Machine To Machine
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Machine to machine (M2M) is direct communication between devices using any
communications channel A communication channel refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel in telecommunications and computer networking. A channel is used for informat ...
, including
wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
and
wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
. Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or meter to communicate the information it records (such as temperature, inventory level, etc.) to application
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
that can use it (for example, adjusting an industrial process based on temperature or placing orders to replenish inventory). Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
. More recent machine to machine communication has changed into a system of networks that transmits data to personal appliances. The expansion of IP networks around the world has made machine to machine communication quicker and easier while using less power. These networks also allow new business opportunities for consumers and suppliers.


History

Wired communication machines have been using
signaling In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
to exchange information since the early 20th century. Machine to machine has taken more sophisticated forms since the advent of computer networking automation and predates
cellular communication A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
. It has been utilized in applications such as
telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...
,
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
,
automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
, and
SCADA Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is a control system architecture comprising computers, networked data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes. It also covers sensors and ...
. Machine to machine devices that combined telephony and computing were first conceptualized by
Theodore Paraskevakos Theodore George "Ted" Paraskevakos ( el, Θεόδωρος Παρασκευάκος; born March 25, 1937, in Athens, Greece) is a Greek-American inventor and businessman. Paraskevakos graduated from the Superior College of Electronics in Greece a ...
while working on his
Caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
system in 1968, later patented in the U.S. in 1973. This system, similar but distinct from the
panel call indicator Panel Call Indicator, or PCI, is a form of signalling used between two telephone offices. It was also originally called Relay Call Indicator (RCI). Originally designed along with the panel type telephone office, PCI was intended to allow subscri ...
of the 1920s and
automatic number identification Automatic number identification (ANI) is a feature of a telecommunications network for automatically determining the origination telephone number on toll calls for billing purposes. Automatic number identification was originally created by the Am ...
of the 1940s, which communicated telephone numbers to machines, was the predecessor to what is now
caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
, which communicates numbers to people. After several attempts and experiments, he realized that in order for the telephone to be able to read the caller's telephone number, it must possess intelligence so he developed the method in which the caller's number is transmitted to the called receiver's device. His portable transmitter and receiver were reduced to practice in 1971 in a
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
facility in
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...
, representing the world's first working prototypes of caller identification devices (shown at right). They were installed at Peoples' Telephone Company in
Leesburg, Alabama Leesburg is a town in Cherokee County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 911. History Leesburg was originally called Hamptonville; it was named for Joseph Hampton and the Henslee family respectively. A post office was ...
and in
Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
where they were demonstrated to several telephone companies with great success. This method was the basis for modern-day
Caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
technology. He was also the first to introduce the concepts of intelligence, data processing and visual display screens into telephones which gave rise to the
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
. In 1977, Paraskevakos started Metretek, Inc. in
Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...
to conduct commercial automatic meter reading and load management for electrical services which led to the "
smart grid A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including: *Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a f ...
" and "
smart meter A smart meter is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor. Smart meters communicate the information to the consumer for greater clarity of consumption beha ...
". To achieve mass appeal, Paraskevakos sought to reduce the size of the transmitter and the time of transmission through telephone lines by creating a single chip processing and transmission method.
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
was contracted in 1978 to develop and produce the single chip, but the chip was too large for Motorola's capabilities at that time. As a result, it became two separate chips (shown at right). While cellular is becoming more common, many machines still use
landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...
s (POTS, DSL, cable) to connect to the IP network. The cellular M2M communications industry emerged in 1995 when
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
set up a department inside its mobile phones business unit to develop and launch a GSM data module called "M1" based on the Siemens mobile phone S6 for M2M industrial applications, enabling machines to communicate over wireless networks. In October 2000, the modules department formed a separate business unit inside Siemens called "Wireless Modules" which in June 2008 became a standalone company called Cinterion Wireless Modules. The first M1 module was used for early
point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...
(POS) terminals, in
vehicle telematics Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies (road transport, road safety, etc.), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation, wireless communications, etc.), and computer science (multimedia ...
, remote monitoring and tracking and tracing applications. Machine to machine technology was first embraced by early implementers such as GM and
Hughes Electronics Corporation Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria L ...
who realized the benefits and future potential of the technology. By 1997, machine to machine wireless technology became more prevalent and sophisticated as ruggedized modules were developed and launched for the specific needs of different vertical markets such as automotive telematics. 21st century machine to machine data modules have newer features and capabilities such as onboard global positioning (GPS) technology, flexible land grid array surface mounting, embedded machine to machine optimized smart cards (like phone SIMs) known as MIMs or machine to machine identification modules, and embedded
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, an important enabling technology to accelerate the
Internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...
(IOT). Another example of an early use is
OnStar OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, emergency services, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada, China, Mex ...
's system of communication. The hardware components of a machine to machine network are manufactured by a few key players. In 1998,
Quake Global Quake Global is a technology company that provides products for asset tracking, location, and analytics. Quake Global designs and implements facility or campus level asset tracking products typically based around RFID and/ or BLE technology. In 20 ...
started designing and manufacturing machine to machine satellite and terrestrial modems. Initially relying heavily on the
Orbcomm ''ORBCOMM'' is an American company that offers industrial Internet of things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communications hardware, software and services designed to track, monitor, and control fixed and mobile assets in markets including ...
network for its satellite communication services,
Quake Global Quake Global is a technology company that provides products for asset tracking, location, and analytics. Quake Global designs and implements facility or campus level asset tracking products typically based around RFID and/ or BLE technology. In 20 ...
expanded its telecommunication product offerings by engaging both satellite and terrestrial networks, which gave Quake Global an edge in offering network-neutral products.


In the 2000s

In 2004,
Digi International Digi International is an American Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology company headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1985 and went public as Digi International in 1989. The company initially offered intelligen ...
began producing wireless gateways and routers. Shortly after in 2006, Digi purchased Max Stream, the manufacturer of
XBee Digi XBee is the brand name of a popular family of form factor compatible wireless connectivity modules from Digi International. The first XBee modules were introduced under the MaxStream brand in 2005 and were based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 ...
radios. These hardware components allowed users to connect machines no matter how remote their location. Since then, Digi has partnered with several companies to connect hundreds of thousands of devices around the world. In 2004, Christopher Lowery, a UK telecoms entrepreneur, founded Wyless Group, one of the first
Mobile Virtual Network Operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
s (MVNO) in the M2M space. Operations began in the UK and Lowery published several patents introducing new features in data protection & management, including Fixed IP Addressing combined with Platform Managed Connectivity over VPNs. The company expanded to the US in 2008 and became T-Mobile's largest partners on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2006, Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (M2Mi) Corp started work with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
to develop automated machine to machine intelligence. Automated machine to machine intelligence enables a wide variety of mechanisms including wired or wireless tools, sensors, devices, server computers, robots, spacecraft and grid systems to communicate and exchange information efficiently. In 2009,
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
and Jasper Technologies, Inc. entered into an agreement to support the creation of machine to machine devices jointly. They have stated that they will be trying to drive further connectivity between
consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...
and machine to machine wireless networks, which would create a boost in speed and overall power of such devices. 2009 also saw the introduction of real-time management of GSM and CDMA network services for machine to machine applications with the launch of the PRiSMPro™ Platform from machine to machine network provider KORE Telematics. The platform focused on making multi-network management a critical component for efficiency improvements and cost-savings in machine to machine device and network usage. Also in 2009, Wyless Group introduced PORTHOS™, its multi-operator, multi-application, device agnostic Open Data Management Platform. The company introduced a new industry definition, Global Network Enabler, comprising customer-facing platform management of networks, devices and applications. Also in 2009, the Norwegian incumbent
Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
concluded ten years of machine to machine research by setting up two entities serving the upper (services) and lower (connectivity) parts of the value-chain.
Telenor Connexion Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
draws on
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
's former research capabilities in subsidiary Europolitan and is in Europe's market for services across such typical markets as logistics,
fleet management Fleet management is the management of: * Commercial motor vehicles such as cars, vans, trucks, specialist vehicles (such as mobile construction machinery), forklifts, and trailers * Private vehicles used for work purposes (the 'grey fleet') * Avi ...
, car safety, healthcare, and
smart meter A smart meter is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor. Smart meters communicate the information to the consumer for greater clarity of consumption beha ...
ing of electricity consumption.
Telenor Objects Telenor Objects AS is a Norwegian service provider within machine-to-machine communication, and constitutes one of the two Telenors strategic initiatives to catch the market for M2M, or ''connected objects''. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tel ...
has a similar role supplying connectivity to machine to machine networks across Europe. In the UK, Business MVNO Abica, commenced trials with
Telehealth Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, mon ...
and Telecare applications which required secure data transit via Private APN and
HSPA+ Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
/
4G LTE In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by us ...
connectivity with static IP address.


In the 2010s

In early 2010 in the U.S.,
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
,
KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...
,
Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
,
Telcel Telcel is a Mexican wireless telecommunications company, owned by América Móvil. Founded in 1984 and based in Mexico City, Telcel is the leading provider of wireless communications services in Mexico. As of December 31, 2006, Telcel's cellular ...
/
America Movil The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and Jasper Technologies, Inc. began to work together in the creation of a machine to machine site, which will serve as a hub for developers in the field of machine to machine communication electronics. In January 2011, Aeris Communications, Inc. announced that it is providing machine to machine telematics services for Hyundai Motor Corporation. Partnerships like these make it easier, faster and more cost-efficient for businesses to use machine to machine. In June 2010,
mobile messaging Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
operator
Tyntec Tyntec (or , as spelled by the company) is a global application-to-person messaging operator, cloud communications provider, and a US Inter-Carrier Vendor incorporated in London, UK. History Tyntec was founded by entrepreneurs Dr. Ralph Eric Ku ...
announced the availability of its high-reliability SMS services for M2M applications. In March 2011, machine to machine network service provider KORE Wireless teamed with Vodafone Group and Iridium Communications Inc., respectively, to make KORE Global Connect network services available via cellular and satellite connectivity in more than 180 countries, with a single point for billing, support, logistics and relationship management. Later that year, KORE acquired Australia-based Mach Communications Pty Ltd. in response to increased M2M demand within Asia-Pacific markets. In April 2011, Ericsson acquired Telenor Connexion's machine to machine platform, in an effort to get more technology and know-how in the growing sector. In August 2011, Ericsson announced that they have successfully completed the asset purchase agreement to acquire Telenor Connexion's (machine to machine) technology platform. According to the independent wireless analyst firm
Berg Insight Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states *Berg (state), county and duchy of the Holy ...
, the number of cellular network connections worldwide used for machine to machine communication was 47.7 million in 2008. The company forecasts that the number of machine to machine connections will grow to 187 million by 2014. A research study from the E-Plus Group shows that in 2010 2.3 million machine to machine smart cards will be in the German market. According to the study, this figure will rise in 2013 to over 5 million smart cards. The main growth driver is segment "tracking and tracing" with an expected average growth rate of 30 percent. The fastest growing M2M segment in Germany, with an average annual growth of 47 percent, will be the consumer electronics segment. In April 2013,
OASIS In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
MQTT MQTT (originally an initialism of MQ Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, publish-subscribe, machine to machine network protocol for Message queue/Message queuing service. It is designed for connections with remote locations that have devices ...
standards group is formed with the goal of working on a lightweight publish/subscribe reliable messaging transport protocol suitable for communication in M2M/IoT contexts.OASIS Members to Advance MQTT Standard for M2M/ IoT Reliable Messaging, April 2013
/ref> IBM and StormMQ chair this standards group and Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (M2Mi) Corp is the secretary.OASIS MQTT Standards Group
/ref> In May 2014, the committee published the MQTT and NIST Cybersecurity Framework Version 1.0 committee note to provide guidance for organizations wishing to deploy MQTT in a way consistent with the NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.MQTT and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework V1.0 published, May 2014
/ref> In May 2013, machine to machine network service providers KORE Telematics, Oracle,
Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
,
Digi International Digi International is an American Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology company headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1985 and went public as Digi International in 1989. The company initially offered intelligen ...
,
Orbcomm ''ORBCOMM'' is an American company that offers industrial Internet of things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communications hardware, software and services designed to track, monitor, and control fixed and mobile assets in markets including ...
and Telit formed the International Machine to Machine Council (IMC). The first trade organization to service the entire machine to machine ecosystem, the IMC aims at making machine to machine ubiquitous by helping companies install and manage the communication between machines.


Applications

Wireless networks that are all interconnected can serve to improve production and efficiency in various areas, including machinery that works on building cars and on letting the developers of products know when certain products need to be taken in for maintenance and for what reason. Such information serves to streamline products that consumers buy and works to keep them all working at highest efficiency. Another application is to use wireless technology to monitor systems, such as utility meters. This would allow the owner of the meter to know if certain elements have been tampered with, which serves as a quality method to stop fraud. In Quebec,
Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
will connect Hydro Quebec's central system with up to 600 Smart Meter collectors, which aggregate data relayed from the province's 3.8-million Smart Meters. In the UK, Telefónica won on a €1.78 billion ($2.4 billion) smart-meter contract to provide connectivity services over a period of 15 years in the central and southern regions of the country. The contract is the industry's biggest deal yet. Some companies, such as M-kopa in Kenya, are using M2M to enforce a payment plan, but turning off its customers' solar devices remotely for non-payment. “Our loan officer is that SIM card in the device that can shut it off remotely,” says Chad Larson, M-Kopa's finance director and its third co-founder, when describing the technology. A third application is to use wireless networks to update digital billboards. This allows advertisers to display different messages based on time of day or day-of-week, and allows quick global changes for messages, such as pricing changes for gasoline. The industrial machine to machine market is undergoing a fast transformation as enterprises are increasingly realizing the value of connecting geographically dispersed people, devices, sensors and machines to corporate networks. Today, industries such as oil and gas,
precision agriculture Precision agriculture (PA) is a farming management strategy based on observing, measuring and responding to temporal and spatial variability to improve agricultural production sustainability. It is used in both crop and livestock production. P ...
,
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, government, smart cities/municipalities,
manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
, and
public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...
, among others, utilize machine to machine technologies for a myriad of applications. Many companies have enabled complex and efficient
data networking A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ma ...
technologies to provide capabilities such as high-speed
data transmission Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point o ...
, mobile mesh networking, and 3G/4G cellular backhaul.
Telematics Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies ( road transport, road safety, etc.), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation, wireless communications, etc.), and computer science (multimedi ...
and in-vehicle entertainment is an area of focus for machine to machine developers. Recent examples include
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, which has teamed with AT&T to wirelessly connect Ford Focus Electric with an embedded wireless connection and dedicated app that includes the ability for the owner to monitor and control vehicle charge settings, plan single- or multiple-stop journeys, locate charging stations, pre-heat or cool the car. In 2011,
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
partnered with
T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...
and
RACO Wireless RacoWireless is a provider of wireless products and services focusing on the machine to machine (M2M) industry. The company delivers wireless data and provides a platform for companies to build and support wireless M2M applications. In November ...
to offer Audi Connect. Audi Connect allows users access to news, weather, and fuel prices while turning the vehicle into a secure mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing passengers access to the Internet.


Networks in prognostics and health management

Machine to machine wireless networks can serve to improve the production and efficiency of machines, to enhance the reliability and safety of complex systems, and to promote the life-cycle management for key assets and products. By applying Prognostic and Health Management (PHM) techniques in machine networks, the following goals can be achieved or improved: *Near-zero downtime performance of machines and system; *Health management of a fleet of similar machines. The application of intelligent analysis tools and Device-to-Business (D2B) TM informatics platform form the basis of e-maintenance machine network that can lead to near-zero downtime performance of machines and systems. The e-maintenance machine network provides integration between the factory floor system and e-business system, and thus enables the real time decision making in terms of near-zero downtime, reducing uncertainties and improved system performance. In addition, with the help of highly interconnected machine networks and advance intelligent analysis tools, several novel maintenance types are made possible nowadays. For instance, the distant maintenance without dispatching engineers on-site, the online maintenance without shutting down the operating machines or systems, and the
predictive maintenance Predictive maintenance techniques are designed to help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to estimate when maintenance should be performed. This approach promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenanc ...
before a machine failure become catastrophic. All these benefits of e-maintenance machine network add up improve the maintenance efficiency and transparency significantly. As described in, The framework of e-maintenance machine network consists of sensors, data acquisition system, communication network, analytic agents, decision-making support knowledge base, information synchronization interface and e-business system for decision making. Initially, the sensors, controllers and operators with data acquisition are used to collect the raw data from equipment and send it out to Data Transformation Layer automatically via internet or intranet. The Data Transform Layer then employs signal processing tools and feature extraction methods to convert the raw data into useful information. This converted information often carries rich information about the reliability and availability of machines or system and is more agreeable for intelligent analysis tools to perform subsequent process. The Synchronization Module and Intelligent Tools comprise the major processing power of the e-maintenance machine network and provide optimization, prediction, clustering, classification, bench-marking and so on. The results from this module can then be synchronized and shared with the e-business system on for decision making. In real application, the synchronization module will provide connection with other departments at the decision making level, like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relation Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM). Another application of machine to machine network is in the health management for a fleet of similar machines using clustering approach. This method was introduced to address the challenge of developing fault detection models for applications with non-stationary operating regimes or with incomplete data. The overall methodology consists of two stages: 1) Fleet Clustering to group similar machines for sound comparison; 2) Local Cluster Fault Detection to evaluate the similarity of individual machines to the fleet features. The purpose of fleet clustering is to aggregate working units with similar configurations or working conditions into a group for sound comparison and subsequently create local fault detection models when global models cannot be established. Within the framework of peer to peer comparison methodology, the machine to machine network is crucial to ensure the instantaneous information share between different working units and thus form the basis of fleet level health management technology. The fleet level health management using clustering approach was patented for its application in wind turbine health monitoringE. R. Lapira, H. Al-Atat, and J. Lee, "Turbine-To-Turbine Prognostics Technique For Wind Farms," ed: Google Patents, 2012. after validated in a wind turbine fleet of three distributed wind farms.E. R. Lapira, "Fault detection in a network of similar machines using clustering approach," 2012. Different with other industrial devices with fixed or static regimes, wind turbine's operating condition is greatly dictated by wind speed and other ambient factors. Even though the multi-modeling methodology can be applicable in this scenario, the number of wind turbines in a wind farm is almost infinite and may not present itself as a practical solution. Instead, by leveraging on data generated from other similar turbines in the network, this problem can be properly solved and local fault detection models can be effective built. The results of wind turbine fleet level health management reported in demonstrated the effectiveness of applying a cluster-based fault detection methodology in the wind turbine networks.
Fault detection Fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) is a subfield of control engineering which concerns itself with monitoring a system, identifying when a fault has occurred, and pinpointing the type of fault and its location. Two approaches can be ...
for a horde of industrial robots experiences similar difficulties as lack of fault detection models and dynamic operating condition.
Industrial robot An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include welding, painting, assembly, disassembly, pick a ...
s are crucial in
automotive manufacturing The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...
and perform different tasks as welding, material handling, painting, etc. In this scenario, robotic maintenance becomes critical to ensure continuous production and avoid downtime. Historically, the fault detection models for all the industrial robots are trained similarly. Critical model parameters like training samples, components, and alarming limits are set the same for all the units regardless of their different functionalities. Even though these identical fault detection models can effectively identify faults sometimes, numerous false alarms discourage users from trusting the reliability of the system. However, within a machine network, industrial robots with similar tasks or working regimes can be group together; the abnormal units in a cluster can then be prioritized for maintenance via training based or instantaneous comparison. This peer to peer comparison methodology inside a machine network could improve the fault detection accuracy significantly.


Open initiatives

*
Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
machine to machine industry working group (open communication protocols, tools, and frameworks), the umbrella of various projects including Koneki, Eclipse SCADA *
ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Commu ...
Focus Group M2M (global standardization initiative for a common M2M
service layer In intelligent networks (IN) and cellular networks, service layer is a conceptual layer within a network service provider architecture. It aims at providing middleware that serves third-party value-added services and applications at a higher a ...
) * 3GPP studies security aspects for machine to machine (M2M) equipment, in particular automatic SIM activation covering remote provisioning and change of subscription. * Weightless – standard group focusing on using TV "white space" for M2M *
XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...
(Jabber) protocol *
OASIS In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
MQTT MQTT (originally an initialism of MQ Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, publish-subscribe, machine to machine network protocol for Message queue/Message queuing service. It is designed for connections with remote locations that have devices ...
– standards group working on a lightweight publish/subscribe reliable messaging transport protocol suitable for communication in M2M/IoT contexts. *
Open Mobile Alliance OMA SpecWorks, previously the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is a standards organization which develops open, international technical standards for the mobile phone industry. It is a nonprofit Non-governmental organization (NGO), not a formal governme ...
(OMA_LWM2M) protocolOMA_LWM2M * RPMA (Ingenu) *
Industrial Internet Consortium The Industrial Internet Consortium rebranded as the Industry IoT Consortium in August 2021. The Industry IoT Consortium is a program of the Object Management Group (OMG). The Industry IoT Consortium (IIC) is an open membership organization, wit ...


See also

* Plant floor communication *
Process driven messaging service A process driven messaging service (PDMS) is a service that is process oriented and exchanges messages/data calls. A PDMS is a service where jobs and triggers can be put together to create a workflow for a message. Messaging platforms are conside ...
*
Protocol converter {{Use American English, date = March 2019 A protocol converter is a device used to convert standard or proprietary protocol of one device to the protocol suitable for the other device or tools to achieve the desired interoperability. Protocols are ...
* Smart, connected products *
Universal gateway {{unreferenced, date=January 2014 A universal gateway is a device that transacts data between two or more data sources using communication protocols specific to each. Sometimes called a universal protocol gateway, this class of product is designed ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Machine-To-Machine Service-oriented (business computing)