyping stage and can be used in products that are ready-to-ship. Ideally, anyone can use Bluetooth Low Energy technology in their designs without the need of a professional electrical engineer.
As might be derived from the name, MetaWear was designed to best be used in wearable devices. The included Cortex-M0 microcontroller is a power efficient processor (as little as 16 uW/MHz while running over 8 MIPS/MHz) well suited for use in a mobile situation. The tied-in Bluetooth Low Energy capability makes this a neat little package that can act as the centerpiece of a remote device in a number of applications. You control the MetaWear through BLE using simple API calls from an iOS or Android device
Since it relies on a smart device for control, unless you are an experienced firmware developer, we are hesitant to say that the MetaWear can be used in a standalone product.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Internet of Things Prediction for 2025 — with Caveats
http://www.cio.com/article/752856/An_Internet_of_Things_Prediction_for_2025_with_Caveats
A massive survey by the Pew Research Center about the Internet of Things in 2025 is very optimistic about the future of the technology. But even though the report seemingly tramples on IoT skeptics, its responses are filled with questions, doubts and caveats.
Rainie said that even if respondents were positive, overall, about the IoT, many positioned their responses in the “yes, but” category.
Dave Clark, a senior research scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, wrote that “the ability to put a scan tag on ‘anything’ will create a much more fluid and interwoven linkage between things in the ‘real world’ and their cyber-counterparts.
This ability will provide many conveniences and benefits. By analogy, GPS has created a world in which people no longer ‘get lost.’ A scannable world will be one in which people are always able to get information about essentially anything they encounter.”
But Clark was more cautious about wearables.
“The most likely areas where the IoT will be realized will be in supply chain logistics and automating workforce administration — i.e., dispensing healthcare, logging materials used in fitting and service of goods, vehicles, etc., as well as the administration of cleaning, catering, and hospitality tasks. Industrial and commercial applications are much more likely to have taken hold than these attention-grabbing consumer widgets, which have only superficial economic effect,” wrote Briscoe.
Justin Reich, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, wrote that the IoT “will have widespread beneficial effects, along with widespread negative effects.”
“There will be conveniences and privacy violations,” wrote Reich. “There will be new ways for people to connect, as well as new pathways towards isolation, misanthropy, and depression,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BuzzGasm: Cloud Internet Of Stuff As-A-Service!
The Interconnected Future Paradigms That Will Blow Your Brains Through Your Ears!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/16/buzzgasm_cloud_internet_of_stuff_asaservice/
To see what tomorrow’s connected future holds today, click on our amazeballs infographic and prepare to have your brains explode right out of your ears! Wow!!!
Tomi Engdahl says:
panStamp AVR
http://www.panstamp.com/products/wirelessarduino
panStamps AVR are small wireless modules programmable from the Arduino IDE. Each module contains an Atmega328p MCU and a Texas Instruments CC1101 RF interface, providing the necessary connectivity and processing power to create autonomous low-power wireless motes. Everything contained into a compact DIP-24 module.
In order to guarantee connectivity and interoperability between panStamps, the open source stack implements SWAP, an open source protocol specially designed for TI CC11XX radios.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple Wireless Abstract Protocol (SWAP)
https://code.google.com/p/panstamp/wiki/SWAP
SWAP, a very tiny protocol for constrained wireless M2M networks
SWAP (Simple Wireless Abstract Protocol) is a compact and lightweight protocol designed to be used on Texas Instruments CC11XX-based radios. SWAP primarily focus on these radio chips because it relies on their packet structure but any other RF front-end with a similar frame format may be used too. On the other hand, this protocol can be adapted to other packet structures (and hence to other IC’s) with little work.
This register approach has been inspired on Modbus, an abstract protocol that has proven its flexibility and adaptability in almost any application since the 70′s. Working with abstract registers provides us with a way of transmitting different data independently from its type and origin, in a homogeneous manner. SWAP does not provide a way of identifying the nature of the data being transmitted, it just provides the necessary mechanisms for sending, requesting and controlling abstract data registers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T to Acquire DIRECTV
http://about.att.com/story/att_to_acquire_directv.html
Creates Content Distribution Leader Across Mobile, Video & Broadband Platforms
Tomi Engdahl says:
Encrypted Internet Traffic Surges in a Year, Research Shows
By Ernesto
on May 14, 2014
http://torrentfreak.com/encrypted-internet-traffic-surges-140514/
Encrypted Internet traffic is surging worldwide according to data published by Canadian broadband management company Sandvine. After the Snowden revelations the bandwidth consumed by encrypted traffic doubled in North America, and in Europe and Latin America the share of encrypted traffic quadrupled.
Comparing this year’s data to that of last year reveals that encrypted Internet traffic is booming.
The change is most pronounced in Europe where the percentage of encrypted Internet traffic during peak hours quadrupled from a measly 1.47% to 6.10% in a year. Since overall Internet traffic increased as well, the increase is even greater for the absolute bandwidth that’s consumed.
The increase in encrypted traffic is a global phenomenon. In Latin America the share of bandwidth consumed by SSL shot up from 1.80% to 10.37% in a year. Also, a similar pattern emerges on mobile networks, where encrypted traffic is also booming.
The changes in encrypted traffic can be directly linked to the surveillance revelations of Edward Snowden. As a result, the number of users of VPN services and other anonymizers increased sharply. In addition, Google and other web services turned on SSL by default.
A survey among Pirate Bay users, for example, revealed that 70% utilize a VPN or proxy, or are interested in doing so in the future.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T Buys DirecTV For $67 Billion In Second Major Deal To Reshape TV Industry
http://www.buzzfeed.com/passantino/att-buys-directv-for-67-billion-in-second-major-deal-to-resh
The deal, announced Sunday night after roughly a month of negotiations, follows Comcast’s impending acquisition of Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion. Both deals will face intense regulatory scrutiny.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With Comcast-Time Warner merger looming, AT&T will acquire DirectTV
For now, new partners promise to follow FCC’s Open Internet protections no matter what.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/05/with-comcast-time-warner-merger-looming-att-will-acquire-directtv/
Tomi Engdahl says:
These companies spend the most money to kill net neutrality
http://www.dailydot.com/politics/lobbyists-net-neutrality-fcc/
With the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to move forward with a controversial proposal that threatens net neutrality and the open Internet, lobbying activity looks like it has reached a fevered pitch. But for the companies involved—especially the telecom companies that are eager to be allowed to charge more for a “fast lane” of Internet service—lobbying has been at a fevered pitch for almost a decade.
Going back to 2005 (when the phrase “net neutrality” first shows up in lobbying disclosure reports), the principle’s biggest opponents (Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and their allies) have lobbied against net neutrality about three times as hard as the biggest proponents of neutrality (Level 3, Google, Microsoft and their allies).
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Letter to Obama, Cisco CEO Complains About NSA Allegations
http://recode.net/2014/05/18/in-letter-to-obama-cisco-ceo-complains-about-nsa-allegations/
Warning of an erosion of confidence in the products of the U.S. technology industry, John Chambers, the CEO of networking giant Cisco Systems, has asked President Obama to intervene to curtail the surveillance activities of the National Security Agency.
In a letter dated May 15 (obtained by Re/code and reprinted in full below), Chambers asked Obama to create “new standards of conduct” regarding how the NSA carries out its spying operations around the world. The letter was first reported by The Financial Times.
Addressing the allegations of NSA interference with the delivery of his company’s products, Chambers wrote: “We ship our products globally from inside as well as outside the United States, and if these allegations are true, these actions will undermine confidence in our industry and in the ability of technology companies to deliver products globally.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Freescale: Cloudy dumb sensors? Nope, not OUR smart Internet of Things
Vehicle-to-X is next big digital gold rush – plus security and privacy, of course
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/07/freescale_internet_of_things/
Wearable devices are great examples of accessible stuff within the Internet of Things, but on the whole they’re pretty dumb sensors.
Typically, they use Bluetooth to crank out information to a mobile or similar gadget, which relays the data for processing in the cloud and then back to a web interface. Wearables are clever, but soon act dumb when the supporting connectivity disappears.
At the Future World Symposium in London last week, high on the agenda was the notion of Connected Intelligence, which goes beyond simply sensing, connecting and reporting. The general consensus at the event was that for Internet of Things (IoT) to really make an impression on the way we live, these devices need to be able to process data independently and be more than a remote sensor, but an Intelligent Node.
“If you think about home automation, a lot of those individual applications have been around for years and if you’ve been selling micro-controllers for years, you know many of them very well,” he said.
“You know about the security side, you know even about the smart energy side. All of a sudden the connectivity dimension of that changes it so dramatically and brand new industries get born as a result.
“So if the Internet of Things is the conceptual model, the connected intelligence is really the model that enables it, hopefully, seamlessly and scalably. The other thing you get into with these three blocks of sensing, connectivity and embedded processing is really this opportunity to develop the Intelligent Node.”
“One of the real dangers of this is how on Earth do we manage these networks?” asked Wainwright.
“I think that the idea of connected or intelligent nodes that can handle things close to the edge of the network is tremendously important because that’s going to offload some of that network congestion and network complexity.”
Admittedly, Freescale would want to highlight its capacity to support different networking protocols, and goes further by taking a swipe at the x86 architecture.
“One of the things that’s interesting about the Internet of Things is: does anybody really care any more about which processor architecture is out there? Does anybody care if it’s MIPS, ARM or x86? Certainly in the world of ARM, the opportunity with this explosive data requirement is really being seen as a way to break the x86 monopoly that’s existed there forever really in IT applications.”
Back in the Freescale heartland of automative chips, Wainwright talked of V2Cloud (vehicle to cloud), V2V (vehicle to vehicle), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure) as examples of IoT in transport. Multimedia V2Cloud services are already in place, with audio and video streamed into cars. Services such as traffic management, under the umbrella of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), also form part of the vehicle-to-cloud experience, with some tasks relying on Big Data to manage navigation, traffic news and control.
There are other considerations which Wainwright laid out in his summary of Connected Intelligence entry requirements. Top of his list of four areas is Secure Data. He compared IoT security to the standard of UK restaurants, namely, rather hit and miss if you don’t know where to look.
“We have got some applications that are super-secure and very well engineered,” Wainwright said. “However, the average level of security in IoT applications leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t think there’s anybody who wants to have a system and doesn’t really care about how secure their data is.”
“Their ability to understand what happens to their data when it leaves them and goes via a network somewhere else is very questionable.”
Energy efficiency and robustness are the next two entry requirements, which are fairly self explanatory.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Preps IoT
Qualcomm is developing a “portfolio” of chips for the Internet of Things, said the company’s new chief executive at a keynote here. At the same event the head of IBM’s Watson group talked about market and technology directions the group is pursing.
As “an extension of our business… we are building a portfolio of products and technologies” for the IoT, said Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm’s CEO, although he chafed at the term IoT. “It means different things to different people and it means nothing to a lot of people,” he said in at the annual TIE Con event
He defined IoT as the new “edge of the network…[that has] a lot of surface area [and]… is a very wide open space [that] looks different than the phone space.”
More specifically, it’s still early days for wearables, he added, noting non-technical problems in security/privacy and fashion marketing.
“People come out with devices that don’t work, but that means innovation is happening — someone will work it out,” he said. “You don’t want to bat 1,000 because that means you are not setting your ambitions high enough,” he added.
Source: http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322396&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the U.K. might kill the EU’s net neutrality law
http://www.dailydot.com/politics/net-neutrality-uk-eu-veto/
While the debate over net neutrality continues to rage in the United States, the British government is planning to block European Union legislation on the matter.
It’s a surprising turn of events. Just last month, the European Parliament voted to place the principles of net neutrality into law. However, before it becomes law throughout Europe, each member country must also pass the legislation. On Thursday, the British government indicated it may veto it instead.
At issue is a new provision that critics argue would restrict the British government’s “ability to block illegal material.”
“We do not support any proposals that mean we cannot enforce our laws, including blocking child abuse images,” a government spokesperson told BuzzFeed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix built a data center in Finland
Finnish PM eXchange FICIX says the U.S. streaming service Netflix committed a significant investment in the iron level in Finland. Netflix broadcast center is connected to the heart of Finland’s information networks , and in practice, in Finland , the company has its newest data center in the world.
- The quality of items expected to rise, FICIX Association’s Chairman Jorma Mellin estimates done on it by Finnish Netflix users.
So far, Netflix has served the Finland from Stockholm.
Telecommunications companies networks are now a true test of streaming services gain ground . Netflix is already by far Finland’s largest producer of traffic , and the second is the Google’s YouTube.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/data/2014/05/19/netflix-rakensi-konesalin-suomeen-verkkojen-tositesti-viela-edessa/20147052/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
As TV Battles Heat Up, Comcast Launches New Web Delivery Service
https://www.theinformation.com/As-TV-Battles-Heat-Up-Comcast-Launches-New-Web-Delivery
As regulatory battles and mega-mergers roil the media business, Comcast is preparing to offer a new service for Web content companies that will enable them to bypass network middlemen and deliver their services directly to Comcast Internet customers.
The new service allows companies publish their content inside of Comcast’s network so that it is closer to Internet subscribers, something they haven’t been able to do in the past. John Schanz, Comcast’s chief network officer, said in an interview that the offering is currently being tested with some customers and is expected to roll out broadly if all goes well.
Comcast’s initiative could have implications for hundreds of websites, ranging from video services like Netflix and Google’s YouTube to Sony’s gaming network and security software providers like Symantec, which often ask customers to download big software updates. It also will put pressure on the multi-billion-dollar content-delivery-network industry, which helps Web content companies deliver their videos or software to Internet service providers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco’s plan: A $1500 videoconferencing device on every desk
http://www.citeworld.com/article/2156047/social-collaboration/cisco-hopes-to-put-a-1500-videoconferencing-device-on-every-desk.html
Hot on the heels of its lower-priced videoconferencing gear for conference rooms, Cisco is now hoping to sell personal videoconferencing devices on every company desktop. But at an estimated street price of $1,000 to $2,000 per device, this is a tough prospect.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What the FCC’s net neutrality ruling means for journalism
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/252528/what-the-fccs-net-neutrality-ruling-means-for-journalism/
The battle over regulation of the Internet moves to Congress this week.
Last week, the FCC, on a split decision, voted to open public discussion on the rules. More than 22,000 public responses have already poured into the commission’s comment site.
This story is boiling up.
Journalists have largely played net neutrality as a battle among three players: the Internet providers delivering data to your home or business, consumer groups wanting to keep the providers from cutting deals with companies seeking a fast lane into homes, and businesses operating online and relying solely on the Internet for their survival — Amazon, for instance.
But media companies have a huge stake in this battle, too, as once text-based sites become heavier with video and interactive features that suck up more bandwidth, and as a larger percentage of the news audience moves online.
Don’t think of the debate in today’s terms. Think in terms of what your data flow will look like 5 or 10 years from now with more video and multimedia. That content will continue to multiply as users migrate away from your print or over-the-air offerings.
As Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu said in a Wall Street Journal article:
“So, despite 15 years of high hopes, cable operators are the dominant providers of Internet access in nearly every important market in the U.S. Verizon’s FiOS service, a worthy competitor in some areas, has a national market share of just 8%. Google Fiber has less than 1%. These numbers may eventually change, but we need to face the market as it is today, not as we hope it might be.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Rogue Internet Balloon Test Spurred UFO Reports Nationwide
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/05/20/133236/googles-rogue-internet-balloon-test-spurred-ufo-reports-nationwide
“The hardest thing about Google X’s Project Loon hasn’t been the engineering challenge of beaming high-speed internet down to the far-flung corners of the world: It’s trying to control all those freaking balloons.”
” ‘Falcon 11,’ a 120-foot long transparent mylar balloon made in-house at the secret Google X lab that spurred UFO reports nationwide after the company lost track of it”
Tomi Engdahl says:
XMPP Operators Begin Requiring Encryption, Google Still Not Allowing TLS
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/05/20/0337214/xmpp-operators-begin-requiring-encryption-google-still-not-allowing-tls
Via El Reg comes news that major XMPP (formerly known as Jabber, likely the only widely used distributed instant messaging protocol other than IRC) operators have all begun requiring encryption for client-to-server and server-to-server connections.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi networks are wasting a gigabit—but multi-user beamforming will save the day
Wireless networks are getting a big upgrade for the smartphone generation.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/wi-fi-networks-are-wasting-a-gigabit-but-multi-user-beamforming-will-save-the-day/
Wi-Fi equipment based on the new 802.11ac standard—often called Gigabit Wi-Fi—has been on the market for nearly two years. These products offer greater bandwidth and other improvements over gear based on the older 802.11n specification, but they don’t implement one of the most impressive features of 11ac.
It was simply too complicated to deploy all the upgrades at once, hardware makers say. As a result, 11ac networks actually waste a lot of capacity when serving devices like smartphones and tablets. This shortcoming should be fixed over the next year with new networking equipment and upgrades to end-user devices.
The soon-to-be-deployed technology is called MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input and multiple-output), which is like a wireless “switch” that sends different data to different receivers at the same time.
It’s powered by multi-user beamforming, an improvement over the single-user beamforming found in first-generation 11ac products. MU-MIMO will let wireless access points send data streams of up to 433Mbps to at least three users simultaneously, for a total of 1.3Gbps or more. First-generation 11ac equipment without MU-MIMO could send those streams of data simultaneously, but only to one device—and only if that device was capable of receiving multiple streams.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Silicon Valley To Get a Cellular Network Just For Things
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/05/21/0122210/silicon-valley-to-get-a-cellular-network-just-for-things
“MIT Technology Review reports that French company Sigfox will soon roll out a cellular data network in the San Francisco Bay Area aimed exclusively for low-bandwidth, low power devices such as household appliances and sensors. It’s the U.S. debut for a technology already in use in France. The network uses the 900 MHz unlicensed spectrum used by cordless phones.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Silicon Valley to Get a Cellular Network, Just for Things
A French company plans to build a wireless slow lane for small, low-power devices.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/527376/silicon-valley-to-get-a-cellular-network-just-for-things/
The French company SigFox says it picked the Bay Area to demonstrate a wireless network intended to make it cheap and practical to link anything to the Internet, from smoke detectors to dog collars, bicycle locks, and water pipes.
SigFox’s network, which is waiting on final approval of the company’s hardware from regulators, will cover the San Francisco peninsula from its urban tip to the sprawling Silicon Valley region 40 miles to the south. It will be the company’s first U.S. deployment of a network technology that already covers the whole of France, most of the Netherlands, and parts of Russia and Spain. SigFox built those by adding its own equipment to existing cell towers and radio antennas. Customers include the French insurance company MAAF, which offers smoke and motion detectors that notify homeowners with a text message on their phones when a sensor is triggered or needs a new battery.
The Silicon Valley network will use the unlicensed 915-megahertz spectrum band commonly used by cordless phones. Objects connected to SigFox’s network can operate at very low power but will be able to transmit at only 100 bits per second
Indeed, semiconductor companies like Intel and Broadcom are also in a race to make far cheaper, far smaller, and much-lower-power wireless chips.
A SigFox base station can serve a radius of tens of kilometers in the countryside and five kilometers in urban areas. To connect to the network, a device will need a $1 or $2 wireless chip that’s compatible, and customers will pay about $1 in service charges per year per device.
By reaching into the Bay Area first (with expansion to tech hubs such as Austin, Cambridge, and Boulder in its sights), SigFox hopes to catch the interest of a region where venture capitalists poured nearly $1 billion into startup companies focusing on the Internet of things last year
Tomi Engdahl says:
Congress Unhappy With FCC’s Proposed Changes To Net Neutrality
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/05/20/2136230/congress-unhappy-with-fccs-proposed-changes-to-net-neutrality
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video: How to cable new construction
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/05/cabling-new-construction-video.html
In the following new video from CableSupply.com, the company’s Jim Gibson takes viewers behind the scenes of a cabling installation in-progress.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ethernet Alliance, OIDA pursue single-lambda 100-GbE for data centers
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/05/ea-oida-100g.html
The Ethernet Alliance announced that, in conjunction with the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA), it will host a workshop on 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) per lambda interconnects targeting data center networks.
“The industry’s attention has been focused on refining and optimizing ‘4×25’ Ethernet – four lanes of 25GbE – for use as a bridge between 10GbE and 100GbE,” explains John D’Ambrosia, chairman, Ethernet Alliance. “It’s a viable interim solution for meeting rapidly growing demand for greater access to higher-speed bandwidth; yet, there’s also a long-term disadvantage to this approach: its scalability beyond 100GbE is very limited.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Americans Hate TV and Internet Providers More Than Other Industries
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/14/05/21/0248242/americans-hate-tv-and-internet-providers-more-than-other-industries
“According to a new report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, subscription TV providers and ISPs were the industries Americans disliked the most over the past year.”
“consumers pay for more than they need in terms of subscription TV and get less than they want in terms of Internet speeds and reliability”
“mergers in service industries usually result in lower customer satisfaction”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Press Release Telecommunications and Information 2014
ACSI: Subscription TV and ISPs Plummet, Cell Phone Satisfaction Climbs
http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/press-releases/press-2014/press-release-telecommunications-and-information-2014?_ga=1.19451131.2109435641.1387387551
Subscription TV and Internet service providers (ISPs) sink to the bottom of the American Customer Satisfaction Index in its annual measure of communications industries.
“The Internet has been a disruptor for many industries, and subscription TV and ISPs are no exception,” says Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. “Over-the-top video services, like Netflix and Hulu, threaten subscription TV providers and also put pressure on ISP network infrastructure. Customers question the value proposition of both, as consumers pay for more than they need in terms of subscription TV and get less than they want in terms of Internet speeds and reliability.”
Customer satisfaction is deteriorating for all of the largest pay TV providers. Viewers are much more dissatisfied with cable TV service than fiber optic and satellite service
Cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable have the most dissatisfied customers.
Internet Service Providers at Rock Bottom Without Much Incentive to Improve
High prices, slow data transmission and unreliable service drag satisfaction to record lows, as customers have few alternatives beyond the largest Internet service providers. Customer satisfaction with ISPs drops 3.1% to 63, the lowest score in the Index.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EE boffin: 5G will be the LAST WORD in mobe tech – literally
Principal network architect says there’ll never be a 6G, unless marketers get there first
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/21/ee_and_prof_say_6g_mobile_will_never_exist/
Andy Sutton, principal network architect for UK mobile network EE and a visiting professor at the University of Salford, says 5G will be built around small cells and a heterogeneous network.
there will be a level of meshing between small cells, which will become the workhorse for future mobile networks, with the macro level – the traditional cells that cover large areas – becoming the control plane.
This will lead to very high bandwidth and low latency
Professor Sutton sees some scope for device-to-device mesh technology in 5G, particularly for emergency services
Emergency services currently use TETRA, which can mesh between devices, but that radio technology is coming to the end of its natural life. The emergency services are now looking to 4G where it’s hoped the Release 12 specification will include device-to-device options.
Ed Ellis from EE’s strategy and forecasting division is expecting a wholesale shift from fixed to mobile data usage. In 2014 data consumption was twice that of 2012 and is predicted to double again in 2015. By 2018 he envisages data usage as twelve times that of 2012
Professor Sutton sees a lot of the progress necessary for 5G
Professor Sutton sees 5G as a fundamental platform. Once we are there future improvements can be built on that and there will be no need for the kind of wholesale changes we’ve seen before.
Professor Sutton argues that there will be a natural shift to an ever-expanding 5G network by 2035, unless there is a marketing ploy in renaming whatever evolution of 5G we have by then as 6G.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SmartThings Updates Mobile App And Developer Tools In Its Bid To Power The ‘Internet Of Things’
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/21/smartthings-platform/
There’s a growing number of “smart” connected devices available around the home these days — including everything from smart light bulbs to smart locks to smart refrigerators and washing machines. And internet-of-things startup SmartThings wants to power the back end that connects all those devices.
In its latest bid to accomplish that goal, the company has rolled out a new, updated mobile app that is designed to make it easier for consumers to control all of the SmartThings-connected devices around their homes. And it’s updated its developer tools to improve its ecosystem of partner devices.
When SmartThings launched its first group of products a couple of years ago, it looked like a fun hobbyist kit for tracking different things happening around your house. But over the past two years it’s worked hard to build a platform for developers looking to build applications around an increasingly broad set of connected devices available for the home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ask Hackaday: Can Battery-Free Bluetooth Item Locating Tags Exist?
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/21/ask-hackaday-can-battery-free-bluetooth-item-locating-tags-exist/
A quick Google search let us know that Bluetooth Low Energy solutions usually consume an idle current of around 10uA @ ~3V. The (very) successful Sticknfind campaign which promoted the same battery-enabled product claimed a one year autonomy with a CR2016 battery and a 100ft range, leading to a ~90mAh/24/30.5/12 = 10.2uA idle current. As we’re not expert on the subject, we would like to ask our readers if they ever came across such energy harvesting performances (3V*10.2uA = 30uW) in a normal home environment.
Our very bad maths indicate that if one would like to extract power from a typical Wifi router located 2 meters from you emitting 0.5Watts of power (in a perfect vacuum environment) with a 32*27mm = 864mm = 0.000864m² tag you’d only be able to get 0.5 * (0.000864/(4*pi*2*2)) = 8.6uW.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Broadcom Rides Bluetooth to IoT
Chips supports RSA, wireless charging
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322442&
Broadcom is shipping SoCs that aim to make Bluetooth Smart, security, and resonant wireless charging mainstays in the Internet of Things.
“We see Bluetooth Smart as being part of the IoT ecosystem for its very low cost, low power capability… and ubiquity across smartphones and tablets to provide a direct connection, and ease of use for smart pairing and protocol,” Brian Bedrosian, Broadcom senior director of Embedded Wireless, tells EE Times. “Its combo connectivity chips have been so successful in the mobile space, I think it will be able to bridge devices into the WiFi network where they can exploit cloud connections.”
Broadcom’s IoT platform allows developers to create embedded wireless networking applications on an existing product microcontroller or on an additional module. Its ARM Cortex M3-based BCM20737 SoC now has support for audio over Bluetooth and up to eight simultaneous master-slave or client connections.
The addition of Bluetooth has also paved the way for the introduction of iBeacon, an Apple-developed technology for micro-location awareness.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Fiber: No Charge For Peering, No Fast Lanes
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/05/22/1557221/google-fiber-no-charge-for-peering-no-fast-lanes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google is working with Ruckus Wireless to build a Wi-Fi network in the cloud
http://gigaom.com/2014/05/22/google-is-working-with-ruckus-wireless-to-build-a-wi-fi-network-in-the-cloud/
Gigaom has learned Google’s plans to offer business Wi-Fi services in a very Google-like way. It’s building a virtual Wi-Fi network in the cloud that could connect hundreds of thousands of wireless nodes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intensifying competition cheapen prices, but especially small operators have tough times
Operators in the market are the winds of change blowing in Finland.
Late last year @ 450 broadband network operated Datame drifted filed for bankruptcy . In March, acquired in Hämeenlinna kind of AinaCom consumer services and fixed networks .
In April Cubio announced the end of its service. The same month, the Danish TDC’s subsidiary in Finland was sold to the DNA.
“Operators competition is fierce in Finland , and new customers are hard to come by . No one can ask customers for more than the other , which is why the wholesale price and retail price difference is small”
Source: http://summa.talentum.fi/article/tv/9-2014/61934
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watch this: IPv4 must die! So let’s beef up on IPv6
Online training session – free, ungated and on-demand
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/23/introduction_to_ipv6_webinar/
In this 90-minute webinar QA’s John Cannings looks at the shortcomings of IPv4 and how IPv6 answers the needs of today’s communications systems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VoCore, The Tiny Internet Of Things Thing
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/24/vocore-the-tiny-internet-of-things-thing/
With tiny Linux boards popping up like dandelions, it was only a matter of time before someone came out with a really tiny Linux board. This is it. It’s a tiny board less than an inch on each side with an 802.11n System on Chip running OpenWrt on Linux. The best part? You can pick one up for $20 USD.
The VoCore features interfaces for 100M Ethernet, USB host and device, UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, and 20 GPIOs for blinking LEDs and listening to sensors.