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:
Adtran plans for gigabit MDU connectivity via mix of FTTH, G.fast protocols
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/08/adtran-gigabit-mdu-plan.html?cmpid=EnlCIMSeptember22014
Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) has continued a run of broadband technology and deployment announcements with by releasing its near-term vision for gigabit services support for multiple-dwelling units (MDUs). The company says it will support both pure-play fiber to the living unit (FTTLU) via conventional fiber to the home (FTTH) approaches, as well as G.fast-enabled fiber to the building (FTTB).
Adtran also is offering terminals compatible with the G.fast protocol to support 500 Mbps to possibly 1-Gbps data rates using existing in-building copper plant such as CAT 3.
interest in gigabit services provision continues to grow. “We are seeing a steady increase in global demand for FTTH services and foresee a near-term future where gigabit is available across a service provider’s entire subscriber base,”
“MDUs represent a prime business opportunity for service providers around the country. Millennials are a large percentage of the residents in these buildings and place a premium on the availability and quality of their broadband experience. This type of residential demand makes MDUs a perfect target for gigabit service delivery,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi Innovation Act would expand use of unlicensed 5-GHz spectrum
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/08/wifi-innovation-act.html?cmpid=EnlCIMSeptember22014
Recently United States Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced S. 2505, the Wi-Fi Innovation Act, which, according to a statement issued by Senator Booker’s office, would “expand unlicensed spectrum use by requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to test the feasibility of opening the upper 5-GHz band to unlicensed use.
“At a time when demand for spectrum is drastically increasing, the legislation aims to provide more of this valuable resource to the public to bolster innovation, spur economic development, and increase connectivity,” the statement said.
The act directs the FCC to move swiftly in seeking comments and conducting testing to assess the feasibility of opening the 5850- to 5925-MHz band to unlicensed use, the statement explained.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Before Snowden, There Was Huawei
March 18, 2014
The travails of a Chinese telecom company show how spying charges could hurt U.S. firms.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/525596/before-snowden-there-was-huawei/
How’s this for a tough sales job? The American sales reps of Huawei offer top-notch telecom gear at a 35 percent discount. But anytime they get near to closing a sale, their customers get a visit from the FBI or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The message from the feds isn’t subtle: buy something else.
Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, is the world’s largest seller of telecom equipment, commanding 20 percent of the market. Yet it is barely a factor in North America. Here its market share in optical equipment is just 1.4 percent, and in switches and routers it’s just 0.1 percent.
Just as Huawei has been shut out of the American market, leaks about the pervasiveness of spying by the NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies might now hurt American companies abroad. Businesses are starting to talk of a “Snowden effect” of lost sales, dimmed prospects, and growing uncertainty, as they too come under a cloud of mistrust
In 2012, partly at the Chinese company’s request, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee investigated and released a report. It offered no real proof of spying, yet it still concluded that the United States must “view with suspicion” progress by Chinese companies in the North America telecommunications market.
The irony now is that leaked National Security Agency documents suggest the U.S. was doing everything it suspected China of. The documents indicate that the U.S. may have compromised routers from Cisco, Juniper, and Huawei. It’s also believed to have weakened encryption products so the ciphers used by commercial software could be broken.
But the bigger fallout may be a rise in protectionism.
“It’s been mostly open competition since the beginning of the Internet, and the companies that did well are the ones that won the competitions,” says Lewis. Now, with escalating security worries, countries may take the chance to stack the deck against foreign competitors or build up their own industries.
“The overall effect will be bad for the whole global economy,” says Lewis.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“As networks move to higher data rates, operators are increasingly concerned about loss and reflections due to dirty or damaged connectors,”
AFL has expanded its connector inspection product line with the launch of its FOCIS Flex system, billed as “a self-contained, tether-free, compact and handheld” connector inspection probe. According to the company, at the click of a button, FOCIS Flex auto-focuses, captures, centers and analyzes connector end-face images to easily display, transfer or store pass/fail results within seconds.
Source: http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/08/afl-unveils-focis-flex.html?cmpid=EnlCIMSeptember22014
Tomi Engdahl says:
Physicist discovers the best place to put your router
http://www.dailydot.com/technology/physicist-optimize-wifi-signal/
Believe it or not, there’s a mathematically correct way to stream Orange is The New Black from the toilet in the far back corner bathroom of your house. No, it isn’t about your posture or your viewing angle, but rather your wireless router placement.
his model to account for the absorption in wall materials such as concrete and stopped perfect reflections from forming standing waves, resulting in an outcome that more precisely mirrors Wi-Fi signals.
Ultimately, the conclusion is that the further away from your router you are the more you’ll have to jockey for tendrils of signal
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Blamed For Driving Up Cellphone Bills, But It’s Not Alone
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/09/03/2241256/facebook-blamed-for-driving-up-cellphone-bills-but-its-not-alone
“Consumer site MoneySavingExpert.com reported today that it has seen “many complaints” from users who believe a recent increase in data-related charges on their cellphone bills are the result of Facebook’s auto-play feature. The default setting for the auto-play feature launches and continues to play videos silently until the user either scrolls past it or clicks on it; if the user does the latter, the video then goes full-screen and activates audio. The silent auto-play occurs regardless of whether users are connected to Wi-Fi, LTE, or 3G.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
What can we learn from 800,000 public comments on the FCC’s net neutrality plan?
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/09/02/what-can-we-learn-from-800000-public-comments-on-the-fccs-net-neutrality-plan/
We analyzed a corpus of 800,959 comments. Some key findings:
We estimate that less than 1 percent of comments were clearly opposed to net neutrality1.
At least 60 percent of comments submitted were form letters written by organized campaigns (484,692 comments); while these make up the majority of comments, this is actually a lower percentage than is common for high-volume regulatory dockets.
At least 200 comments came from law firms, on behalf of themselves or their clients.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sunlight: 99 percent of net neutrality comments wanted stronger FCC rules
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/02/sunlight-99-percent-of-net-neutrality-comments-wanted-stronger-fcc-rules/
The Sunlight Foundation has just wrapped its weeks-long study of the more than 1 million initial comments filed to federal regulators on net neutrality. The top-line results are unsurprising, with less than 1 percent of 800,000 commenters calling for Internet providers to be regulated more lightly. That’s consistent with a major push by consumer advocates to convince FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to adopt stronger rules on ISPs.
Despite the incomplete analysis, the research is the most credible one we’ve seen to date and shows an overwhelming bias toward stronger regulation.
Another interesting finding: Some 60 percent of comments came in the form of letters pre-written by advocacy campaigns. This suggests a heavy role for “clicktivists,” or members of the public who weighed in by doing nothing more than clicking a button in an e-mail or on a Web site.
Should this type of engagement count for anything?
The risk with this approach, of course, is that it turns politics into a battle over which issue advocacy organizations are better at nudging their followers into clicking on things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phone Firewall Identifies Rogue Cell Towers Trying to Intercept Your Calls
http://www.wired.com/2014/09/cryptophone-firewall-identifies-rogue-cell-towers/
Rogue cell phone towers can track your phone and intercept your calls, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re as ubiquitous as GPS trackers. But at least now there’s a way to spot them.
A firewall developed by the German firm GSMK for its secure CryptoPhone lets people know when a rogue cell tower is connecting to their phone. It’s the first system available that can do this, though it’s currently only available for enterprise customers using Android phones.
GSMK’s CryptoPhone 500, a high-end phone that costs more than $3,000 and combines a Samsung Galaxy S3 handset with the CryptoPhone operating system, offers strong end-to-end encryption along with a specially hardened Android operating system that offers more security than other Android phones and the patented baseband firewall that can alert customers when a rogue tower has connected to their phone or turned off the mobile network’s standard encryption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia has introduced a new base stations, radio head, which enables operators to build an even denser networks. Flexi Metro RRH (Remote Radio Head) to increase the capacity of the LTE-Advanced and HSPA networks.
Transmission power is scaled with 2 x 5 watts down to 2 x 50 mW depending on the need.
Nokia brings operators more pawns in the new LTE-A software, which now supports three channels connecting a total of 60 megahertz link. This makes it possible in theory, 450-megabit data rates, the entering class of 9 terminals for LTE-Advanced assays support.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1732:uusi-radiopaa-tuo-lisatehoa-nokian-tukiasemaan&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia, together with China Telecom reached a significant milestone for LTE networks tests. For the first time succeeded in transferring data link, which used both frequency and time division LTE link.
According to Nokia, the test terminal side of a commercial LTE Marvell chipset. In total, data were obtained to move 260 megabits per second.
The pace was achieved by combining the 20 MHz FDD channel 1.8 GHz range 20 MHz TDD channel 2.6 GHz. Frequency allocation of connection brought link 150 Mbit per second, when the TDD-area data transferred to 110 megabits per second.
This iss an important step on the road, where the users are imported faster data connections between different LTE technologies that combine to form hybrid networks.
The test used was the Nokia Flexi Multi Radio Base Station 10.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1735:nokialla-tarkea-lapimurto&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
apanese Toshiba introduced a few years ago TransferJet technology, which can be transferred wirelessly to large files with very high speed. Now the technology is coming to consumers. Toshiba will begin selling TransferJet USB modems in the fourth quarter.
TransferJet-link itself is compelling. Link does not need any configuration, it is sufficient to connect the usb adapter devices. Data travels to 4.48 GHz UWB frequencies 375 megabits per second.
TransferJet connection is encrypted. Data transmission begins when two radio circuit device equipped with touch each other. The user can define and demarcate the equipment that the connection is successful and will start automatically.
Two adapter to the target price is 59 euros.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1734:toshiba-tuo-huippunopean-datansiirtonsa-kuluttajille&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Upgrades LTE-A Systems
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323754&
Nokia announced upgraded base stations that let operators migrate WiMax networks to TD-LTE Advanced. The company’s 3.5 GHz carrier aggregation-capable system aims to smooth the transition to more advanced networks as well as improve service in dense user environments.
“There are still operators with WiMax [Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access] operation… stuck in a spectral efficiency dimension, which will not evolve. TD-LTE will accommodate more traffic and more users in the same amount of spectrum,” Arne Schaelicke, Nokia’s LTE marketing manager, told EE Times. “This would allow for four times more traffic flow, with carrier aggregation and higher MIMO schemes.”
Nokia’s Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station has integrated WiFi for reducing network interference and power consumption. The 3.5 GHz LTE band — allocated in approximately 70 countries — lets operators free up to 200 MHz of spectrum for additional capacity, according to the company release.
Using 20 MHz, TD-LTE can carry 110 Mbit/s peak on an uplink. Downlink on a network with carrier aggregation is 330 Mbit/s peak.
Nokia achieved peak data rates of up to 450 Mbit/s with up to 60 MHz of spectrum on its Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station for TDD and a test user device.
Nokia’s carrier aggregation software selects the best carriers in the network appropriate for each user. A
The TD-LTE radio and associated software was announced alongside the Flexi Metro Remote Radio Head (RRH) with 60 MHz carrier aggregation for dense networks.
The low-power radio enables Nokia and operators to connect a variety of dense areas that are laden with fiber optics as well as small-cell networks without fiber
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G Calling: Asia Rising
Part 2: China, Korea forge groups, alliances
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323114
Research groups in China and Korea are heads down developing technologies for 5G cellular services expected to switch on in about 2020. They also have been heads up forming links with each other. In the fall, China and Japan aim to follow Korea to forge agreements with the 5GPPP, their counterpart in Europe.
“The goal is to align 5G research, hopefully to make joint contributions to the future 5G international standard, and possibly set-up some joint research projects,” Xiaohu You, chairman of China’s National 863 5G Project, said in an email exchange with EE Times.
China led work on TD-SCDMA and TDD-LTE variants of 3G and 4G. It’s “too early to tell” whether it will do the same in 5G, said You, who is also a professor at Southeast University in Nanjing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4 Big Trends From ESC Brazil
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323739&
No. 1: The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things was a hot topic at ESC Brazil, with companies like Atmel and Microchip showcasing the latest technologies for connecting to the cloud.
“Actually, the Internet of Things is nothing new, as we have been connecting MCUs to sensors and analyzing the data for a long time,” said Andreas Eieland, senior product marketing manager at Atmel. “But what is new is the technology options available for engineers to develop connected systems without the high degree of complexity of the past.”
To wit, Atmel had on display the new Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi solutions it has added to its SmartConnect wireless portfolio line through the acquisition of Newport Media.
Philips’s Hue Bulbs, an example of the Internet of Things, feature Atmel’s ZigBee and Lightweight Mesh Stack.
No. 2: Android running on top of a more traditional, embedded Linux kernel and distribution.
Brazil has a strong community of Linux developers, so it’s no surprise that it is the OS of choice for many embedded systems designers.
The ordinary Android operating environment sucks for these general use cases, because it lacks the control points and signaling features that something more complicated than a cell phone always needs.
“We used to be 100% Linux, but now it is a mix of Android running on top of a standard Linux kernel (60%), 20% free RTOS, and 20% Linux,”
No. 3: Embedded systems startups
One of the big “buzzes” at ESC Brazil 2014 was the number of embedded systems startup companies rapidly appearing on the scene here.
No. 4: Tin foil hats are multinational
To demonstrate how difficult it is to predict the future, Maxfield presented the evolution of embedded systems over the past 100 years. This led into a discussion on the concept of self-aware artificial intelligences, the creation of which could lead to a robot apocalypse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3G/4G Rising for M2M
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323738&
Just a few years ago, 3G technology appeared largely unsuitable for M2M. Besides use in a few high-bandwidth applications, there did not seem to be any incentives to switch from the good old reliable and cost-efficient GSM standard.
That perspective, however, came exclusively from price-sensitive industrial customers. For everyone else, 2G is a hassle that one would probably do better without.
Every 2G network occupies valuable radio spectrum, which it uses with relatively low efficiency. As the consumers’ insatiable appetite for streaming media and other data-intensive applications overload the mobile network infrastructure, the mobile operators have little choice other than to reexamine their spectrum portfolio.
AT&T was a first mover in this respect. The US operator’s decision to phase out 2G services through the end of 2016 was completely rational from a business perspective. Why preserve an outdated inefficient network technology which is only in demand for applications with ultra-low average revenue per user?
Priority market segments like the automotive industry were already moving towards 3G/4G.
During 2014 all the leading players expect to ship more 3G devices than 2G devices in North America. In Asia-Pacific, the transition to 3G is already completed in countries such as Japan and Australia. Only Europe lags behind in adoption, as the major mobile operators hesitate to take the leap into the future.
The share of cellular M2M devices connected to HSPA/LTE networks is projected to more than double, from less than 20% at the end of 2014 to more than 50% by 2018, according to a recent study we conducted. In terms of device shipments, 3G/4G is expected to overtake 2G in 2017. HSPA will be the largest technology in an intermediate period until the current price gap to LTE has been closed.
Rising volumes are already being reflected in a narrowing price gap between 2G and 3G, a trend that will accelerate over time and remove all remaining incentives for global device manufacturers to support legacy technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trillion Sensors Not Likely
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=182&doc_id=1323740&
The trillion-sensor world is not going to happen anytime soon.
Bernie Cole, Embedded.com’s site editor, does a great job each week summarizing a mashup of data about topical subjects. Recently he reported that GE, Cisco, and others predict that, by the end of the decade, about 1 trillion sensors will be deployed and connected to the Internet, with a market value of $15 trillion. This is part of the so-called Internet of Things.
(Daily we’re faced with ridiculous IoT hype as if this were some new concept. Has everyone forgotten the notion of “embedded systems”? For about 20 years, we’ve been building devices with sensors that connect to the Internet; before that, they were hooked up to a variety of ad hoc networks. The IoT is a new marketing buzzword and nothing more.)
Charles Manning, a frequent commenter and email correspondent, applied a bit of engineering analysis to the notion of a trillion sensors. I’ve scoffed at the 1 trillion number for some time, and now, expanding on Charles’ thinking, I am even more convinced that this is all some marketing person’s pipe dream.
According to a Global Issues article titled “Poverty Around the World,” about half the people in the world live on less than $2.50 a day. Fully 80% squeak by on less than $10 a day. It’s hard to imagine buying sensors instead of food. If the 20% with money represent the market, then 1.6 billion of the expected 8 billion people in the world in 2020 will be buying these devices. Per capita, that’s 300 Internet-connected devices each in 2019 alone. How many e-gadgets did you buy last year?
What about IP addresses? Only 4% of today’s connections use IPv6; 96% are on IPv4, which can accommodate only 4 billion devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DEATH TO TCP/IP cry Cisco, Intel, US gov and boffins galore
‘Named Data Networking’ protocol is about the journey, not the destination
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/05/named_data_networking_consortium_launches_to_replace_tcp_ip/
The US National Science Foundation, Cisco, Verisign, Panasonic and boffins from around the world have thrown their weight behind a new “Named Data Networking Consortium” that aims to develop “a practically deployable set of protocols replacing TCP/IP that increases network trustworthiness and security, addresses the growing bandwidth requirements of modern content, and simplifies the creation of sophisticated distributed applications.”
The group met for the first time in Los Angeles on Thursday and continue their gabfest on Friday.
Work on the Named Data Networking (NDN) has been going on for some time: the National Science Foundation has been pumping in cash since 2010. The significance of this launch is that industry is now involved, and the consortium is committed to producing open-source software to take researchers’ work beyond the hypothetical.
“That is very difficult for Internet protocols to handle,” he said, “but something at which NDN excels.” Crowley goes on to explain that NDN will be able to inform users if data on a bank’s site was produced and signed by that bank. IP has no way to perform such a verification. NDN will therefore improve internet security.
The consortium says today’s internet lacks security because it “ … was designed as a communication network so the only entities that could be named in its packets were communication endpoints.”
Under NDN, the name in a packet “can be anything — an endpoint, a chunk of movie or book, a command to turn on some lights, etc.” By allowing more specific addressing, NDN offers greater control.
The consortium also says its approach won’t break the current internet
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Things: Major players agree on goals, but little else
Everyone loves those Things, just not on each others’ terms
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/03/linuxcon_internet_of_things_talks/
Analysis
The whole industry seems to be going wild about the Internet of Things (IoT), but the hard part about making this bold new vision happen is going to be as much about getting the vendors talking as getting the so-called things talking.
a lot of companies don’t have the foggiest idea about where this whole Internet of Things (IoT) idea is going.
Mind you, what Enescu wanted was to get people talking about “fog computing,” Cisco’s way of trying to commandeer the conversation by coming up with a brand-new buzzword that nobody else really uses yet.
“IoT is whatever you want, because any device connected to the internet is – last I checked – a thing,” Hohndel said. “So the internet was mostly made out of things before marketing people got hold of it.”
“The interesting thing is that everybody seems to agree that it is about connectivity,” he said. “It is about machine-to-machine interaction. And most importantly, it’s about new experiences, operating efficiencies, and new business models.”
Hohndel actually concurred. “If it can network, it can communicate, and it can compute, it’s most likely part of the internet of things,” he said. “Or it should be.”
What Cisco means by “fog” is taking functions that today we expect to take place in the cloud – things like processing and analyzing the data that comes from connected devices – and bringing them down out of the cloud and back at the edges of the network. That will inevitably happen, Enescu said, because the sheer amount of data produced by on-device sensors is set to explode in just the next five years.
“Today the premise of a lot of people seems to be the solution is that you just connect to the cloud. I can give very a good reason why that is a dumb idea,”
In other words, as the amount of data generated by on-device sensors increases, the devices themselves have to have the smarts to decide what can be thrown out, what should be passed along to another device, and what should be shipped up to the cloud to be archived.
“In my company,” Cisco’s Enescu said, “I believe 80 per cent of our revenue is based on products and services shipped w/Linux and I believe that number not going down, the number is going to go up.”
Intel’s Hohndel spent part of his keynote presentation plugging the Open Interconnect Consortium – the industry group that Chipzilla founded in July along with Atmel, Broadcom, Dell, Samsung, and Wind River – the goal of which he said was to do IoT “the right way.”
“Let’s not add, to the 50 standards that are out there,”
The trouble is, the Open Interconnect Consortium isn’t the only such group in the industry, nor even the largest one.
The AllSeen Alliance now claims more than 60 member companies
Both groups have their reasons why the other’s approach won’t work.
And then there are Apple and Google, both of which seem determined to go their own ways with HomeKit and Nest, respectively.
It seems that while almost everybody seems to agree – once you drop the marketing doggerel – that what’s needed is a common, standard way for IoT devices to communicate and interoperate that’s based on open source, the one thing that won’t happen is for all the major vendors involved to interconnect at the same table. And that is truly ironic
Tomi Engdahl says:
Most of the US has no broadband competition at 25Mbps, FCC chair says
But will the FCC block Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger? Wheeler doesn’t say.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-no-broadband-competition-at-25mbps-fcc-chair-says/
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler today stated what is obvious to US Internet users: for broadband speeds fast enough to serve modern homes, competition simply does not exist in most of the country.
The numbers are OK if you use the FCC’s outdated broadband definition of 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. But the FCC is proposing to boost the download portion of the definition to 10Mbps and considering whether to raise the upstream portion. Even 10Mbps doesn’t cut it in homes where numerous devices connect to the Internet, however, Wheeler said.
“A 25Mbps connection is fast becoming ‘table stakes’ in 21st century communications,” Wheeler said in a speech this morning
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Supports FCC Chairman’s Call for Increased Broadband Competition
http://blog.netflix.com/2014/09/netflix-supports-fcc-chairmans-call-for.html
Nearly everything we do today requires an Internet connection. Its persistent, increasing presence in our lives makes today’s comments by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler all the more important. If the future of broadband competition is ‘inexorably tied’ to America’s economic opportunity, how can we settle for a situation where nearly three-quarters of Americans lack a competitive choice for fast Internet service?
Given today’s broad array of Internet uses, 25 Mbps is ‘table stakes’ for consumers. These fast connections enable consumers to enjoy movies, games, online classes and more. Open Internet connections enable innovators to build the next-generation of Internet companies
As is the case in most industries, improvements such as faster speeds or lower prices generally result from real competition. Without it, there are no market pressures
Tomi Engdahl says:
UCLA, CIsco & More Launch Consortium To Replace TCP/IP
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/09/04/2156232/ucla-cisco-more-launch-consortium-to-replace-tcpip
Big name academic and vendor organizations have unveiled a consortium this week that’s pushing Named Data Networking (NDN), an emerging Internet architecture designed to better accommodate data and application access in an increasingly mobile world. The Named Data Networking Consortium http://named-data.net/
Tomi Engdahl says:
We need less U.S. in our WWW – Euro digital chief Steelie Neelie
EC moves to shift status quo at Internet Governance Forum
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/29/we_need_less_us_in_our_www_neelie_kroes/
Europe’s digital chief Neelie Kroes will reiterate her commitment to “international governance of the internet” later today – that’s code for a smaller role for the US.
The European Commissioner will represent the EU at the ninth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Istanbul, Turkey, next week and will push for a more “global governance of key internet functions”.
The UN-backed IGF will see countries from around the world come together to discuss how best to manage the internet. Many of them will be alongside the EU in calling for a “multi-stakeholder model” – aka, less US influence.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Press Release:
Traveling Overseas with Sprint Has Never Been Easier with International Wi-Fi Calling to the U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at No Additional Cost
http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/traveling-overseas-with-sprint-has-never-been-easier-with-international-wi-fi-calling-to-the-us-us-virgin-islands-and-puerto-rico-at-no-additional-cost.htm
Wi-Fi Calling lets Sprint customers use voice and messaging services over existing home, office and public Wi-Fi networks.1 Available at no additional charge to Sprint customers with a compatible Android™ smartphone, it offers improved voice, data and messaging services in locations that previously had limited or no mobile network coverage.
International Wi-Fi Calling adds the ability for Sprint customers to use voice and messaging services over existing home, office and public Wi-Fi networks1 in more than 100 countries outside the United State
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stand-Alone Ethernet Controller
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/microchip/stand-alone-ethernet-controller/
The ENC28J60 is a stand-alone ethernet controller with built-in MAC & PHY, 8 KBytes of Buffer RAM and an SPI serial interface. This device has 28 pins and is fully compatible with 10/100/1000Base-T Networks.
Supports One 10Base-T Port with Automatic Polarity Detection and Correction
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Apple’s iBeacon Hasn’t Taken Off—Yet
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-28/apples-ibeacon-retail-stores-make-little-use-of-it-so-far
Hillshire Brands (HSH) sees the promise of Apple’s (AAPL) iBeacon, software that’s been embedded in iOS 7 for a year. With iBeacon, Hillshire can track a shopper wheeling through a grocery store and send his iPhone a coupon or an ad for sausages just as he approaches the right cooler. Hillshire says consumers in 10 U.S. test cities who received iBeacon messages via apps such as recipe service Epicurious have been 20 times likelier to buy its American Craft sausages. Last year, iBeacon promised Apple a new wave of consumer data and looked like a boon to retailers and advertisers trying to reverse a decline in impulse buys. Using a low-energy Bluetooth signal, the software makes an iPhone’s proximity to certain items easier to track with the help of $10 signaling devices—beacons—mounted on shelves and ceilings, each no bigger than a hockey puck.
For the most part, however, stores have yet to embrace Apple’s technology. “Retailers are just putting their toes in,”
there have been a lot of announcements by retailers that they are trying out iBeacon networks in a handful of locations, “but the reality is, very few of them have been deployed.” Less than 1 percent of the 3.6 million retail stores in the U.S. make use of iBeacon
The main obstacle for retailers is that iBeacon doesn’t quite do everything by itself. Shoppers need to have apps such as Epicurious or discount service Shopkick that have incorporated the tracking technology. Many consumers don’t consult shopping aids while they’re in the store
Another factor: Apple’s design wasn’t the first indoor location-tracking system available.
Some barriers to iBeacon adoption are falling away. Google (GOOG) has built more iBeacon functionality into the latest versions of Android. GE Lighting (GE) has formed a partnership with startup ByteLight to develop lightbulbs that can also help track shoppers via iBeacon, which would eliminate the need for retailers to buy separate hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Environmental Sound Detectors
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/06/environmental-sound-detectors/
We all know that sound. That sound of a noisy yapping dog, or the sound of a disruptive garbage truck loudly picking up the trash while making a ruckus along the way. It can be extremely distracting and frustrating to deal with. And more often than not, we have little control over the noise pollution in the area. Unless of course, you build a monitoring solution to raise awareness of the situation, like this one that [Edmund] made.
An Arduino Pro Mini was the backbone of the project. Being open-source in nature meant that it could be customized easily with a wide array of sensors. [Edmund] chose to use an Electric Imp adding WiFi capability to the device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Current State of ESP8266 Development
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/06/the-current-state-of-esp8266-development/
A few weeks ago we caught wind of a very cool new chip. It’s called the ESP8266, and it’s a WiFi module that allows you to connect just about any project to an 802.11 b/g/n network. It also costs $5. Yes, there was much rejoicing when this chip was announced.
Over on Hackaday Projects, [bafeigum] has been working to research the capabilities of this module. Most of the comments deal with the AT Command set for the module and figuring out what is actually returned when certain commands are called.
The ESP8266 community forum is about a week old, but already there’s a wealth of information. Most of the efforts seem to be centered on getting GCC to program this chip, something that would make the ESP8266 a single-solution chip for anything that needs WiFi and a bit of processing power.
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Nest is coming to the EU
https://nest.com/blog/2014/09/06/nest-is-coming-to-the-EU/
With Nest available in just the US, Canada and the UK, people have hidden Nest Thermostats and Nest Protect alarms in suitcases, had them shipped over by friends, bought them on eBay and installed them in over 120 countries.
Soon the people of Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands will be able to just buy the Nest
Tomi Engdahl says:
More WiFi Modules for IoT Madness
http://hackaday.com/2014/09/07/more-wifi-modules-for-iot-madness/
The last year has brought us CC3000 WiFi module from TI, and recently the improved CC3200 that includes an integrated microcontroller. The Chinese design houses have gotten the hint, putting out the exceptionally cheap ESP8266, a serial to WiFi bridge that also includes a microcontroller to handle the TCP/IP stack and the software side of an 802.11 connection. Now there’s another dedicated WiFi module. It’s called the MT7681, and it’s exactly what you would expect given the competition: a programmable module with the ability to connect to a WiFi network.
Like TI’s CC3200, and the ESP8266, the MT7681 can be connected to any microcontroller over a serial connection, making it a serial to WiFi bridge. This module also contains a user-programmable microcontroller, meaning you don’t need to connect an Arduino to blink a few pins; UART, SPI, and a few GPIO pins are right on the board. The module also includes an SDK and gnu compiler
Tomi Engdahl says:
B’com Upgrades WiFi, BT Combo
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323793&
Broadcom announced a next-generation WiFi 802.11ac 2×2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) combo chip for mobile devices. The BCM4358 chipset aims to improve user experience on various connected devices by partitioning Bluetooth and WiFi communications.
The chipset is based largely on the architecture of previous Broadcom WiFi silicon, but with improved performance and a smaller form factor. The company says its new chip offers 650 Mbit/s WiFi throughput and co-exists better with Bluetooth.
“We’re making sure performance is able to be practically used by the consumer,” Mobile Wireless Connectivity vice president Dino Bekis told us.
Getting Bluetooth and WiFi to transmit effectively at full capacity while operating on the same 2.5GHz band presents a design challenge. To that end, Broadcom built a separate Bluetooth subsystem that can run it in parallel to or synchronized with the WiFi subsystem to allow for less interference.
“Going to 4×4 or 6×6 would require adding four or six antennas, which just isn’t feasible in a handheld device,” Gwennap said. “We are only seeing these higher rates in PCs, and even then, the most I have seen in a shipping PC is 4×4.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Networks joins NFV party
Platform, orchestrator and certification on the way
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/08/nokia_networks_joins_nfv_party/
Nokia has joined World+Dog, pitching a Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) platform and announcing that it will be going live with a “major operator” by the end of 2014.
In particular, the incredible shrinking Finn is touting its “telco cloud” solution’s support for voice-over-LTE, which it reckons will help carriers automate the network functions needed to roll out VoLTE services.
The vendor says its offering is the first solution that complies with ETSI’s NFV end-to-end VoLTE service architecture
NFV is the carrier-grade white-boxing of the network build, its aim being to leverage the growing packet processing power of Intel silicon to wean carrier networks off their addiction to proprietary kit. Instead, something like (in the case of VoLTE) a voice network becomes a bunch of software modules spread across however many white-box servers the network needs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s Getting Hot in Here: Titans Clash over SDN Standards
Cloud providers’ hyperscale operations driving network architecture advances
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2460170/sdnt-s-getting-hot-in-here-titans-clash-over-sdn-s/sdn/it-s-getting-hot-in-here-titans-clash-over-sdn-standards.html
It’s going to get hot at the IEEE Hot Interconnects conference in late August. That’s when, according to EE Times, Facebook and Google will face off with “similar and competing” visions of software-defined networking.
As Network World’s Jim Metzler reported last year, “Software-defined networking (SDN) is the hottest thing going today, but there is considerable confusion surrounding everything from the definition of the term to the different architectures and technologies suppliers are putting forward.”
SDN, according to Brocade’s definition “is an emerging concept that proposes to disaggregate traditional, vertically integrated networking stacks to improve network service velocity and customize network operations for specialized environments.”
Well said, but although the technology is maturing and real world use cases are rea
Facebook and Google are intent on leading the way, (whether separately or together remains to be seen) and they have a lot of clout.
“Facebook has taken networking into its own hands, building a switch to link servers inside its data centers, and wants to make the platform available to others,”
Google has developed an SDN architecture for a data center WAN interconnect, known as B4, that ties together its data centers globally.
OpenFlow seems like it’s a bit further along commercially with probably more industry support than what seems like a very Facebook-centric approach at OCP. But that’s not the point here; rather all data center owners/operators should be thrilled to see these two giants pushing the pedal to the mettle. Google, Facebook, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure all have a vested stake in SDN as a foundational element of the data centers of tomorrow.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microchip’s Articles
XLP PIC24 with Crypto and RN4020 Bluetooth LE Module
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/microchip/xlp-pic24-with-crypto-and-rn4020-bluetooth-le-module/
Alexis Alcott, Product Marketing Manager at Microchip Technology shows a demo based on PIC24F “GB2” MCU family of microcontrollers with eXtreme Low Power and an integrated hardware crypto engine
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dish wants to discuss T-Mobile acquisition with Deutsche Telekom: Report
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/15028/20140907/dish-wants-to-discuss-t-mobile-acquisition-with-deutsche-telekom-report.htm
Dish recently contacted Deutsche Telekom and expressed their interest on the acquisition of T-Mobile. The deal may be realized once the auction for wireless airwaves in November is completed.
Dish is the second largest satellite-TV provider in the U.S.
Spearheaded by the Federal Communications Commission, the auction seeks bidders for AWS-3 spectrum. Carriers such as Dish Network can use the spectrum to gain more network capacity and to enhance their customer’s music and online video streaming. The auction is speculated to be the largest following the 2008 sale which earned bids that totaled over $19 billion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who us, SHARE infrastructure? Networks reject gov proposal
Execs reject ‘national roaming’ outline – report
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/08/no_roaming/
A governmental proposal that would require the UK mobile phone networks to share infrastructure has been shot down in flames.
The idea proposed by culture secretary Sajid Javid, which would remove any need for competition between the mobile networks on the basis of coverage, has been rejected as “unworkable” according to a report in the FT.
The idea was to boost coverage in rural areas by allowing users to roam onto another network as the government looks to gain political capital from reducing the number of “not-spots”.
It doesn’t, however, take into account that it provides a disincentive for networks to build out where there is universally poor coverage.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Enterprise-class 802.11ac Wi-Fi uptake accelerates; SOHO lags
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/enterprise-ac-wifi-accelerates.html
A new report by networking and telecommunications industries analyst Dell’Oro Group finds that the wireless LAN (WLAN) market grew six percent in the second quarter of 2014, versus the year-ago period.
“In their fifth quarter of shipments, enterprise-class 802.11ac access point revenues nearly doubled versus the prior quarter,”
“Cisco leads with 54% of 802.11ac enterprise-class revenues, followed by Aruba with 20%, and a near dead-heat between Aerohive, Meru and Xirrus for third place revenue share.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T and Verizon say 10Mbps is too fast for “broadband,” 4Mbps is enough
Cable lobby also implores FCC not to change definition of broadband.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/att-and-verizon-say-10mbps-is-too-fast-for-broadband-4mbps-is-enough/
AT&T and Verizon have asked the Federal Communications Commission not to change its definition of broadband from 4Mbps to 10Mbps, saying many Internet users get by just fine at the lower speeds.
“Given the pace at which the industry is investing in advanced capabilities, there is no present need to redefine ‘advanced’ capabilities,” AT&T wrote in a filing made public Friday after the FCC’s comment deadline (see FCC proceeding 14-126). “Consumer behavior strongly reinforces the conclusion that a 10Mbps service exceeds what many Americans need today to enable basic, high-quality transmissions,” AT&T wrote later in its filing. Verizon made similar arguments.
“The Commission should not change the baseline broadband speed threshold from 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream because a 4/1 Mbps connection is still sufficient to perform the primary functions identified in section 706 [of the Telecommunications Act]—high-quality voice, video, and data,” the NCTA wrote.
About 47 percent of Comcast subscribers get at least 50Mbps, the company says.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler even suggested in a speech last week that 10Mbps is too low. “A 25Mbps connection is fast becoming ‘table stakes’ in 21st century communications,” he said. At 25Mbps, three-quarters of Americans have, at best, one choice of providers. At 10Mbps, 8.4 percent of Americans have no access, and another 30.3 percent have access from only one provider.
Verizon wants cellular to be considered broadband on par with wired service, which would put even less pressure on the companies to make sure rural areas have access to fast wired networks. Verizon and AT&T offer “fixed wireless” service that provides home Internet access from each company’s cellular network, but the services are subject to monthly data caps of 10GB to 30GB. That’s well below the 100GB data cap minimum specified by the FCC in regard to the Connect America Fund.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection
The practice raises security, net neutrality issues as FCC mulls Internet reforms.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/why-comcasts-javascript-ad-injections-threaten-security-net-neutrality/
Comcast has begun serving Comcast ads to devices connected to one of its 3.5 million publicly accessible Wi-Fi hotspots across the US. Comcast’s decision to inject data into websites raises security concerns and arguably cuts to the core of the ongoing net neutrality debate.
A Comcast spokesman told Ars the program began months ago. One facet of it is designed to alert consumers that they are connected to Comcast’s Xfinity service. Other ads remind Web surfers to download Xfinity apps, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas told Ars in telephone interviews.
The advertisements may appear about every seven minutes or so
“When a user requests to view a page, Comcast injects its JavaScript into the packets being returned by the real server,” Singel said during an instant-message chat.
A Comcast served house ad.
Ryan Singel
Singel’s suspicions were correct that Mediagazer didn’t place the ad there, and Mediagazer is none too happy about it. “Indeed, they were not ours,” Gabe Rivera, who runs Mediagazer and Techmeme, said in an e-mail. In another e-mail, he said, “someone else is inserting them in a sneaky way.”
Unwanted injections
Security implications of the use of JavaScript can be debated endlessly, but it is capable of performing all manner of malicious actions, including controlling authentication cookies and redirecting where user data is submitted.
Comcast’s Douglas says Comcast has nothing nefarious up its sleeve. What’s more, Comcast has multiple layers of security “based on industry best practices” to keep out hackers wanting to exploit the Xfinity network, he said.
Seth Schoen, the senior staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, reviewed the data pulled by Singel and said that “there ended up being JavaScript in the page that was not intended by the server.”
Even if Comcast doesn’t have any malicious intent, and even if hackers don’t access the JavaScript, the interaction of the JavaScript with websites could “create” security vulnerabilities in websites, Schoen said. “Their code, or the interaction of code with other things, could potentially create new security vulnerabilities in sites that didn’t have them,” Schoen said in a telephone interview.
What Comcast is doing isn’t without precedent. Airports have deployed so-called branded promotional hotspots, and there are plenty of companies that help businesses set up Wi-Fi hotspots that append ads via JavaScript injection.
If the FCC decided to regulate broadband like a telephone utility, Comcast’s JavaScript practice could come under scrutiny
“It’s the duty of the service provider to pull packets without treating them or modifying them or injecting stuff or forging packets. None of that should be in the province of the service provider,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel wants to modernize data centers with new Xeon server chips
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2604160/intel-wants-to-modernize-data-centers-with-new-xeon-server-chips.html
Intel has designed its latest server chips to provide the building blocks to modernize “legacy data centers” by providing more processing cores, throughput and power-saving features.
The Xeon E5-2600 v3 chips are the company’s fastest server chips to date, said Diane Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Center Group, at a media event in San Francisco on Monday.
The chips are based on the Haswell microarchitecture and will replace the Xeon E5-2600 v2 chips, code-named Romley, which accounted for more than 80 percent of Intel server chips shipped in the most recent fiscal quarter.
Servers will deliver faster performance while consuming less power thanks to a number of CPU, storage, memory and networking enhancements, Bryant said.
Servers will also communicate faster, which could help increase performance output in data centers, Bryant said. The server chips are the first to support the faster-performing DDR4 memory and 40GB ethernet.
The goal is to modernize and automate data center deployment, Bryant said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix to Join ‘Internet Slowdown’ Protest Over Net Neutrality
Your videos won’t load slower, but the protest could add more pressure on the FCC to enact tough rules.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/netflix-to-join-internet-slowdown-protest-over-net-neutrality-20140908
If you see a spinning loading icon when you try to watch Netflix videos Wednesday, there isn’t a problem with your Internet connection. It’s part of a protest calling for stronger net-neutrality regulations.
Videos won’t actually load any slower. The symbolic icon is intended to be a warning of what the Internet would look like without net neutrality.
Dozens of other sites—including Reddit, Digg, Mozilla, Upworthy, Imgur, Etsy, and Foursquare—had already announced plans to display the loading icon as part of the “Internet Slowdown” protest. But the addition of Netflix, the 25th most popular site in the United States according to analytics site Alexa, provides a major boost to the effort.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Startup Drives Serdes to 50G
Credo shows life left in NRZ approach
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323819&
Calif. – Credo Semiconductor demonstrated a working 50 Gbit/second serdes, a key building block for next-generation high-speed networking systems. The demo used traditional NRZ signaling rather than more complex modulation schemes many engineers have been pursuing.
Credo’s demo was based on a chip made in a 40nm TSMC process running on a simulated channel. It is not a product so much as a proof-of-concept that the traditional NRZ signaling technique is not dead as many engineer had thought.
The startup ported a 28 Gbit/s version of the serdes to TSMC’s 28nm process, expecting a tape out in October. It hopes to follow up with a 16nm FinFET version of a 56G serdes just four months later with equalization at 30dB at Nyquist and an anticipated power consumption of 175mw/channel.
If it can hit its targets, Credo’s approach could gain traction in so-called very short reach (VSR) modules running 56G signals about 100 mm, and possibly longer distances for some systems based on OEM-proprietary backplanes.
Several vendors are beginning to ship high-speed networking products today based on 25G channels with 50G seen as the next big leap.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC: ISPs Should Assume VPN Users Are Pirates
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/09/08/2348240/bbc-isps-should-assume-vpn-users-are-pirates
BBC is now getting involved in the copyright debates of other countries, notably Australia, where it operates four subscription channels.
“Since the evolution of peer-to-peer software protocols to incorporate decentralized architectures, which has allowed users to download content from numerous host computers, the detection and prosecution of copyright violations has become a complex task. This situation is further amplified by the adoption of virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxy servers by some users, allowing them to circumvent geo-blocking technologies and further evade detection,” the BBC explains.
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Making the Internet of Things Real, Part III: Possibilities in the Internet of Things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPSdf_w1CE
Tomi Engdahl says:
Embedded Systems and The Internet of Things – What’s Under the Hood?
http://intelligentsystemssource.com/embedded-systems-and-the-internet-of-things-whats-under-the-hood-3/
As the Internet of Things continues to grow, it is changing the nature of the devices that are attached and how we interact with them and their data into an object-oriented paradigm. This opens a path for a software system like embedded Java to be a natural means of development, control and interaction.
Java is “the language of choice within the enterprise, and what will drive M2M is not only the engineering community, but also businesses embracing it,” Michael Azoff, principal analyst at research firm Ovum, wrote in a recent report.
With billions of devices expected to join the IoT over the next several years, analysts expect organizations to continue this migration away from the legacy static languages that have been traditionally used. This steady integration into the IoT will have significant impact on device design
“The Internet of Things is rendering many incumbent embedded engineering technologies and design processes insufficient and antiquated,” Chris Rommel, vice president of M2M and embedded technology at VDC, wrote in a research report accompanying the firm’s survey findings. “Engineering organizations now need new solutions that address these evolving requirements and speed development and time to revenue.”
It is only set to get worse—or better, depending on one’s perspective. A recent survey of 1,867 Internet experts and stakeholders conducted by the Pew Research Internet Project found that there’s no perceived limit to where the IoT will show up in the near future. Respondents predicted that the IoT will be evident in most goods and services, ubiquitous in our homes, communities and environments, and will even be making appearances in our bodies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ericsson punts superfast picocell… for indoor not-spots
Up to 300Mb/s 4G speeds in your local shopping centre
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/09/ericsson_rbs_6402/
Ericsson is big on little cells. The new RBS 6402 is an indoor cell aimed at giving mobile coverage within what Ericsson calls “smaller buildings and venues”, but you might think of as still being pretty big – around 5,000 square metres.
What makes it special is that it’s the first picocell to support carrier aggregation, which gives up to 300Mbps on 4G. In our Monopoly pub crawl mobe coverage survey we found that carrier aggregation gave EE a huge advantage in performance and Vodafone revealed to us that it too will have carrier aggregation very soon.
As the first picocell with carrier aggregation, the RBS 6402 delivers twice the capacity and speed, supporting LTE. It’s the only multi-carrier, multi-standard (LTE, WCDMA and Wi-Fi) and mixed-mode small cell to support ten different bands, with two 3GPP bands (LTE and WCDMA) plus 802.11ac Wi-Fi operating simultaneously to deliver higher peak rates and capacity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ericsson is big on little cells. The new RBS 6402 is an indoor cell aimed at giving mobile coverage within what Ericsson calls “smaller buildings and venues”
It integrates LTE and 3G radio access with Wi-Fi using Ericsson’s industry-first Real-Time Traffic Steering to dynamically and seamlessly shift the mobile device connection between networks. It also uses LTE-Advanced and supports VoLTE.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/09/ericsson_rbs_6402/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Diabetes Data, Everywhere
A Continuous Glucose Monitor, the Cloud = Life Saving, Life Changing Diabetes Care… for everyone.
http://hackaday.io/project/1922-Diabetes-Data%2C-Everywhere
A Dexcom G4 continuos glucose monitor and its protocols were decoded to allow for real time upload of critical Blood Glucose data, and viewing by Mom, Dad, his school nurse.
A pebble watch to give a glanceable peek and helpful alerts
A continuous glucose monitor, offers a frequent look at blood glucose levels – this feature alone makes it a worthy (should be standard!) weapon in the war with t1d.
By removing the location limit enforced by the standard receiver, the android + g4 receiver was just as life changing as the CGM alone.
Once the data was being published to the cloud, in our case, Azure – we set about creating glance-able views of the data.
Our iOS app makes wonderful use of push notifications to inform us of potentially dangerous blood glucose values, as well as system failures.
But the pebble watch made monitoring our son’s blood glucose [BG] very passive, and took back much of the time we spent actively monitoring his BGs. Vibration alerts would notify us of events or conditions that required our attention.
Making the uploader and pebble app open source & collaborating with others has grown the tools into a viral sensation and is widely used by many, many more people than I would have ever imagined.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bringing it all together, optically
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-8/features/fiber-optics/bringing-it-all-together-optically.html?cmpid=EnlDataCentersSeptember92014
Optical fiber connectors for present and future networks
Fiber-optic connectors play an integral role in network performance, even more so as data rates increase and system loss budgets get tighter. There is an ongoing need for connectors that provide low losses, small footprints, easier termination and lower-cost solutions, and users have a variety of options to meet their network-design needs.
The most common connectors in use today are the SC (Subscriber Connector), the ST (Straight Tip), and the FC (Fiber Connector). In addition, small-form-factor connectors such as the LC (Lucent Connector) are used in high-density optical transmission products and for applications including fiber-to-the-home and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), where space is at a premium. Another connector gaining popularity is the MPO (Multi-Fiber Push-On), which is used for high-fiber-count terminations that use ribbon fibers.
Each design has pros and cons, so when choosing connectors, it’s important to consider several factors.
This article will provide an overview of the various defining characteristics and features of the most common connectors
Tomi Engdahl says:
OIF demos 100G multi-vendor interoperability
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/09/oif-100g-interop-demo.html
The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has developed a multi-vendor interoperability demonstration that tests live traffic over media including optical fiber, copper cables and backplanes, highlighting the expansion of 100G component availability to smaller form factors.
The event marks the OIF’s fifth demonstration of 4 x 25Gb/s (100Gb/s) channels and includes nine different demo scenarios featuring 11 different participating companies. OIF member companies participating in the demos include Amphenol, Finisar, Fujitsu Optical Components, Inphi, JDSU, Molex, MoSys, Semtech, TE Connectivity, Xilinx and Yamaichi Electronics along with Agilent Technologies and Tektronix providing testing equipment.
“OIF members continue to lead the industry in developing agreements that enable an interoperable ecosystem ofhardware based on 25 to 28Gb/s electrical and optical channels,”