Original author(s) | Open Connectivity Foundation |
---|---|
Initial release | December 18, 2015 |
Stable release | 2.0 / 2018 |
Written in | C, C++, Java (programming language) |
Operating system | |
License | Apache License 2.0 |
Website | iotivity |
The IoTivity is an open source framework created to standardize inter-device connections for the IoT. [1] Any individual or company can contribute to the project, and this may influence OCF standards indirectly. However, being a member of the OCF can benefit from patent cross-licensing protection.
The IoTivity architectural goal is to create a new standard by which billions of wired and wireless devices will connect to each other and to the Internet. [2]
In October 2016 they announced AllJoyn merger into Iotivity. [3] The group hoped that devices running either AllJoyn or Iotivity would be interoperable and backward compatible.
On October 10, 2016, the AllSeen Alliance merged with the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) under the OCF name and bylaws. OCF then sponsored both the IoTivity and AllJoyn open source projects. The merged groups announced that they will collaborate on future OCF specifications, as well as the IoTivity and AllJoyn open source projects, and current devices running on either AllJoyn or IoTivity will be interoperable and backward-compatible. The expanded OCF board of directors included: Electrolux, Arçelik A.S., ARRIS International plc, CableLabs, Canon, Cisco, GE Digital, Haier, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Technicolor SA. [4]
The release is 2.0 was announced in September, 2018. [5] Previously,[ when? ] there was a 1.3.1 release [6] for the IoTivity Framework. Within the merging process with AllJoyn, the software license changed to Apache 2.0 Licence which makes it easier to other open source projects to include IoTivity and AllJoyn in more projects.
The system uses the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) as its application layer which can uses several underlying physical layers as long as the network layer is Internet Protocol. [7] Examples include: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth low energy, Thread, and Z-Wave.
Legacy protocols are also supported by a protocol plugin manager [8] including:
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols on the Internet Protocol (IP) that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices, to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the network and establish functional network services. UPnP is intended primarily for residential networks without enterprise-class devices.
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 government-sponsored standards organization as is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU): a forum for industry stakeholders to agree on common specifications for products and services.
Nordic Semiconductor ASA was founded in 1983 and is a Norwegian fabless technology company with its headquarters in Trondheim, Norway. The company specializes in designing ultra-low-power wireless communication semiconductors and supporting software for engineers developing and manufacturing Internet of Things (IoT) products.
Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for residential and commercial building automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from device to device, allowing for wireless control of smart home devices, such as smart lights, security systems, thermostats, sensors, smart door locks, and garage door openers. The Z-Wave brand and technology are owned by Silicon Labs. Over 300 companies involved in this technology are gathered within the Z-Wave Alliance.
6LoWPAN was a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It was created with the intention of applying the Internet Protocol (IP) even to the smallest devices, enabling low-power devices with limited processing capabilities to participate in the Internet of Things.
Systech Corporation (Systech) is a California corporation founded in 1981 and headquartered in San Diego, California.
UniPro is a high-speed interface technology for interconnecting integrated circuits in mobile and mobile-influenced electronics. The various versions of the UniPro protocol are created within the MIPI Alliance, an organization that defines specifications targeting mobile and mobile-influenced applications.
The Internet Protocol for Smart Objects (IPSO) Alliance was an international technical standards organization promoting the Internet Protocol (IP) for what it calls "smart object" communications. The IPSO Alliance was a non-profit organization founded in 2008 with members from technology, communications and energy companies. The Alliance advocated for IP networked devices in energy, consumer, healthcare, and industrial uses. On 27 March 2018, the IPSO Alliance merged with the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) to form OMA SpecWorks.
DASH7 Alliance Protocol (D7A) is an open-source wireless sensor and actuator network protocol, which operates in the 433 MHz, 868 MHz and 915 MHz unlicensed ISM/SRD band. DASH7 provides multi-year battery life, range of up to 2 km, low latency for connecting with moving things, a very small open-source protocol stack, AES 128-bit shared-key encryption support, and data transfer of up to 167 kbit/s. The DASH7 Alliance Protocol is the name of the technology promoted by the non-profit consortium called the DASH7 Alliance.
Silicon Laboratories, Inc., commonly referred to as Silicon Labs, is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufacturers in Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure worldwide.
AllJoyn is an open source software framework that allows compatible devices and applications to find each other, communicate and collaborate across the boundaries of product category, platform, brand, and connection type. Originally the AllSeen Alliance promoted the project, from 2013 until 2016 when the alliance merged with the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF). In 2018 the source code became hosted by GitHub.
Thread is an IPv6-based, low-power mesh networking technology for Internet of things (IoT) products. The Thread protocol specification is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to an end-user license agreement (EULA), which states "Membership in Thread Group is necessary to implement, practice, and ship Thread technology and Thread Group specifications."
OMA Lightweight M2M (LwM2M) is a protocol from the Open Mobile Alliance for machine to machine (M2M) or Internet of things (IoT) device management and service enablement. The LwM2M standard defines the application layer communication protocol between an LwM2M Server and an LwM2M Client which is located in an IoT device. It offers an approach for managing IoT devices and allows devices and systems from different vendors to co-exist in an IoT ecosystem. LwM2M was originally built on Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) but later LwM2M versions also support additional transfer protocols.
SensorThings API is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard providing an open and unified framework to interconnect IoT sensing devices, data, and applications over the Web. It is an open standard addressing the syntactic interoperability and semantic interoperability of the Internet of Things. It complements the existing IoT networking protocols such CoAP, MQTT, HTTP, 6LowPAN. While the above-mentioned IoT networking protocols are addressing the ability for different IoT systems to exchange information, OGC SensorThings API is addressing the ability for different IoT systems to use and understand the exchanged information. As an OGC standard, SensorThings API also allows easy integration into existing Spatial Data Infrastructures or Geographic Information Systems.
Zephyr is a small real-time operating system (RTOS) for connected, resource-constrained and embedded devices supporting multiple architectures and released under the Apache License 2.0. Zephyr includes a kernel, and all components and libraries, device drivers, protocol stacks, file systems, and firmware updates, needed to develop full application software.
The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) is an industry organization to develop standards, promote a set of interoperability guidelines, and provide a certification program for devices involved in the Internet of things (IoT). By 2016 it claimed to be one of the biggest industrial connectivity standards organizations for IoT. Its membership includes Samsung Electronics, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Electrolux.
oneM2M is a global partnership project founded in 2012 and constituted by 8 of the world's leading ICT standards development organizations, notably: ARIB (Japan), ATIS, CCSA (China), ETSI (Europe), TIA (USA), TSDSI (India), TTA (Korea) and TTC (Japan). The goal of the organization is to create a global technical standard for interoperability concerning the architecture, API specifications, security and enrolment solutions for Machine-to-Machine and IoT technologies based on requirements contributed by its members.
Weave is a network application layer protocol and, in implementation, a comprehensive toolkit for building connected Internet of Things-class applications, with a primary and current focus on consumer and residential applications.
Matter is a freely available connectivity standard for smart home and IoT devices. It aims to improve interoperability and compatibility between different manufacturers and security, and always allowing local control as an option.
EEBUS is a protocol suite for the Internet of things that aims to standardize the interface between electrical consumers, producers, storages, and (logical) managing entities. It builds on the Internet Protocol and related standards and is meant to be highly generic, cross-domain applicable, open, and free to the public. While its main area of application is the Energy demand management, data exchange, and control of appliances it is also specified for Home automation. A business logic is not specified by EEBUS. The EEBus Initiative e.V. is the non-profit association that manages and supports the standardization of EEBUS.