CHATER -3

IOT and M2M

M2M

 Machine-to-machine(M2M) refers to networking of machines (or devices) for the

purpose of remote monitoring and control and data exchange.
 Figure 3.1 shows the end-to-end architecture for M2M systems compromising of
M2M area networks, communication network and application domain.
 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, Bluetooth, ModBus, M-Bus, wireless M-bus, power line
communication(PLC), 6LoWPAN, IEEE 802.15.4,etc.
 These communication protocols provide connectivity between M2M nodes with in
an M2M area network the communication network provides connectivity to remote
M2M area networks.
 The communication 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 since
non-IP based protocols are used within M2M area networks, the M2m nodes within
one network cannot communicated with nodes in an external network.
 To enable the communication between remote M2M area network,M2M gateways
are used. Figure 3.2 shows the block diagram of an M2M gateway.
 The communication between the M2M nodes and the M2M gateway is based on the
communication protocols which are native to the M2M area networks.
 M2M gateway performs protocol transactions to enable IP-connectivity for M2M
area networks. M2M act as a proxy performing transaction from/to native protocols
to/from internet protocol (IP).
 The M2M data is gathered into point solution such as enterprise application, service
management application, or remote monitoring application M2M as various
application domains such as smart metering, home automation, industrial
automation, smart grid etc. M2M solution designs (such as data collection and
storage architecture application) as specific to the M2M application domain.
Difference between IOT and M2M
The differences between and IOT are described as follows:
 Communication protocols:
 M2M uses either proprietary or non-IP based communication protocols for
communication within the M2M area networks. IOT uses IP based
communication protocols for communication.
  Communication with in the M2M is based on the protocols below the n/w
layer where as IOT is based on the protocol above the n/w layer.

 Machines in M2M v/s 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. The unique identifiers for the
things in IOT are the IP address(or MAC addresses). Things have software
components for accessing, processing, and storing sensor information, or
controlling actuators connected. IOT systems can have heterogeneous
things(e.g., a home automation IOT devices of various types, such as fire
alarms, door alarms, lighting control devices, etc.)
 M2M systems have homogeneous machine Types within an M2M area
network.
 Hardware v/s software Emphasis:
 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 analysis 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 ) the analysis component analyzes the data and
stores the cloud database. The IOT data and analyzes the result are
visualized with the cloud based applications. The centralized controller is
aware of the status of all the end nodes and sends control commands to the
nodes. Observer nodes can process information and use it for various
applications.
 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-premises applications.
 IOT data is collected in the cloud and can be accessed by cloud application
such as analysis application. Remote diagnosis and management applications,
etc.
SDN and NFV for IOT
 Software Defined Networking: software defined networking(SDN) is a networking
architecture that separates the control plane from the centralize the network
controller. Network devices in conventional network architecture are getting
exceedingly complex with the increasing number of distributed protocols being
implemented and the use of proprietary hardware and interfaces.
 In the conventional network architecture the control plane and data plane are
coupled. Control plane is the part of the network that carries the signaling and
routing message traffic while the data plane is the part of the network that carries the
payload data traffic.
 The limitation of the conventional network architectures are as follows:

 Complex network devices: conventional networks are getting increasingly complex

with more and more protocols being implemented to improve link speeds and
reliability. Inter operability is limited due to the lack of standards and open
interfaces. Network devices use proprietary hardware and software and have slow
product life-cycles limiting innovation.
 Management overhead: conventional networks involve significant management
overhead network managers find it increasingly difficult to manage multiple
vendors. Up gradation of network requires configuration changes in multiple devices
(switches, routers, firewalls, etc.)
 Limited scalability: The virtualization technologies used in cloud computing
environments has increased the number of virtual hosts requiring network access.
Such computing environments require highly scalable and easy to manage network
architectures with minimal manual configurations which is becoming increasingly
difficult with conventional networks.
Software defined networking(SDN) :
 SDN attempts to create network architecture that are simpler, inexpensive,
scalable, agile and easy to manage. SDN architecture and SDN layers in
which the control and data planes are decoupled and the network controller is
centralized.
 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.
 The underlying infrastructure is abstracted from the applications.
 Network devices become simple with SDN as they do not require
implementations of a large number of protocols.
 Networks devices receive instructions from the SDN controller on how to
forward the packets.
 These devices can be simpler and cost less as they can be built from standard
hardware and software components.

Key elements of SDN are as follows:

 Centralized network controller: with decoupled control and data planes and
centralized network controller, the network administrators can rapidly configure the
network. SDN applications can be deployed through programmable open APIs. This
speeds up innovation as the network administrators no longer need to wait for the
device vendors to embed new features in their proprietary hardware.
 Programmable open APIs: SDN architecture supports programmable open APIs
for interface between the SDN application and control layers (Northbound
interface). With these open APIs various network services can be implemented, such
as routing, Quality of service (QOS, access control, etc.
 Standard communication interface (open Flow):

 SDN architecture uses a standard communication interface between the

control and infrastructure layers (Southbound interface) Open flow.
 With open flow the forwarding plane of the network devices can be directly
accessed and manipulate.
 Open flow uses the concept of flows to identify network traffic based on pre-
defined match rules.
 Flows can be programmed statically or dynamically by the SDN control
software.
 Open flow protocol is implemented on both sides of the interface between the
controller and the network devices.
 The controller manages the switch via the open flow switch protocol the
controller can add, update, and delete flow entries.
  Each flow table contains a set of flow entries. Each flow entry consists of
match fields, counters, and a set of instructions to apply to matching packets
matching starts at the first flow table and may continue to additional flow
tables of the pipeline.

 Network Function Virtualization:

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 NFV and SDN are mutually beneficial to each other but not dependent.
Network functions can be virtualized without SDN, similarly ,SDN can run without
NFV.
 Key elements of the NFV architecture are as follows:

 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 Orchestration focuses on
all virtualization-specific management tasks and covers the orchestration and life-
cycle management of physical and/or software resources that supports the
infrastructure virtualization, and life cycle management of VNFs.
 NFV compromises of network functions implemented in software that run on
virtualized resources in the cloud.
 NFV enables separation of network functions which are implemented in
software from the underlying hardware. Thus networks functions can be easily
tested and upgraded by installing new software while the hardware remains
the same.
 Virtualizing network functions reduces the equipment costs and also reduces
power consumption.
 The multi-tenanted nature of the cloud allows virtualized network services.
 NFV is applicable only to data plane and control plane functions in fixed and
mobile networks.
 An example of how NFV can be used for virtualization of the home networks is
shown in figure3.12.
 Figure shows a home network with a home gateway that provides wide area network
(WAN) connectivity to enable services such as Internet, IPTV, VoIP, etc.
 The home gateway performs various functions including – dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol(DHCP) server, Network Address
Translation(NAT),application specific gateway and Firewall.
 The home Gateway provides private IP addresses to each connected devices in the
home. The home Gateway provides routing capabilities and translates the private IP
addresses to one public address(NAT function).
 The gateway also provides application specific routing for applications such as VoIP
and IPTV.