Author: adk

  • IoT is infrastructure

    IoT (Internet of Things) is considered infrastructure because it provides a foundation for the development of various applications and services that can be used by individuals, businesses, and governments. Just like roads, bridges, and highways provide a physical infrastructure for transportation, IoT provides a digital infrastructure for the exchange of data and information between devices, sensors, and systems.

    IoT infrastructure includes:

    • Devices: Sensors, actuators, and other devices that collect and transmit data.
    • Networks: Wireless and wired networks that connect devices and sensors.
    • IoT Platforms: Software platforms that manage encryption keys, data-flows, devices and sensors.

    Just like physical infrastructure, IoT infrastructure requires investment, maintenance, and management to ensure its reliability, security, and efficiency.

    IoT (Internet of Things) can be compared to infrastructure in several ways:

    1. Enabling connectivity: Just like roads, bridges, and highways enable the movement of people and goods, IoT enables the connection of devices, sensors, and systems to the internet, facilitating the exchange of data and information.
    2. Providing a foundation: Infrastructure provides a foundation for economic growth, development, and innovation. Similarly, IoT provides a foundation for the development of smart cities, industries, and services.
    3. Facilitating communication: Infrastructure enables communication between people, businesses, and governments. IoT facilitates communication between devices, sensors, and systems, enabling real-time data exchange and decision-making.
    4. Enabling efficiency and productivity: Infrastructure can improve efficiency and productivity by reducing congestion, improving logistics, and enhancing supply chain management. IoT can also improve efficiency and productivity by automating processes, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing decision-making.
    5. Scalability: IoT, like infrastructure, needs to be scalable to accommodate growing demands and evolving needs. As the number of IoT devices and the complexity of the systems they operate in increase, the infrastructure supporting IoT must also scale accordingly.
    6. Requiring maintenance and management: Infrastructure requires regular maintenance and management to ensure its continued functionality and efficiency. IoT also requires maintenance and management to ensure the security, reliability, and performance of connected devices and systems.

  • The problem with LoRa being patented

    The main problem with Semtech’s LoRa technology being patented is the potential for it to create a monopolistic situation and limit competition in the low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) market.

    Here are some of the key issues with the LoRa patent:

    1. Proprietary technology:
      • LoRa is a proprietary technology owned and controlled by Semtech Corporation.
      • This means Semtech has the exclusive rights to the LoRa technology and can dictate the terms and conditions for its use.
    2. Licensing fees and royalties:
      • Companies that want to use LoRa technology in their products or services have to pay licensing fees and royalties to Semtech.
      • This can increase the cost of LoRa-based solutions and make it harder for smaller players to enter the market.
    3. Lack of open standards:
      • LoRa is not an open standard, unlike some other LPWAN technologies like Sigfox or NB-IoT.
      • Open standards allow for more competition, innovation, and interoperability between different vendors and solutions.
    4. Vendor lock-in:
      • The proprietary nature of LoRa can lead to vendor lock-in, where customers become dependent on Semtech and have limited options to switch to alternative technologies.
    5. Potential for abuse of market position:
      • As the sole owner of the LoRa technology, Semtech could potentially abuse its market position by setting high licensing fees, restricting access, or favoring certain partners over others.
    6. Slower adoption and innovation:
      • The proprietary nature of LoRa may slow down the adoption and innovation in the LPWAN market, as companies may be hesitant to invest in a technology with a single point of control.

    To address these concerns, some industry groups and organizations have been advocating for the development of open, royalty-free LPWAN standards that can foster more competition and innovation in the IoT market. This could help to mitigate the drawbacks of Semtech’s patented LoRa technology.

    In the context of IoT, where interoperability and open standards are crucial, the patenting of LoRa is particularly problematic because it is hindering the growth of IoT. Also, experts argue that patents can actually hinder innovation, rather than promote it. They argue that patents can create a “patent thicket” that makes it difficult for others to innovate, as they may need to navigate a complex web of patents and licensing agreements.

    The EU wants to create an IoT platform in which all vendors can make products on equal terms for several reasons:

    1. Promoting competition: By creating an open platform, the EU aims to promote competition among vendors, which can lead to better products, lower prices, and more innovation.
    2. Encouraging innovation: An open platform can encourage innovation by allowing multiple vendors to develop products and services that can interoperate with each other.
    3. Reducing vendor lock-in: By creating an open platform, the EU aims to reduce vendor lock-in, which can limit the ability of customers to switch between vendors or use products from different vendors.
    4. Improving interoperability: An open platform can improve interoperability between different products and services, which can make it easier for customers to use products from different vendors.
    5. Enhancing security: An open platform can enhance security by allowing multiple vendors to develop products and services that can interoperate with each other, which can make it more difficult for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
    6. Supporting the development of the IoT ecosystem: By creating an open platform, the EU aims to support the development of the IoT ecosystem, which can lead to the creation of new products, services, and business models.
    7. Reducing dependence on a single vendor: By creating an open platform, the EU aims to reduce dependence on a single vendor, which can make it more difficult for a single vendor to dominate the market and limit competition.

    Overall, the EU’s goal is to create an IoT platform that is open, interoperable, and secure, and that allows multiple vendors to develop products and services on equal terms. This can help to promote competition, innovation, and the development of the IoT ecosystem, while also reducing vendor lock-in and dependence on a single vendor.

  • Interoperability and Open Standard

    The open standard, Z-Mesh, is crucial IoT for several reasons:

    1. Interoperability: An open standard ensures that devices from different manufacturers can communicate with each other seamlessly, which is essential for IoT applications.
    2. Scalability: An open standard allows for the development of a large number of devices and applications, which is necessary for the widespread adoption of IoT.
    3. Innovation: An open standard encourages innovation by allowing developers to create new applications and devices without being limited by proprietary technologies.
    4. Security: An open standard can help to ensure the security of IoT devices and applications by providing a common framework for security protocols and procedures.
    5. Cost-effectiveness: An open standard can help to reduce the cost of IoT devices and applications by allowing manufacturers to develop devices that are compatible with a wide range of systems and applications.
    6. Flexibility: An open standard provides flexibility in the development of IoT devices and applications, allowing developers to choose the best technologies and protocols for their specific needs.
    7. Avoidance of vendor lock-in: An open standard helps to avoid vendor lock-in, which can limit the ability of users to switch between different devices and applications.
    8. Promoting competition: An open standard promotes competition among manufacturers, which can lead to better products and services.
    9. Enabling new business models: An open standard can enable new business models, such as device-as-a-service, which can provide new revenue streams for manufacturers.
    10. Improving user experience: An open standard can improve the user experience by providing a consistent and seamless experience across different devices and applications.

    Citing the paper Internet of Things for Smart Cities: Interoperability and Open Data:

    https://cloud.aernetworks.com/s/4STReMBdYET96rr

    Quote

    Interoperability and Open Standard Development
    With the popularity of IoT devices, many IoT protocols and standards have been developed. In contrast to ordinary computers, IoT devices are normally constrained when it comes to memory space and processing capacity. In addition, IoT devices might be deployed where there’s limited or no access to continuous power supply, which means that they need to operate under power supplied from batteries or small solar panels. As a consequence, power-efficient communication protocols with small memory footprints and limited demands on processing have been developed to support IoT devices. Traditional TCP/IP protocols haven’t been designed with these requirements in mind.
    …
    Standard protocols are important to guarantee interoperability of different IoT devices.
    However, using open standards doesn’t automatically result in open systems. In our context, an open system means an integrated open IoT infrastructure solution for smart cities, providing access to open data and APIs for cloud services. In many cities, that infrastructure will be paid for, at least in part, by the city authorities using public funding. To motivate this investment, and get the most benefit for society, we argue that any smart city IoT infrastructure needs to be a truly open system, where equipment from many vendors can be used, and where the generated data can be more or less freely used by anyone to develop new services, based on low-level as well as processed sensor and IoT data. This kind of system will maximize innovation in the IoT domain, much as the Internet has done for information and communication services. Many current IoT systems — for example, for air quality monitoring or the smart home — are either incomplete systems with limited functionalities (that is, in terms of sensing, storage, and analytics), or are closed, proprietary systems dedicated for a particular task. The latter are vertically integrated systems, sometimes called stove pipes or vertical silos, which can’t be combined or extended easily with third-party components or services. The result is that once invested in a particular system, you’re locked into that vendor’s system. Vertically integrated systems are particularly problematic for the public sector, because this prevents fair competition in public procurement and is less suitable for large-scale data sharing.
    Patrik Fältström (7) argues similarly that market forces work against open interoperability, specially in the IoT domain where, for example, a smart lighting system from one vendor only works with light bulbs from the same vendor. Systems are designed as end-to-cloud-to-end, where the cloud part is vendor-controlled with limited possibilities for third parties, and where the IoT devices often speak proprietary protocols to the cloud. Fältström argues that this lack of interoperability severely limits the market growth (for example, with smart light bulbs). Also, the dependence on a cloud service might render the device non-functional, should that cloud service for any reason, temporarily or permanently, disappear.
    Instead of these stove pipes, we need horizontally designed systems with well-defined interfaces and data formats that can unleash the potential of open data, and that enable third parties to independently develop new applications and services, possibly combining several data sources. Providing open data has huge potential for innovation in digital applications and services, resulting in very large economic values. These interfaces (APIs) through which the IoT data can be accessed at multiple levels of refinement — from raw data directly from sensors, to highly processed data — also need standardization. The challenge is to provide an open system that lets users access the open data and cloud services without being locked by a particular platform. The open system should also allow third-parties to innovate based on the open data and open APIs.