Lean service-enablement for person-to-machine communications A lean system designed to connect devices and people via social networks – leveraging cloud and web technologies to provide value for consumers, connected device manufacturers, and solution builders.

Consumers, connected devices and social networks The platform provides consumers with a simple way to interact with their con-nected devices and those of their friends through their preferred social network service, such as Facebook.

Register as userThe LSE platform provides a Facebook application that leverages the services provided by the platform and complies with Facebook’s application specifi-cations1. After logging into Facebook, users can search for and activate this application. Activation implicitly cre-ates a new user profile in the plat-form’s directory service and associates the user’s Facebook ID with the user’s platform ID.

To support the user registration process, the platform should include the following components:

the directory;business logic to support registration cases and directory management; andthe Facebook application.

In addition to these components, the LSE platform provides the necessary runtime facilities by leveraging public cloud infrastructure.

Add deviceHaving activated the Facebook appli-cation, consumers can access addition-al functionality provided by it to add, socialize, and manage their connected devices through a single interface.

As illustrated in Figure 2, when a user selects “Add Device”, the Facebook application will prompt for a mobile ID, and a convenient device name. Once completed, the application will save the

Important challenges remain to be solved as the telecoms industry moves into an era where the number of connected devices continues to increase and the types keep diversifying. One of these challenges is how person-to-machine (P2M) solution designers can bring their services to market quickly, while keeping cost, effort and time to a minimum – translating the connected capabilities of their devices into realistic consumer value. One possible way of addressing the challenge is to create a system that elegantly leverages existing web, cloud, and social-networking techno logies while at the same time adding unique values for the P2M market.

Bridging the connectivity gapService-enablement environments in telecommunications have typically been rich platforms, running numer-ous functions, which aim to meet the widest possible range of operator and developer needs. These platforms take extended periods of time to design, develop and deploy and sometimes struggle to serve actual solution builder needs. An alternative approach would be to leverage existing web and cloud models for application development and deployment, creating a lean service-enablement environment and evolve it in an agile manner. Figure 1 illustrates how devices, applications, objects and a P2M lean service-enablement platform connect and interact with each other.

This article explores the type of su pport that might be useful in a lean service-enablement environment for P2M applications. A set of use cases, based on socializing connected devices, illustrates how such an environment can be built up in a step-by-step man-ner. For the purposes of this article, this concept and prototype environment is referred to as the LSE platform or simply the platform.

A N DY JOH NSTON A N D ROBE RT SKOG

BOX A Terms and abbreviations

API application programming interfaceHTTP Hypertext Transfer ProtocolID IdentityIP Internet ProtocolLSE lean service enablement

M2M machine-to-machineOMA Open Mobile AllianceS3 Simple Storage ServiceUAProf UserAgentProfileURI UniformResourceIdentifier

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Connected devices get social

BOX B The Social Web Of Things The Ericsson Social Web Of Things concept illustrates the power of networked con-nected devices and how they form a social web of things in M2M scenarios. Watch the video at http://korta.nu/3nymc

user-input device information, and asso-ciate it with the user in the platform’s directory. The application allows the user to view, use and manage all of their connected devices within Facebook.

Once a consumer turns a device on, it connects to a mobile network, which in turn sends a session initiation notification to the platform using an API. Any network operator can use this API to facilitate session interworking with the platform. The device’s mobile ID and currently assigned IP address are included in the session notification, allowing the LSE platform to associate a session with a particular consumer and a specific connected device.

With these mechanisms in place, the platform knows the connectivity status of devices and their currently assigned IP addresses. With this infor-mation, applications running on the platform can identify which devices are active and how they can be reached. The connectivity status of each device is shown in the user’s list of devices on the application canvas.

Share deviceThe link services component is needed to support the simple connectivity case. To provide a photo-sharing func-tion, the Facebook application requires additional photo-sharing support. In the Facebook application, consumers can share one or more of their connected devices with their friends. As shown in Figure 3, the user clicks the “Share >>” drop-down menu and chooses one or more friends to share with by checking the share box. Friends will see the user’s shared devices in the “Friends Devices” section of their respective Facebook applications.

This gives consumers a convenient way to manage what content they share and with whom they share it. For example, to store their latest pictures and films, users could configure their camera devices to communicate with a cloud storage facility, such as Facebook. From the cloud storage, users select the pictures and films they want to share and send that information to their photo frame devices. To share this con-tent, users share their photo frames with selected friends via the Facebook application. Those friends will be able to view the images and films selected.

P2M lean service

enablementMobilenetwork

Photo frame

Consumers

Thermometer

FIGURE 1 Networking connected devices and objects

FIGURE 2 Add device

FIGURE 3 Share a connected device

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The sequence to add and connect a device is illustrated in Figure 4.

Access and command deviceOnce consumers can view their con-nected devices within a social network, as shown in Figure 5, they may wish to begin using native device capabilities. To implement this kind of functional-ity, the platform needs some knowledge of the device’s capabilities. To help solve this problem, devices are divided into two broad categories:

platform-aware devices; and platform-agnostic devices.

Platform-aware devicesAs illustrated in Figure 6, platform-aware devices send a bootstrapping HTTP request to the platform when they connect to the network. This request includes a URI – the HTTP UAProf header is one example of such – which the platform uses to fetch a device descriptor – a platform-compliant XML document authored by the device man-ufacturer.

Platform-agnostic devicesDevices that are platform-agnostic do not automatically send bootstrapping requests. Instead, device manufacturers provision a device descriptor via the platform’s web portal or though an API. To connect an agnostic device, a user needs to manually associate it with the correct device-type from a list available through the Facebook application.

Accessing and commanding devicesOne of the key ingredients in enabling connected-device communication is the connectlet. A connectlet is a script pro-vided by the device-manufacturer that follows a set of connectlet conventions. It provides a way of communicating with a device using device-specific tech-niques and protocols that are unknown to the Facebook application.

With knowledge of the device type and the device connectlet in place, devices can be correctly presented and commanded within the Facebook appli-cation, as illustrated in Figure 7.

Persistent storage for device data To reduce power consumption, as well as consumer and network-operator costs, some devices are designed to

User starts Facebook application;selects Add Device;

andenters device ID

Power on device

Add device

Updatedirectory

Add device

Attach tonetwork Notify

NotifyNetwork

Device

User

Linkservices

The platform

Directory Facebookapplication

Facebook

FIGURE 4 Simplified sequence illustrating add and connect device

FIGURE 5 Facebook application canvas

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Connected devices get social

connect to the network intermittent-ly. To support this, a persistent-storage service and API are required that allow connectlets or other device-provided code to store data from devices. This data can then be accessed without the device being connected.

A persistent-storage service can be implemented using cloud-style tech-niques such as document-oriented or key-value data stores. Popular data-stor-age APIs such as the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)2 or OpenStack Object Storage3 can be used rather than developing new ones that would essen-tially provide the same service. Such APIs are well established, and provide additional valuable features such as data distribution, data referencing by URI and access over HTTP.

SummaryThe use case discussed so far describes a theoretical lean service-enablement environment that supports the goal of echoing personal connected devices into social networks.

Future evolution of the platform could lead to support for selective and secure sharing of users’ connected devices with entities beyond their personal social network. For example, consumers might share their devices with organizations, such as their employers, insurance companies, local governments and health-care bodies.

To develop applications for devices that connect to the network intermit-tently, the platform might enable richer APIs that also support the use of cloud-style persistent storage functions.

ConclusionEricsson is currently prototyping the platform described in this article. As shown in Figure 8, it is a conceptu al lean service-enablement environment for connected devices and person-to-machine communication. Using lean principles, it provides functionality for service enablement, enhanced by cloud and social-media spaces.

Bootstrap message with device descriptor URI

Info about device plus connectlet

Update directorywith type info plus

connectlet

Get device descriptor and connectlet

Device Devicemanufacturer

Linkservices

The platform

Directory Facebookapplication

FIGURE 6 A simple bootstrapping process for platform-aware devices

Connectlet

To Facebook

To device

Deviceadaption

Facebookcanvas

adaption

FIGURE 7 Conceptual view of a connectlet

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Applicationconnectlets

Dataservice API

Link services

Sessionnotification API

Data storeservices

Publicinfrastructure

cloudStoragecloud

Networks

Othersocial media and

organizations

Directory

Consumers Devicemanufacturers

Self-service portal Facebook application

Socialnetworks

FIGURE 8 Conceptual view

Robert Skog

is an expert in service-layer technology at BU Multimedia. After completing an M.Sc. in

electrical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden, he joined Ericsson’s two-year training program for system engineers. Since then, he has worked mainly with service-layer technology, encompassing everything from the firstWAPtotoday’sM2Msolutions.In2005,hewasawardedtheEricssonInventor of the Year Award.

Andy Johnston

is an expert, system architect, and project engineer, focused on ser-vice delivery architectures

at Ericsson’s Business Unit Multimedia (BU Multimedia). He has worked in a mix of engineering and engineering management roles internationally for Ericssonsince1995.HeisamemberofACM, IEEE, IEI, VDI and SEI and has a degree in applied computer sciences from Dublin City University in Ireland.

ColinChenWeihao,WenzhengZhuand James Tong

Acknowledgements

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1. Apps on Facebook.com at http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/ canvas/

2. http://www.amazon.com/s33. http://www.openstack.org/projects/storage/4. Operator opportunities in the internet of things – getting closer to the vision of

morethan50billionconnecteddevices,EricssonReview,February2011, http://www.ericsson.com/news/110211_edcp_244188811_c

References