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2011
Figure 2 - Coupling of RWI with Enterprise Systems Jack Brown | Telecommunications Professional 8
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Figure 4 - M2M Use Cases Verticals Intelligent Devices Cloud Services and Applications
Figure 5 - Overview of the M2M Industry Value Chain The value chain can be separated into two parts the first relating to devices (depicted horizontally) and the second to application development and service delivery (depicted vertically). The broad intersection between these two parts, as illustrated by the shaded zone in Figure 5, represents the means by which devices are procured and integrated into M2M solutions and services. Considering the vertical portion of the end to end value chain, one route to market for M2M devices can involve MNOs, with some operators taking a more active role than others. Equally, as shown, devices 12 Jack Brown | Telecommunications Professional
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Figure 6 - Concept for M2M-Based Infrastructure Monitoring This kind of situation is considerably more difficult where widely distributed applications are concerned. Let us take the example of the infrastructure for an energy supplier, which consists of a number of distributed pumping, transformer and substations used to operate the water and electricity supply for a region unattended. Whether within a company building or distributed across an entire country, using an M2M based infrastructure monitoring solution (i.e., "infrastructure monitoring") enables failures in individual function units to be detected considerably more quickly. As is well known, the quicker a failure and its cause are detected, the shorter the total downtime. In many cases, fault signals on individual modules are even able to detect the imminent failure of individual system components (by means of an appropriate signal lamp, for example). These kinds of visual warning signals do, however, frequently go unnoticed. Figure 6 above illustrates the use of an M2M-based solution for infrastructure monitoring. The data end point (DEP) in each case permanently checks the availability of any given infrastructure component by means of special monitoring sensors. Any potential failures can then be detected immediately by the DEP concerned. The individual DEPs are connected to a monitoring software application by means of the communication network: This application is used on the data integration point (DIP). It receives failure, error and fault messages from the individual DEPs with respect to the infrastructure to be monitored (X, Y and Z in the above figure). In addition to the connection to the DEPs, the DIPs monitoring software has two other interfaces, for configuration and notification. Among the facets of the configuration interface is the ability to determine who is responsible for the system and when. This generally makes it possible to envision a number of different notification scenarios (table below). This interface also enables the monitoring 14 Jack Brown | Telecommunications Professional
Figure 7 below gives a more expanded and detailed view of a sensor enabled system. It is fundamentally showing that low value information is acquired from various device types, that this information can be aggregated and transported across standard cellular and various gateway devices, and then transformed into high value information via a cognitive sensor platform.
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Figure 8 - First Floor HVAC Sensor Monitored Room Temperatures Figure 9 below is a drill down of room 101A from figure 8 above showing in real time the actual room temperature and humidity, the rooms airflow temperature and humidity and the last chart showing the rooms airflow quality expressed as CO2 levels. Figure 10 and 11 are showing the buildings real time electrical systems KW power usage by area subsystem Mechanical, Kitchen Receptacle, Emergency, Photovoltaic, Lights, and Standby Power. Figure 12 is showing real time the buildings hot water heating systems primary, secondary supply and return and feeder building supply temperatures; the amperage being drawn by the multiple feeder pumps and compressors plus the buildings supply and return differential pressure in psi. Figure 13 is showing the cumulative inbound and outbound gigabyte data transfer traffic in real time of 6 of the 16 bladed core network infrastructure server(s) that host the HVAC M2M and other Universities applications.
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Figure 9 - Room 101A Temperature, Humidity, Airflow and Air Quality Levels
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Figure 13 - Cumulative Inbound-Outbound Gigabyte Data Transfer Traffic across 6 of the 14 Blades of the Core Network Infrastructure
Figure 14 - Basic Business Model for M2M Mobile Operator Provides Connectivity Services to the M2M Enterprise Partner A Multiplayer Game Telecom operators are not the only players in the Machine-to-Machine world. At this moment in time they offer connectivity services to M2M partners who own or operate these machines. The second group, M2M partners, represent various business sectors for example, vending machine operators, electricity suppliers, monitoring companies and many more. If the operator is only offering M2M connectivity services, the revenue stream in most cases originates solely from monthly fees for M2M subscriptions. However, there are numerous other possibilities and services which can be offered to M2M partners helping operators to maximize this revenue. Figure 15 presents a scenario whereby a mobile operator gains additional revenues from the services it offers to the M2M partner. Compare this to Figure 14, in which the mobile operator only provides connectivity services the difference between the levels of revenue can be quite significant.
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Figure 15 - Extended Business Model for M2M Additional Revenues from Auxiliary Services New Roles Emerge M2M Enablers In addition to the operators that are expanding into M2M, new types of players have arisen as a result of M2M business growth M2M enablers offering services to M2M partners. A typical M2M enabler can be described as the owner of the M2M platform (depicted in Figure 14) delivering services to various partners and in most cases with a connection to more than one mobile operator or ISP. An M2M enablers business model bears many similarities to the business model of a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE), already known in the telecommunications world. Both types of business offer the necessary network connectivity (that can be obtained from the MNOs), back-office operations and IT platforms allowing end operators to concentrate on their core businesses. The enablers role in the M2M business is very important, especially when considering how many of the new M2M partners and enterprises on the market derived from industries other than 22 Jack Brown | Telecommunications Professional
Figure 16 - A Single M2M Platform Multiple M2M Partners with Customized Services Lets take a look at the typical features of an M2M platform and how they support the business of a mobile operator or an M2M enabler. With these features, they can both attain additional revenue by offering advanced services to their M2M partners. These features include:
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Figure 17 - M2M Subscriber Data Management Multiple Access Domains Operators need next-generation SDM platforms that are more than just next-generation HLRs. These M2M-optimized platforms must be able to track and manage devices across multiple access domains, from 2G and 3G to LTE, Wi-Fi and WiMax, each of which uses its own authentication and authorization functions. Further, such platforms not only have to maintain all those domains but also need to be able to select among them to ensure they can terminate the message to the appropriate domain. They also must tackle all the IP-domain functions, such as dynamic/static allocation of IP addresses; SIP-registration tracking; and network-initiated packet data protocol (PDP) context set-up. If these functions co-exist in the same database and data server, within the same run time and application framework, operators can build and maintain smarter network capabilities, such as terminating SMS messages to the IP domain when the device is in, for example, the home Wi-Fi environment, or establishing network-initiated connections. The ability to create such scenarios translates into the ability to conserve important network resources. Scalability and Flexibility Another critical set of capabilities for M2M-optimized SDMs includes scalability and flexibility. The required scalability comes from appropriate resource management which allows for the independent scaling of databases and applications. In addition, dynamic, i.e., intelligent, management of the memory 25 Jack Brown | Telecommunications Professional
Accommodating SMS
The second network area on which M2M communications has a significant impact is messaging, first because of the sheer volume of messages that M2M services must handle. Secondly, many M2M devices still leverage SMS, which has a global reach. Next, although SMS remains perfectly suitable for monitoring and controlling small-message traffic, its use of the traditional store-and-forward approach makes delivery times uncertain. Operators can resolve this issue by using SMS routers and first delivery attempt (FDA) technology to forward the message instantaneously. By handling SMS traffic cost-effectively, SMS routers enable operators to lower the cost per SMS message. Basically, SMS routers free up legacy SMSC capacity by using FDA for mobile-originated MO)/application-originated (AO) messages. That means SMSCs have to handle only about 15 percent of the message traffic that truly needs to be stored until delivery can be completed. This approach extends the life of capacity-stretched SMSCs.
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