According to Intel IoT is expected to be a multi-trillion-dollar market, with 50 billion devices creating 44 zettabytes (or 44 trillion gigabytes) of data annually by 2020. But that widely cited 50 billion IoT devices in 2020 number is clearly not correct! Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 Is Outdated. In 2017 we should be talking about about some sensible numbers. The current count is somewhere between Gartner’s estimate of 6.4 billion (which doesn’t include smartphones, tablets, and computers), International Data Corporation’s estimate of 9 billion (which also excludes those devices), and IHS’s estimate of 17.6 billion (with all such devices included). Both Ericsson and Evans have lowered their expectations from 50 billion for 2020: Evans, who is now CTO of Stringify, says he expects to see 30 billion connected devices by then, while Ericsson figures on 28 billion by 2021.
Connectivity and security will be key features for Internet of Things processors in 2017. Microcontroller (MCU) makers will continue to target their products at the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2017 by giving more focus on battery life, more connectivity of various types, and greater security. The new architectures are almost sure to spawn a multitude of IoT MCUs in 2017 from manufacturers who adopt ARM’s core designs.
ARM will be big. Last year, ARM’s partners shipped 15 billion chips based on its architectures. The trend toward IoT processors will go well beyond ARM licensees. Intel rolled out the Intel Atom E3900 Series for IoT applications. And do not forget MIPS an RISC-V.
FPGA manufacturers are pushing their products to IoT market. They promise that FPGAs solve challenges at the core of IoT implementation: making IoT devices power efficient, handling incompatible interfaces, and providing a processing growth path to handle the inevitable increase in device performance requirement.
Energy harvesting field will become interesting in 2017 as it is more broadly adopted. Energy harvesting is becoming the way forward to help supplement battery power or lose the need for it altogether. Generally researchers are eyeing energy-harvesting to power ultra-low-power devices, wearable technology, and other things that don’t need a lot of power or don’t come in a battery-friendly form factor.
Low power wide area networks (LPWA) networks (also known as NarrowBand IoT) will be hot in 2017. There is hope that f LPWA nets will act as a catalyst, changing the nature of the embedded and machine-to-machine markets as NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and enabling a large number of connected devices. The markets will become a kind of do-it-yourselfers paradise of modules and services, blurring the lines between vendors, users and partners. At the same time for years to come, the market for low power wide area networks (LPWA) will be as fragmented and is already in a race to the bottom (Sigfox, said to be promising costs approaching $1 per node per year). Competing technologies include Sigfox, LoRa Alliance, LTE Cat 1, LTE Cat M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) and other sub-gigahertz options almost too numerous to enumerate.
We are starting to see a battle between different IoT technologies, and in few years to come we will see which are winners and which technologies will be lost in the fight. Sigfox and Lora are currently starting well, but telecom operators with mobile networks NB-IoT will try hit the race heavily in 2017. Vendors prep Cat M1, NB1 for 2017: The Cat M1 standard delivers up to 380 Kbits/second over a 1.4 MHz channel. NB-1 handles up to 40 Kbits/s over 200 kHz channels. Vendors hope the 7-billion-unit installed base of cellular M2M modules expands. It’s too early to tell which technologies will be mainstream and which niche. It could be that cellular NB-IOT was too late, it will fail in the short term, it can win in the long term, and the industry will struggle to make any money from it. At $2 a year, 20 billion devices will contribute around 4% of current global mobile subscription revenues.
New versions of communication standards will be taken into use in 2017. For example Bluetooth 5 that adds more speed and IoT functionality. In 2017, we will see an increase in the number of devices with the new Bluetooth 5 standard.
Industrial IoT to gain traction in 2017. Industrial applications ultimately have the greater transformative potential than consumer products, offering users real returns on investment (ROI) rather than just enhanced convenience or “cool factor”. But the industrial sector is conservative and has been slow to embrace an industrial IoT (IIoT), but is seems that they are getting interested now. During the past year there has been considerable progress in removing many of the barriers to IIoT adoption. A global wide implementation of an IIoT is many years away, of course. The issues of standards and interoperability will most likely remain unresolved for several years to come, but progress is being made. The Industrial Internet Consortium released a framework to support development of standards and best practices for IIoT security.
The IIoT market is certainly poised to grow. A Genpact research study, for instance, indicates that more than 80% of large companies believe that the IIoT will be essential to their future success. In a recent market analysis by Industry ARC, for instance, the projected value of the IIoT market will reach more than $120 billion by 2021. Research firm Markets and Markets is even more optimistic, pegging IIoT growth at a CAGR of 8% to more than $150 billion by 2020. And the benefits will follow. By GE’s estimate, the IIoT will stimulate an increase in the global GDP of $10 to $15 trillion over the next 20 years.
Systems integrators are seeking a quick way to enter the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market. So expect to see many plug and play IoT sensor systems unveiled. There were many releses in 2016, and expect to see more in 2017. Expect to see device, connectivity and cloud service to be marketed as one packet.
IoT analytics will be talked a lot in 2017. Many companies will promise to turn Big Data insights into bigger solutions. For industrial customers Big Data analytics is promised to drive operational efficiencies, cut costs, boosting production, and improving worker productivity. There are many IIoT analytic solution and platform suppliers already on the market and a growing number of companies are now addressing industrial analytics use.
In 2016 it was all bout getting the IoT devices connected to cloud. In 2017 we will see increased talk about fog computing. Fog computing is new IoT trend pushed by Cisco and many other companies. As the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves, decentralized, distributed-intelligence concepts such as “fog computing” are taking hold to address the need for lower latencies, improved security, lower power consumption, and higher reliability. The basic premise of fog computing is classic decentralization whereby some processing and storage functions are better performed locally instead of sending data all the way from the sensor, to the cloud, and back again to an actuator. This demands smarter sensors and new wireless sensor network architectures. Groups such as the Open Fog Consortium have formed to define how it should best be done. You might start to want to be able to run the same code in cloud and your IoT device.
The situation in IoT security in 2016 was already Hacking the IoT: As Bad As I Feared It’d Be and there is nothing that would indicate that the situation will not get any better in 2017. A veritable army of Internet-connected equipment has been circumvented of late, due to vulnerabilities in its hardware, software or both … “smart” TVs, set-top boxes and PVRs, along with IP cameras, routers, DSL, fiber and cable modems, printers and standalone print servers, NASs, cellular hot spots, and probably plenty of other gear. IoT world at the moment is full of vulnerable devices, and it will take years to get then replaces with more secure devices. Those vulnerable devices can be used to make huge DDoS attacks against Internet services. The 2016 October 21 cyberattacks on Dyn brought to light how easily many IoT devices can be compromised. I expect that kind of incidents will happen more in 2017 as DDoS botnets are pretty easy to build with tools available on-line. There’s no question that everyone in the chain – manufacturers, retailers and consumers – have to do a better job securing connected devices.When it comes to IoT, more security is needed.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
INTRODUCING THE LOSANT MOTION SENSOR KIT
https://www.losant.com/blog/introducing-the-motion-sensor-kit?utm_content=60223944&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Losant recently published a tutorial demonstrating how to build a virtual security guard with a NodeMCU and PIR sensor. After some great feedback, we’ve decided to release a new kit based on this tutorial. Starting today, you can get the Losant IoT Motion Sensor Kit!
Detecting Motion with a PIR Sensor, ESP8266, and Mongoose OS
https://www.hackster.io/anaptfox/detecting-motion-with-a-pir-sensor-esp8266-and-mongoose-os-773450
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe taps your car for targeted ad data
Its new platform lets marketers and others make sense of in-car app data.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/11/adobe-car-data-helps-targeted-ads/
If it wasn’t already clear that targeted ads are invading connected cars, it is now. Adobe has unveiled an extension of its Experience Cloud service that helps automakers and app developers interpret in-car data for the sake of personalization. The platform (not shown above) uses machine learning and other techniques to scoop up behavioral data, such as voice commands and preferences, in a way that helps companies tailor info to specific drivers. There are some genuinely practical advantages that could stem from this, but Adobe isn’t shy about the main reason — this is to help deliver focused ads, often while you’re driving.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Road to a Trillion IoT Devices
In a quick 20 years, we’re likely to see one trillion connected devices.
https://www.designnews.com/iot/road-trillion-iot-devices/140216737157410?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=903&elq_cid=876648
Imagine one trillion connected devices. That’s a thousand billion. The prediction that we’ll see a trillion IoT devices in the next 20 years came from Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank (which in 2016 acquired ARM) at last year’s ARM TechCon conference .
His crystal ball shows that by next year, the number of IoT devices will surpass the number of mobile devices. By 2021, he expects 1.8 billion PCs, 8.6 billion mobile devices, and 15.7 billion IoT devices. All of this comes with a lot of data. He further predicted that by 2035, the amount of data will grow more than 2,400 times, from 1 exabyte to 2.3 zettabytes. A lot of bits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making Old Plant Equipment Newly Efficient
There are tactics you can use to improve the efficiency of legacy plant equipment.
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/making-old-plant-equipment-newly-efficient/14752905857418?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=903&elq_cid=876648
Can you make an old plant run with improved energy efficiencies? Tweaking the machines with a dab of digital overlay may bring aging equipment up to 21 st century energy efficiency standards.
Plant assets requite a deep capital investment. Most companies want to measure the usefulness of their equipment in decades, even if that means using old-world machinery to produce new-world products. Even more of a challenge is the attempt to bring up-to-date efficiency to the equipment. While there may be a clear ROI argument for new equipment, many plant managers seek their savings by making their existing equipment run more efficiently.
We tend to think of older equipment as inefficient energy-wise, much as older cars get poor gas mileage. That analogy may not hold with plant equipment. “It is a common misconception that only new equipment can be energy efficient. Legacy equipment, and older equipment no longer supplied by the original equipment manufacturer can be adapted to reduce energy consumption in the supply chain,”
Wilkins notes that connectivity can reduce the energy consumption of older equipment. “Connected technology made possible by the Industrial Internet of Things has drastically improved visibility in manufacturing,” said Wilkins. “Manufacturers now have access to real-time data to see how the assembly line is running.”
As well as fine-tuning the equipment to improve efficiency, plant machines can be enhanced with advanced motion technology. “There is some equipment that can be added to the supply chain once the inefficient machine has been located,” said Wilkins. “Variable speed drives, for example, can be added to equipment that uses motors, controlling its speed so it will only use the energy necessary to complete an action.”
As well an improving energy consumption, enhanced plant equipment can also prevent costly interruptions in production. “If equipment is consuming more energy than required, it can easily overheat and break down. That leads to unplanned, expensive downtime,”
The machine connectivity can also provide the data necessary for a shift to preventive maintenance, which will extend uptime and decrease unplanned interruptions. “Using real-time data can assist in improved productivity by encouraging proactive maintenance.”
Reducing energy consumption lowers production costs as well as bringing plant operations in line with low-energy standards. “Energy efficiency helps manufacturers reduce the carbon footprint of the facility while reducing the cost of energy. This lowers the cost of producing goods,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Billions of Devices Potentially Exposed to New Bluetooth Attack
http://www.securityweek.com/billions-devices-potentially-exposed-new-bluetooth-attack
Billions of Android, iOS, Windows and Linux devices that use Bluetooth may be exposed to a new attack that can be carried out remotely without any user interaction, researchers warned.
Armis Labs, a company that specializes in protecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices, has discovered a total of eight Bluetooth implementation vulnerabilities that expose mobile, desktop and IoT systems to an attack it has dubbed “BlueBorne.”
According to the security firm, the attack only requires Bluetooth to be enabled on the targeted device – no pairing is needed between the victim and the attacker’s device, and the Bluetooth connection does not even have to be discoverable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Gates
https://hackaday.io/project/25695-smart-gates
Identify Cars Using Raspberry Pi
Python + PHP + Telegram
The task is as follows:
* The car drives up to the gates
* Camera reads the car plate numbers
* Checks the read number with the database, if it finds one, then opens the gate and lets the car pass
* Each car at the gates is photographed, then a photo is sent to the Telegram application with the car plate number and its status.
* Telegram bot has the ability to open and close the gates, take current photo, add an unknown car to the database.
** It’s done with python + bash + telegram bot
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Intercom
https://hackaday.io/project/25716-smart-intercom
Real-Time system that allow to pass only authorized/invited people, using Face-Recognition or NFC cards.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sub-$20 Arduino-Based Telemetry System
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/12/sub-20-arduino-based-telemetry-system/
[William Osman] set out to prove that unlike expensive commercial data logging rigs, he could get the same results for under twenty bucks. He wanted to build a wireless three-axis accelerometer for a race car project, allowing engineers to make modifications to the suspension based on the data collected.
The hardware consists of an Arduino Pro Mini connected to a three-axis accelerometer, and an nRF24L01 wireless module. Power is supplied by the race car’s 12 V, changed to 5 V by a linear regulator with the Pro Mini in turn supplying 3.3 V. The base station consists of an Arduino and another nRF24L01 module plugged into a laptop.
The telemetry system is based on COSMOS, an open-source, realtime datalogging platform put out by Bell Aerospace.
COSMOS and Arduino: The $20 Telemetry System
http://www.williamosman.com/2016/08/cosmos-and-arduino-20-telemetry-system.html?m=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chirpy, chirpy, cheap, cheap: Printable IoT radios for 10 cents each
Backscatter boffins get Things talking over kilometres
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/14/printable_iot_radios_for_10_cents_each/
One of the favoured low-power radio techniques in Internet of Things research is “backscatter communications”: the transmitter sends a signal to a Thing, and the Thing modulates its data onto the reflection, and that’s then decoded by a receiver.
The problem with such a passive comms scheme is that its distance is limited to … hundreds of metres or more, according to boffins who presented their work (PDF) to the Association of Computing Machinery’s UbiComp on Wednesday, September 13.
The Washington University researchers showed that a Thing consuming just 9.25 microwatts (while active) could cover a 4,800ft2 (for non-Americans, about 445m2) house that and a one-acre (0.4 hectare) vegetable farm.
In a point-to-point hop, the researchers claimed a 2.8km range.
As the paper points out, the two big challenges in getting this kind of performance were:
Create an encoding scheme suitable for a signal as weak as -135 dBm in a noisy environment; and
Using commodity hardware as the receiver.
The researchers modified the LoRa wireless standard for their backscatter scheme, because that was the radio technology that offered the best sensitivity.
The two tricks that make it all work are a “chirp spread spectrum” (CSS) modulation, and a harmonic interference cancellation mechanism.
LoRa Backscatter: Enabling The Vision of Ubiquitous Connectivity
http://longrange.cs.washington.edu/files/loRaBackscatter.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wio Tracker – LTE CAT1
http://wiki.seeed.cc/Wio_Tracker_LTE_CAT1/
Wio Tracker is an open source gateway which enable faster IoT GPS solutions. It is Arduino and Grove compatible development boards that helps you track nearly any moving thing on the planet and then upload that data wirelessly. The Wio Tracker – LTE is the LTE version of Wio Tracker, so now we’ve got 2 versions of Wio Tracker, the 2G is like a warm-up product that bring the Wio Tracker series to the world, while the LTE (4G) version is the one that really brings some differences.
There are three main update of the Wio Tracker – LTE comparing to the 2G version. The first one, from the product name we can tell that it supports 4G communication, by inserting a 4G sim card and you can communicate with the board ever faster. The purpose of the Wio Tracker is tracking things, when it comes to GNSS, Wio Tracker – LTE supports totally 4 different systems – GPS, Beidou, GLONSS and Galileo, the QZSS is also supported.
The GPS library which will be available with the board is not just limited to Arduino – it can function just as well if you chose to develop in C/C++. With 6 Grove connections available developers can plug in any combination of out 180+ sensors and actuators to make any project and solve any problem. Simplifying the prototyping and development phase is our goal.
Features
Low-cost, low-power LTE connectivity optimized for broad- band IoT applications
Worldwide LTE and UMTS/HSPA+
Embedded power management unit (PMU) featuring ultra-low deep-sleep current consumption
GPS/BeiDou/GLONASS/Galileo and QZSS
Transplantable and expansible AT Command Library for Wio Tracker
Arduino IDE compatible
6 Grove Connectors
Nano SIM and TF card 2 in 1 socket
Tomi Engdahl says:
Unleash data held captive
Ways and means for achieving the free flow of information.
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/unleash-data-held-captive/0cfd3d94858fe8e5a1a97eef474c3bd5.html
Get the most out of it
Take HART as an example. HART is the global-communication protocol for sending and receiving digital information across 4-20ma current loops. In the past, these loops were the most common way to connect field instruments to distributed control systems (DCS). It is said that more than 40 million HART devices are installed globally. Yet market surveys reveal that less than 10% of these devices are used to their potential.
HART enables remote-transmitter configuration and calibration, and is a way to access diagnostic information on a device-by-device basis. The benefit is, in this type environment, that valves tell you they’re stuck open, and flowmeters report pressure and temperature conditions.
Unfortunately, most installed programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and DCS don’t have HART capability. Thus, what’s needed is a way to move HART data onto an Ethernet network, without disturbing the existing control system.
An Ethernet HART multiplexer solution is a simple way to parameterize and monitor HART devices via HART-IP, Profinet, Modbus TCP, and FDT/DTM for easy integration into nearly any host system. It is a modern alternative to traditional RS-485 HART multiplexers.
An Ethernet HART multiplexer’s modular design enables scalability and a phased DCS rollout.
Serial data with security
Now, let’s look at those old serial devices. There are still a lot of them out there with simple RS-232 or RS-485 ports that just spit out an ASCII string of characters-think bar-code scanners, weigh scales, RFID readers, and the like.
Connecting these “dumb” devices to Ethernet gives them a new lease on life. This conversion is not really any stretch of the imagination; serial-device servers (or terminal servers) have been available for years. Keep in mind, though, it’s widely reported that malefactors are hacking into these devices when given the opportunity. Also, those old serial devices could, if set free to broadcast data, transmit something never meant for a “public” LAN. Thus, consider some type of data encryption and user authentication plan.
Serial-device servers provide a simple way to migrate legacy serial devices to modern Ethernet networks. Devices, ranging from universal RS-232/485, to one-, two-, and four-port serial versions, with one or two Ethernet ports, are available.
Device servers may be used as a “virtual COM Port” and as a native TCP or UDP Ethernet device. COM Port redirector software, as well as a Windows driver, are available for integration with a PC application.
ASCII to Ethernet conversion
An Ethernet HART multiplexer is a modern alternative for traditional RS-485 HART multiplexers. Courtesy: Phoenix ContactEmbedded webservers make start-up and configuration simple. To keep communication secure, look for a device with 256-bit AES encryption and the ability to install your own authentication certificates. Devices with a wide operating-temperature range (-40 to 70°C) and hazardous area approvals are suitable for use in any industry.
To take it a step further, integrate those old serial devices into an industrial-control network. New possibilities come to life when an old serial bar-code scanner is converted into a Modbus TCP or Ethernet/IP bar-code scanner. A bar code can be scanned and used to direct a guided vehicle inside an automotive plant, or to push an item onto the correct conveyor belt in a warehouse. Talk about doing more with what you already have.
ASCII converter modules are used to convert raw or ASCII serial strings from devices such as bar-code scanners, weigh scales, or RFID tags into industrial protocols such as Modbus TCP or Ethernet/IP.
Modbus RTU to Modbus TCP
TCP/RTU gateways convert serial-based Modbus RTU (or ASCII) to Modbus TCP. These modules are extremely powerful and can be configured to almost any combination of Modbus client and server, including a shared memory configuration, allowing two Modbus masters (servers) to communicate with each other. Device ID aliasing is also supported to create a “virtual” Modbus ID for Modbus devices that do not have configurable Modbus addresses. One-, two-, and four-port serial versions, with one or two Ethernet ports, are available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PLC for enhanced cybersecurity, integration
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/plc-for-enhanced-cybersecurity-integration/7b627597a1ce878cace0672f770c4ae3.html
Honeywell Process Solutions’ (HPS) ControlEdge programmable logic controller (PLC) is designed to reduce integration efforts and project costs as well as enhanced cybersecurity for industrial facilities.
The PLC is designed for use in a variety of balance of plant applications such as equipment and device level control.
ControlEdge PLC provides an IIoT-ready open platform that uses OPC Unified Architecture (UA) as a communication protocol and enables users to better leverage data across their assets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cellular Calls Home Appliances
Sears preps Cat-M products for late 2018
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332285
Mainstream appliances will ship with cellular links next year. The data point was one of few specifics from a gathering of carriers and customers of cellular IoT here.
About half of Sears’ Kenmore-brand appliances now in development will have some form of wireless networking. About 10 percent of the company’s appliances now in use support Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo modules.
To avoid increasingly crowded home networks, the appliance maker is shifting some designs to LTE Category-M as modules hit the $10 price of today’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth devices. The links send about 22 different data readings to remote monitors.
“My techs can use that data to determine the health of the system very specifically over time,” said Chris McGugan, general manager of innovation for the appliance maker, speaking at the Mobile IoT Summit, part of the Mobile World Congress Americas event here.
The data helps Sears get valuable insights into how its products are used. It also cuts the number of times that it needs to send out repairmen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
British warships will soon have Siri-like voice controls
New frigates with app-based tools will deploy in 2023.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/13/british-warships-will-soon-have-siri-like-voice-controls/
British warships will soon integrate Siri-like voice systems into their controls, according to the head of the UK’s Royal Navy. Speaking at the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition — one the biggest arms fairs in the world — First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Phillip Jones said the Royal Navy wanted to embrace the speed at which warfare is being transformed by IT, and pointed to new Type-31 frigates as an example.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT gateways get a benchmark from the TPC
You’re going to run a pair of servers to run things and pre-analyse their data, OK?
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/15/tpcx_iot_benchmark/
The Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) has decided the world needs a benchmark for the Internet of Things, or at least for the gateways that will do initial processing of data that things generate.
The new “TPCx-IoT Benchmark” has set records before it’s been used in anger: committee chair and Cisco’s CTO for Cisco UCS Raghunath Nambiar told The Register the benchmark made it from idea to finished document in 15 months, a new low for the TPC.
The “x” in “TPCx-IoT” indicates it is an “expert” benchmark, meaning the spec and software to run it will soon be available here
TPCx-IoT assume gateways use x86 processors and run Linux, but Nambiar told The Register the benchmark could be adapted to other operating systems and hardware.
http://www.tpc.org/tpcx-iot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
SecureRF Joins STMicroelectronics Partner Program to Bring Security to the Smallest Devices in the IoT
https://www.securerf.com/press-release/securerf-joins-stmicroelectronics-partner-program-bring-security-smallest-devices-iot/?utm_campaign=Email%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=56342978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-90XA570Zm12Ss0Q8jbOpaHbMCu1VI3pXwb7VLyiv64UAyPup62531qUuAVAlc0ABuvE3lJqSNNClkUKK3NleL8B9YSlmQ_aWlrEN4sWDaLZqL4xGY&_hsmi=56342978
SecureRF Corporation, a leading provider of quantum-resistant security tools for the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced that it has joined the STMicroelectronics Partner Program. Cooperation between the two companies will enable customers developing IoT solutions, across a wide selection of applications and markets, to take advantage of ST products embedded with SecureRF’s authentication and data protection solutions, which are ideally suited for low-resource 32-, 16-, and 8-bit processors and other small IoT devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
US Senators and IoT Security: Why Proposed Legislation Matters to Device Makers
https://www.securerf.com/us-senators-iot-security-proposed-legislation-matters-device-makers/?utm_campaign=Email%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=56342978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_lNrOJWpnOrRu7oBUOwOSFGvw6TWl5tJeU82g52ZxVtxySo-12xXu9Va2RYpYCWh3Ay7Q-j2NTmF_4Vih5NOFUjIEumK75inSzgTtGGdICS5DuY6A&_hsmi=56342978
In the face of ever-increasing Internet of Things (IoT) security threats, the US government has started efforts to regulate IoT security with a new bill raised in the Senate. Should the bill become law, it will require IoT equipment sold to the government be patchable and meet specific security requirements.
This bill comes at an opportune time, as IoT devices are increasingly deployed within the US government, organizations, offices and households around the world, leading to an exponential growth in potential threats.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Security News – Heart Hacks, Semiconductor Sales, and Wearables
https://www.securerf.com/iot-security-news-heart-hacks-semiconductor-sales-wearables/?utm_campaign=Email%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=56342978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-849ckvEk_Fnq4rj7Sc51abGHi04gUKNA2R0QC-8hOtIY33XLKv3YaxBgj-PtkqAwO2DqaE1YNMxI_v0pMXcb_A2VFaruK7E0iZjAgmPdszWqP7zXg&_hsmi=56342978
FDA Recall: 465,000 Pacemakers Vulnerable to a Wireless Hack
Standard for Quantum Computing Definitions
Analyst Firm Predicts Wearable Device Shipments to Hit 430 million by 2022
July 2017 Semiconductor Sales Up 24% from 2016
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cellular Calls Home Appliances
Sears preps Cat-M products for late 2018
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332285
Tomi Engdahl says:
Agricultural Goes High Tech
Sensors in a vineyard gauge effects of rising CO2
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332296&
GEISENHEIM, Germany — For an endeavor often associated with simple tools, modern agriculture is a hive of engineering activity. Some of the development work targets mitigation strategies for environmental challenges; other research focuses on tech solutions for cultivation and harvesting. Advanced sensors, software, and systems that can operate precisely and under harsh conditions in the field are critical for monitoring and managing the multiple aspects of growing productive plants.
Germany, a country known for both its agriculture and its high tech, had an opportunity to showcase both at a recent open house at Geisenheim University, an agricultural institute situated in one of the best wine regions in Europe
FACE systems regulate CO2 levels (and for the vegetables, air temperature as well) over defined areas, making it possible to simulate the conditions expected between now and 2050. Focusing on agricultural ecosystems pertaining to grassland, viticulture, and horticulture, the research aims to develop climate change adjustment strategies, including ways to mitigate the effects of global warming on crops.
Of course, one must be able to measure what one has set up, and the FACE installations are no exception. In addition to the sensors that monitor CO2 levels and adjust the gas output, there are chlorophyll sensors that take constant readings of plant metabolism and growth (Figure 5), along with control and recording electronics to manage and monitor the project (Figure 6). The sensors check levels every several minutes, providing a near-real-time monitoring of growth and development (Figure 7). The systems must be robust to survive in the field.
Sunlike spectrum Another agricultural research area, with applicability for everyone from hobbyists to vertical factory farmers, is grow lights. Spectrum-specific LED grow lights can save a lot of energy
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘South Park’ Screws With Viewers’ Google Home, Echo Devices
https://consumerist.com/2017/09/14/south-park-screws-with-viewers-google-home-echo-devices/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Fans of the show South Park who watched the season premiere last night got more than the usual fart jokes and foul-mouthed rants: Amazon Echo and Google Home devices were woken up throughout the episode, triggered by commands from the characters. Of course, hilarity — or headaches, depending on your point of view — ensued.
In one example in the episode, Cartman conducts a veritable potty-mouthed orchestra, getting a group of Echo and Home devices to repeatedly trigger each other to say things about human genitalia.
For the most part, it seems viewers were pretty amused by the stunt, posting clips on Twitter showing their devices adding things like “titty chips” and “hairy balls” to their shopping lists, or setting an unwanted alarm for (gasp) 7 a.m.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making Collaborative Robots You Can Talk To
MIT researchers have developed a system that allows robots to understand verbal commands and cues in the same way that smart home devices like Alexa and Google Home do.
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/making-collaborative-robots-you-can-talk/87568106757436?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=1029&elq_cid=876648
In a new paper, presented at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) in Australia in August, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) described their work developing a system called “commands in context” (ComText) that allows robots to understand a wide range of commands that require contextual knowledge about the world around them.
In their study the researchers loaded ComText onto a Rethink Robotics Baxter robot and had it perform a variety of tasks after receiving verbal cues and commands. The researchers would place objects (like a box of Cheez-Its) onto a table and tell the robot, “This is my box.” From there when told, “Pick up my box” the robot is able to find the correct object and pick it up.
Temporal Grounding Graphs for Language Understanding with Accrued Visual-Linguistic Context
http://www.ijcai.org/proceedings/2017/629
Tomi Engdahl says:
You Are Already Living Inside a Computer
Futurists predict a rapture of machines, but reality beat them to it by turning computing into a way of life.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/09/you-are-already-living-inside-a-computer/539193/
Suddenly, everything is a computer. Phones, of course, and televisions. Also toasters and door locks, baby monitors and juicers, doorbells and gas grills. Even faucets. Even garden hoses. Even fidget spinners. Supposedly “smart” gadgets are everywhere, spreading the gospel of computation to everyday objects.
It’s enough to make the mundane seem new—for a time anyway. But quickly, doubts arise. Nobody really needs smartphone-operated bike locks or propane tanks. And they certainly don’t need gadgets that are less trustworthy than the “dumb” ones they replace, a sin many smart devices commit. But people do seem to want them—and in increasing numbers. There are now billions of connected devices, representing a market that might reach $250 billion in value by 2020.
Why? One answer is that consumers buy what is on offer, and manufacturers are eager to turn their dumb devices smart. Doing so allows them more revenue, more control, and more opportunity for planned obsolescence. It also creates a secondary market for data collected by means of these devices.
But market coercion isn’t a sufficient explanation. More so, the computational aspects of ordinary things have become goals unto themselves, rather than just a means to an end.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connecting Arduino to Cellular via Konekt
Use Konekt’s M2M Platform to Connect an Arduino to Cellular!
https://hackaday.io/project/6117-connecting-arduino-to-cellular-via-konekt
Use a Konekt SIM with a Seeed Studio GPRS shield v3 to make an Arduino Uno v3 cellular enabled.
This is a tutorial taking you from out-the-box, to requesting web pages over cellular, with an Arduino Uno v3.
If you are using a different cellular shield than the Seeed Studio GPRS Shield v3, these instructions should still be compatible, so long as the modem can be controlled using the standard AT command set: GSM 07.07 & 07.05 and Enhanced – SIMCOM AT Commands.
https://content.konekt.io/plans-pricing/?_ga=2.218805593.1539763635.1505503912-1091407559.1505503912
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Hunt for IoT: The Rise of Thingbots
https://www.darkreading.com/partner-perspectives/f5/the-hunt-for-iot-the-rise-of-thingbots/a/d-id/1329873
Across all of our research, every indication is that today’s “thingbots” – botnets built exclusively from Internet of Things devices – will become the infrastructure for a future Darknet.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and, specifically, the hunt for exploitable IoT devices by attackers, has been a primary area of research for F5 Labs for over a year now—and with good reason. IoT devices are becoming the cyber weapon delivery system of choice by today’s botnet-building attackers. And, why not? There are literally billions of them in the world, most of which are readily accessible (via Telnet) and easily hacked (due to lack of security controls). Why would attackers rent expensive resources in hosting environments to build their botnets when so many devices are free for the taking?
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Ransomware of things’ spell trouble for transportation industry
https://www.scmagazineuk.com/ransomware-of-things-spell-trouble-for-transportation-industry/article/688040/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3BU1pQkBveT9CG%2BmZKvx5NvQ%3D%3D
The next step in the evolution of ransomware would be what they called “jackware” or ransomware designed to target connected devices subsequently creating a ransomware of things (RoT).
The study found the Cyber-attacks leveraging IoT devices are also becoming commonplace particularly in the transportation where 29 percent of companies indicated they experienced an IoT attack. The energy, construction, and IT sectors aren’t far behind 22 percent of respondents from each industry reported attacks, respectively.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
Distracted driving; T-Mobile’s NB-IoT network; intelligent transportation systems.
https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-63/
Actility demonstrated an asset tracking offering at MWCA, using Comcast’s machineQ IoT network service and platform. The demo combined the Abeeway Master Tracker hardware with Actility’s ThingPark IoT software through the machineQ low-power wide-area network in San Francisco.
Mobike will use AT&T’s 4G LTE connectivity and Qualcomm’s LTE IoT modems to support its smart bicycle offering in the U.S.
Sierra Wireless introduced the AirLink MP70 LTE-Advanced router with AirLink Mobility Manager.
T-Mobile US worked with Ericsson and Qualcomm on field tests of narrow-band IoT technology on its commercial LTE network in Las Vegas, Nevada. The carrier plans to deploy its NB-IoT network nationwide by mid-2018.
Inmarsat issued a report, The Future of IoT in Enterprise – 2017. A survey of 100 large energy companies found that more than half cited connectivity as a significant challenge, while nearly one-quarter of respondents said connectivity issues were threatening to derail their IoT projects.
F5 Labs has a report on cyberattack activity during 2017. One surprising fact – 83% of all attacks during the first six months of this year were launched from Spain, not China, which had previously led in such activity.
Transparency Market Research forecasts the worldwide market for intelligent transportation systems will be worth $249.84 billion by the end of 2025, compared with $41.57 billion in 2015, for a compound annual growth rate of 19.8% from 2017 to 2025. Among the companies involved in the market are Cisco Systems, Hitachi, Huawei Technologies, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Siemens, and Verizon Communications.
The global IoT health-care market will have a 30% CAGR from 2016 to 2023, according to Occams Business Research & Consulting. The Asia Pacific region will be the fastest growing market during those years
Tomi Engdahl says:
NXP IoT Low Power Sensor Node Board
https://www.eeweb.com/project/design_library/nxp-iot-low-power-sensor-node-board
The IoT Low Power Sensor Node Board is an NXP reference design board built around the NXP MKW24D512 IC. It provides a diverse reference design with all necessary I/O connections to use as a self-contained board or for connection to an external application.
The NXP MKW24D512 wireless MCU is a 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) single-chip device intended for the IEEE® Std. 802.15.4, including Thread©, ZigBee Pro, ZigBee RF4CE, and IPv6/6loWPAN protocols.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mocana Integrates Embedded Security Software With Industrial Cloud Platforms
http://www.securityweek.com/mocana-integrates-embedded-security-software-industrial-cloud-platforms
Mocana Integrates Embedded Security Software with AWS IoT, Microsoft Azure IoT, and VMware Liota to Protect Devices
Two constants in current cybersecurity are the growing threat from insecure IoT botnets (Mirai, WireX, etcetera), and the continuing security provided by strong encryption. It is part of the mission of one venture capital funded firm to solve the former by use of the latter.
Mocana was formed in 2002 as an embedded security software company for military applications. With the help of venture capital ($11 million in May 2017 brought the total to $93.6 million), it has expanded into ICS and both the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and consumer IoT.
“We’re a crypto company,” Mocano’s CTO Dean Weber told SecurityWeek. “While traditional security has been to provide barriers and layers of network controls — even for IoT devices — we offer a different approach. We use cryptography to build a trust platform for IoT, mobile and industrial devices.”
The trust platform is provided as source code to device developers, who compile it into different target devices.
“OpenSSL provides a cryptographic library that gets calls from applications to provide services as necessary. We replace that,” explains Weber, “but we do a lot more than OSSL because we start from a root of trust on the platform, and we build an X509 trust chain. The device ends up with a trust value. That trust value represents the cryptographic trustworthiness of the platform. We’re building the foundation on a device, which could be an edge device, a sensor, an activator, a switch, a gravitometer, or a flow meter, or accelerometer or whatever.”
In effect, a cryptographically trusted edge or IIoT device can communicate securely with its device controller. “Traditionally, that device is going to talk to a gateway service, which may be a PLC or RTU, which would then be connected to a back-end service,” says Weber, who is set to speak at SecurityWeek’s upcoming ICS Cyber Security Conference. “In the industrial space that would be the ICS SCADA; in the IoT space that might be a cloud service where you bring everything together for analytics or management, or both. At each one of those layers we can provide a trust platform that guarantees through the strength of the cryptography chosen (and we support many different types of crypto) that this communication/device is secure because the crypto is intact.”
In the world of consumer IoT devices, any successful infection of the device with a bot will break the chain of trust and outbound traffic can be blocked. In ICS, the integrity of both the IIoT device and its communication with the SCADA device can be guaranteed. In the commercial world, Mocana this week announced that it has verified the integration of its IoT Security Platform with the IoT cloud platforms of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure IoT, and VMware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CTIA/GSMA presenter says future connectivity, interoperability and security problems could plague disjointed IoT networks
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/09/gsma-iot-future.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2017-09-18
The often overlooked need to adopt broad Internet of Things (IoT) interoperability and connectivity standards was highlighted by iconectiv CTO Chris Drake at the debut of GSMA’s Mobile World Congress Americas conference today in San Francisco, CA.
As the authoritative partner of the global communications industry, connecting more than two billion people every day, iconectiv has extensive experience in the crucial role that authentication protocols for devices and apps play in securing digital ecosystems. Intended as a call to action for device and application vendors, system integrators, network operators and service providers, the company contends that Drake’s presentation comes at a crossroads in the development of machine-to-machine communications.
Per iconectiv, “SmartAmerica estimates city governments alone will invest approximately $41 trillion over the next 20 years to upgrade existing infrastructures in order to benefit from the IoT. This costly and monumental endeavor leaves industrial, utility, enterprise and government leaders pondering how best to advance IoT and smart city implementations around the world. With recent estimates putting the number of IoT connected devices at 22 billion by 2020, the task at hand for device and application vendors and smart city planners is staggering. Additionally, each new device and application entering the IoT brings unique connectivity and security intricacies that are vital to ensuring ecosystem integrity.”
One key step to address this issue advised by Drake is a shift from current proprietary technical implementations and manual, if not weak, application of device enrollment security, toward scalable and consistent standards-based architectures.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Telecommunications Industry Association, Small Cell Forum to partner on smart cities, enterprise connectivity
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/pt/2017/09/telecommunications-industry-association-small-cell-forum-to-partner-on-smart-cities-enterprise-conne.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2017-09-18
Small Cell Forum (SCF), the telecoms organization driving universal cellular coverage, and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech connectivity networks, today announced a far-reaching alliance to address two of the most important growth areas in connectivity – smart communities and smart buildings.
As part of its “Transforming the Network” strategic initiative, TIA previously identified smart communities and smart buildings as critical areas of focus. These dovetail with SCF’s two major programs for 2017: Hyperdense Networks – including a focus on smart cities; and the Digitized Enterprise. The common factor is that densification will bring high quality connectivity to every citizen and business, and enable a wide range of new services.
TIA and SCF Announce Partnership to Accelerate Smart Cities and Enterprise Connectivity
http://opensource.sys-con.com/node/4157418
The two organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on technical, commercial and regulatory solutions. They will share existing work and expertise and develop solutions that simplify and accelerate deployment of dense networks and in-building connectivity. This effort will help make smart communities a reality everywhere and drive advanced connectivity into every enterprise building.
Brenda Boehm, Chief Strategy Officer of TIA said, “Industry collaboration is clearly needed to realize the full potential of smart communities, whether they take the form of buildings, campuses or entire cities. There are enormous opportunities to drive efficiencies, improve operational effectiveness, deliver faster and safer transportation, and more. Working together, we will be well positioned to accelerate the development and deployment of critical micro-wireless 5G technology in the community ecosystem.”
David Orloff, Director, RAN Product Introduction at AT&T and Chairman of SCF, said, “Every enterprise and community needs to be ‘smart’ to provide the best services and take advantage of the Internet of Things and other developing technologies. But this presents complex challenges which no one organization can fully address. TIA and SCF share many of the same goals, we expect this alliance to lead to significant results, especially in advancing our drive towards 5G.”
To drive progress in these areas, the partners will share technical and commercial solutions, identifying common ground and avoiding duplication.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TfL hackathon showed data can keep transport running and people safe
Analytics is about the journey AND destination
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/18/tfl_hackathon_results/
If software is eating the world, then hackathons are its fast-food restaurants. Groups of developers come together for short periods to try to solve pressing problems. This happens in sectors from healthcare to retail, and now it’s happening in transportation too.
Data, data everywhere
“For example, the 19 million daily transactions that we see through our ticketing system feed into models that our transport planners use to forecast future demand on the network,” she says, adding that the introduction of Oyster in 2003 was a huge leap. Before that, it had been gathering passenger journey data using paper-based surveys.
“When we combine this ticketing data with other data sets, such as bus location data, we use this to plan our bus network – at the route level and even at bus stop location level.”
TfL has also embraced the open data movement, publishing a variety of feeds via its own unified API, available to the public. Apparently, developers quite like it. Maybe a little too much.
Anyone can access live data on transportation and related information, ranging from live bus arrivals, through to train status on the tube, and live traffic disruptions. It produces a lot of these data using its connected Split Cycle Offsets Optimization Technique (SCOOT) system, which uses embedded road sensors to see how traffic is flowing on the street, and what emissions are like.
Alongside this live data, you can also get access to more static information in the form of structured data feeds
Tomi Engdahl says:
As lighting companies morph into IT firms, they face stiff competition — from IT vendors
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2017/09/as-lighting-companies-morph-into-it-firms-they-face-stiff-competition-from-it-vendors.html?eid=293591077&bid=1869506
Barclays Plc has deployed a series of heat and motion sensors that help analyze office space usage at investment banking facilities in London.
It’s the sort of system that lighting vendors are offering as part of their push into the Internet of Things (IoT), with one glaring difference: Barclays does not appear to be housing the sensors within the lighting infrastructure to turn this into a smart building.
Rather, it is deploying black boxes mounted underneath employees’ desks, according to a recent article by Bloomberg.
The boxes, called OccupEye and provided by British company Cad-Capture, gather occupancy data and tie it into a cloud-connected dashboard system that helps Barclays decipher how efficiently or wastefully it is using space.
“By efficiently optimizing space, OccupEye will also allow energy managers to deliver energy savings via intelligent building management,” Cad-Capture says on its website. “For example, if your company has 300 employees spread disparately across 5 floors, you are effectively running an inefficient building and more than likely to be receiving excessive utility bills. OccupEye sensors will allow energy managers to easily identify and analyze utilization trends, e.g., peaks and troughs. As a result, the managers can relocate staff accordingly, use the data for energy audit reports and significantly reduce energy costs…
Lighting companies are promoting space utilization analysis as a key IoT application. For example, space management is a principle component of a smart lighting system provided by Helvar as part of a 5G smart building trial at the University of Oulu in Finland. And smart luminaires from Feilo Sylvania are helping Dutch standards body NEN manage its headquarters space in Delft.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RTUs Versus PLCs – Which Is Best For Your Network And Your Bottom Line?
http://www.dpstele.com/rtu/plc/vs-fast-setup-no-programming.php?article_id=61720&m_row_id=1999640&mailing_id=10864&link=L&uni=2446159c0baec410c7
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Remote Telemetry/Terminal Units (RTUs) are two types of devices used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). They are often used to solve similar problems and talked about interchangeably. But are they really the same? Is there an advantage to using one over the other? PLCs and RTUs both perform the same basic function: remote alarm monitoring and control of remote equipment. How they go about doing that job, however, varies significantly.
PLCs have a steep learning curve.
PLCs are simple devices; usually a single sensor and a communications interface to output sensor data. They can also be highly customizable. But make no mistake; they have a steep learning curve as they must be individually programmed in order to perform a task.
You have to consider how much time you can devote to programming PLCs and if its worth the effort. Usually, it isn’t. What you need is a solution with intelligence built-in that you can quickly get up and running.
RTUs offer faster installs and less frustration.
In most cases, RTUs are a better approach.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Monitor Power Consumption At Your Remote Sites
http://www.dpstele.com/power/consumption-monitoring-amps-current-draw.php?article_id=61715&m_row_id=1999640&mailing_id=10864&link=I&uni=2446159c0baec410c7
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solving the OT/IT Battle by Certifying the Middle
Opto 22 has developed a certification program to broker peace between OT and IT.
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/solving-otit-battle-certifying-middle/70170896657460?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=1100&elq_cid=876648
For plant control operations, the immutable first priority is uptime. For the IT department in the plant’s office, the intractable mission is security. In today’s connected plant, the two groups have to find a compromise in order to move the overall goals of the plant forward. Yet both groups find it difficult to give up their number-one priority. Opto 22 has developed a certification program for its integrators that is designed to solve this thorny problem.
The strain between the two groups isn’t just a matter of conflicting priorities. IT/OT convergence is also a challenge on the technical and cultural fronts. A significant communication gap exists between OT and IT technologies. Each uses its own methods of connectivity, from the physical connectors and buses that carries data, to the language each uses to convert bits and bytes into readable and actionable information.
Certified in Both OT and IT
In order to help customers overcome the clash between OT and IT, the IoT platform provider Opto 22 has created a certification program for its partner integrators to ensure they know both sides. “There is a difference in how IT and OT see the world. So, we started a program to certify that our partners can facilitate a dialog between OT and IT,” Arun Sinha, director of business development at Opto 22 , told Design News . “As a hardware solutions provider, we can solve this problem by getting the two sides together and bringing in qualified integrators who can sit on both the operations side – their traditional comfort side – and the IT side and understand the priorities of each group.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Synopsys Teams With SMIC, Brite Semi on IoT Platform
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332314&
EDA and IP vendor Synopsys Inc. has partnered with Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) and ASIC design services specialist Brite Semiconductor to create a platform for Internet of Things (IoT) designs based on a Synopsys IP subsystem.
The IoT platform lowers design costs by providing customers with a starting point for creating IoT designs and enables the integration of customized functions on demand, the companies said.
The platform includes Synopsys’ DesignWare ARC Data Fusion Subsystem along with an ARC EM9D processor, USB and I3C IP solutions, according to the companies. It was integrated by Brite Semi’s design services using SMIC’s 55-nm ultra-low power process, resulting in the development of a test chip demonstrating up to 45 percent reduction in dynamic power and 70 percent reduction in leakage power compared to SMIC’s 55LL process, they said.
Synopsys’ ARC Data Fusion IP Subsystem is a pre-verified hardware and software IP product optimized for use in devices requiring minimal energy consumption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Finnish IoT device will alert you to water leaks
The Finnish technology company, Xortec, has developed a Main-Iot buzz that reveals water damage and reports it to the property owner’s phone. The device works without a SIM card. The information exchange utilizes the Sigfox network, which is merely an international network built on the Internet of Things.
Xortec is the first company to design and manufacture Sigfox certified products in Finland. Utilizing web technology opens the doors to the world. Even moderately estimated, annual leases will yield tens of millions of annual savings.
With main IoT rent, insurance, real estate and maintenance companies and real estate owners reduce the cost of water damage.
- Limiting water damage is a risk management of real estate, so it is worth taking the same level as the fire alarm. If water damage occurs on the top floor of a block and is not noticeable, the water can drain through the house and absorb into the structures. Costs will then increase exponentially, says Joni Kääriäinen, Marketing Director of Xortec.
Approximately 36,000 water damages occur each year in Finland. Costs incurred by these insurance companies cost EUR 160 million. In Finland, EUR 400 million is used for repairing moisture damage in residential buildings. According to a report published by VTT and Tampere University of Applied Sciences last year, up to half of water damage could be either prevented or reduced.
The leak is maintenance-free and has a battery life of 10 years. When purchased, the service comes with a service for 3 years, after which you can continue to use it by buying upgrades. Estimated cost to the end user is less than EUR per month. Once the battery is replaced after 10 years, it may continue to be used.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6859&via=n&datum=2017-09-19_15:46:54&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cellular Puts IoT on Speed Dial
China Telecom starts NB-IoT at $3/year
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332311
Carriers are driving aggressively into cellular IoT, with China Telecom leading the way with narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). They are playing a game of catch-up that some expect they will win with low-power wide-area (LPWA) alternatives led by Sigfox and LoRa that had a two-year-plus head start.
That was the picture from the Mobile World Congress Americas, where each side made the case for its play in the emerging Internet of Things. “It feels like we are on the cusp of an IoT explosion,” said Karri Kuoppamaki, vice president of technology development and strategy at T-Mobile, which aims to roll out an NB-IoT network in the U.S. by June.
“What’s next and key is showing an ROI in real networks,” said Hardy Schmidbauer, chief executive of TrackNet, a startup launched this year using LoRa and Wi-Fi for asset tracking.
“Carriers would like to wipe out their LPWA competitors, and I believe they will,” said Michael Murphy, CTO in North America for Nokia. “There is zero doubt [that] carriers view this as one of their most important goals.”
China Telecom appears to be in the lead with millions of users on a national network that it switched on in June for NB-IoT that supports 20- to 60-Kbit/s data rates over 200-KHz channels. The carrier charges as little as $3 a year for data, and its hardware suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE say that they soon will be able to deliver NB-IoT modules for less than US$5, said Qi Bi, chief technical officer for China Telecom.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Synopsys Teams With SMIC, Brite Semi on IoT Platform
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332314&
EDA and IP vendor Synopsys Inc. has partnered with Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) and ASIC design services specialist Brite Semiconductor to create a platform for Internet of Things (IoT) designs based on a Synopsys IP subsystem.
The IoT platform lowers design costs by providing customers with a starting point for creating IoT designs and enables the integration of customized functions on demand, the companies said.
The platform includes Synopsys’ DesignWare ARC Data Fusion Subsystem along with an ARC EM9D processor, USB and I3C IP solutions, according to the companies. It was integrated by Brite Semi’s design services using SMIC’s 55-nm ultra-low power process, resulting in the development of a test chip demonstrating up to 45 percent reduction in dynamic power and 70 percent reduction in leakage power compared to SMIC’s 55LL process, they said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Key Considerations for Software Updates for Embedded Linux and IoT
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/key-considerations-software-updates-embedded-linux-and-iot?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+linuxjournalcom+%28Linux+Journal+-+The+Original+Magazine+of+the+Linux+Community%29
Tomi Engdahl says:
Manufacturing the Internet of Things
http://www.electronicdesign.com/iot/manufacturing-internet-things
IoT will impact the way products are developed and manufactured. In this paper we explore challenges that lie ahead and how to efficiently bring reliable products to market in this new reality.
The Internet of Things (IoT) applies to a vast number of industries and applications, everything from wearables, to city infrastructures and vehicles. IoT and the technologies that power it, as well as those yet to come present incredible opportunities, however, with this also comes complex challenges to efficiently bring reliable products to market. This paper discusses the test and measurement challenges that lie ahead and suggests a solution to reduce the time and cost of test development.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphones: Have NFC Will Travel
IoT is NFC’s next big opportunity
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332315
Just as Apple released its iOS 11 on Tuesday, the NFC Forum rolled out on Wednesday its Near Field Communication (NFC) tag and reader certification program.
In adding the new program, the NFC Forum enables “tag/inlay, NFC reader, and handset manufacturers for the first time … to test and verify the performance and interoperability of all the key components in the NFC eco-system.”
While Apple’s iOS 11 brings big updates unique to its current iPhone and iPad, it also unlocks many new NFC-tag-based apps to be read by iOS-11-based mobile devices. This is a moment that the NFC community has long awaited.
Of course, Android phones have been doing this stuff for several years, but with little success. As Apple throws its weight into this field, many NFC chip vendors and industry observers are hopeful for the growth of NFC applications beyond payment.
For the first time, vendors of Android or iPhone devices are “putting an NFC reader in the hands of consumers,” stressed Alexander Rensink, co-chairman, NFC Forum, during an interview with EE Times. Rensink works at NXP Semiconductors as business segment manager for Smart Products.
Further, NFC advocates, including Apple, see IoT as the next stop for NFC tags and readers. NFC’s ability to connect, commission, and control will be effective in solving some thorny issues of connected homes today, they say. NFC can help develop “a unified device commissioning flow independent of the underlying communication framework,” the NFC Forum noted.
The NFC Forum is a non-profit industry association launched in 2004 by leading mobile communication companies, semiconductor, and consumer electronics vendors.
Certification will help ensure that NFC tags, readers, and handsets provide a consistent, compelling, and connected user experience.
More important, the NFC Forum has implemented the principle of “reader talks first.” The new certified spec covers both ISO 14443 (for proximity cards) and ISO15693 (for vicinity cards), making sure that the NFC reader can read both ISO standards. In short, the NFC community is making NFC for the first time “globally interoperable by harmonizing the different standards,” claimed Rensink.
ISO 14443 and ISO 15693 standards, while operating on the same 13.56-MHz frequency, offer different read ranges and data transfer speeds. To complicate the matter, each ISO standard has been implemented in versions with “multiple flavors.” NFC-enabled mass transit cards used in different countries — Japan’s Suica card or the U.K.’s Oyster cards, for example — couldn’t be read by the same NFC reader, Rensink explained. The NFC Forum Certification Program will effectively end these interoperability issues.
NFC tag applications listed by the ABI Research analyst Seal include social connectivity, targeted marketing, loyalty, smart posters, anti-counterfeiting, and brand protection. He predicts that NFC could become “the next-generation platform” for brands to connect with consumers outside the traditional retail environment.
NFC zooms in on IoT
NFC advocates, however, make no secret of their ambition to turn IoT into a much bigger market opportunity for NFC tags and readers.
Connected smart homes have proven a lot tougher than the IoT industry first expected.
As the author of the NFC Forum’s white paper pointed out, the challenges include:
• How can you ensure that a new device is seamlessly and securely introduced to the network?
• How do connected devices know a user’s intent — especially when there’s no interface?
• How can you easily remove a device from the network?
• How do you easily replace an old device with a new one?
Currently, consumers hoping to deploy a smart home system are confronted with a variety of manufacturer-specific commissioning methods.
Furthermore, the implementation of device commissioning is particularly tough for manufacturers of small, headless devices without a built-in user interface, such as an LED light bulb. Procedures are typically multi-step and require manual typing of long passwords or a QR-code scan.
Critical to accelerate the adoption of IoT devices in smart homes is to build a unified device commissioning flow independent of the underlying communication framework. Usability is another big challenge.
NFC proponents see myriad use cases in which NFC can help solve “challenges of connecting, commissioning, and controlling IoT devices in a smart home,” according to the NFC Forum.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low cost Air Quality sensor
https://hackaday.io/project/21456-low-cost-air-quality-sensor
Implement a PM 2.5 sensor with Internet and Twitter connectivity to track air quality with a low cost device.
This project uses the PPD42 sensor and an Arduino with WiFi connectivity to connect to Thingspeak service and post data to a Database and Twitter. A more complex version will contain a Humidity/Temperature sensor and a MQ7 sensor to measure CO2.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home Sensor Monitor
A flexible web app for monitoring sensor data
https://hackaday.io/project/9689-home-sensor-monitor
This project started as a webpage running off a microcontroller that displayed temperatures from DS18B20 sensors. I wanted an easy way to add remote sensors, so I rewrote it to run on a Raspberry Pi as a base station and expose an API that can be used to add sensors and readings.
The web interface uses Bootstrap and AngularJS. The API stores the sensor list and readings in a SQLite database. Both the web interface and API are hosted with Go. I used Go and SQLite because it means that the sever can be packaged into a single executable with no dependencies other than the web front end files. My goal is to make this as plug and play as possible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PIR Sensor with Push Notifications to Smartphone
https://hackaday.io/project/6834-pir-sensor-with-push-notifications-to-smartphone
PIR Sensor or anything you want. I think it’s very dirty, but easily modifiable, which is what I was looking for.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP cookbook
https://hackaday.io/project/24993-esp-cookbook
Collecting snippets that can quickly be copied to assemble a program for different sensors etc. Mostly about ESP8266/32 with Arduino IDE.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hitachi Data Systems is no more! Arise the new ‘Hitachi Vantara’
HDS, Pentaho and Hitachi Insight Group join forces, promise data-driven IoT fun
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/20/hds_is_no_more_hello_hitachi_vantara/
Hitachi Data Systems is no more: the venerable storage vendor has been subsumed into a new outfit called “Hitachi Vantara” that says it “helps data-driven leaders find and use the value in their data to innovate intelligently and reach outcomes that matter for business and society.”
The new organisation remains a Hitachi subsidiary, and mashes together HDS, the IoT-focussed Hitachi Insight Group, and analytics outfit Pentaho into “a single integrated business”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Sources: Amazon working on Alexa-powered smartglasses with bone-conduction audio and a new home security camera system that would tie into its Echo products — Amazon is working on its first wearable device: a pair of “smart glasses” that would allow its virtual assistant Alexa to be summoned any time …
Amazon working on first wearables to interact with Alexa
Company’s ‘smart glasses’ would come with in-home virtual assistant embedded
https://www.ft.com/content/d7862042-9d9a-11e7-8cd4-932067fbf946
Amazon is working on its first wearable device: a pair of “smart glasses” that would allow its virtual assistant Alexa to be summoned any time, anywhere, according to people familiar with its plans.
The device, which would tether wirelessly to a smartphone, is designed to look like a regular pair of spectacles
A bone-conduction audio system would allow the wearer to hear Alexa
The Seattle-based group is also said to be expanding its “smart home” hardware line-up with a new home security camera system.
The internet-connected camera would tie into its Echo products
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elyse Betters / Pocket-lint:
Nest debuts Nest Secure alarm system that has a motion sensor and Nest Tag fob in a $499 pack, an HD video doorbell, and Nest Cam IQ outdoor, a $349 camera — Nest has stepped up its home security efforts. The Alphabet-owned company is live in San Francisco, where it has announced …
Nest has a new alarm system, video doorbell, and outdoor camera
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/142312-nest-has-a-new-alarm-system-video-doorbell-and-outdoor-camera
Nest has stepped up its home security efforts.
The Alphabet-owned company is live in San Francisco, where it has announced the new Nest Secure alarm system, Nest Hello video doorbell, and Nest Cam IQ outdoor security camera. The alarm system is, as one might’ve guessed, designed to alert you of intruders. Its starter pack includes the Nest Guard security base, which provides the alarm, keypad, motion sensor, and “friendly voice”.
Steven Levy / Wired:
A look at the development of the Nest Hello doorbell, Nest Cam IQ outdoor with Google Assistant integration, and the Nest Secure package including Nest Guard
Inside the Second Coming of Nest
https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-second-coming-of-nest/