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 Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 Is Outdated.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:
Cognitive engineering can humanize machines
http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/cognitive-engineering-can-humanize-machines/8781cd4671d050f33fe6c09fddef0fcc.html?OCVALIDATE&[email protected]&ocid=101781
Already part of some industrial systems, self-driving cars, autonomous drones, healthcare planning, and virtual assistants, cognitive engineering is permeating every walk of life. Optimized systems combine knowledge, contextual awareness, and situational intelligence.
What is cognitive engineering?
Cognitive engineering is the rise of technologies that help machines sense, analyze, and learn better, as well as contextualize. At its core, cognitive engineering is about humanizing machines.
Security surveillance systems at airports provide an example.
Security surveillance systems have vast knowledge, acquired through years of image and behavioral recognition and analytics. With thousands of passengers moving through airports every hour, how does the system understand what and who to monitor?
Combined cognition
Many products using cognitive engineering or machine intelligence focus on one aspect of cognition: knowledge or contextual awareness or situational intelligence. Intelligent systems combine all three aspects in one machine.
Three areas of focus can advance the capabilities of cognitive systems.
1. Interactions: Interactions must evolve from pushing a button or opening an app to other methods such as gesturing, sign language, facial expressions, voice commands, or interpretation of emotional state.
These require advanced voice and image processing tools.
2. Decision making: Decisions need to be quick, bias-free, based on evidence, and backed by strong reasoning algorithms.
In an industrial manufacturing plant, sensors collect huge amounts of data at every stage of the production line.
Cognitive systems trained this way autonomously can optimize processes to lower costs or speed up production. Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used for monitoring to ensure that production matches wider goals in manufacturing plants.
3. Open standards: With so many companies developing AI and machine learning tools, the creation of industry standards will be a huge boost to the cognition world. Standards will go beyond just bringing in more developers to the ecosystem and enable businesses to invest in a standard set of tools to build machine intelligence.
Cognitive engineering already is present in industrial systems, self-driving cars, autonomous drones, healthcare planning, and virtual assistants, soon will permeate every walk of life. This revolutionary technology applied to machine learning can benefit humans.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Finnish IoT company received 1.3 million – the device operates without service for 10 years
Emergence Oy, which develops IoT tracking services, has once again received the seeds seed funding. It is intended to commercialize the company’s Taival positioning service.
Emergence reports that it has spent EUR 1.3 million on product development and accelerating international growth. The company plans to bring its Taival service to the market early next year.
The hand-touching portion of the service is a small device that allows customers to keep track of the location of their other insurgents. The solar-powered device is promised to operate without any maintenance for up to 10 years.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/suomalainen-iot-firma-sai-1-3-miljoonaa-laite-toimii-huoltamatta-10-vuotta-6679343
Tomi Engdahl says:
Does Japan Get Industrial IoT?
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332368
When it comes to sensor data and automation technologies, Japanese companies are old hands. They know how to install and use them effectively to improve productivity — especially on the factory floor.
Unfortunately, all that knowhow doesn’t necessarily translate to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Germany still holds that title. Many Japanese companies are listening to what German companies like Infineon Technologies have to say about “Industry 4.0.”
Infineon Tuesday (Sept. 26) held a press briefing on IIoT security in Tokyo. Yasuaki Mori, president of Infineon Technologies Japan, stressed, “I don’t think Japan is behind in IIoT. Japanese companies are very knowledgeable of their own ‘use cases.’”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sponsored Content
Authentication Flash: Closing the Security Gap Left by Conventional NOR Flash ICs
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332289&
In response to demand from security-conscious OEMs, the manufacturers of modern microcontrollers and systems-on-chip (SoCs) commonly equip their products with a broad range of security capabilities: standard, off-the-shelf 32-bit MCUs for mainstream, non-financial applications will today often feature a hardware cryptographic accelerator, a random number generator (RNG) and secure memory locations.
But serial Flash memory – the location in which much of an OEM’s precious intellectual property (IP) is stored – has traditionally been more vulnerable than the SoC or microcontroller. Security weaknesses in the companion Flash memory to an MCU or SoC expose OEMs to the commercially damaging risk of product theft due to the cloning of reverse engineered PCB designs. This article explains how Authentication Flash can be uniquely and securely paired to an authorized host controller.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BMW will add Amazon’s Alexa into new cars in 2018
https://www.fastcompany.com/40473943/bmw-will-add-amazons-alexa-into-new-cars-in-2018
BMW has decided to adopt Alexa as the voice assistant in BMW cars and selected Mini cars starting in 2018. So drivers will be able to drive and talk to Alexa, getting answers in spoken form from the assistant. But Alexa will also deliver graphics like weather into the head unit display in the car, said Amazon’s Thom Brenner (above) at Amazon’s press event here in Seattle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arrow IoT Delivers Solutions
https://www.arrow.com/en/iot?acctid=4780
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finnish lighting system for Finnish remote monitoring
Helvar Oy, the electrical engineering company, protected the tracking, remote management and maintenance of its lighting systems by using the Oulu technology of Tosibox. With Tosibox’s secure remote connection, Helvar can track the technical information and energy consumption of the site remotely.
Helvar manufactures ballast and fluorescent ballasts, LED ballasts, LED modules and lighting systems as well as their control and monitoring systems. The company chose Tosibox technology to renew its service offering for a service agreement.
With Tosibox’s secure remote connection, Helvar can track the technical information and energy consumption of the site remotely.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6903&via=n&datum=2017-09-27_15:45:03&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart home can be controlled with gestures
Schneider Electric has introduced a new way of guiding home intelligence or property automation equipment. The KNX control system has a Fusion Multitouch touch screen that understands gestures. Taking a hand close to the Fusion touch screen switches the screen and backlight on. Swinging hands in front of the screen can trigger functions such as steering the general lighting of the room on and off.
Touching the Fusion touchscreen controls the functions such as lighting control. Functions controlled by the Fusion touch screen can be split into multiple views, by swiping the screen on a smartphone. Up to 32 different functions can be controlled on the Fusion touch screen.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6902&via=n&datum=2017-09-27_15:45:03&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Ebers – Diabetes Care, Step By Step
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/29/hackaday-prize-entry-ebers-diabetes-care-step-by-step/
Taking care of your feet is essential in diabetes to prevent injury and infection. Ebers is a project that seeks to help in just this area.
Ebers monitors plantar pressure, temperature, and humidity in the sole of the shoe. It then feeds this data back to a smartphone for analysis over Bluetooth. The brain of the project is an Arduino Pro Mini which is tasked with interfacing with the various sensors.
The project relies on 3D printed insoles which fit inside the shoe of the wearer.
Ebers
Smart insole for diabetic people
https://hackaday.io/project/27056-ebers
Ebers is an insole, capable of measuring plantar pressures, temperature and humidity throughout the day in patients suffering from diabetes to avoid the formation of ulcers. The data obtained are sent via Bluetooth to a smartphone that alerts the patient about possible abnormal pressures that can cause him any type of damage at plantar level. Also the data obtained are sent to the doctor so him can count on this information when he need it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modular Weather Station
https://hackaday.io/project/1878-modular-weather-station
A collection of low cost and hand built weather sensors for personal and educational use, posting data online.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Is Not a Post About BLE, Introducing BLEAH
https://www.evilsocket.net/2017/09/23/This-is-not-a-post-about-BLE-introducing-BLEAH/
This is not a post about BLE, but rather on how to hack it … well, to be honest, BLE devices are usually very easy to hack, so it’s just a quick intro to it, I’ll also take the chance to open source
Bluetooth Low Energy – the honest version.
BLE is a cheap and very insecure version of Bluetooth, in which you have no channel hopping (all hail easy sniffing and MITM!) and no builtin protocol security (fuzzing like there’s no tomorrow dudez!), it is mostly used for two reasons:
Decent batteries are expensive.
Decent batteries are big.
If you wanna build and sell some IoT-smart-whatever crap, and you wanna do it quickly because your competitor is about to go on the market with the same shit, you take Bluetooth, you strip it from the very few close-to-decent things it has and voilà, you have its retarded little brother which won’t bother the battery too much but will be functional enough to burp random data at you from time to time … easy win, litte R&D efforts, very small production costs.
Being the retarded little brother of BT, it doesn’t really take too long to explain how to hack it.
Find the mobile app (they always have one, they’re smart toys after all), reverse it to find the right characteristics to use for your goal and then just blow the thing up. My point is that you’ll end up reversing “something” anyway, so let it be cheap and effective, right?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dildon’ts of Bluetooth: Pen test boffins sniff out Berlin’s smart butt plugs
You’ve heard of wardriving – say hello to screwdriving
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/29/ble_exploits_screwdriving/
Security researchers have figured out how to locate and exploit smart adult toys.
Various shenanigans are possible because of the easy discoverability and exploitability of internet-connected butt plugs and the like running Bluetooth’s baby brother, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), a wireless personal area network technology. The tech has support for security but it’s rarely implemented in practice, as El Reg has noted before.
The shortcoming allowed boffins at Pen Test Partners to hunt for Bluetooth adult toys, a practice it dubbed screwdriving,
BLE devices also advertise themselves for discovery. The Lovense Hush, an IoT-enabled butt plug, calls itself LVS-Z001. Other Hush devices use the same identifier.
The Hush, like every other sex toy tested by PTP (the Kiiroo Fleshlight, Lelo, Lovense Nora and Max), all lacked adequate PIN or password protection. If the devices did have a PIN it was generic (0000 / 1234 etc).
The only protection is that BLE devices will generally only pair with one device at a time and their range is limited.
PTP’s research on BLE device insecurity – together with recommendations on how to shore them up – can be found here.
BLE advertises its presence. As a result, these toys can be located fairly accurately using triangulation. The potential privacy issues this throws up might be mitigated by using a generic BLE device name for, ahem, adult toys and other kit people might not necessarily want world+dog to stumble on.
Screwdriving. Locating and exploiting smart adult toys
https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/screwdriving-locating-and-exploiting-smart-adult-toys/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s brightest new innovation might just be the smart home bundle
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/27/amazons-brightest-new-innovation-might-just-be-the-smart-home-bundle/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Amazon went above and beyond today in terms of launching stuff – it debuted not one, not two, but six brand new devices at an event held at its HQ.
The Echo Plus comes bundled with a Philips Hue lightbulb as part of a limited time launch offering
Amazon’s goal here is clear: Jump start the smart home market by giving Echo users a taste of what they’re missing out with zero risk. A lot of people probably either tried smart home tech in its early days and got burned, or just haven’t been willing to put down any of their hard-earned cash on something that isn’t widely appreciated or understood; a Philips Hue bulb is a good, reliable starter kit to get people excited about connected homes, even if they haven’t been too keen on it in the past.
It’s potentially a big win for Amazon even if it only gets a fraction of bundle buyers hooked on the smart home, and Amazon’s never been a company to shy away from burning some margin in exchange for potential future benefit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Community > Blogs > Measure of Things
Who cares that we no longer have privacy?
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/measure-of-things/4458888/Who-cares-that-we-no-longer-have-privacy-
They know where you are. They know where your car is parked. They know who you’re with. They know your credit rating. If they don’t already, they’ll soon know your pulse rate, whether or not you’re awake, and someday even your electro-encephalogram (EEG).
Whether or not you care probably depends on who has the information and how they’ll use it. Pick your bogeyman—the government, huge corporations, your life/health/car insurance company, your bank, your spouse’s private investigator—they can all get your information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino & Android Based Bluetooth Control Password Protected Door Lock (Version 2)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Android-Based-Bluetooth-Control-Password-P/
This smart Lock is the secure, simple, and easy to manage your home’s lock. This lock needs no keys and the lock is attached inside the door and you can control it from outside the door using Bluetooth. As the lock is inside the door there is no way to break the door by a thief. An android application is required to open and close the lock
A password is sent to the lock using Android app and if the password is matched to your preset-lock password then the lock will be open and sent a feedback to your phone like the lock is open.
Arduino Uno:
Bluetooth Module (HC-05):
Micro Servo SG90:
All the parts of the lock are 3D printed
Tomi Engdahl says:
Debug & Analysis of IoT Power Requirements
http://www.electronicdesign.com/power/debug-analysis-iot-power-requirements?utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=13274&utm_medium=email&elq2=d4001769b6ff410c82e8cd525adfd9dc
RIGOL’s new App Note covers real-world measurements and techniques for understanding how IoT platforms draw and utilize power and how it affects overall product design. Test instruments utilized are a mixed signal oscilloscope, power supply and spectrum analyzer.
https://www.rigolna.com/iot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
What is power debugging?
https://www.embedded.com/design/prototyping-and-development/4199730/What-is-power-debugging-
Today, many embedded systems are powered by battery or via a signal cable. We see them in almost any market segment; medical, consumer electronics, home automation and many more. A common design goal for all these systems is that the power consumption must be low. Convenience, environmental awareness and costs are all contributing factors in choosing products that do not require us to constantly change the battery.
The design goals of low power consumption and a long battery lifetime have traditionally been the domain of hardware developers. As more battery-powered applications become controlled by a microcontroller, the hardware manufacturers present products with functionality and characteristics that contribute to lower power consumption and hence longer battery lifetime.
But in an active system, power consumption does not only depend on the design of the hardware, but also of how it is used. Of course, how it is used is determined by the system software.
The software developers’ domain on the other hand has always been to develop applications that are as efficient as possible and use as little memory as possible. In low-power systems power consumption is a third dimension that needs to be taken into account. However, the lack of proper tools has prevented power consumption to become an integrated part of the software development process.
By correlating a system’s momentary power consumption with its software, a dynamic analysis tool that shows how the software affects and steers the power consumption is obtained. This is the fundamental approach for how to provide insight into how power consumption can be minimized.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comprehensive debugging of Internet of Things modules
http://www.epdtonthenet.net/article/123765/Comprehensive-debugging-of-Internet-of-Things-modules.aspx
The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming an important driver of innovations in the electronics industry.
When debugging IoT modules, all module functions must be tested, as well as the interaction between the individual functions and components. A multi-domain oscilloscope is needed in order to perform comprehensive measurements using only one test instrument.
One example is the new R&S RTO2000 lab oscilloscope from Rohde & Schwarz. It can be used to test all of the module’s sensor and control signals, the integrated data processing, the power supply and the integrated radio module. The oscilloscope with multi-domain capability performs time, frequency, protocol and logic analyses and establishes all time references. Via the oscilloscope’s analogue input channels, the user simultaneously sees the signal in the time and frequency domain, and if desired, the spectrogram. This makes it possible to perform debugging on the functional system level.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tennis racket motion sensor and Bluetooth connectivity
Over the years, Bluetooth wireless technology has become less energy-consuming and at the same time it has become more consumer-friendly than cell phones. Now Bluetooth also bends into the Mesh node of the Internet.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/09/29/tennismailaan-liikeanturi-ja-bluetooth-yhteydet/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video integrates with IoT networks
Video management will become a more significant area when IoT devices and video are combined with other data streams. Mirasys CEO Veli-Matti Luukkanen believes that IoT will blow up the video market for growth.
According to Luukkas, for their own, the future is interesting because they can connect different sensors into video management solutions. According to Luukkasen, the camera should be seen as a smart sensor.
” A huge amount of information can be obtained from the image and identifying different objects through metadata. The same video management system is able to do several things and connect different systems under the same interface “‘. Luukkanen estimates in the press release.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/10/02/video-integroituu-iot-verkkoihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The children of the Vantaa kindergarten team glued small Telia-sized measuring sensors on the walls to allow their parents to monitor the quality of indoor air in the day-care center in real-time via the Internet.
Telecommunication Operator Telia’s Development Manager Arttu Aho has been planning with his team for a year the quality and quality of indoor air quality.
Now Telia IoT-Office is ready and for the first time in the premises used by children. First, they will be installed in Vantaa Hiekkaharju and Kerava Ahjoti’s daycare center and in Oulu, Aarresaare Daycare Center.
“There is so much talk about indoor air. Yes, we are interested in knowing what it is. It would be nice to share this information with parents of children, “says Telia Aho .
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/09/29/paivakoteihin-sisailmaa-mittaavat-iot-anturit/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia and Bosch Demonstrate 5G Technology for Plant Data Transfer
Nokia and Bosch will present the demo developed by the European Digital Summit in Tallinn, which will model how the 5G mobile standard allows the implementation of a variety of Industry 4.0 solutions.
“We want to expand the 5G collaboration with Nokia to other areas, such as the added reality, the development of independent and automated transport systems for indoor material flow processing and cloud-based production applications,” says Rolf Najork, Managing Director of Bosch Rexroth.
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/09/29/nokia-ja-bosch-tuovat-5g-tekniikan-tehtaiden-tiedonsiirtoon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
EtherGeiger
https://hackaday.io/project/2932-ethergeiger
Remote sensor of ionizing background radiation, utilizing AVR microcontroller, ENC28J60 Ethernet chip and old, soviet Geiger tube.
It’s good to know a radiation level in your neighborhood, but carrying Geiger counter around is a little bit uncomfortable and can attract unwanted attention.
With this things in mind I decided to build my own Ethernet enabled Geiger counter. I used old STS-5 detector tube, manufactured few decades ago in Soviet Union. Voltage converter is supplying tube with 400V, needed for its normal operation. Pulses generated by the tube are amplified by opamp and then counted by Atmega 328 microcontroller. Communication with device is based on a popular ENC28J60 controller chip and simple TCP/IP stack from tuxgraphics.org.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Custom Lightbulb Firmware
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/01/custom-lightbulb-firmware/
The Internet of Things is developing at a rapid pace, as hobbyists and companies rush to develop the latest and greatest home automation gear. One area of particular interest to some is lighting – yes, even the humble lightbulb now comes with a brain and is ripe for the hacking.
[Tinkerman] starts by doing a full disassembly of the Sonoff B1 lightbulb. It’s a popular device, and available for less than $20 on eBay. Rated at 6 watts, the bulb has a heatsink that is seemingly far larger than necessary. Inside is the usual AC/DC converter, LED driver and an ESP8285 running the show. While this is a slightly different part to the usual ESP8266, it can be programmed in the same way by selecting the correct programming mode.
Sonoff B1, lights and shades
http://tinkerman.cat/sonoff-b1-lights-and-shades/
Six months ago I was reviewing the AiThinker AiLight, a great looking light bulb with an embedded ESP8266EX microcontroller, driven by a MY9291 LED driver. Just before summer IteadStudio released it’s Sonoff B1 [Itead.cc] light bulb, heavily inspired (probably same manufacturer) by the AiLight, at least on the design.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
Sigfox expansion; Google Cloud IoT Core; new Hitachi subsidiary.
https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-65/
Sigfox this week held the first annual Sigfox World IoT Expo in Prague, Czech Republic, bringing together network operators, business partners, and industry professionals. The company announced a number of new services for its users, including the Admiral Ivory connectivity service, which promises to make any short-range wireless device into a long-range Internet of Things device, at a minimal cost.
The Google Cloud IoT Core service went into public beta this week. It is a fully managed service hosted on the Google Cloud Platform. The service can be integrated with Google Cloud Dataflow, Google BigQuery, and other online Google analytics services.
Hitachi formed the wholly-owned Hitachi Vantara subsidiary, combining personnel from Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group, and Pentaho into one organization based in Santa Clara, Calif. Hitachi Vantara, a $4 billion unit with about 7,000 employees, will be responsible for the Japanese conglomerate’s IoT operations around the world.
The third annual Insurance IoT USA Summit will be held on November 30 and December 1 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago.
Cypress Semiconductor introduced the CYW43012 combination chip, offering ultra-low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The combo chip, fabricated with a 28-nanometer process, is said to extend battery life for smart home products, portable audio applications, and wearable electronics.
The Comodo IoT Security Platform from, naturally, Comodo offers the capability to issue and manage PKI and SSL certificates for private ecosystems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who cares that we no longer have privacy?
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/measure-of-things/4458888/Who-cares-that-we-no-longer-have-privacy-
They know where you are. They know where your car is parked. They know who you’re with. They know your credit rating. If they don’t already, they’ll soon know your pulse rate, whether or not you’re awake, and someday even your electro-encephalogram (EEG).
Whether or not you care probably depends on who has the information and how they’ll use it. Pick your bogeyman—the government, huge corporations, your life/health/car insurance company, your bank, your spouse’s private investigator—they can all get your information.
Always assume that you’re being watched.
That sentence might send chills down your spine, especially if you’re an old geezer who thinks that going incognito is the best way to go.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Harvard, MIT boffins ink up with health-monitoring ‘smart’ tats
Cutting-edge tattoo checks your blood sugar, still disappoints your mother
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/29/health_monitoring_smart_tats/
Researchers at Harvard and MIT have developed a subdermal ink capable of monitoring vitals such as hydration and blood sugar.
The team of eight researchers found that by mixing optical biosensors with tattoo ink, they are able to create tattoos (dubbed “dermal abyss” or “d-abyss”) that react with the body’s own fluids and change color when levels of substances such as sodium and glucose change.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Preventing IoT Edge Device Vulnerabilities
https://www.mentor.com/tannereda/resources/overview/preventing-iot-edge-device-vulnerabilities-431aad17-d8f8-4a68-848e-e54151b7941c?contactid=1&PC=L&c=2017_10_02_ic_tanner_preventing_iot_edge_wp_v1
We see volumes of research centered on protecting complex SoCs from attacks and interesting studies about detecting malicious logic in these ICs. But, security issues around IoT edge devices are rarely mentioned in the literature. However, the projected billions of IoT edge devices out in the wild makes for a vast attack surface. Should hardware designers be concerned about security for IoT edge devices? And, is it worth the effort and cost to ensure security at this level? We explore internal design vulnerabilities and 3rd-party attacks on IoT edge devices in this paper in order to answer that question.
http://s3.mentor.com/public_documents/whitepaper/resources/mentorpaper_102195.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth over a mile
Bluetooth standard, there are two significant increase in the past six months made. First, the 5th version of the standard added the data rate and range of the link, and secondly, the mesh structure extends the use of technology. The latest U-Blox swiss module supports both new technologies.
NINA-B3 is the first new product to support u-blox. According to Pelle Svensson, responsible for the company’s short-range radio products, NINA-B3 modules are an easy way for OEMs to get the 5th generation of Bluetooth out of the box.
The 5-bit raw data rate is two megabits per second. For example, taking out the traffic required for the protocol, the net data will be about 1.4 megabits per second. This is twice as high as the standard version 4.2, about 700 megabits.
Applications do not necessarily need faster data transfer per se. Because half the time it takes for data to be sent, the application’s power consumption budget is better. – The link is more active for less time, so less power is consumed, Svensson assures.
The 5 version also comes with new modulation technologies and higher transmission power. With these, the range grows up to fourfold. In the previous NINA-B1 module, the link range was about 300 meters according to Svensson, so in B3 it should grow to just one kilometer.
u-Blox has not yet tested its NINA-B3 module on the field
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6930-bluetoothilla-yli-kilometrin-paeaehaen
Tomi Engdahl says:
Raspberry Pi Temperature Sensor Network
https://hackaday.io/project/26946-raspberry-pi-temperature-sensor-network
The Raspberry Pi will be a server for various NodeMCU ESP8266 “nodes” which will each host a temperature sensor
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Description
We will be using a Pi 0 as a database and main server to which each ESP8266 will upload data. The idea is to gather the temperature data around the office so that we can see the distribution of heat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Walmart Opens Google Home Mini Pre-Order, Arrives October 19 (Updated)
https://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/www.droid-life.com/2017/10/03/walmart-opens-google-home-mini-pre-order-arrives-october-19/_index.html
The Google Home Mini, a device we first revealed back in mid-September as the cheaper, smaller Google Home assistant speaker for $49, is now up for pre-order at Walmart. I don’t think it’s supposed to be, you know, since Google hasn’t actually announced it yet, but it is.
The listing explains to us that this is indeed a smaller Google Home. It’s your “powerful little helper” that gives you answers to questions, controls your smart home, shares weather info, and even plays music. So even as this smaller device likely won’t carry the same musical prowess as its older, bigger brother, it’ll still do it.
The device weighs less than a pound and measures at 4.53 x 4.53 x 4.72 inches.
Pre-orders will cost you $49 and Walmart expects the device to arrive by October 19, which is more than likely the planned in-store day for Google Home Mini.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quick and Easy NTP Clock
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/04/quick-and-easy-ntp-clock/
[Danman] got an ESP32 with built-in OLED display, and in the process of getting a clock up and running and trying to get a couple of NodeMCU binaries installed on it, thought he’d try rolling his own.
[Danman] used PlatformIO to write the code to his ESP. PlatformIO allowed [Danman] to browse for a NTP library and load it into his project. After finding the NTP library, [Danman] wrote a bit of code and was able to upload it to the ESP.
ESP32 NTP OLED clock
https://blog.danman.eu/esp32-ntp-oled-clock/
As a first project with my new ESP32 module with OLED display I chose to build OLED clock. I thought I’ll just find some existing code, upload it and it’s done. There are a few such projects for ESP8266 in NodeMCU. So I started with NodeMCU upload.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Drag Your Office Aircon Into The 21st Century With Wi-Fi Control
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/drag-your-office-aircon-into-the-21st-century-with-wi-fi-control/
We’ll all have worked in offices that have air-conditioning, but a little too much of it. It’s wonderful on a baking-hot day to walk into the blessèd cool of an air-conditioned office, but after an hour or two of the icy blast you’re shivering away in your summer clothing and you skin has dried out to a crisp.
Wouldn’t it be nice if individual air-conditioning units could be easily controlled. To that end, [Maya Posch] has made a rather nicely designed board that takes a NodeMCU board with its ESP8266 processor, and uses four of its outputs as PWM to produce 0-10 volt analogue outputs via filters and op-amps to control individual units. In addition there is an onboard CO2 sensor and a temperature sensor, with provision for an external temperature sensor. The whole fits very neatly into a standard electrical outlet enclosure.
WiFi AC controller
WiFi-enabled controller for AC units which accept an analogue control signal.
https://hackaday.io/project/27548-wifi-ac-controller
What this new controller offers is room for a NodeMCU board. Four pins of the ESP8266 are used for PWM output, which are each passed through two RC filter stages to smooth it to a DC signal. This signal is then amplified by an LM324D quad opamp.
The board also provides room for an MH-Z19 CO2 sensor, a BME280 temperature sensor breakout board onboard and a further I2C connector to allow for a second, external BME280 sensor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Worlds of Industrial Automation and Process Control Begin to Merge
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/worlds-industrial-automation-and-process-control-begin-merge/37754529557564?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=1297&elq_cid=876648
The worlds of industrial automation and process control are coming together as communication and security standards enable new system architectures and solutions.
One huge potential benefit of the current push to new industrial communication standards, driven by the Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0’s smart manufacturing initiatives, is open, secure, interoperable architectures that integrate solutions that address both discrete and process automation. These worlds of industrial automation and process control have largely been apart in the past but now, with the need to achieve much tighter integration with business systems and the supply chain, there is a new push for solutions that will enable a gradual merging of these two worlds based on common standards.
Process vs. Discrete Automation
For process automation companies, there are emerging possibilities for controls optimization by implementing a universal platform that covers both industrial automation and process automation using PC-based control.
New offerings from Beckhoff, for example, move in this direction by integrating process-specific protocols and interfaces, and by offering an extended range of products for hazardous areas including full implementation of HART functionality. By providing connectivity using process technology protocols such as HART, NAMUR, and FDT/DTM, and integrating these protocols and programming standards into its TwinCAT software development environment, this approach provides a familiar experience for users who previously worked with other software environments. The TwinCAT FDT (Field Device Tool) container can enable implementation of any field device drivers (Device Type Manager, DTM), so an entire HART configuration can be implemented efficiently using a single tool.
The system also provides a CommDTM for communicating with existing process control systems, as the DTMs can be implemented in any FDT container. This applies to all field devices connected to HART-capable EtherCAT Terminals. Devices can also be configured and parameterized remotely in known containers without requiring direct PLC access. OPC UA server and client functionality creates a method for secure global distribution of process data, as well as system control and remote maintenance capabilities.
Role of OPC UA in Process Control
The transition of distributed control systems (DCS) to IIoT centric architectures will be driven by access and analysis of more data, along with seamless interoperability of multivendor components. As a result, the OPC Foundation has announced new initiatives to define an over-arching standard that incorporates the standards currently defined for communications interoperability (Foundation Fieldbus, HART, OPC, etc.) but also defines a reference and/or conformance platform that is standards-based, open, secure and interoperable.
The separation of the data model from its underlying technology architecture is a core strength of OPC UA. This separation is fundamental to adapting to new technologies including those defined for security and communication protocols.
A white paper on the OPC Foundation website provides insight
https://opcfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/OPC-Foundation-Process-Automation-Whitepaper-20170823.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ben Fox Rubin / CNET:
Walmart says customers can now start shopping for 2M+ Walmart items on Google Home devices
Walmart voice shopping on Google Home is now live
The two companies teamed up in August to take on Amazon and its Echo.
https://www.cnet.com/news/walmart-voice-shopping-on-google-home-is-now-live/
Voice shopping with Walmart and Google is officially here.
The world’s largest retailer in August said it would start offering a chunk of its inventories for sale on the Google Express shopping site and app, as well as on the Google Home smart speaker through voice shopping. Timed to Google’s hardware launch event Wednesday, Walmart said customers can now start shopping for more than 2 million Walmart items via those channels.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PTC an IoT Software Platform Leader
https://www.ptc.com/en/internet-of-things/forrester-wave?utm_source=facebook+paid&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=IoT+Solution+Social+Selling+NER+Facebook+Paid++WW&utm_content=IoT_Solution_Social_Selling_NER_Facebook_Paid__WW-facebook_paid-social-Forrester_Wave_Report-UK-9280&cl1=IoT_Solution_Social_Selling_NER_Facebook_Paid__WW-facebook_paid-social-Forrester_Wave_Report-UK-9280&cmsrc=facebook+paid&cid=7012A000000obpXQAQ&elqCampaignId=7983
Forrester Research names PTC a leader in the new Forrester Wave™ report that evaluates Internet of Things (IoT) software platforms.
Over 1,000 companies use the ThingWorx platform to support their IoT strategies and to create new business value in a smart, connected world. Additionally, hundreds of companies have partnered with PTC to bring IoT to reality across multiple markets
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rambus’ Aharon Etengoff argues that 5G and fog computing will enable computation to migrate towards the edges of the network, improving the ability to analyze large amounts of data for IoT and mobile devices.
Living on the edge with 5G and fog computing
https://www.rambus.com/blogs/living-on-the-edge-with-5g-and-fog-computing/
What is fog computing?
What to call it? In 2014, Cisco coined the term “fog computing,” later creating the Open Fog Consortium with
the participation of ARM, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and Princeton University (as founding members). As of mid-2017, the consortium counts 56 total members. Put simply, fog computing extends the cloud to be closer to the things that produce and act on IoT data.
These devices, which Cisco refers to as ‘fog nodes,’ can be deployed anywhere with a network connection. As Cisco notes, fog nodes can be found “on a factory floor, on top of a power pole, alongside a railway track, in a vehicle, or on an oil rig. Any device with computing, storage, and network connectivity can be a fog node.” Fog nodes come in all shapes and sizes, and can include desktop, laptop or video surveillance cameras, power ports, as well as switches and routers.
Bright lights, smart cities
One current role of the IoT is to enable the deployment of smart, connected smart city infrastructure. As an example, a community in Bellevue, Washington recently installed smart traffic lights that respond to traffic conditions in real-time.
In the future, more robust adaptive lights, equipped with video cameras and a network of sensors on the streets, will be able to automatically sense certain types of cars and objects – perhaps to the point of identifying individual pedestrians and calculating the distance as well as speed of an approaching vehicle. As such, the densely-distributed data collection points provided by fog/edge computing have never been more important, especially with a need to rapidly crunch real-time data and generate actionable analytics.
Cellular companies and 5G
AT&T’s edge computing announcement in August illustrates the evolution of edge computing in the age of 5G. As the company notes, autonomous cars (which could potentially generate up to 3.6 terabytes of data per hour) and augmented AR/VR are demanding massive amounts of near real-time computation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM’s Rob Coombs provides six mobile security practices worth using in IoT devices.
Six ways to re-use mobile security practices in your next IoT project
https://community.arm.com/iot/b/blog/posts/six-ways-to-re-use-mobile-security-practices-in-your-next-iot-project
1. No shared secrets (or protect them in hardware)
2. Use hardware based security
3. Keep it agile
4. Protect data in flight (use TLS – aka SSL)
5. Use IoT platforms that build in security functions
6. Pay for a third-party company to expose the security flaws in your design
Conclusion
It is now possible to apply mobile security techniques to IoT at all cost points. The introduction of TrustZone on microcontrollers as well as application processors, together with availability of security subsystems, offers a defense in-depth architecture which can be used to protect critical code and assets (such as cryptographic keys). The next step is to make it easier for IoT developers – who are not security experts – to use this architecture. A pragmatic way for most product developers is to choose an IoT platform that builds in security functions (such as OTA updates, TLS, and crypto libraries), as well as using the security hardware being built in by the chip vendors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s Marjorie Dickman details a new set of IoT policy recommendations for the U.S. government, including standardization, cooperation with consortia, and defining what IoT means for consumer and industrial segments.
Intel Collaborates to Unveil a National IoT Policy Strategy
By Margie Dickman on October 3, 2017
http://blogs.intel.com/policy/2017/10/03/intel-collaborates-unveil-national-iot-policy-strategy/
The 28-page report sets forth strategic IoT policy recommendations for Congress and the Administration –working in partnership with industry – to establish America as the global IoT leader for decades to come. The recommendations include:
Adopting a uniform broad-based definition of the IoT that contemplates both consumer and industrial segments, as an initial level-set for any future policymaking.
Prioritizing the development and implementation of a National IoT Strategy. This starts with enactment of the bipartisan Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, S.88 and H.R.686. The Act would create a foundation for U.S. policymakers and industry to work together to remove barriers to IoT innovation and develop a world-leading national IoT strategy.
Ensuring coordination of IoT standards and regulations across the Federal government and internationally. This focuses on avoiding barriers to innovation, promoting global industry-led, consensus-based IoT standardization efforts and protecting the free flow of data across borders.
Encouraging flexible federal policies that promote innovation and best practices for multi-layered IoT security. This includes promoting multi-stakeholder efforts, incentivizing hardware- and software-integrated security, and expanding consumer and small business education.
Incentivizing investment in “smart,” secure and scalable data-driven infrastructure solutions to increase infrastructure safety, efficiency, and reliability. This will improve real-time decision-making and management of assets, enabling predictive maintenance, lowering long-term costs and increasing infrastructure life-span.
Investing in IoT public-private partnerships, research and testbeds. Examples are those being driven by leading global industry consortia like the Industrial Internet Consortium, Open Connectivity Foundation and OpenFog Consortium.
National IOT Strategy Dialogue
https://www.itic.org/public-policy/IoTReportFinal2.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fusing CMOS IC And MEMS Design For IoT Edge Devices
https://semiengineering.com/fusing-cmos-ic-and-mems-design-for-iot-edge-devices-2/
Creating a sensor-based IoT edge device is challenging, due to the multiple design domains involved (Analog, digital, RF, and MEMS). But, creating an edge device that combines the electronics using the traditional CMOS IC flow and a MEMS sensor on the same silicon die can seem impossible. In fact, many IoT edge devices combine multiple dies in a single package, separating electronics from the MEMS design.
Fusing CMOS IC and MEMS Design for IoT Edge Devices
https://www.mentor.com/tannereda/resources/overview/fusing-cmos-ic-and-mems-design-for-iot-edge-devices-5ba8408f-0d3c-46f1-8ea6-eb77d61f4eb2?rssid=9b3c0b2d-57f5-473e-9653-51361cb0812a?cmpid=10171
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Cyber-Security: A Missing Piece Of The Smart City Puzzle
https://semiengineering.com/iot-cyber-security-a-missing-piece-of-the-smart-city-puzzle/
How to protect devices in a smart city from a wide range of cyber threats.
Smart city devices, as well as the data they generate, must be protected against a wide range of cyber threats. Vulnerable devices can be hijacked and even physically disabled, while unencrypted or unverified data transmissions can be intercepted, leaked or spoofed. A leak or deliberate falsification of sensitive customer data will inevitably damage a brand and decrease confidence in smart city infrastructure.
Despite the real-world risks, service providers and OEMs are understandably concerned that implementation of a comprehensive IoT security solution for smart city infrastructure could potentially incur additional costs and delay time to market. As such, the most effective security solution is one that does not negatively impact profitability or time to market. Put simply, a practical, simple and secure solution that can be easily and widely adopted by service providers is far more effective than a ‘super solution’ with only limited adoption.
IoT Cyber-Security – A Missing Piece of the Smart City Puzzle
http://info.rambus.com/a-missing-piece-of-the-smart-city-puzzle
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Design an IoT Smart Sensor with an Ultra-Low-Power MSP430FR MCU
http://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded-revolution/how-design-iot-smart-sensor-ultra-low-power-msp430fr-mcu?code=UM_NN6TI87&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=13368&utm_medium=email&elq2=c70c1da2a96e4058ba141aa12433e687
Sponsored by: Texas Instruments. It’s possible to build DSP functionality into low-power devices ranging from heart-rate monitors to glass-break sensors with a microcontroller that integrates a low-energy accelerator.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is quickly becoming ubiquitous, whether in the home, on the factory floor, or say, at the doctor’s office (Fig. 1). For the system engineer, there are many approaches to architect an IoT system, but a basic design has three layers:
An end node gathers information about a process from a variety of sensors. Typical data includes temperature, pressure, speed, vibration, images, audio, physiological metrics, and much more. The node then sends the information via a wired or wireless link to a gateway layer that aggregates the information from multiple nodes and sends it upstream. Finally, the cloud or enterprise layer processes the data streams to control the operation of the various functions, as well as gathers data to identify longer-term opportunities for process improvement (data analytics).
End-Node Processing of Computationally Intensive Functions
There are, of course, alternatives to sending all of the data back to the cloud for processing and action. Pushing out processing functions to the gateway or the node—a strategy sometimes called “fog computing”—reduces the load on the network and gives a faster response. For the node, in particular, adding a microcontroller (MCU) can considerably complicate the design. If power-hungry digital-signal-processing (DSP) functions such as finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters and fast Fourier transform (FFT) frequency analysis are a requirement, the challenges proliferate, especially if it’s a battery-powered home or medical IoT application.
Texas Instruments’ MSP430 family of microcontrollers is optimized for ultra-low-power applications, with multiple low-power modes and power consumption as low as 15 nA (shutdown mode). The MSP430 series is based on a 16-bit RISC core running at up to 16 MHz. The family contains over 500 devices with a rich choice of features including 10-, 12-, or 24-bit ADCs; analog blocks (e.g., op amps and comparators); capacitive touchscreen interfaces; liquid-crystal-display (LCD) drivers; AES encryption; and serial interfaces such as I2C, SPI, and USB.
Medical IoT: Holter Monitor
The healthcare field is a natural home for low-power, high-function IoT designs. Many diagnostic and monitoring procedures that formerly demanded an office visit, or even a hospital stay, are transitioning to in-home applications on mobile platforms.
For example, the electrocardiogram (ECG) is a standard test to display heart activity and help diagnose problems. But an ECG in the doctor’s office only records activity over a brief period, and may miss many abnormal rhythms and intermittent symptoms.
A Holter monitor is a battery-operated device that measures and records heart activity continuously for up to 96 hours on an AA battery. Worn by the patient, it contains electrodes that attach to the skin and helps doctors determine the cause of symptoms such as dizziness, detect pacemaker malfunctions, or assess the effectiveness of medications.
Glass-Break Detection
A glass-break detector is a sensor that generates an alarm when a pane of glass is shattered or broken. Commonly installed near glass doors or glass storefront windows, it’s a key component of building automation security systems.
When an object first strikes the glass, the contact causes the glass to emit a relatively low-frequency sound pressure wave, called the flex wave. If the glass breaks, it subsequently emits a high-frequency sound. Together, the two events make up a distinctive sound profile with a frequency content that changes over time. Different types or sizes of glass give different profiles.
A basic glass-break detector uses a microphone to detect characteristic “shattering” frequencies; it issues an alarm when the sound level exceeds a certain threshold. Since other events such as ringing bells can result in a similar frequency, the main disadvantage is a high rate of false alarms.
More sophisticated designs compare the sound to a glass-break sound profile. The method can greatly reduce false positives, but most detectors of this type compare the signal to the profile at only two or three frequencies to reduce cost and power consumption.
Conclusion
Traditionally, requiring both DSP functionality and low power consumption presented the designer with a set of opposing requirements that were difficult to reconcile. The MSP430FR5994 ultra-low-power MCU with its integrated low-energy accelerator helps solve this problem and eases the development of smart-sensing modules for IoT and other applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Threat Modeling the Internet of Things: Part 4 – Weak Authentication
http://www.securityweek.com/threat-modeling-internet-things-part-4-weak-authentication
For the first time, one of the largest cyber security conferences in the ASEAN region, the Singapore Internet CyberSecurity Week (SICW), had a track devoted just to the Internet of Things. One highlighted session at the track was an invitation-only panel of IoT security specialists. There was so much interest, the session lasted for hours, and everyone left exhausted.
Groups of city planners for the Smart Nation initiatives in Asia attended my own talk that is the presentation version of this blog series on Threat Modeling the Internet of Things. Recall that the three steps of threat modeling are laid out in episodes 1, 2 and 3:
1. Catalog your assets at play
2. Identify threats to those assets
3. Score the threats
The common denominator, and most urgent high priority threat for nearly all consumer-level IoT devices is the same: weak authentication.
Manufacturers are currently experimenting with several possible methods to avoid default passwords, some of which have been tried in the home router market which experienced the same security problems in the 2000s. Let’s look at three of the common methods.
MAC Address as Password
Some manufacturers set the default password to the MAC address of the device’s interface. Security researchers have decried this method because, obviously, the MAC address is visible to anyone on the local network, and therefore can’t really be considered secure. However, the vast majority of thingbots out there are built from scanners halfway around the world and they can’t see the MAC address. This method is at least better than default passwords.
Forced Password Change
Another way of avoiding default passwords is to force the device owner to change the password when they configure the device. Again, this is better than default passwords, but consumers are terrible at picking passwords.
Random Passwords
The strongest method has the manufacturer create individual (and unique) passwords for each device. It is the most secure method, but also the costliest to the manufacturer. And yet, this method also suffers from the same problem as the first two; scale.
Scalability Headache
Thousands of IoT devices are deployed at scale for large projects. Think of Fortune 500 headquarters or a subcontractor deploying them to a new shopping mall. The Changi airport in Singapore has over 10,000 IoT video cameras. Imagine managing the 10,000 unique passwords associated with each device. Some solutions to the problem of password management exist, (Privileged Account Management, for example), but not all devices can be managed like that yet. Granted, if you’ve generated unique passwords for each device and you’re struggling to manage them, good for you, at least you’re trying.
IoT Thinking Outside the Box
One possible outside-the-box solution was mentioned at the SICW conference: the embryonic Named Data Networking (NDN) project. NDN is designed for networks like the Internet of Things; it makes allowances for low-power (mobile), low-bandwidth (cheap), and low-compute (stupid) devices. It binds the security of the network to a cryptographic naming scheme that functions as a management plane and access control at the same time. And doesn’t require passwords.
NDN is so different from the standard Internet Protocol, it’s hard to predict if it’s really going to be workable in the Internet of Things we have today.
But getting back to threat modeling the Internet of Things. Your IoT project, should you have one, must consider the default password problem to be among the highest priority. The mitigations for default passwords are easy to manage on an individual basis but become difficult at scale. Take scalability into consideration, too.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
With NB-IoT technology, cellular networks can provide hundreds of thousands of sensors per square kilometer, says Telia’s technology director Jari Collin. Elisa and DNA have also reported on their NB-IoT plans in Finland.
Using the NB-IOT technology, which is based on mobile networks, it is possible to connect a number of devices in a small area very cheaply. Previously only Sigfox and LoRa type sensor solutions were available.
“The new technology enables the connection of very low-cost and wide-area sensors to the internet. The result is smarter equipment and services for consumers and businesses as well as the change in operating models for entire industries, “says Telia’s Technology Director Jari Collin .
Source: https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/10/05/kannykkaverkkojen-iot-tekniikka-kayttoon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Debuts Its $400 Google Home Max Speaker To Rival Apple’s HomePod
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/10/04/203256/google-debuts-its-400-google-home-max-speaker-to-rival-apples-homepod
Google’s Home Max brings premium audio to its Assistant speaker
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/04/googles-home-max-brings-premium-audio-to-its-assistant-speaker/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say Hi to Subutai
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/say-hi-subutai
What Is Subutai?
Subutai is an open-source project and platform that lets anyone share, barter or rent computer resources to create clouds from the edge rather than centralized locations. Available devices can attach to these clouds hovering on the edge. We started calling it Social Cloud Computing, but technically, Subutai is a dynamic p2p multi-cloud made possible thanks to Lightweight Linux Containers and software-defined networking. Think Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud, but running on your computers and the computers of social contacts who share their computer resources with you. Or, think AirBnB on computers for the people’s cloud.
Subutai partners with the Digital Life Collective, a member co-operative that researches, develops, funds and supports what we call “tech we trust”—those technologies that put the individual’s autonomy, privacy and dignity first, or that support those technologies that do. Our tech, not their tech.
How Does It Work?
You set how much of your computers’ resources you’re willing to share with others. Rules and quotas are used to share with contacts from your social-media accounts. Once your network of friends, family and colleagues share with you, the stage is set to create clouds across shared computer resources.
When someone creates a cloud, peer computers authorized to share resources with the cloud’s owner swarm together (like bees) to form an n-way virtual private network (VPN). A peer is a group of computers with resources that can be shared with others. A peer can be a rack of computers or a single virtual machine running on your laptop.
Peers contribute resources into the VPN as Linux container hosts. Whatever the underlying hardware, operating system or virtualization technology, resources are presented canonically to environments as containers. The VPN provides secure connectivity between these containers across the internet.
Template containers can be fired up based on Docker images to install infrastructure rapidly.
Subutai is ready and mature.
There’s a lot more to Subutai than just software. We’ve designed a broadband modem that is also a turnkey Subutai Appliance and can be used for IoT applications. We call it the Liquid Router because we made it the Swiss army knife of IoT gateways: it has Raspberry Pi, Arduino and PMod headers. Yeah, we’re f’ing crazy, but the cloud router/IoT gateway will soon do something no other broadband router can do: it will effortlessly allow average broadband users to mine for Subutai’s cryptocurrency while sharing, bartering or renting computer resources. Hence, it’s obviously also a physical cryptocurrency wallet.
Conquer The Cloud
https://subutai.io/
Your next personal computer won’t be just another laptop, tablet, or wearable device: it will be EVERYTHING surrounding you, connected fluidly by adaptive peer-to-peer clouds driven by social interaction!
The Subutai platform lets you easily mine for cryptocurrency and share, barter, or rent computing resources without having to be a programming expert.
Subutai helps connect individuals from all over the globe so they may share resources to create secure cloud environments across their peers. Just as a cloud can float down onto land and is thus called fog, IoT devices attach when available and needed to your cloud as it floats around with you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel introduces IoT provisioning solution to help install devices automatically
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/03/intel-introduces-iot-provisioning-solution-to-help-install-devices-automatically/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Intel introduces IoT provisioning solution to help install devices automatically
Posted Oct 3, 2017 by Ron Miller (@ron_miller)
Chipmaker Intel wants a piece of the growing Internet of Things market and they have developed the Intel Secure Device solution to help companies provision IoT devices in a secure and automated way.
Dipti Vachani, vice president and general manager for the Internet of Things Group at Intel, says we hear that 50 billion IoT devices will be deployed by 2020, but there is a gap between that prediction and the reality her company is seeing.
“We are not seeing customers deploying. We are seeing rock-star proofs of concept, but can they get into the factory and deploy those things [at scale],” she asked.
The company has developed a free software development kit to help the industry solve a huge problem around provisioning IoT devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is Cellular Finally Becoming a Real Option for the Internet of Things?
https://blog.hackster.io/is-cellular-finally-becoming-a-real-option-for-the-internet-of-things-959d8318b6be
A look at the new Nova cellular modem from Hologram.io.
There’s a long history of maker built cellular-based smart devices. One of the first projects I ever backed on Kickstarter, back in 2012, was the Geogram One—an Arduino-compatible tracking board that you could communicate with via SMS messages.
But cellular is expensive, not just the hardware itself, but perhaps more importantly the data plans you needed to use it.
However more recently companies like Particle have made access to cellular technology easier, and cheaper, for makers. Last month they were joined by Hologram, who kicked off their developer program offering free developer SIMs with 1MB/month of data included which will use over 900 operators globally.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Design Library > IoT Ethernet Kit DM990004
https://www.eeweb.com/design-library/iot-ethernet-kit-dm990004
DM990004 device is a IoT Ethernet Kit powered by AWS IoT uses an Ethernet LAN8740A which features deterministic loop back delay, ensuring real-time system performance as well as cable diagnostics which reduce network installation costs. The device also features an easy setup out of the box with your own AWS account and JSON-based data payload.
The kit is controlled by a PIC32MZ EF 32-bit micro-controller that offers 2MB Flash and provides plenty of memory space for your application and provides a smooth user experience with a preloaded firmware allowing the communication with AWS IoT. Additionally, the kit makes use of MPLAB®Harmony, FreeRTOS™, WolfMQTT. The security is addressed using WolfSSL features. The wolfSSL embedded SSL library is a lightweight, portable, C-language-based SSL/TLS library targeted at IoT, embedded, and RTOS environments primarily because of its size, speed, and feature set.
Regarding the sensors, hundreds of different sensors can be plugged into the MikroElektronka mikroBUS™ footprint allowing for prototyping a large variety of IoT proof-of-concepts. The sensors will have to be purchased separately at http://www.mikroe.com
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Security Costs are Manageable
https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332412&
Internet of Things device security has become more critical than ever, as the risks now outweigh the opportunities when it comes to potential threats to an individual or even an entire government.
Gone are the days of security-through-obscurity for connected consumer products. Designers can no longer ignore the risk that a potential security compromise poses to their brands.
As a result of growing concerns, U.S. lawmakers recently introduced the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017, which seeks to impose minimum security requirements on devices purchased by the government. While the proposed legislation focuses on public sector IoT, it is a likely stepping stone to broader regulation of security in all IoT devices.
The lack of security in IoT devices was generally not due to lack of leadership or engineering capabilities; rather, it was a market failure. Devices were insecure because it didn’t make economic sense to implement an appropriate level of security.
But brand-conscious leaders of companies that manufacture connected devices are starting to consider what’s called the annualized loss expectancy associated with security risks. Product stakeholders are quickly becoming aware that improper security is no longer a negligible risk to their brands.
Digital security and privacy live on a spectrum, from complete openness to extremely powerful cryptographic protection. Heightened security will always come with downsides, including negative impacts on:
User experience: Authentication and provisioning cryptographic systems always introduces extra and often cumbersome steps for users.
Product cost: Complex cryptographic operations or the need for secure storage can increase significantly the cost of silicon.
Cost of development: Digital security can constitute a significant portion of the engineering development cost for an otherwise simple device.
As with all design trade-offs, costs can be greatly minimized by making decisions early in the design cycle, during initial requirements gathering, feasibility studies and proof-of-concept work. Business stakeholders need to work closely with the engineering design team to understand the technical implications of digital security and map them to potential business risks.
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Cybersecurity of “Internet-of-Things” (IoT) Devices
https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?id=06A5E941-FBC3-4A63-B9B4-523E18DADB36
The Internet-of-Things, the term used to describe the growing network of Internet-connected devices and sensors, is expected to include over 20 billion devices by 2020. While these devices and the data they collect and transmit present enormous benefits to consumers and industry, the relative insecurity of many devices presents enormous challenges. Sometimes shipped with factory-set, hardcoded passwords and oftentimes unable to be updated or patched, IoT devices can represent a weak point in a network’s security, leaving the rest of the network vulnerable to attack. Over the past year, IoT devices have been used by bad actors to launch devastating Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against particular websites, web-hosting servers, and internet infrastructure providers.
“While I’m tremendously excited about the innovation and productivity that Internet-of-Things devices will unleash, I have long been concerned that too many Internet-connected devices are being sold without appropriate safeguards and protections in place,” said Sen. Warner. “This legislation would establish thorough, yet flexible, guidelines for Federal Government procurements of connected devices. My hope is that this legislation will remedy the obvious market failure that has occurred and encourage device manufacturers to compete on the security of their products.”
“I’ve long been making the case for reforms to the outdated and overly broad Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This bill is a bipartisan, common-sense step in the right direction. This bill is designed to let researchers look for critical vulnerabilities in devices purchased by the government without fear of prosecution or being dragged to court by an irritated company. Enacting this bill would also help stop botnets that take advantage of internet-connected devices that are currently ludicrously easy prey for criminals,” Sen. Wyden said.
“Information is a form of currency,” Sen. Daines stated. “We need to have to proper safeguards in place to ensure that our information is protected while still encouraging innovation.”
Specifically, the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017 would:
Require vendors of Internet-connected devices purchased by the federal government ensure their devices are patchable, rely on industry standard protocols, do not use hard-coded passwords, and do not contain any known security vulnerabilities.
Direct the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop alternative network-level security requirements for devices with limited data processing and software functionality.
Direct the Department of Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate to issue guidelines regarding cybersecurity coordinated vulnerability disclosure policies to be required by contractors providing connected devices to the U.S. Government.
Exempt cybersecurity researchers engaging in good-faith research from liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act when in engaged in research pursuant to adopted coordinated vulnerability disclosure guidelines.
Require each executive agency to inventory all Internet-connected devices in use by the agency.
The bill has endorsements from the Atlantic Council, the Berklett Cybersecurity Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Mozilla, Cloudflare, Neustar, the Niskanen Center, Symantec, TechFreedom, and VMware.