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:
Report: Small cell backhaul market growth may hinge on millimeter wave technologies
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/12/abi-small-cell-millimeter-wave.html
ABI Research expects the small cell backhaul equipment market to exceed US$5 billion in 2019, which aligns with operators’ deliberate approach to small cell deployments. The updates in ABI’s latest Small Cells Market Data reflect the rollout delays in the small cell market, asserts the analyst. These changes reflect real deployment scenarios and ABI Research believes 2015 will now witness meaningful small cell deployments.
Millimeter wave technology—thanks to its large bandwidth and NLOS capability—is the fastest growing technology in the latest forecast, assert ABI’s analysts, outpacing the overall market with over 100% CAGR between 2014 and 2019. Sub 6GHz technology will capture the largest share of small cell backhaul “last mile” links, predicts the new research, while also outperforming the total market by 2019. Traditional microwave equipment remains a top technology for small cell backhaul applications with a leading share of revenue and one-fourth share of links in 2019.
“We believe that 4G/LTE small cell solutions will again drive most of the microwave, millimeter wave, and sub 6GHz backhaul growth in metropolitan, urban, and suburban areas and also backhaul for 4G/LTE small cells will grow at 2X the rate for 3G and surpass both 2G and 3G in 2016,” says Nick Marshall, Research Director at ABI Research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tale of two thermostats: Nest teardown
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/eye-on-iot-/4437962/Tale-of-two-thermostats–Nest-teardown?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141216&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20141216&elq=4efd5635fc814e5e8527625c1769263f&elqCampaignId=20685
Home automation is the application where many consumers are getting their first introduction to the Internet of Things (IoT), so it seemed appropriate to explore how vendors are approaching device design in this market. I selected two devices to explore. One was the Nest thermostat, which generated considerable buzz in the market when it came out a few years ago. The other was a more recent introduction: the Honeywell smart WiFi thermostat. Both are available at various chain home improvement stores.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apps Layer: ’800lb Gorilla’ in IoT Nobody Talks About
‘Things’ Are the Thing in Internet of Things
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325012&
Plenty of people and companies in the technology world tend to come at the Internet of Things by dwelling on the “Internet.” But what if, instead, we started with the “Things?”
Ashton said knowing intimately what “things” are supposed to do and how they think and behave will be the key to solving one of the IoT’s most pressing issues: application layers.
Over the past 18 months, the industry has launched numerous consortia, from Qualcomm’s AllSeen and Intel’s Open Interconnect Consortium to Apple’s HomeKit and Google’s Thread. Every entity says it’s targeting the “interoperability” of things at home, but each is obviously concentrating primarily on its own interests. The “layers” they are working on may be also slightly different from those pursued by others.
Ashton said bluntly that no industry consortium is particularly interested in defining — in gory detail — the specific functions of, say, what a door lock is supposed to do. Of course, “smart people [pursuing IoT] in Silicon Valley can get together and debate what electronic door locks should do besides opening and closing.” But if you talk to lock companies, they’ll say they’ve already defined functions such as battery checks, scheduled routines for locking specific doors, complex rolling codes, and maintenance codes.
The library of commands for each function already exists, he said. “No door lock companies are looking forward to going through another arduous process of sitting around at a table and discussing what are already described in a binary format.”
Nevertheless, someone, or some group, has to translate those already determined commands into an IP-friendly format. Ashton would not name names, but he said one of the standards organizations will take up the challenge in 2015. “The information is not public yet,” but this will be the first step to “knock barriers down for IoT” in 2015.
Missing today in the IoT are reliability and robustness. For example, consumers know, when they flick a switch, the light turns on. They expect switches to be infinitely reliable. But if new wirelessly connected light switches worked only 95 or 97% of the time for some reason, we’d have to cancel the project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Metro Network Race Is On
Sigfox plans narrowband U.S., satellite nets
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324960&
A startup based near Toulouse, France, hopes to raise more than $70 million to build a national network in the US for the Internet of Things. Sigfox hopes to close funding early next year in what it sees as a race to be the first with a broadly deployed wide-area IoT network.
The company says it has a lead with national IoT nets using ISM-band transceivers that have already been deployed in France and Spain and are in the works in the UK. It also has an unnamed partner with whom it hopes to put base stations on satellites for a future IoT network with global coverage.
The ambitious effort is part of the latest race to create low-power, wide-area networks. At least half a dozen companies (including Huawei, China’s top communications company) are engaged in separate efforts taking different approaches, many at an early stage.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Things: Engineering for Everyone
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1324995&
The emergence of open-source development platforms, developed and maintained by dedicated volunteers, has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms.
Not too long ago, the idea of open source was synonymous with “free,” because, of course, there is no upfront cost involved. That perception was successfully realigned, through education, towards “liberty,” the freedom to use the resource without cost.
The distinction is important because, in order for open source to continue to grow, it requires those benefiting from it to contribute back to the project in some way — an action that clearly involves a level of effort and therefore contains an element of cost.
The availability of open-source software and, more recently, hardware targeting embedded applications means that access to high-quality engineering resources has never been greater.
The emergence of open-source development platforms based on popular microprocessors, developed and maintained by dedicated volunteers, has effectively raised the level of abstraction to a point where nonexperts can now use these platforms to turn their own abstract concepts into real products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google and Verizon cross-license patents to ‘reduce the risk’ of future litigation
http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/16/google-and-verizon-cross-license-patents-to-reduce-the-risk-of-future-litigation/
Google and Verizon today announced a long-term patent cross-license agreement. The duo said the deal covers “a broad range of products and technologies” but details were scarce beyond that.
Amusingly, the companies said the agreement will merely “reduce the risk of future patent litigation.” That leaves quite a large loophole open, we’d say.
“This cross license allows both companies to focus on delivering great products and services to consumers around the world,” Kirk Dailey, Head of Patent Transactions at Google, said in a statement. “We’re pleased to enter into this agreement with an industry leader like Verizon, and we welcome discussions with any company interested in a similar arrangement.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why is ICANN rushing its ‘UN ‘net security council’? So it can be announced at Davos
Fascinating tale of world elites, anti-NSA rumblings and the web’s future
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/17/why_the_netmundial_rush_so_it_can_be_announced_at_davos/
Despite rejections from its closest allies and calls for delay, ICANN is determined to create a “coordination council” for its internet-steering NetMundial Initiative this month. Why?
The initiative was born out of a meeting in April between some governments, ICANN, and others, in Brazil, to discuss the future direction of the web in the wake of Edward Snowden’s NSA surveillance revelations.
Why is it so urgent that the ruling council be created when the organizations that would be expected to provide members are refusing to sign up?
Yet still the NetMundial Initiative organizers, and especially ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade, continue to insist on moving ahead with the council, rather than delay proceedings to spend more time filling up the panel’s 20 seats.
Again, why the rush to have the council in place by the end of the year?
Chehade has twice argued that it was because the three organizers didn’t want to continue to have to answer all the questions themselves (“we don’t want to be the ones any more making these clarifications”), and instead the coordination council should drive the initiative.
The organizers have not mentioned any specific activity planned for January but as the call then makes clear, plans have been in place for some time to hold the council’s first meeting on 19 January.
As the discussion continues, it becomes clear that the 19 January date exists for but a single reason: that the powerful World Economic Forum meets in Davos, Switzerland, between 21 and 24 January.
The importance of the Davos meeting even causes Chehade to ask the initiative’s staff to go back to the Swiss government and ask them if they would consider hosting the council meeting in Zurich rather than Geneva – because it is closer to Davos.
ICANN wants to be on that list, with its CEO proudly revealing his initiative in front of the world’s business elite. It will be quite a moment for this man of humble beginnings.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Single Group Dominates Second Round of Anti Net-Neutrality Comment Submissions
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/12/17/052226/single-group-dominates-second-round-of-anti-net-neutrality-comment-submissions
According to the Sunlight Foundation’s analysis of recent comment submissions to the FCC regarding Net Neutrality, the majority (56.5%) were submitted by a single organization called American Commitment
One group dominates the second round of net neutrality comments
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/12/16/one-group-dominates-the-second-round-of-net-neutrality-comments/
Among our key findings from round two:
In marked contrast to the first round, anti-net neutrality commenters mobilized in force for this round, and comprised the majority of overall comments submitted, at 60%. We attribute this shift almost entirely to the form-letter initiatives of a single organization, American Commitment, who are single-handedly responsible for 56.5% of the comments in this round.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gigabit-over-TV-cable spec DOCSIS 3.1 passes interop test
Saviour of Australia’s National Broadband network edges closer to real-world deployment
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/17/gigabitovertvcable_spec_docsis_31_passes_interop_test/
DOCSIS 3.1, a standard designed to deliver downloads at up to 10Gbps on existing hybrid fibre-coax cable television networks, has passed an interoperability test.
The Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standard is overseen by Cable Labs, a not-for-profit outfit that conducts research for the cable companies who fund it and fill its membership roster. Cable companies have an obvious interest in squeezing more out of their existing networks and DOCSIS 3.1 certainly does that: the standard’s spec calls for download speeds of up to 10Gbps and uploads at 1Gbps, albeit over short distances.
DOCSIS last received a major revision in 2006, when version 3.0 was released and enabled 100Mbps services in many nations.
The interop test saw half a dozen makers of modems, nodes and other network kit put recently-released chip and physical layer standards to the test. Cable Labs says the tests “successfully demonstrated both higher efficiency and wider channels, which combine to make multi-Gbps speeds possible.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel, Cisco and co reveal PLANS to keep tabs on WORLD’S MACHINES
Connecting everything to everything… Er, good idea?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/10/ge_intel_cisco_verizon_connected_data_machines_plan/
RoTM GE, Intel, Cisco, and Verizon have announced a big data deal to connect Predix — GE’s software platform — to machines, systems, and edge devices regardless of manufacturer.
“By connecting more assets and equipment (to each other and people) at the edge to the cloud, industrial operators gain more insight into the performance of their operations,” said a GE press statement.
In other words, more data will help cut costs.
The platform will be able to connect to everything from railways to electric power grids, air traffic control towers, to hospitals even in the remotest and most severe corners of the globe.
“The more we can connect, monitor and manage the world’s machines, the more insight and visibility we can give our customers to reduce unplanned downtime and increase predictability,” said Jeff Immelt, GE chairman & CEO.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beware of merging, telcos. CHEAPER SPECTRUM follows
HOW will shareholders rip off taxpayers now?!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/17/mobile_firms_merging_tend_to_lower_prices/
What consumers end up paying for mobile phone services isn’t the only price we’re worried about.
But there’s another number that would be impacted by fewer competitors: what they need to pay governments for access to the spectrum.
Despite the Commission’s antitrust arm worrying that mergers reduce consumer choice and push up prices, Bouverot says: “There is little evidence that markets with four operators have lower prices, over the long term, than those with three.”
The GSMA called on competition authorities to “more readily consider the advantages of mobile mergers and in particular the long-term benefits they can deliver to consumers” and rely less on existing pricing analysis. In other words, “Please put fewer constraints on us”.
Evil capitalist bastards!
We start with the idea that the firms are capitalist bastards. Whatever their cost base, they’re going to charge us consumers the maximum they can get away with. So increasing the spectrum price doesn’t change what we pay.
And of course it would be possible for the government to just allocate that nice, valuable, spectrum to a few chums. Certain places have certainly done that. But why should a group of private shareholders make money out of the mere existence of something valuable?
Less of the profit to be made out of the spectrum’s mere existence goes to the shareholders and more of it goes to reduce other taxes on those same consumers. It’s a great idea.
Even better, it gets allocated to those willing to pay the higher price – meaning, we assume, those who have the best ideas about how to exploit that existence. And that’s the other price that we want to be careful of.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Service Economy: The Third Industrial Revolution Will Turn Customers into Designers
http://www.gereports.com/post/78572419076/service-economy
The first Industrial Revolution was about machines, the second about technology, and the third will take place inside the “Brilliant Factory,” says Christine Furstoss, global technology director at GE Global Research.
Based in part in the cloud, the Brilliant Factory will be a place where designers, suppliers and production engineers will collaborate over crowdsourcing platforms, design goods and virtually test production without touching materials or machines. “They will download the process to intelligent machines on the factory floor when they are ready,” Furstoss says. “When production starts, they will be able to make real-time adjustments based on what’s happening to optimize efficiency.”
A key element of that crowdsourcing collaboration will be the customer. “Service, the function that’s usually closest to the customer, feeds engineering with reality-based measures of product performance,” says Ian Boulton, senior director for solution strategy at the Big Data firm PTC. “Engineering, in turn, designs products with service optimization in mind.”
Boulton believes that the advent of the Industrial Internet (or Internet of Things), a network that connects machines with software, sensors and data, is “transforming product development processes and accelerating design innovation.” He calls this trend “servitization.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Software Defined Traffic
https://www.basen.net/#/page?name=NBlog_blogentry_301014_0&source=wiki
Services like marinetraffic.com and flightradar24.com have recently become quite popular, due to widespread media references during air disasters and e.g. the recent submarine hunting operation in Sweden.
Marinetraffic.com collects and maps standard marine AIS messages on VHF frequencies 161.975 and 162.025 MHz; flightradar24 listens to the ADS-B air radar signal on 1.090 GHz and 978 MHz with vertically polarized antenna. AIS has an effective range of less than 100 kilometers, while ADS-B can propagate 300km in suitable weather conditions.
In the past, both AIS and ADS-B receivers were expensive and used almost exclusively by commercial air and marine operators, in addition to national traffic controls. However, proliferation of Software Defined Radio (SDR) has completely changed the game, enabling AIS and ADS-B decoding with common PC hardware using open source SDR tools and standard radio equipment – which equals to $20 USB TV sticks using chips found in virtually all new televisions.
Both marinetraffic and flightradar24 are based on crowdsourcing, meaning that there are enough volunteer hobbyists sending in their received AIS/ASD-B data over the Internet, and in exchange getting their nearby traffic to a common map.
The database and visualization engines behind these services do not require much scalability, as the number of ships and planes in motion and thus the concurrent data flow is growing slowly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrie 4.0 Spimed
https://www.basen.net/#/page?name=NBlog_blogentry_190814_0&source=wiki
German Industrie 4.0 initiative
Apart from witnessing the brotherly German-French competition, it was interesting to learn that I4.0 architecture group is contemplating between two models, namely fully Cloud-based and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) including Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) mediation. Moreover, I was surprised that I4.0 is predominantly about increasing resource efficiency of existing industries, while introducing ‘Lot of 1′ (mass customization) as the only game changer.
The SOA/ESB model is considered more secure and compatible with existing architectures, but it is inflexible and expensive to implement. It also introduces not-so-obvious bottlenecks by predefining data models while e.g. communication technology underneath evolves. But as always, firewalls make some people feel safer.
The pure Cloud model, especially when hastily implemented, indeed introduces security challenges as most of the analysis and control might happen in a software defined, ever changing environment vulnerable to cyber attacks.
We believe in a unified architecture, implemented locally or in the Cloud, or, as in most cases, somewhere in between. This means that the ‘local’ implementation (or in-house as we call it) is running exactly the same components and interfaces as the larger Cloud infrastructure, just with fewer shared resources. This makes most code universal and reusable, which means less wheel-reinventing and faster code evolution. ESB, as an intra-company concept, should be shelved in favor of open methods such as SOAP and JSON.
In a wider view, what I’m missing in the whole I4.0 is the next generation service innovation happening with cyber-physical systems
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spimes Shall be User-Centric
https://www.basen.net/#/page?name=NBlog_blogentry_161214_0&source=wiki
One of the disruptive differences in our Spime architecture is that it will be user (human) centric. Products and services designed by using real time feedback from millions of customers lead to mass customization and much more persistent, if not eternal, customer relationships. Value steadily flows to the digital side, even with mundane products like (Socks).
We have seen this already with quite traditional industries like elevators and escalators made, for example, by Kone. Their People Flow ideology is rooted to becoming a service provider, offering the best transportation between floors, with the best price per person. Nearly every complex part of the elevator sends back performance data, and each transport event is stored in the cloud, to be analyzed and subsequently optimized.
User-centric, evolutionary design is hard, though, as existing models have been taught in engineering and business schools for the last couple of centuries. Now for the first time, the prototype becomes the norm
With new digital possibilities, products and services can also merge and split on demand.
Spimes will inevitably introduce former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s famous ‘known unknowns’ and even ‘unknown unknowns’ into every product and service, what comes to their lifecycle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t Fire-and-Forget Your Products
https://www.basen.net/#/page?name=NBlog_blogentry_200414_0&source=wiki
Most businesses today operate in a fire-and-forget mode. As soon as the product is sold, it becomes a mere liability for the duration of its warranty.
While lot of resources is used to enhance production, sourcing and distribution processes, customer and consumer behavior and the product’s afterlife get surprisingly little attention. Yes there are the registration URLs and earlier the mail-in cards, but they’re usually designed as such nuisances that some one percent or less of customers fill them.
Fire-and-forget model is sticky
Spimes will start a new era. Connectivity and sensing technologies are quickly becoming affordable even for the cheapest products, such as rooftiles and lunchboxes. Suddenly the tile manufacturer is aware of the status and usage of every single tile she has sold – providing her with several new ways to interact with and sell more to the customer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia: Buh-bye LUMIA and cash-sucking handset pals… LET’S MAKE SOME MONEY!
Nabs deals to roll out networks in China, US
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/11/14/nokia_raises_profitability_target_4g_networks/
14 Nov 2014
Nokia has raised its long-term profitability target and expects its new business of concentrating strictly on the telecoms equipment game to grow next year.
The Finnish firm, which has focused on making telco gear and its intellectual property portfolio since ditching its handset unit earlier this year, said that strong demand for faster 4G networks was increasing its profit margin.
Last month, the firm’s results showed an operating profit margin of 11.4 per cent for the first nine months of the year at its networks unit, after it bagged a contract to supply 4G equipment to China Mobile and helped US network Sprint to build out its 4G network.
The boost gave the firm cause to lift its long term target for operating profit margin to eight to 11 per cent, from a previous goal of five to ten per cent. Nokia told investors about the new target at its first Capital Markets Day in some time that.
The company is hoping to grow its networks unit at a slightly faster rate than the market
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sequans: The Startup That Started Over
Transitioning from WiMax to LTE CAT 0
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324970&
Early one Paris morning in July 2011, Georges Karam, president and CEO of Sequans Communications, got a call from HTC, Taiwan’s leading mobile handset vendor and Karam’s biggest customer. The caller asked Karam to stop shipping Sequans’ WiMax radio chips — which had been designed into HTC’s then very popular EVO phones supplied to Sprint in the United States.
The reason for this catastrophic cancellation wasn’t immediately clear to Karam.
Sequans, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange earlier that year, had to go back to a very old drawing board. “We became a new startup all over again — with no product and no market,” Karam told us.
From WiMAX to LTE CAT 0
Sequans today, which began its life by making WiMAX radio chips, is squarely focused on the LTE-only single modem chip market.
Sequans chose to play in a much smaller segment of LTE market by supplying single-mode LTE-only modem chips to data devices such as home routers, portable routers and tablets. Unlike LTE smartphones whose voice functions need to fall back on 2G and 3G when there’s no LTE coverage, LTE data devices don’t necessarily come with that requirement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi Technology for Aerial Nano Drone
http://www.eeweb.com/news/wi-fi-technology-for-aerial-nano-drone
UK-based Torquing Group has tapped Lantronix, Inc. to provide secure, onboard Wi-Fi technology for its new ZANO nano drone, an aerial photography and HD video capture nano platform that allows users to instantly begin capturing and sharing moments like never before.
The hand-sized ZANO utilizes the Lantronix xPico® Wi-Fi module to provide secure and direct connectivity to both iOS and Android devices, which enables users to communicate with and control the ZANO. Utilizing a smartphone or tablet, users can either direct ZANO or set the intelligent nano drone to automatically follow the user and capture photos from a fixed distance. A multitude of sensors work seamlessly together to allow ZANO to avoid obstacles, hold its position, and know exactly where it is in conjunction with a smart handheld device, at all times.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sense Bluetooth Smart Sensor DevKit
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/mouser/sense-bluetooth-smart-sensor-devkit
The BCM9WICED_SENSE (Mouser: 401-BCM9WICED_SENSE) is a Sense Bluetooth Smart Sensor Development Kit featuring six MEMS sensors and an associated smartphone app interface. It is developed for applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) development and MEMS sensor development.
Broadcom’s WICED™ Sense Bluetooth Smart Sensor Development Kit is a kit for the WICED SMART product family based on BCM20737S SIP module featuring Bluetooth Smart technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Internet SDK integrates Wi-Fi, BLE and NFC
http://www.edn.com/design/design-tools/development-kits/4438018/Wireless-Internet-SDK-integrates-Wi-Fi–BLE-and-NFC-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20141217&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20141217&elq=90cda48b5c8b49989e03f6ee38c4c3ce&elqCampaignId=20763
The Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) software development kit (SDK) from Broadcom now integrates Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart and NFC into single development kit. It enables a seamless tap-and-connect consumer experience for IoT devices and simplifies integration of NFC for developers in home, medical, retail and enterprise segments.
The WICED SDK with NFC simplifies the set-up process between mobile and smart devices. The tap-to-activate capability of NFC enables a user to touch their smartphone to a portable speaker and instantly launch a music streaming application without a complex set-up menu.
“Broadcom is the first to integrate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart onto a single platform, and today we further distance ourselves from the competition by adding NFC to our WICED software stack,”
NFC users expected to reach more than 500 million by 2019 according to Juniper Research, NFC Mobile Payments, October 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kit promotes wearable wireless designs
http://www.edn.com/design/design-tools/development-kits/4437972/Kit-promotes-wearable-wireless-designs?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20141217&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20141217&elq=90cda48b5c8b49989e03f6ee38c4c3ce&elqCampaignId=20763
QuickLogic has teamed up with Nordic Semiconductor to create the TAG-N evaluation kit for the development and testing of wearable devices with always-on sensor capability. The bundle comprises the QuickLogic ArticLink 3 S2 low-power programmable sensor hub, QuickLogic algorithms, and a direct connection to the Nordic Semiconductor nRF51, a multiprotocol development board that targets Bluetooth Smart designs using the RF51822 SoC.
QuickLogic’s ArticLink 3 S2 CSSP (Customer Specific Standard Product) programmable sensor hub consumes just 150 µW and supports always-on, always-aware applications in wearable devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1 in 5 Europeans Has Never Used the Internet
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/12/17/1-in-5-europeans-has-never-used-the-internet/
Believe it or not, at a time when many of us are glued to our smartphones and messaging apps, there are still many Europeans who say they have never used the Internet.
Nearly one in five Europeans aged 16 to 74 have still never used the internet, according to the latest results in an annual survey released Tuesday from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.
When asked, “When did you last use the Internet?”, 18% of people surveyed answered “never,” down from 43% in 2006.
Those results are similar to a forecast made by research company eMarketer in November. The company said that about 73% of Western Europeans and 52% of Central and Eastern Europeans had used the Internet at least once in the past month.
The definition of “the Internet” has grown vastly in recent years with the widespread adoption of smartphones and apps that move beyond simple web browsers. The survey asked generally about use of the internet, without defining it. The survey later asked whether people used smartphones, laptops or other devices, and what they used the internet for, such as emails, social networks, gaming or shopping.
Since 2006, the number of Europeans who said they used the Internet daily, or nearly every day, jumped to 65% from 31%. That is still nearly a third of Europeans who say they don’t use the Internet every day.
At the extremes, it seems that everyone in Iceland is online, while many Romanians appear to be largely offline.
Only 1% of people in Iceland said they had never used the Internet, while 94% said they used it every day.
Worldwide, 40% of people have used the internet at least once in the last month, according to the eMarketer forecasts from November.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech More: Mobile Internet of Things BI Intelligence Consumer Electronics
The ‘Internet of Things’ Will Be The World’s Most Massive Device Market And Save Companies Billions Of Dollars
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-internet-of-things-market-will-grow-2014-10
The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to grow significantly, as consumers, businesses, and governments recognize the benefit of connecting inert devices to the internet.
In an all-new report from BI Intelligence, we examine what is currently driving growth in the Internet of Things and how various sectors of the economy will embrace IoT innovations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alcatel Lucent, Nokia Networks In Merger Talks: Manager Magazin
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-alcatel-lucent-nokia-networks-in-merger-talks-manager-magazin-2014-12#ixzz3MKIxSDIJ
Tomi Engdahl says:
ZTE is already testing 5G base station
5G technology development is still at an early stage, but it does not slow down business marketing talk. China’s ZTE says now that he had completed the first field test “pre-5G base station”. As a partner of China Mobile tests.
ZTE, the test was examined in particular the so-called. Massive MIMO Solutions, where the base station antenna 128 is used for the head.
Nokia’s vision 5G network means a system that brings users the best 10-gigabit data rates of one millisecond delay, but on the one hand, for example, should IoT machine to run on battery power for 10 years. These requirements for the data rate is the easiest to achieve, after all, Nokia already demonnut LTE-Advanced technology 4.1 gigabit link.
One millisecond of latency is a very tough technical challenge.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2222:zte-testaa-jo-5g-tukiasemaa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Craig Timberg / Washington Post:
Critical vulnerabilities in SS7 telephony protocol found; tested techniques can decrypt cell phone calls and texts — German researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls. — German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers …
German researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/18/german-researchers-discover-a-flaw-that-could-let-anyone-listen-to-your-cell-calls-and-read-your-texts/
German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers, spies and criminals listen to private phone calls and intercept text messages on a potentially massive scale – even when cellular networks are using the most advanced encryption now available.
The flaws, to be reported at a hacker conference in Hamburg this month, are the latest evidence of widespread insecurity on SS7, the global network that allows the world’s cellular carriers to route calls, texts and other services to each other. Experts say it’s increasingly clear that SS7, first designed in the 1980s, is riddled with serious vulnerabilities that undermine the privacy of the world’s billions of cellular customers.
The flaws discovered by the German researchers are actually functions built into SS7 for other purposes – such as keeping calls connected as users speed down highways, switching from cell tower to cell tower – that hackers can repurpose for surveillance because of the lax security on the network.
These vulnerabilities continue to exist even as cellular carriers invest billions of dollars to upgrade to advanced 3G technology aimed, in part, at securing communications against unauthorized eavesdropping. But even as individual carriers harden their systems, they still must communicate with each other over SS7, leaving them open to any of thousands of companies worldwide with access to the network. That means that a single carrier in Congo or Kazakhstan, for example, could be used to hack into cellular networks in the United States, Europe or anywhere else.
“It’s like you secure the front door of the house, but the back door is wide open,” said Tobias Engel, one of the German researchers.
The researchers did not find evidence that their latest discoveries, which allow for the interception of calls and texts, have been marketed to governments on a widespread basis. But vulnerabilities publicly reported by security researchers often turn out to be tools long used by secretive intelligence services, such as the National Security Agency or Britain’s GCHQ, but not revealed to the public.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial IoT Framework Near
Industrial Internet Group Plans Testbeds
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325042&
Early next year, the Industrial Internet Consortium plans to wrap up work on a broad reference architecture for the Internet of Things, ramp up three test beds, and start identifying gaps where new standards may be needed.
The group, formed in March by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel, now has about 115 members and aims to make it easier to build commercial IoT systems. It also wants to drive development of supporting standards and an industry ecosystem.
The IIC hopes to finish a first draft of its reference architecture by the end of January and have it ratified by March. It will define functional areas and the technologies and standards for them, from sensors to data analytics and business applications.
The framework includes versions for vertical markets including aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, smart cities, and transportation. A breakout section on security also is in the works.
“We are trying to use the reference architecture to help people construct industrial IoT systems quickly and easily,” says Stephen Mellor, chief technology officer of the IIC. “Later we will go deep and identify specific problems… and from there, point to gaps.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
ITU EMF Guide
http://emfguide.itu.int/emfguide_m.html
Wireless communication technology has become indispensable part of the modern society. The use of mobile phones, tablets and wireless devices have become basic communication tools of everyday life for billions of people around the world, and also common for medical applications. Base stations and telecommunications towers are continuously being erected to provide good quality wireless communications.
Together with the introduction of wireless communication technologies, there has been some public concern about the potential health risks associated with wireless communications including the use of mobile phones and living near base stations.
The purpose of the EMF Project is to assess the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz.
“All reviews conducted so far have indicated that exposures below the limits recommended in the International Commission for Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) 1998 EMF guidelines, covering the full frequency range from 0-300 GHz, do not produce any known adverse health effect. However, there are gaps in knowledge still needing to be filled before better health risk assessments can be made.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Terminal, such as a smartphone testing is not simple nor cheap fun for. It requires practice in expensive metering equipment investment. French Amarisoft has, however, developed a solution where LTE base station can be a standard practice to run on a newer PC.
Amarisoft sell a license that contains the binary format eNodeB base station. The package also supports eMBMS-testing. The license price is 4500 euros.
The French company also sells a total package that is completely finished, the PC and the N contained in the tested package. It comes with a price of 15 500 euros. According gets Samsung S5 smartphone.
Amarisoftin the base station supports 3GPP Release 9 specification. The software is tested 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz bandwidths.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2228:tukiasema-pyorii-perus-pc-lla&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Technology Lab / Information Technology
Skype Translator is the most futuristic thing I’ve ever used
It’s like something straight out of science fiction.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/12/skype-translator-is-the-most-futuristic-thing-ive-ever-used/
I spoke English. A moment later, an English language transcription would appear, along with a Spanish translation. Then a Spanish voice would read that translation.
It took a moment to get used to the pacing of the conversation—the brief delay for the translation means that if you understand the language of the other person, there’s a temptation to respond immediately, without waiting for the voice to read the translation—but once this rhythm was learned, the conversation was fluent and continuous.
In this preview, Spanish and English are the only spoken languages on offer. It also handles text conversations, and there are some 40 different languages on offer for text.
Intellectually, I understand that all the different parts have been done before—Microsoft has shipped speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology for the better part of 20 years now, and robotranslation of Web content is relatively commonplace, if a little haphazard. But tying these pieces together has turned them into something magical and awe-inspiring.
Truly, this is transformational technology. It’s not often that I use something that leaves me excited, something that makes me say “wow” not out of cynical sarcasm but because I’m genuinely impressed. But Skype Translator did it. Whether you call it a Star Trek Universal Translator or Babel fish, Microsoft is building it, and it’s incredible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CardFi – world’s first iBeacon Business Card
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cardfi-world-s-first-ibeacon-business-card
CardFi is going to revolutionize the way business associates network with each other, and so much more. You are looking at the world’s first iBeacon Integrated Business Card.
CardFi is an iBeacon integrated DEVICE and MOBILE APPLICATION, you can use either one or both, they carry the same CardFi ID and its on demand, you can activate when you want to exchange business card. Or for networking purposes, in an exhibition or seminar you can leave it on all time.
All the people in your proximity will receive a notification with your details, they add, you confirm, you have now exchanged business cards.
CardFi will even save in your “Cloud”, the location, time and with whom you met. It’s easy to follow and manage, and you can also immediately add notes and reminders on each contact you add. CardFi can be synced with all other contact services as Google, Linkedin, Outlook and many more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connecting the world with sensors
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/now-hear-this/4437954/Connecting-the-world-with-sensors?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20141219&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20141219&elq=13a46b7b42e748699d2b4c5a62c60be9&elqCampaignId=20811
Sensors from ams are connecting the world. Sensing everything from colors, to barometric pressure, and even smells can have useful real-world applications.
In the electronica 2014 video below, learn how position, chemical, spectral, and proximity sensors, along with real-world signal conditioning, can be applied to connected cars, video games, a smartphone breathalyzer, and much more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Skype Translator Hands-On: Close But No Babel Fish
http://gizmodo.com/skype-translator-hands-on-close-but-no-babel-fish-1671457117
When Skype announced its real-time translation program back in May, most of us seized on the sci-fi-ness off it all—Star Trek’s universal translator, Babel fish, etc. But the technology is very real, and has been for years, just it separate pieces. Skype Translator is is the commercial culmination of those efforts, bringing all those things, like speech recognition, automated translation, and machine learning, into one program.
This week Skype began rolling out the “first phase” of Translator, a beta version of the service’s live speech translating feature (between Spanish and English for now) and text translation for 40+ languages.
The promise of breaking down the global language barrier is a lofty one—solving the human speech puzzle with all its nuance and imperfection would give our machines a skill that has forever been uniquely human. Skype Translator doesn’t quite reach it. Not yet, anyway.
For Skype Translator to work properly, there is a little mental conditioning involved. For one, you must speak slowly. Skype Translator’s speech recognition is good, and plenty fast, but that accuracy decreases as you speed up in words per minute.
Also, you’ll need to make exaggerated pauses when you’re done speaking. Skype Translator will translate pretty quickly.
Skype Translator will start the conversation with audio translation turned on, meaning after every translated sentence, your male or female avatar, will hop in
Once you’re able to rewire your brain to Translator speak, then this program is really quite amazing. The speech recognition is the foundation of all the translation work. It needs to be perfect. Microsoft says headphones with a dedicated microphone will yield the best results, and for the most part, that was true. But even talking unplugged and over loud music, Translator was still able to do its thing pretty accurately.
Skype Translator Beta really feels like a language assistant that a true translator.
This an overly simplistic representation of the advanced computer science going on here, but Skype Translator recognizes your voice, corrects for any stuttering or ticks, translates and then delivers to the listener—all in a split second.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #686 – Mailbag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRgjgs3NnnE
Electric Imp Internet of Things
http://electricimp.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensors need to be smart, small, and integrated
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/now-hear-this/4438060/Sensors-need-to-be-smart–small–and-integrated
At electronica 2014, Bosch CEO Stefan Finkbeiner discussed the latest intelligent sensors and how they can be used in smartphones, IoT, and more.
Bosch’s BME280 sensor measures pressure, temperature, and humidity, which is useful for smartphones and buildings. And the tiny BMA355 accelerometer and the BMI160 low power IMU can find use in wearable devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coca-Cola Disconnects Voice Mail at Headquarters
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-22/coca-cola-disconnects-voice-mail-at-headquarters.html
Forget about leaving a voice mail at Coca-Cola Co.’s (KO) Atlanta headquarters. Send a text instead.
Office voice mail at the world’s largest soft-drink maker was shut down “to simplify the way we work and increase productivity,” according to an internal memo from Chief Information Officer Ed Steinike.
Coca-Cola is one of the biggest companies yet to ditch its old-style voice mail, which requires users to push buttons to scroll through messages and listen to them one at a time. Landline voice mail is increasingly redundant now that smartphones are ubiquitous and texting is as routine as talking.
“Most people have it, but they don’t end up using it,” said Vishy Gopalakrishnan, who manages AT&T Inc. (T)’s unified communications unit. “There are ways to get around it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi to Switch on IoT Appliances
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325071&
The long-held vision of connected home appliances is becoming a reality. White goods makers such as Electrolux, Haier, and their competitors in the AllSeen Alliance are gearing up refrigerators, ovens, washing machines, and more that ride WiFi networks and run Linux.
The group will stage a demo of connected appliances at the Consumer Electronics Show in January showing products on the market or on the way. Most are based on a new generation of low-cost 802.11n WiFi chips.
They will communicate with each other as well as cars, smartphones, and cloud services via open source software originally developed by Qualcomm under the name AllJoyn. Qualcomm gave the code a year ago to the Linux Foundation to maintain under the name AllSeen.
“Our appliances will be part of an ecosystem with other appliances including white goods from competitors and brown goods from someone else,”
The AllSeen Alliance has more than 100 members, including a handful of the world’s largest white goods makers — Europe’s Electrolux, China’s Haier, Korea’s LG, and Japan’s Panasonic, Sharp and Sony. AllSeen attracted companies such as Electrolux because “it is the only code which is open, based on Linux… and you can download it free of charge,” said Dorigo.
Emerging options such as Thread, announced in July by Google’s Nest group and the Open Internet Consortium, announced by Intel also in July, have yet to publish their specifications. Both plan to do so soon, and an Intel software executive said it aims to bring OIF specs under the management of the Linux Foundation.
Today, Broadcom and Qualcomm sell single-stream 2.4 GHz 802.11n chips geared for appliances and other cost-sensitive Internet of Things uses. Haier is using in a washer/dryer combo and an air conditioner Qualcomm’s QCA4004, announced in September.
“Our chip is more powerful than this…[because] we think that the role of our appliances is more than home automation, lighting security and so on.” said Dorigo of Electrolux. “If you consider how many millions of appliances we ship, we can ask for specific chip sets,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MEMS Spurred by Industrial IoT
Consumer still leads, but industrial IoT growing, too
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325082&
Consumer applications of MEMS get the most newspaper ink today, but industrial applications are also growing at a fast rate. Today, new categories of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) products using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are being defined — from asset-tracking systems to smart grids to smart building automation — and they will have a large market impact.
“I believe in the next decade the shipment and revenue for MEMS in consumer applications will continue to vastly exceed the MEMS market for industrial IoT,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:
Comcast-TWC merger looks less likely amid growing opposition, concern over state of US broadband
As Comcast merger enters final phase, deal may be on thin ice
https://gigaom.com/2014/12/24/as-comcast-merger-enters-final-phase-deal-may-be-on-thin-ice/
When telecom giant Comcast announced plans in February to swallow its largest rival, Time Warner Cable, the consensus in Washington and on Wall Street was that regulators would let the deal go through. Now, as the final phase of an FCC comment period draws to a close, all bets are off.
Recently, views of the merger have shifted amid growing public concern over the state of U.S. broadband, which is rapidly eclipsing pay TV as consumers’ go-to source for entertainment and information. Meanwhile, Comcast’s rivals have gained momentum in their quest to stop the deal.
“What makes Comcast unique is its power in three different facets — as a programmer, a distributor and an ISP,” Maurice Stucke, an antitrust professor at the University of Tennessee, told me in a recent interview.
According to Stucke, who opposes the merger, Comcast has tried to frame its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable through the lens of cable distribution and downplay other dimensions of the deal, especially its potential effect on the market for internet services.
Stucke suggests the combined company would have an unrivaled ability to leverage its broadband connections in order to get exclusive online deals from content providers, or to give special treatment to some websites over others.
The actual amount of control that a combined Comcast–Time Warner Cable would wield over the internet is in dispute.
Comcast’s proposed merger is facing an unprecedented level of opposition
Right now, the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable still stands a good chance of going through.
The final outcome, though, is likely to be determined by a combination of politics and straight-up policy analysis.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft, Cisco and Google round on Marriott’s plan to block WiFi
Tech giants say proposal would ‘do harm to consumer welfare’
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2388106/microsoft-cisco-and-google-round-on-marriott-s-plan-to-block-wifi
GOOGLE, MICROSOFT and a bunch of other firms have come together to oppose hotel chain Marriott’s plan to block access to personal WiFi hotspots.
According to a post on the ReCode website, the American Hospitality & Lodging Association and Marriott International are seeking permission from the FCC to block personal WiFi networks on their properties.
Microsoft, Google, Aruba and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association are among a number of organisations that have called on the FCC to reject the hoteliers’ request.
Microsoft argues that the proposition should not be allowed under existing communications rules.
“The Commission has repeatedly made clear that WiFi is protected from jamming and interference under Section 333,” it said.
In November the FCC fined Marriott some $600,000 for doing a similar sounding things at an event at the Gaylord Opryland event centre in the US.
Tomi Engdahl says:
News & Analysis
CSR to Offer ARM mbed Bluetooth & WiFi Boards
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325110&
CSR will shortly offer two connectivity products for the new ARM mbed operating system (OS) that will enable developers to produce complete Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
CSR will offer two mbed expansion boards, also known as shields; one combines WiFi and Bluetooth based on the CSR6030 and CSR8311 ICs. The other offers Bluetooth Smart connectivity based on the CSR1010 chip. These shields, which will be released in early 2015, are designed to work with the ARM mbed OS that will also be available to developers in early 2015. The two systems will provide the fundamental connectivity required for all IoT devices. With a choice of connectivity solutions, CSR says, developers can adopt the technology to achieve the right performance for each device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi Preps for 5G, IoT Roles
Next-gen 60 GHz effort begins
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325112&
WiFi standards in the works are preparing the hotspot technology for roles that range from 5G cellular backhaul to networking the Internet of Things, say two researchers working in the area. The efforts promise enhanced versions of WiFi running from 900 MHz to 60 GHz.
The so-called NG60 study group has had just two meetings so far and may require as much as two years to complete its first draft standard. It is working on an upgraded version of the 60 GHz version of WiFi, 802.11ad, capable of delivering 20 Gbit/s over a very short range.
Ultimately, NG60 also may include hardware support for mesh networks that could deliver a Gbit/s over 200 to 400 meters for backhaul links on small-cell base stations. Researchers at InterDigital Inc. are building a prototype of a 60 GHz directional mesh architecture using electronically steered phased array antennas that could support up to five hops.
A handful of 60 GHz chip vendors already are pursuing cellular backhaul as one application for chips based on the current 802.11ad standard. The NG60 work could enable a new version of chips supporting longer distances, higher data rates, and other new features.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IDE for ZigBee IoT MCUs promises “breakthrough” programming
http://www.edn.com/design/design-tools/development-kits/4438100/IDE-for-ZigBee-IoT-MCUs-promises–breakthrough–programming?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&elq=b6b8e17027ee4094b74ea741f5a8687f&elqCampaignId=20945
BeyondStudio IDE for the NXP Semiconductors JN516x family of wireless MCUs for Internet of Things (IoT) applications is a software development environment, developed by Beyond Semiconductor, that simplifies the development of software on the JN516x family improving code density, reducing development time and improving code quality.
Used in conjunction with the Beyond Debug Key, it provides full access to the JTAG software debug feature of the chips, simplifying and accelerating the development process.
“For almost a decade, the JN51xx microcontroller family has provided the optimum hardware platform for Zigbee products, integrating the highly efficient BA22 32-bit processor and a 2.4 GHz radio transceiver on a single chip,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stack enables Bluetooth to Internet for SoCs
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4438096/Stack-enables-Bluetooth-to-Internet-for-SoCs?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&elq=b6b8e17027ee4094b74ea741f5a8687f&elqCampaignId=20945
Nordic Semiconductor’s IPv6 over Bluetooth Smart protocol stack for its nRF51 Series SoCs puts, Nordic says, Bluetooth-direct-to-Internet connectivity – “Thing-to-cloud” – on one chip at micro-amp power levels, enabling small, low cost, ultra-low power Internet of Things applications.
Now available for download, the nRF51 IoT Software Development Kit (SDK) is a complete IPv6-ready Internet Protocol Suite for Nordic’s nRF51 Series Bluetooth Smart SoCs. The SDK enables native and interoperable IP-based connectivity between a Bluetooth Smart ‘thing’ and a cloud service. It also enables Bluetooth Smart to be used in large, distributed, cloud-connected, heterogeneous networks such as home, industrial, and enterprise automation.
Nordic sees a particular market opportunity in what it calls the “Internet of (my) Things”; of things around us that don’t necessarily belong to use but that “notice” us – the emerging market in beacons being an example. For such devices, the company sees an urgent need for a “headless router” – some means of enabling devices (nodes or ‘things’) to operate directly to Internet without the intervention of bridges or gateways.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rapidly move wireless algorithms to prototypes
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4438088/Rapidly-move-wireless-algorithms-to-prototypes?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20141229&elq=b6b8e17027ee4094b74ea741f5a8687f&elqCampaignId=20945
When it comes to developing new products, all development cycles take too long. That seems especially true for wireless designs. To help engineers get wireless designs to prototype and test more quickly, National Instruments has developed the LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite, a set of integrated hardware and software tools.
The suite includes a stand-alone version of LabVIEW
It works with NI hardware to let you develop software radios by programming them in LabVIEW, C, or Matlab m code, integrate them, and compile and download the code to an FPGA for prototyping and test. LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite provides a single development platform for R&D, design engineering, and implementation of the technologies such as 802.11, LTE, LTE-A massive MIMO, and others.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Are Enterprises Ready for Billions of Devices to Join the Internet?
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/enterprises-billions-of-devices-internet/
There are currently more devices connected to the Internet than there are people in the world. The Internet now connects a staggering 10 billion devices today. And this number will continue to grow, as more devices gain the ability to directly interface with the Internet or become physical representations of data accessible via Internet systems. This trend toward interactive device independence is collectively described as the Internet of Things (IoT).
To put the IoT’s explosive growth into perspective, Gartner estimates the IoT market at 26B devices by 2020. Cisco says IoT will add over $14 trillion dollars in economic value add by 2020. McKinsey predicts IoT will add $310B in incremental revenue to companies that embrace it. The numbers are huge with good reason: IoT embodies a revolution in the way enterprises are interacting with customers and how customers experience the enterprise world.
A recent foundational technology for IoT is a good proxy to illustrate the enormity of the most significant market disruption since the dawn of the Internet – IPv6. With IPv6, everything can have a unique number or IP address, making it easier and quicker for devices and data to find their way around the Internet. In comparison to IPv4’s 4.3 billion IP addresses, IPv6 can assign about 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses and corresponding devices.
IoT can seem like a nebulous abstraction with no link to daily life or business so one has to think in terms of “vertical industry applications” or “smart solutions” of vertically integrated networks for this to make sense. IoT ushers in a different sort of economics when devices and users start to communicate in these Enterprise “Smart Solution” networks. It’s called the network effect when adding more users and devices to that network increases the value that network.
Service Management and the automation of maintaining the automobile’s systems and functions provide a great customer driving experience.
Healthcare is an industry where IoT “Smart Solutions” systems are changing the landscape of patient care.
The impact of the IoT on healthcare is already significant. This includes everything from patient check-in using a “virtual” electronic medical record such as a tablet to tracking hospital medical equipment, teaching surgery procedures remotely using Google Glass or outpatient self help and care.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Security Research At the Hague, Netherlands: Mobile Network and Internet Threats
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/12/31/0346209/security-research-at-the-hague-netherlands-mobile-network-and-internet-threats
The Hague Security Delta (HSD) is the official title of a collaborative effort between Netherlands businesses, their federal government and multiple research institutions, to identify emerging security threats, share best practices, and foster collaboration between industry, governments, and universities. One of the most pressing issues they’re tackling is that of mobile network and internet security. One point that the Netherlands’ officials made repeatedly is that the country is essentially the “digital gateway” to Europe. This might seem like hubris but once you look at the arrangement of undersea cables between the U.S. and Europe, it makes a lot more sense.
Security Research At The Hague: The Mobile Malware Threat
http://hothardware.com/reviews/security-research-at-the-hague-the-mobile-malware-threat
The Hague is the name of the government seat of the Netherlands (and yes, the article is capitalized). The Hague Security Delta (HSD) is the official title of a collaborative effort between Netherlands businesses, the government, and multiple research institutions to identify emerging security threats, share best practices, and foster collaboration between industry, governments, and universities.
One of the most interesting topics that came up during our visit was the issue of mobile network security, particularly now that Edward Snowden has let the cat somewhat out of the bag.
One point that the Netherlands’ officials made repeatedly during our conversation is that the company is the “digital gateway” to Europe. In other contexts, this might seem like hubris — but once you look at the arrangement of undersea cables between the US and Europe, it makes a lot more sense.
The Netherlands is far from the only transatlantic connection hub between the US and Europe, but it certainly accounts for a significant chunk of total cable capacity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The future of home automation – ZigBee or Z-Wave?
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4426050/The-future-of-home-automation—ZigBee-or-Z-Wave-
There has been an ongoing debate between which technology is the best overall solution for Home Automation: ZigBee or Z-Wave? Obviously one will win but can we predict which one?
According to the ZigBee Alliance, ZigBee Home Automation offers a global standard for interoperable products. Standardization enables smart homes that can control appliances, lighting, environment, energy management and security as well as the expandability to connect with other ZigBee networks.
On the other hand, Sigma Designs explains Z-Wave as a wireless RF-based communications technology designed for control and status reading applications in residential and light commercial environments. Target applications for Z-Wave are home entertainment, lighting and appliances control, HVAC systems and security.
So what is the difference then?
As one can read in the introduction, both technologies address similar environments and applications.
The first obvious difference is in the physical layer. Z-Wave took the Sub-1GHz approach, which has superior range versus the 2.4GHz approach of ZigBee. However, Sub-1GHz home automation requires different SKUs for different regions. How many? Well it depends
When it comes to availability of silicon and software, there is a huge difference between ZigBee and Z-Wave.
ZigBee chipsets are developed and manufactured by multiple silicon vendors including Texas Instruments, Atmel, Silcon Labs, Freescale, STMicroelectronics and more. Whereas, Z-Wave products are only manufactured and sold by Sigma Designs.
If we compare packaged modules – the picture is the same, multiple ZigBee module makers vs. very few of Z-Wave (I found only the Digi-Sigma Designs collaboration).
When it comes to software, there is even a bigger gap. ZigBee software has multiple vendors.
Both ZigBee and Z-Wave are supporting mesh network topology, which is a strong requirement towards the revolution of “internet of things”.
The number of nodes you may support with a single Z-Wave product is limited to 232 (theoretically), however practical use cases will support a 10 nodes network. The number of nodes you may support with a single ZigBee network is 65,000 (theoretically), however practical use cases support a 500 nodes network (on a single channel, single PAN ID).
Interoperability is a big issue. The Z-Wave protocol is not open, and can be provided only under licensing with Sigma Designs and can only run on their silicon receivers. The Z-Wave devices will interoperate well with similar Z-Wave devices.
ZigBee on the other hand, as an open industry standard, will allow interoperability with any ZigBee certified device. ZigBee has defined several profiles per market segments. The ZigBee Home Automation standard is fully interoperable with a variety of devices such as door locks, sensors, alarms, smoke detectors, blinds, motor control etc.
ZigBee supports multiple layers of security including those based on chips, networks and application levels.
Z-Wave recently added security with AES128 level encryption.
The ZigBee Alliance was established in 2002 and has approximately 500 member companies, while Z-Wave, established 2005, has approximately 150 member companies.
Conclusion
Consumers and specifically homeowners are looking for an easy, out-of-the-box solution for controlling the devices in their homes particularly for lighting control and smart home appliances. Most are marking decisions on proven technology that is easy to use and is secure. Based on findings from IMS research, designers favor worldwide standards and one common frequency, such as 2.4GHz, so that it allows for worldwide interoperability and connectivity. Based on the details and the openness of ZigBee, it is the best mesh technology for consumers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT in Protocol War, Says Startup
Zigbee fortunes dim in building control
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325114&
There’s no clear end in sight for the protocol wars in the Internet of Things, says the chief technologist of a building controls startup. The CTO of Enlighted, which developed its own 802.15.4 protocols, believes the outlook for Zigbee is particularly dim.
The IoT needs a set of open APIs and protocols that work with a variety of physical-layer networks, says Tanuj Mohan. In this way, he feels, IoT networks should act more like IT nets. Mohan was a co-founder of Enlighted and is a networking expert who worked at Cisco, Novell, and Tropos and built multiprotocol routers at Hughes.
“Anyone who tries to build a physical layer and drive a software stack based on it all the way up to the application layer is a fool,” he says:
The IP and network layer should have nothing to do with the media. The last-mile protocols have some play, but they are not as important as people make them out to be. It doesn’t matter if[nodes] talk over one protocol or another. In any case, you will need mediation devices.
Today Zigbee is the most cost effective, but tomorrow WiFi will figure it out. Networks talk SNMP or CORBA — every few years there’s a new management protocol. In some sense, that’s what will happen in IoT, it will keep moving, and people will need open APIs.
Mohan criticized the 250 kbit/s Zigbee standard as too slow and complicated for use in building automation