The IPSO Alliance, in industry group focused on promoting networked smart objects, successfully collected information from temperature, humidity and light sensors at the NeWorld+Interop 2009 expo in Las Vegas.

The Internet Protocol for Smart Objects Alliance collected more than 100,000 readings during the landmark test.  The group was formed in the fall of 2008 by leading developers of networking technology in order to establish the ubiquitous networking protocol as the standard for connecting physical objects.

The IPSO Alliance regularly tests the interoperability of new IP-based technologies and creates the documentation in conjunction with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).  The group also conducts marketing activities and functions as an information repository for individuals and groups seeking to understand how IP works in the context of smart object networks.

The sensors were located in Korea, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, England, Canada, and the United States.  IPSO deployed a business intelligence application developed by SAP that collected the readings and interpreted the results graphically at the group’s display booth at the exposition.  Visitors to the booth were able to observe live data readings streamed in from around the world.

Each of the smart objects transmitted information using the IPv6 protocol and did not rely on any proprietary protocols, gateways, or translators whatsoever.  Off-the-shelf hardware was used to create the entire network infrastructure and the Internet was used to connect each of the nodes, across three continents, to IPSO’s Las Vegas booth.  

The demonstration clearly proves the cost-benefits for using IP to connect physical objects around the world.  Using the Internet as a communications infrastructure would allow for networks of smart objects many times larger than the demonstration in Las Vegas.  IP technology is easily scalable to billions of nodes.

The nodes used in the demonstration were inexpensive as well.  Including the batteries, each sensor cost less than $6.  The result is a robust, cost-effective, and easily scalable communications protocol for objects.  The solution is ideal for use in the home or in the largest of businesses.

“What we’ve shown here isn’t what will be available at some future date, but what is here now and readily available to any consumer, said IPSO Alliance Chairman Geoff Mulligan.  “Our success at the NetWorld event is similar to that from the earlier Palo Alto Interop Event, but on a wider scope.”

“Participating companies from multiple global locations demonstrated interoperability between different PHY layers while continuously updating the servers,” continued Mulligan, referring to networking hardware devices made by different companies.  “Of particular interest to visitors at the NetWorld event was that IPv6 stacks can run in such small embedded devices.”

“Everything just worked,” added Niels Thybo Johansen, Vice President of Research and Development at Sigma Designs.  

Eric Gnoske of Atmel agreed.  “We arrived, plugged in our 6in4 routers into the switch, configured the routers, brought our networks up and were sending data to the SAP and IPSO servers in just minutes,” he said.

There are many real-world applications for the technology the IPSO Alliance demonstrated including smart metering, data centre energy management, and factory monitoring.  Unlike other smart grid technologies that are still in the development stage, this technology is available today.

IPSO Alliance
http://www.ipso-alliance.org

SAP
Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16
Walldorf, 69190
Germany
http://www.sap.com

Sigma Designs, Inc.
1778 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035 USA
http://www.sigmadesigns.com

Atmel
2325 Orchard Parkway
San Jose, Ca 95131
http://www.atmel.com
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