Mashed Articles

[Many people may have read the excellent OECD report on machine to
machine (M2M) communications which is expected to be the next big thing
in terms of the Internet of Things.
As noted in the Gigaom repot
“Machine to machine networks, sometimes called the Internet of things,
are the logical extension of today’s connected society, but creating
such a network will require multiple technologies; telcos to open up
their networks; governments to figure out a way to assign unique numbers
for each device on the network; and new rules to protect security and
privacy. In short, while the idea is fairly mature, the tools to make it
a reality are lagging. To outline what still needs to be done, and give
governments a framework for understanding how 50 billion devices could
be connected in the next 8 years, the OECD has released a report laying
out the needs of an M2M network and the tradeoffs associated with
different technologies. “

One of the big regulatory and technical
challenges is for highly mobile devices like medical sensors attached to
your body. If you are dependent on these devices for your research or
more critically your health, it is not very reassuring to realize that
carrier roaming agreements may make these devices inoperable or too
expensive to use, outside of your carrier’s serving region.

This
is where R&E networks with their global Eduroam service can play a
critical role. It will be decades before regulators assert rationale
global roaming and data interchange agreements on the carriers. Despite
their best efforts they have been unable to do this domestically. The
OECD is naive in thinking that telcos will open their networks any time
in the near future.

Just as the R&E networks disrupted
traditional old boy’s club of settlement based telecom with the
introduction of the Internet, I believe the R&E networks have a
critical role in doing an end run around the telcos to deliver a
seamless, global wireless M2M service.

 A good example of such a
strategy is the UK’s R&E wireless network service offering. Through
JANET researchers and students can acquire 3G SIM cards for their cell
phones or M2M devices with a variety of pricing plans and data rates.
Right out of the box these devices support Eduroam authentication which
means that these devices will work seamlessly with any other
international 3G R&E wireless service that supports Eduroam.

What
is more interesting is JANET is negotiating arrangements with various
suppliers like Greyhound bus to offer Eduroam authentication while on
the move through areas of spotty or non existent 3G service.
Integrating with national and international WiFi/3G networks like
Starbucks and Google’s rumored networks using Ericsson/Bel Air
technology is also conceivable. Next generation solar/wind powered
Wifi/3G nodes will also allow direct optical wavelength interconnection
into national R&E networks.

JANET’s 3G M2M SIMs
https://www.aql.com/janet3g/products.php

Here
is a good pointer on how R&E optical networks can integrate with
LTE/WiFi towers located at schools and universities. Radio- optical
network backhauling
http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/blogs/techzine/2011/lightradio-baseband-processing-and-backhauling/

M2M: one network will not rule them all
http://gigaom.com/broadband/m2m-one-network-will-not-rule-them-all/
[…]
——
R&E Network and Green Internet Consultant.
email: Bill.St.Arnaud@gmail.com
twitter: BillStArnaud
blog: http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/
skype: Pocketpro