The concept of Internet of Things is widespread in modern society, having reached an important level of diffusion in different fields. The main difference in this approach with respect to the legacy machine-to-machine applications of past decades is constituted by the openness and flexibility: sensors, devices and the underlying infrastructure can serve a multitude of purposes, and can be reused among different applications. This concept of openness, however, requires another characteristic to be satisfied in order to reach full fruition: interoperability. Nowadays, despite the diffusion of IoT technologies, and the usage of several IoT-oriented standards (such as Constrained Application Protocol - COAP, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport - MQTT, LightweightM2M), the concept of interoperability still eludes most real-world systems, when looking at their complete OSI stack. The fact that some of the layers are compatible does not guarantee the overall compatibility between systems, and still lead to the creation of walled-gardens, or vertically-closed systems. Most existing and emerging IoT platforms adopt different, heterogeneous methods, thus leading to a fragmentation in the market, where a single full-fledged common interface between devices is not available. Our work focuses on the research and development of an integration framework based on some of the most prominent emerging technologies and operating systems characterizing the IoT world: IoTivity, OpenThread and Android Things. We have followed a dual approach: on one side, bottom-up, based on an open source embedded Operating System, Android Things specifically designed for IoT applications, and on the other a top-down perspective, integrating the work of the most prominent interoperability consortium, the Open Connectivity Foundation, and their IoTivity framework. In addition, we introduced OpenThread, an open source network protocol based on IPv6, with advanced routing and security features. The result is the creation of a complete framework that allows seamless inter-device communication, with advanced features such as automatic device discovery, rule-based automation, remote interaction based on a digital-twin concept, automatic device management based on similar profiles and capabilities, and many more. Moreover, the framework is also able to provide an external interface in order to ensure interoperability with other ecosystems, supporting a series of features, such as access to device states and specific command forwarding, in a transparent way with respect to the communication protocols adopted. The framework structure is modular and extensible, providing the possibility to extend the support to a wide range of protocols, from wireless communication, up to application-oriented ones, while maintaining retro-compatibility. Following the research and development phase, we have proceeded to implement an extensive simulation environment, composed of different heterogeneous devices, each one adopting a specific communication protocols, that highlights the main benefits of this framework, using several hardware architectures and operating systems.
Il concetto di Internet of Things ha raggiunto un'ampia diffusione nella società moderna, trovando applicazione in diversi settori. I servizi offerti sono caratterizzati da alti livelli di apertura e flessibilità, proprietà ben lontane dalle applicazioni machine-to-machine degli ultimi decenni: sensori, dispositivi e infrastrutture sottostanti possono essere adattati e riutilizzati per supportare una moltitudine di ambiti. Tuttavia, al fine di raggiungere il massimo impiego del principio di apertura, è necessario il conseguimento di un altro risultato: l'interoperabilità. Tale concetto, per quanto concerne il modello OSI, non è ancora individuabile nella maggioranza dei sistemi esistenti, nonostante la diffusione di tecnologie e standard specifici per l'IoT (ad esempio, Constrained Application Protocol - COAP, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport - MQTT, LightweightM2M). Infatti, l'adozione da parte di due o più sistemi di livelli OSI compatibili non garantisce che, nel complesso, lo siano a loro volta, portando così alla definizione di sistemi verticalmente chiusi. La maggior parte delle piattaforme IoT esistenti adotta scelte implementative diverse ed eterogenee, determinando una frammentazione del mercato, in cui non è possibile ritrovare una comune e completa interfaccia per la comunicazione tra i dispositivi. Il nostro lavoro si concentra sulla ricerca e lo sviluppo di un framework di integrazione basato su alcune delle più importanti tecnologie e sistemi operativi emergenti che popolano il mondo IoT: IoTivity, OpenThread e Android Things. Durante l'implementazione, abbiamo seguito un duplice approccio: in primis bottom-up, basato su Android Things, un sistema operativo open source specificatamente progettato per applicazioni IoT, e, in seguito, un'ottica top-down, integrando il framework IoTivity, risultato del più importante consozio riguardante l'interoperabilità, Open Connectivity Foundation. In aggiunta, abbiamo introdotto OpenThread, un protocollo di rete open source basato su IPv6 con funzionalità avanzate di routing e sicurezza. Il risultato è stato la creazione di un framework completo che facilitasse la comunicazione tra dispositivi, con supporto a funzionalità avanzate come discovery automatico, automazione basata su regole, interazione remota, gestione automatica dei dispositivi basata su profili e capacità simili e molti altri. Inoltre, il framework è in grado di esporre un'interfaccia per garantirne l'interoperabilità con ecosistemi esterni, fornendo una serie di funzionalità, come l'accesso agli stati dei dispositivi e l'inoltro di comandi specifici, mascherando i protocolli di comunicazione adottati. La struttura del framework, modulare ed estensibile, offre la possibilità di estenderne il supporto a un'ampia gamma di protocolli, siano essi di comunicazione o applicativi, mantenendo la compatibilità con sistemi pre-esistenti. In seguito alla fase di ricerca e sviluppo, abbiamo proceduto all'implementazione di un ampio ambiente di simulazione, composto da dispositivi eterogenei, ognuno dei quali con supporto ad uno specifico protocollo di comunicazione, diverse architetture hardware e sistemi operativi, al fine di evidenziare i principali vantaggi di questo framework.
A multiprotocol-based interoperability framework for smart home Internet of Things devices
TAVECCHIA, GIORGIO;RIVA, DANIELE
2017/2018
Abstract
The concept of Internet of Things is widespread in modern society, having reached an important level of diffusion in different fields. The main difference in this approach with respect to the legacy machine-to-machine applications of past decades is constituted by the openness and flexibility: sensors, devices and the underlying infrastructure can serve a multitude of purposes, and can be reused among different applications. This concept of openness, however, requires another characteristic to be satisfied in order to reach full fruition: interoperability. Nowadays, despite the diffusion of IoT technologies, and the usage of several IoT-oriented standards (such as Constrained Application Protocol - COAP, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport - MQTT, LightweightM2M), the concept of interoperability still eludes most real-world systems, when looking at their complete OSI stack. The fact that some of the layers are compatible does not guarantee the overall compatibility between systems, and still lead to the creation of walled-gardens, or vertically-closed systems. Most existing and emerging IoT platforms adopt different, heterogeneous methods, thus leading to a fragmentation in the market, where a single full-fledged common interface between devices is not available. Our work focuses on the research and development of an integration framework based on some of the most prominent emerging technologies and operating systems characterizing the IoT world: IoTivity, OpenThread and Android Things. We have followed a dual approach: on one side, bottom-up, based on an open source embedded Operating System, Android Things specifically designed for IoT applications, and on the other a top-down perspective, integrating the work of the most prominent interoperability consortium, the Open Connectivity Foundation, and their IoTivity framework. In addition, we introduced OpenThread, an open source network protocol based on IPv6, with advanced routing and security features. The result is the creation of a complete framework that allows seamless inter-device communication, with advanced features such as automatic device discovery, rule-based automation, remote interaction based on a digital-twin concept, automatic device management based on similar profiles and capabilities, and many more. Moreover, the framework is also able to provide an external interface in order to ensure interoperability with other ecosystems, supporting a series of features, such as access to device states and specific command forwarding, in a transparent way with respect to the communication protocols adopted. The framework structure is modular and extensible, providing the possibility to extend the support to a wide range of protocols, from wireless communication, up to application-oriented ones, while maintaining retro-compatibility. Following the research and development phase, we have proceeded to implement an extensive simulation environment, composed of different heterogeneous devices, each one adopting a specific communication protocols, that highlights the main benefits of this framework, using several hardware architectures and operating systems.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/147893