Application and Service Architectures for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications

机器对机器(M2M)通信(简称M2M)使无线传感器、执行器、智能抄表和移动电话等设备能够相互通信，几乎不需要人工干预。它是大量应用的基础。目前，M2M的研究和标准化正在经历一段时间的热潮，特别是在通信和网络方面。尽管它们起着关键作用，但应用方面的研究仍然不足。该提案的长期目标是指定和验证M2M的原始和创新应用程序架构。短期目标是对以下内容进行规范和验证：针对M2M中间件的创新架构解决方案、考虑到M2M设备特性的新型高层协议、支持利用其他应用程序和服务基础设施(如云和新兴的第四代(4G)电信网络的演进分组核心(EPC))的原创集成构建块。目前的M2M中间件缺乏通用性，应用层协议仅侧重于嵌入式控制功能，对IP多媒体系统(IMS)的利用还没有得到广泛的研究。这项研究将沿着两条轨道进行。在第一条轨道上，除了嵌入式控制功能之外，还将研究更通用的中间件和应用层协议，这些协议的目标是交互/协作等功能。在第二赛道上，我们将研究云和EPC/4G的杠杆作用。预计M2M加拿大市场在未来几年将大幅增长。我们将通过培养至少3名博士生和6名硕士研究生来促进这一增长。我们对IETF标准的贡献也将促进这种增长。此外，拟议的研究将给医疗和制造业等行业带来直接好处，在这些行业，M2M应用和服务发挥着关键作用。它还将有助于制定一种横向办法。这将使中小型企业(SME)更容易进入M2M应用和服务领域，从而促进更广泛的应用和服务的发展。

Machine to Machine (M2M) communications (M2M for short) enables devices such as wireless sensors, actuators, smart meter readers and cellular phones to communicate with each other, with little or no human intervention. It is the basis of a plethora of applications. Currently, M2M research and standardization are enjoying a period of effervescence, especially in the communications and networking aspects. The application aspects remain under-researched despite their pivotal role. The long term objective of this proposal is to specify and validate original and innovative application architectures for M2M. The short term objectives are the specification and validation of the following: innovative architectural solutions for M2M middleware, novel higher layer protocols that take into account the specifics of M2M devices, original integration building blocks that enable the leverage of other applications and service infrastructures such as the cloud and the evolved packet core (EPC) of the emerging fourth generation (4G) telecommunication networks. Today's M2M middleware lack generality, the application layer protocols focus solely on embedded control functions, and only the leverage of the IP multimedia System (IMS) has been extensively researched. Two tracks will be followed for the research. On the first track more general middleware and application layer protocols that target functions such as interaction/collaboration in addition to the embedded control functions will be investigated. On the second track, we will research the leverage of cloud and EPC/4G. The M2M Canadian market is expected to grow significantly the coming years. We will contribute to this growth by training at least 3 PhD students and 6 master students. Our contributions to IETF standards will also foster this growth. Furthermore the proposed research will bring direct benefits to industries such as health and manufacturing where M2M applications and services play a key role. It will also contribute to the development of a horizontal approach. This will allow Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) to more easily enter the M2M applications and services arena, thereby promoting the development of a much wider range of applications and services.