IoT & M2M

Machine-to-Machine (M2M)
• Machine-to-Machine (M2M) refers to networking of machines (or
devices) for the purpose of remote monitoring and control and data
exchange.
Machine-to-Machine (M2M)

• An M2M area network comprises of machines (or M2M nodes) which have
embedded hardware modules for sensing, actuation and communication.
• Various communication protocols can be used for M2M local area
networks such as ZigBee, Bluetooh, ModBus, M-Bus, Wirless M-Bus, Power
Line Communication (PLC), 6LoWPAN, IEEE 802.15.4, etc.
• The core network provides connectivity to remote M2M area networks.
• The core network can use either wired or wireless networks (IP- based).
• While the M2M area networks use either proprietary or non-IP based
communication protocols, the communication network uses IP-based
networks.
M2M gateway
• Since non-IP based protocols are used within M2M area networks, the
M2M nodes within one network cannot communicate with nodes in
an external network.
• To enable the communication between remote M2M area
networks, M2M gateways are used.
Difference between IoT and M2M
• Communication Protocols
• M2M and IoT can differ in how the communication between the machines or
devices happens.
• M2M uses either proprietary or non-IP based communication protocols for
communication within the M2M area networks.
• The focus of communication in M2M is usually on the protocols below the
network layer. The focus of IoT is usually on protocols above the network
layer.
• Machines in M2M vs Things in IoT
• The "Things" in IoT refers to physical objects that have unique identifiers and
can sense and communicate with their external environment (and user
applications) or their internal physical states.
• M2M systems, in contrast to IoT, typically have homogeneous machine types
within an M2M area network.
 Difference between IoT and M2M
• Hardware vs Software Emphasis
• While the emphasis of M2M is more on hardware with embedded modules, the
emphasis of IoT is more on software.
• IoT devices run specialized software for sensor data collection, data analytics
and interfacing with the cloud through IP-based communication.
• Data Collection & Analysis
• M2M data is collected in point solutions and often in on-premises storage
infrastructure.
• In contrast to M2M, the data in IoT is collected in the cloud (can be public, private or
hybrid cloud).
• Applications
• M2M data is collected in point solutions and can be accessed by on-premises
applications such as diagnosis applications, service management applications, and on-
premisis enterprise applications.
• IoT data is collected in the cloud and can be accessed by cloud applications such as
analytics applications, enterprise applications, remote diagnosis and management
applications, etc.
Communication in IoT vs M2M
 SDN

• Software-Defined Networking
(SDN) is a networking
architecture that separates the
control plane from the data plane
and centralizes the network
controller.
• Software-based SDN controllers
maintain a unified view of the
network and make configuration,
management and provisioning
simpler.
• The underlying infrastructure in
SDN uses simple packet
forwarding hardware as opposed
to specialized hardware in
conventional networks.
Key elements of SDN

• Centralized Network Controller

• With decoupled control and data planes and centralized network controller,
the network administrators can rapidly configure the network.
• Programmable Open APIs
• SDN architecture supports programmable open APIs for interface between
the SDN application and control layers (Northbound interface).
• Standard Communication Interface (OpenFlow)
• SDN architecture uses a standard communication interface between the
control and infrastructure layers (Southbound interface).
• OpenFlow, which is defined by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is
the broadly accepted SDN protocol for the Southbound interface.
NFV

• Network Function
Virtualization (NFV) is a
technology that leverages
virtualization to
consolidate the
heterogeneous network
devices onto industry
standard high volume
servers, switches and
storage.
• NFV is complementary to
SDN as NFV can provide
the infrastructure on
which SDN can run.
Key elements of NFV
• Virtualized Network Function (VNF):
• VNF is a software implementation of a network function which is capable of
running over the NFV Infrastructure (NFVI).
• NFV Infrastructure (NFVI):
• NFVI includes compute, network and storage resources that are virtualized.
• NFV Management and Orchestration:
• NFV Management and Orchestration focuses on all virtualization-specific
management tasks and covers the orchestration and life-cycle
management of physical and/or software resources that support the
infrastructure virtualization, and the life-cycle management of VNFs.
NFV Use Case

• NFV can be used to virtualize the Home Gateway. The NFV infrastructure in the cloud hosts a
virtualized Home Gateway. The virtualized gateway provides private IP addresses to the
devices in the home. The virtualized gateway also connects to network services such as VoIP
and IPTV.
The IoT Gateway
 IoT gateway can be a dedicated physical device or software that assists connectivity between
devices and Cloud.
 Sensor‐acquired data moving toward the IoT Cloud passes through the gateway that pre‐processes the sensor data at
the edge.
 Pre‐processing on large volumes of sensor data involves the compression of aggregated data to reduce transmission
costs.
 IoT gateway performs the translation of different network protocols to support the interoperability of smart things
and connected devices.
 In addition, IoT gateways provide certain levels of security through advanced encryption.
 Therefore, as a middle layer (between devices and Cloud), IoT gateways protect the IoT system from unauthorized
access and malicious attacks.
 At the abstract level, IoT architecture is shown in Figure 2.9.
 Figure 2.9 illustrates that the typical IoT gateway is not equipped with any kind of
sensors;
 the software installed on IoT gateway is responsible for the collection,
pre‐processing, and transmission of received sensor data to the IoT Cloud.
 Layered IoT gateway technology architecture consists of various hardware
components and software modules.
 The hardware components include MCUs (processors), wireless connectivity
modules (i.e. Wi‐Fi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, 2G/3G/4G, etc.). Although Linux and
Android OSs can be used, however, RTOS is preferred.
 For communication, one or several (i.e. ZigBee, IPv6 over Low ‐Power Wireless
Personal Area Networks [6LoWPAN], BLE, etc.) is/are available in IoT gateway.
 Security is implemented in the form of Crypto Authentication chips.
 In summary, IoT gateway is responsible for the collection, pre‐processing,
filtering, storage, analysis, and secure transmission of data from sensor nodes to
IoT Cloud.
 This computing (from collection to analysis) at the IoT gateway before
transferring to IoT Cloud promotes the concept of Edge computing that
complements the IoT Cloud.
 Edge and Cloud computing are mutually exclusive approaches, and in lager IoT projects, a
combination of both is required.
 Local processing, distributed computation, and quick response for near IoT smart things are
the main benefits of Edge/Fog computing over IoT Cloud.
The IoT Gateway in more detail
 In general, IoT architecture can be divided into three domains, i.e. sensing domain,
network domain, and application domain as shown in Figure 4.1.
 The sensing domain (consisting of sensors and sensor networks with smart things)
enables the physical things for getting and transmission of environment
information to the required applications.
 Network domain (consisting of communication infrastructure) is responsible for
the collection, processing, and relaying of sensed data toward its destination.
 Application domain provides services to the user of particular IoT application.
• Generally, at the network domain of any system, a network gateway device is used to transfer data or
information from one network to another.

• Simple gateways are sometimes referred to routers because of the similarity in regulating the flow of network
traffic.

• However, the subtle difference exists in the regulation of traffic flow between similar (in the case of routers)
and dissimilar networks (in the case of gateways).

• Therefore, due to the provisioning of interoperability (between heterogeneous networks through protocol
conversion), network gateways are also known as protocol translation gateways or mapping gateways.

• In enterprise networks, network gateways are able to support the functionality of proxy server and firewall.

• In IoT systems, the IoT gateway can be a dedicated physical device or software (installed on any core network
device), which assists the connectivity between sensing devices at sensing domain and services at application
domains.
• IoT gateways act as communication link among IoT edge devices (i.e. smart things or sensors), IoT Cloud,
and end‐user equipment (i.e. desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, etc.).

• Sensor acquired data moving toward the IoT Cloud passes through the IoT gateway. IoT gateway performs
preprocessing on large volumes of sensor data, which involves the compression of aggregated data to
reduce transmission costs.

• It also performs the translation of different network protocols to support interoperability of smart things
and various connected devices.

• In addition, IoT gateways provide certain levels of security through advanced encryption algorithms.

• Therefore, as a middle layer (between sensor and IoT Cloud) in IoT architecture, IoT gateways protect the
IoT system from unauthorized access and malicious attacks.

• At the abstract level, two types of IoT gateways exist, as shown in Figures 4.2 and 4.3.
• Figure 4.2 illustrates that in the simplest IoT gateway design, the IoT gateway is not equipped with any kind of
sensors; the software installed on IoT gateway is responsible for the collection, preprocessing, and transmission
of received sensor data to the IoT Cloud.

• On the other hand, Figure 4.3 shows that few sensors such as, (i.e. Global Positioning Systems [GPSs] unit,
temperature sensor, humidity sensors, etc.) can be placed on the gateway device.
In summary, IoT gateways are typically specialized or core network hardware devices
with gateway software, which facilitate device‐to‐device communication or
device‐to‐ Cloud communication in IoT systems, and have been evolved to perform
many tasks, for example:

●● Data reception, buffering, preprocessing, aggregation, and forwarding

●● Communication link between WSN and IoT Cloud

●● Data encryption and Security Features

●● Information Visualization

●● Provisioning of Edge Computing

●● Several Communication Interfaces (e.g. 2G/3G/4G/5G, Local Area Networks

[LANs], WLAN, ZigBee, Bluetooth, LTE, PSTN)

●● Protocol Conversion to Support Heterogeneous Communication

●● Controllability of associated smart things

Sensing Domain and IoT Gateways
Depending on the IoT gateway use‐case scenario, the nature of the network (i.e. WBAN, WPAN, WSN, Vehicular
Ad hoc Network [VANET]) varies in the sensing domain.

Ultimately the nature of the network affects the choice of IoT gateway.

For example, in the case of:

• WBAN - smart phone, single board computer system (i.e. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, AdaFruit Flora,
BeagleBone Black, etc.), or customized router can be used as gateways in order to get patient’s vital
signs information.
• WPAN - with different communication technologies (i.e. Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wireless Universal Serial
Bus [USB], etc.), laptop, smart phone, or any core network device can be configured as gateways to
process received information.
• WSN - an Access Point, Base Station (BS), or specialized core network device can be used as gateways
to collect and process sensor data.
• VANETs - vehicular gateway connected to Road‐Side Units (RSUs), to make services available to on‐road
vehicles with short delay.