Cisco Launches Alliance For the 'Internet of Things' 96
Yannis B. writes "This week, a group of leading technology vendors that includes Cisco, Sun, Ericsson, Atmel, Freescale, and embedded open source developers, founded the Internet Protocol for Smart Objects Alliance to promote the 'Internet of Things,' in which everyday objects such as thermometers, radiators, and light switches are given IP addresses and are connected to the Internet. Such IP-enabled 'smart objects' give rise to a wide range of applications, from energy-efficient homes and offices to factory equipment maintenance and hospital patient monitoring. For Slashdot readers who are interested in the underlying technology, a white paper written by well-known embedded open source developer Adam Dunkels and IETF ROLL working group chair JP Vasseur establishes the technical basis of the alliance (PDF)."
Re:IETF ROLL? (Score:3, Informative)
This is an IETF working group - Routing Over Low power and Lossy networks (ROLL). Like all IETF WG, it has a Charter [ietf.org] which you can read to find out more, and 4 outstanding Internet drafts (listed in the charter).
Re:you KNOW the RIAA is salivating (Score:3, Informative)
Blu-ray players already have an ethernet jack, that could plausibly be used for this in future if an (in)appropriate firmware upgrade was made.
Though I think the MPAA would care a lot more than the RIAA.
Re:Still need cheaper Wi-fi chipsets for this to w (Score:4, Informative)
making cheap Wi-fi chipsets is the answer here
If you read the announcement, you'll find that the major benefit of using a layered architecture such as IP is the ability to use different physical media, depending on the application.
For short-range applications, there are technologies that are both cheaper and more power-efficient than wifi. Off the top of my head, there's Zigbee [wikipedia.org], Bluetooth [wikipedia.org] and probably lots of others.
And for even lower range applications, nothing beats the cost of an infra-red diode [wikipedia.org].
Re:Wasting IP addresses (Score:2, Informative)
We will not run out of IPv6 addresses.
A 128bit addresses space really is enough for anyone. No, really.
Re:A lot of information can be inferred from devic (Score:2, Informative)
Alternatively you could use a firewall and a password.
Just sayin'.
Re:Still need cheaper Wi-fi chipsets for this to w (Score:3, Informative)
While I understand your humor, there are a few limiting factors about using X10 -- very little bandwidth and the inability to see the other "leg" of the house voltage -- which means that in a typical home in the US, half the outlets can't communicate with the other half*. X10 is also limited to 256 devices.
Supposedly, there are also reliability problems with the protocol, but I've never noticed them.
I use X10 at home for a few purposes, and it works well for what I need it to do (switching on/off lights and speakers), but it isn't made for an "internet of devices".
PS: X10 + heyu (x10 linux software) computer + wireless transceiver + lirc (linux infrared remote software) + universal remote == lazy geek goodness. :p
* There are devices that rectify this.