Today’s modern people are always online. Social networks are becoming indispensable, and the use of apps is an essential aspect of life in the digital world. Smartphones, home PCs, TVs – nowadays all these devices allow the use of Web services. And even the car is increasingly becoming a device that can be used to surf the Web. Market analysts from SBD, a British consultancy, expect that most, if not all, cars will be equipped with some form of networking capability by 2025.
Generally, the distinction is made between two forms of networking: either the SIM technology will be increasingly embedded directly into the vehicle, or mobile devices such as smartphones will serve as the interface to the global network.

Cars with their own SIM cards

In the first form, the SIM card used by mobile phone users to identify themselves to their network providers will become part of the vehicle – the car becomes a mobile phone, so to speak. This solution is expected to enable a wide range of mobile-phone-based services encompassing safety, entertainment, navigation and vehicle diagnostics. “Embedding mobile technology in cars will not only save lives, but also drive a range of new services and provide a significant revenue opportunity for the mobile and automotive industries,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “The rapid growth of this market will be driven in part by positive regulatory action, particularly in Europe and in emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil.” An example of this is eCall, the automatic emergency call system for cars developed by the European Union. From 2015, all new vehicles in EU countries must be equipped with this system. In the event of an accident, eCall establishes contact between the car and an emergency call centre, automatically transmits the vehicle’s exact position and makes it possible to speak with its occupants to acquire further information about the accident’s severity. In addition, required rescue information (rescue sheet) can be retrieved and transmitted to the rescuers. “We are in the midst of a connected car revolution and it is vital that the mobile and automotive industries work together to deliver scalable and pervasive connected experiences and ensure this market reaches its potential,” said O’Hara. To this end, the GSMA has launched the Connected Car Forum, in which leading mobile communications providers and car manufacturers cooperate on telematics and infotainment services. It is expected that in 2018, around one-third of the approximately 100 million vehicles newly registered worldwide will be equipped with such embedded mobile technologies.

The smartphone as a network interface

On the other hand, 21 million vehicles are expected to be networked via smartphones. Today, Bluetooth technology is already almost the standard for connecting mobile devices with a car’s infotainment system. Bluetooth is a wireless technology for data transfer between devices over short distances. With this system, the driver can use his car’s hands-free system with the contacts from his smartphone. The music stored on a mobile device can be played through the vehicle’s speakers via Bluetooth, and text messages and e-mails can be sent and received via the car’s infotainment system. In this way, telematics services such as transmitting current traffic information into a vehicle’s navigation system can also be used via smartphone.

Universal language HTML5

To ensure that the wide variety of devices and vehicle brands will be able to communicate with each other, a standardised application platform will be needed. It is becoming apparent that browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome will be the foundation of such a platform, on which documents and information can be exchanged by means of open standards regardless of the devices involved. This development was initiated by HTML5, the language of “Web 2.0”. HTML5 extends the existing HTML with “rich Web content”. For example, videos can be embedded more easily. It also provides more possibilities for Web applications.
“Since vehicles are becoming ever more connected to each other, it is important to the automotive industry to use Web standards that have been adapted for vehicles to simplify data exchange with the Cloud and enhance the end user’s digital life in the vehicle,” said Philippe Gicquel, General Manager for Cockpit, Safety, Infotainment EE Modules at PSA Peugeot Citroën. For example, the GENIVI Alliance, an association of the automotive and consumer electronics industries, is using HTML5 to develop an open reference platform for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI). Together they intend to specify programming interfaces (APIs) for HTML5 Web applications to link with vehicle hardware or vehicle bus interfaces. “The HTML5 Auto API is imperative to enable the open source IVI community to rapidly and easily prototype, test and produce innovative user experience concepts,” said Matt Jones, senior technical specialist at Jaguar Land Rover.
A broad range of vehicle data can be made available by means of these APIs. Besides access to parking sensors, average values for speed and fuel consumption, and light and wiper settings, the transfer of information about the current gear is also possible. In a possible application, this link could be used by the customer to display his vehicle’s current fuel level on the smartphone or the TV. On the other hand, it would also be possible to access the media library on the smartphone or PC from the vehicle.

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The year 2012 was an exciting one in building automation. According to market researchers IMS Research, more and more existing buildings were fitted out with smart technology in order to reduce energy consumption. As a result, increasing numbers of buildings are also being awarded energy certificates such as the “Energy Star” or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Holger Knöpke, Vice President Connected Home of Deutsche Telekom, reaffirms the trend towards smart home applications: “Three out of four consumers want applications which will help them save energy. They are also keen to utilise applications which will enhance their comfort, safety and security.” Deutsche Telekom has launched an alliance together with manufacturers EnBW, eQ-3, Miele and Samsung to offer a unified smart home application suite, under the name of Qivicon.

Interconnecting TVs, washing machines and heating systems

Based on wireless protocols, the Qivicon Home Base is a central unit interconnecting different devices, domestic appliances and functions. Users are able to control and monitor connected equipment such as their TV, washing machine or heating thermostat whether at home or away using mobile apps from a smartphone, PC or tablet. Window blinds can be opened and closed using a tablet, for example; the power consumption of electrical appliances or lights can be displayed and checked; and appliances such as the washing machine or radio can be switched on and off. However, the objective behind the integration of the Internet of Things into building system engineering has less to do with allowing users to interconnect their domestic appliances. No homeowner wants to be continually monitoring 50 or more sensors to check whether the air-conditioning is running despite the windows being open. As Nate Williams, CMO of Greenwave, explains: “The promise of the Internet of Things is to provide an interactivity layer to the physical devices that can create efficiency for the user. That offers the opportunity to save time, money, and the headaches from dealing with the myriad of devices and services we touch each day.” Greenwave markets a smart home software platform that includes applications for energy management, interconnected lighting and home surveillance.

The goal is self-learning systems

Complex, smart building control systems are still something of a vision at present however. Many functions can only be controlled manually, or by timers, or based on simple events. As Williams admits: “The automation part and cross communication between devices is not yet fully mature, mostly because of the protocol fragmentation in the market with a lot of self-contained proprietary solutions with limited or no interoperability.” He does, however, predict that those hurdles will have been overcome in a few years’ time, and the market will see the emergence of more self-learning systems capable, thanks to intelligent “event triggers”, of managing the interaction between different devices dependent on specific situations and strategies, and based on information from the Internet of Things. They will enable home equipment to make independent decisions, relieving owners of the need to do so: automatically reducing the heating temperature when a window is opened; raising or lowering blinds depending on the position of the sun and the ambient temperature; or switching the lights off when there is no one in the room. Outstanding examples of such intelligent applications using the Internet of Things are Smart Metres. Rather than just measuring energy consumption, they enable power companies to communicate virtually in real time with consumers and actively shut down power-hungry equipment in response to demand spikes. The result is lower electricity bills for customers, while power companies are able to cope more effectively with load spikes.

Flexibility thanks to energy-autonomous wireless solutions

Laurent Giai-Miniet, CEO of EnOcean, comments: “For the ‘smart’ aspect in building automation, measured data from many different points must be available to an intelligent controller.” His company, based in Oberhaching near Munich, has developed batteryless wireless solutions in which the wireless modules draw their power by means of miniaturised energy converters from motion, light or temperature differences based on the principle of energy harvesting. They enable switches and sensors to be positioned very flexibly, without the need of any cabling or batteries. “From the viewpoint of the Internet of Things, this technology can be applied to install millions of interconnected devices very easily,” asserts Giai-Miniet. The EnOcean head even sees smart building automation as ultimately being a model for the Internet of Things: “In a building automation system, sensors serve as sensory organs which capture and transmit a wide range of data. They provide the automation systems with the temperature, humidity, presence detection or CO₂ data necessary to manage the building efficiently and intelligently. This principle of building automation can also be applied to other automation processes – which is exactly what characterises the Internet of Things.”

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The USA is being threatened by a new kind of terrorism: A group headed by a discredited Pentagon security expert has gained control of all the country’s computer networks. They are able to change traffic lights at will, manipulate communications, and control gas pipelines. It is a horror scenario which fortunately is just a Hollywood fantasy. But is the plot of the movie “Die Hard 4.0” really so far-fetched? Anyone who attended last year’s Defcon – the world’s largest hackers’ conference – might well think differently. At the event, Dan Tentler, a freelance security consul-tant and founder of IT security specialist AtenLabs, demonstrated how many devices can already today be found on the Internet – and are entirely unprotected, open for anyone to access. They include games consoles and laptops with built-in microphones and cameras capable of intruding into private areas, -security cameras, independent power supply units, cooling systems, and many more. He was, for example, quite easily able to set the traffic lights at a crossing in a US small town to test mode, causing the lights to stop working. He was also able to access the user interface of a French hydro-electric power station, as well as a carwash. All he needed to do so was a Web browser and the Shodan search engine. This – entirely legal – Google equivalent searches the Net for connected devices. A Shodan search reveals just how many devices are today already connected to the Internet. And it also reveals the dangers lurking on the Internet of Things. “Everyday objects – once familiar-looking and completely irrelevant in security terms – are suddenly becoming repositories of sensitive data, extending from confidential financial information to detailed telemetry data revealing personal aspects of people’s private lives,” comments Marc Rogers on the Lookout blog. Rogers is Principal Security Researcher with Lookout, one of the leading security technology companies, whose security software protects smartphones and other mobile devices against online threats. Rogers advises: “Net-connected objects have to be treated like software when it comes to security.”

Patches enhance security for Net-connected devices

At present, the software of embedded systems – known as firmware – is rarely, if ever, updated once installed at the production stage. This results in security gaps which can be exploited by viruses such as the Stuxnet worm. In 2010 Stuxnet paralysed the process controls of Iranian nuclear power plants. Similar attacks would be conceivable on any other form of M2M communication. Smart Meters, which provide the basis for future Smart Grids, might likewise be attacked, potentially impacting on electricity supplies to public services, private households and industry. That is not just a theoretical scenario, as a 2010 FBI report highlights: It revealed that a power company in Puerto Rico lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to manipulation of Smart Meters which caused them to stop recording night-time consumption. According to the FBI, many Smart Meters can be manipulated even with modest computer skills.
In order to close such loopholes, Rogers recommends extending the system of patch management familiar from PCs to Net-connected devices. This would mean newly discovered security flaws could be eliminated by patches like the Service Pack updates issued by Microsoft for its Windows operating system. As a result, the firmware in the objects connected to the Internet of Things would be regularly updated, and newly discovered security gaps continually closed. “One of the key lessons learned from patch management for PCs is that device security issues should be managed as software issues, and not as product or hardware issues. That is the only way that manufacturers will be able to get a handle on the extent of the problem,” Rogers concludes.

Chips themselves are becoming more secure

Nevertheless, security on the Internet of Things does also have a hardware component. The micro- and nano–electronics industry has developed secure chip solutions without which a reliable IT infrastructure could not function. “Chips are the basis for all electronic services. The field of micro- and nano-electronics is thus the most important and fundamental key technology in today’s interconnected world,” asserts Heinz Martin Esser, President of high-tech sector network Silicon Saxony e.V. He continues: “A secure chip architecture is the foundation of secure IT. The strongest firewalls and best-protected corporate networks will be of no use whatsoever if the hardware is not secure – and that means producing the right chips.” The solution lies in the basic idea of a security system on a chip, as Esser concludes: “Without such secure chips, with embedded secure software, there will be no reliable IT infrastructure in future.” Semiconductor manufacturers have also recognised that fact, and are -already bringing out the first discrete security chips which protect computer systems against unauthorised access and attack. So hardware-based security solutions for industrial and embedded computer systems or mobile devices are already a reality today. The latest chips conform to the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 specification issued by the Trusted Computing Group. The group, made up of leading IT companies, develops open standards to safeguard computer environments. Computer systems with such integrated trustworthy hardware and corresponding applications enable secure authentication of device and user identities and so improve secure communications in computer networks.

Wide-ranging approaches to enhancing security

There is a wide range of different approaches aimed at making the Internet of Things secure, as Professor Dr. Dirk Westhoff from the Hochschule Furtwangen technical college reports: “We are looking for easily applicable methods of secure, robust code updating, enabling functionality, confidentially merging monitored data transfers, and detecting cyber-attacks and attempted manipulation.” Westhoff is working on the UNIKOPS project, aimed at developing security solutions for embedded systems – processors working in a wide range of applications and different devices, such as in medical products, onboard aircraft, in motor vehicles or domestic appliances like washing machines, or in TVs and mobile phones.
Marc Rogers concludes: “The Internet of Things marks the beginning of a new era in technology – a future in which everything is interconnected, and we are able to interact with data more closely than ever before. If we do it right, we will open up a whole world of new possibilities. If we do it wrong, we risk destroying it before it has ever realised its potential.”

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Vision of the network-connected port

The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) in its development plan for 2015 sets out a scenario in which the port’s infrastructure is fitted out with miniature processors, all interconnected and communicating with each other: road bridges, for example, capable of counting the number and weight of vehicles passing beneath them and transmitting the data to a centralised evaluation system. When a defined threshold is exceeded an order is automatically generated in the infrastructure management system. Status data from the many infrastructure elements, buildings and technical installations at the port is continuously monitored from a control station. In addition to the technical data, energy consumption figures and relevant environmental factors are also measured, evaluated and optimised.

Successful pilot project

Such complete integration with the Internet of Things remains a vision at present, though the Port of Hamburg has already implemented one application: the “Smart Port Logistics” pilot project has created a unified IT platform combined with mobile applications. It will be used in future to obtain traffic information and call up services around the port from mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones. Using the communications facility, real-time traffic data from the HPA’s Port Road Management System allied to parking information will provide truck drivers with up-to-date, personalised notifications of traffic conditions both on-site and in the area around the port. “We at the Port of Hamburg began adopting state-of-the-art IT at a very early stage. The logical next step is our platform integrating all logistics-related data and services,” explains HPA Managing Director Jens Meier.

Containers controlling their own goods

As a further means of optimising logistics supply chains, researchers are working on intelligent shipping containers. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), for example, is developing containers which not only ensure that goods reach their destination intact but also, among other functionality, check that they have been correctly loaded. An integrated sensor network enables the containers to record and respond to events around them. They can trigger an alarm if loaded with the wrong articles for example. They identify their contents by means of RFID tags. Near-field communications enable the containers to communicate with each other and with their surroundings, to execute functions such as autonomously requesting a transport vehicle. To ensure that goods are not damaged in transit, sensors additionally measure relevant parameters inside the container. As a further advantage, by using GPS the transport company always knows where the consignment is, and can provide its customers with a regularly updated delivery status. Communications are handled by the global GSM/UMTS standard, which requires no additional infrastructure to operate.

Smart small-parts containers for -intralogistics

Intelligent containers are also being developed for the intralogistics sector, transporting items around on-site such as in manufacturing industry. In early 2013 Würth Industrie Service launched one such intelligent small-parts container capable of recording fill level, article quantity and order data using an integrated camera and automatically transmitting it by RFID technology to the materials management system. The so-called “iBin” is thus able to monitor stock levels inside the container and trigger a repurchase order in good time.
Würth is now looking to develop the container further in a joint project with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML). Last year the IML presented its own intelligent container: the “inBin”. It is able to autonomously save and process data relating to its load, associated orders, and ambient conditions. Thanks to energy harvesting, the container is autonomous in its energy use. It is also able to locate its own position precisely. Sensors additionally enable it to record ambient conditions and so signal an incorrect ambient temperature for example. InBins not only communicate with each other and organise their own sequencing, they can also communicate directly with human operators via graphical displays or a separate voice module. IML Director Professor Dr. Michael ten Hompel comments: “A few years ago we were dreaming of tagging containers with the kind of computing power used to land a man on the Moon back in 1969. Today we have processors capable of even more: 16- or 32-bit processors with several megahertz clock frequency and hundreds of kilobytes of memory – enough for us to claim to have created a truly intelligent container.”

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President of the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) Professor Dieter Kempf asserts: “Industry is on the verge of massive change. The next industrial revolution will be characterised by widespread interconnection and the role of the Internet.” What he means by that is that information and communications technology will in future be more closely integrated than ever before into automation and manufacturing engineering.

Industry 4.0

In Germany this trend is referred to as “Industry 4.0”. Because academics and business leaders see it as nothing less than a fourth industrial revolution. The original industrial revolution involved mechanisation by water and steam power; the second was marked by the introduction of mass production based on the use of electric power; and the third was the digital revolution, with electronics and computer technology being applied to further automate industrial production.
Industry 4.0 is now all about objects within the factory becoming intelligent. They have barcodes or RFID chips on them, bearing all the data needed for the manufacturing process. Complex products “know” their constituent components, for example, how they need to be assembled and serviced, and what factors are important when replacing them. Integrated sensors supply data on the characteristic properties and states of the various objects. Scanners and computers read the data, transmit it online, and make sure the machines do everything they are supposed to do. In this way the smart objects are able to communicate with each other, creating a cyber-physical system.

Self-controlling production

An industrial Internet of Things is being created which is bringing about a complete reorganisation of the production process: the interconnection of machinery, plant, workpieces and products is creating intelligent manufacturing systems capable of controlling themselves and each other with no manual intervention. As a result, manufacturers are able to produce quickly and flexibly, to an entirely new quality standard, tailored to customers’ requirements. Industry 4.0 will enable manufacturers to manage the production of small lots in real time, delivering maximum quality at low cost. This will enable them to operate profitably on fluctuating markets and respond efficiently to global trends, offer a wide range of variants or make very small production lots, and meet individual customer requirements.
The advance of the Internet of Things is not just a German phenomenon of course: In the USA, for example, one of its embodiments is referred to as “Business IT”, while General Electric has coined the term “Industrial Internet”. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt comments: “The interaction of industrial machines, infrastructure systems and personnel will greatly improve efficiency and profitability. The Industrial Internet is converging the world’s most innovative technologies in order to meet the major challenges we face.”

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The upcoming markets in the world already point to the traffic problems we will face in the future: In the Brazilian mega-city São Paulo, traffic jams in the daily commuting traffic often reach lengths of 160 kilometres and over, the journey to work takes between two and three hours for many drivers. A traffic jam which lasted a gruelling eleven days made history in China in 2010. But these problems are by no means limited to emerging markets. Projections calculate that potential annual losses due to traffic jams soon to be felt in the British economy will amount to 26 billion Euro. But this is just the beginning, as experts expect the number of vehicles worldwide to quadruple from one billion to four billion by the middle of the current century.

The car as a multifunctional sensor

In light of the ever growing traffic volumes, all experts in the sector agree that the future of private transport lies in the mutual electronic linking of all road users. Bill Ford, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Ford Motor Company, outlined his vision for the car of the future at the “Mobile World Congress” in Barcelona at the end of February 2012 as follows: “To help prevent congestion and accidents in the future, we can benefit more and more from cars, which collect data and information with their numerous sensors. I am certain that many of these options will make our everyday lives easier and safer in the foreseeable future, as they are already in development and in many cases are already being tested.”

Vehicles that warn each other

One current research focus area is the so-called Car-to-X communication. In this concept, cars exchange information, for example on the exact position and speed in a vicinity of several hundred metres, and communicate with the infrastructure, such as traffic management systems or traffic lights. This means that drivers can be warned of congestion ahead, for example. In the event of an accident, other vehicles in the surrounding area can be warned at the touch of a button or automatically. Parallel to this, the nearest Rescue Coordination Centre is also provided with the exact coordinates of the accident site via GPS and can implement rescue measures right away. The control centre immediately informs other drivers of the accident via digital radio.

Technology is already suitable for everyday use

The technology required for this has not only already been developed, but is also ready for use in practice: “As part of the simTD research project, the suitability for everyday use was proven in one of the largest field tests on Car-to-X communication in the world,” states project coordinator Dr. Christian Weiß. “The information exchange between vehicles and between vehicles and the traffic infrastructure can contribute significantly to increasing safety, comfort and efficiency on the road,” explains Dr. Weiß, adding: “Vehicles equipped with Car-to-X technology have a much larger ‘field of vision’ than conventional vehicles without Car-to-X systems. The telematic horizon expanded in this way provides enormous added value – both for private customers and for public authorities.”

Sector develops a joint standard

However, this concept relies on the vehicles and infrastructure components of the different manufacturers understanding each other, as Andreas Ostendorf, Vice President for Sustainability, Environment and Safety Technology at Ford of Europe emphasises: “Car makers have developed independent mobility solutions for today’s vehicles, but we will need to change this paradigm and work together to resolve the mobility issues of the future.” In a declaration of intent issued last year, twelve car manufacturers therefore agreed to develop a joint standard for communication between vehicles and between vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure by 2015. “The automobile is just one element of a transportation ecosystem,” added Ostendorf. “We need to optimise the entire system to deliver a customer experience that is safer and more efficient.”

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In the “Life 2.0” survey conducted by Deutsche Telekom back in 2010, one in six decision-makers in the healthcare sector described the Internet of Things as the key trend in information technology. Those views reflect the expectations placed in the wide-ranging possibilities opened up by the Internet of Things against the background of high cost pressures in the healthcare sector.

Smart surgical instruments

Smart objects communicating with each other or with the personnel via RFID chips can optimise hospital processes and cut costs. Some hospitals are already starting to fit mobile medical equipment with wireless modules. They enable the location of instruments to be monitored at all times, for example, as well as providing a quick indication of whether instruments have been routinely sterilised. The Internet of Things offers a means of optimising hospital processes, improving quality of care, and cutting costs.

Health at home

The biggest change in the healthcare sector, however, will be brought about by so-called “telehealth” systems. The Internet of Things will help shorten hospital stays, or even in some cases eliminate the need for in-patient care altogether. In future patients will increasingly record their own medical data, at home, using wearable sensors or easy-to-operate equipment. The data will be sent via mobile communications systems or over the Internet to a healthcare service centre. As soon as any indicator strays outside of its pre-set parameters, the system will trigger an alarm and a doctor will be notified. This means patients can carry on their day-to-day lives within their accustomed environment while still being closely monitored. Medical attention is only needed when an actual health risk arises. Costly hospital beds can thus be freed up more rapidly, or in-patient care avoided altogether. According to a study by market research organisation InMedica, over 300,000 patients worldwide were already being monitored by telehealth systems in 2012. That figure is predicted to reach 1.8 million by 2017.

Independence in old age

The Internet of Things is also enabling so-called Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). AAL relates to systems, products and services linking and optimising new technologies and social surroundings, aimed at improving the quality of life of people of all ages, especially the elderly, and promoting healthy and independent living. Sensor-equipped environments and network-connected smart objects can help remotely detect danger, such as if an elderly person suffers a fall, or identify a fire risk, or provide reminders for patients to take medication. The Internet of Things will thus help people to live free, independent lives, well into old age, while being assured of receiving all the healthcare they need.

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With a total of 6,000 patients, the UK Department of Health has carried out the largest study on the effectiveness of telemedicine in the world to date. The initial results of the study are promising: the study showed that, for chronically ill patients using telemedicine platforms, the mortality rate fell by 45 percent, emergency admissions fells by 20 percent and time spent in hospital was shortened by 14 percent. This study therefore gives a clear signal for modern healthcare systems all over the world that structures should be changed to focus on telemedicine and home healthcare. “There’s no other way to improve the care provided for chronically ill patients outside of hospital, while at the same time getting the costs of the healthcare system under control,” states Jochen Franke, Managing Director of Philips Healthcare Germany.

Relieving the strain on the healthcare system

Caring for chronically ill patients cost the UK healthcare system millions every year. Emergency admissions or stays in hospital are particularly cost-intensive. The initial results of the study indicate that telemedicine could be a way of significantly reducing these costs. It could help relieve the strain on the healthcare system over the long-term, without patients having to compromise on care.
Philips offers the telemedicine platform Motiva, for example, which can be used to monitor chronic illnesses. The system connects the patient with their specialist medical personnel via a network connection on their TV at home. It evaluates the vital parameters, such as weight and blood pressure, recorded using wireless equipment and communicates any potential problems directly to the specialist personnel. This means that patients are given an early warning of changes to their state of health, enabling them to plan the further steps in their treatment with their team of carers directly on the TV.

Measuring electronics made smaller and more efficient

Mobile measurement devices are at the heart of this type of telehealth solution: If the devices are small enough, the patient can carry them around with them if necessary, enabling their vital parameters to be monitored at all times. “From health care to smart buildings, adding sensors to our environment will support and enhance our day-to-day life. Applications are numerous and restricted mainly by our imagination and by the power consumption of the mostly battery-operated sensor devices,” explains Harmke De Groot, Program Director Ultra Low Power Circuits at Holst Centre/imec. The Holst Centre is an independent research centre, which among other things develops technologies for wireless-based autonomous measured value transmitters. The centre was founded by imec from Belgium, one of the leading institutes in the world in the field of nano-electronic research and the Dutch research organisation TNO. “The radio often consumes between 50-85% of the overall power consumption of a sensor system. And for autonomous devices, with only a small battery and thus limited battery energy, the power consumption of commercially available short-range radios is rather high (>15mW DC power).”
Imec and Holst Centre therefore developed an extremely energy-efficient multi-standard wireless solution. With Bluetooth Low Energy, ZigBee and Medical Body Area Networks, it supports the most frequently used wireless standards for mobile sensors around the world. The transmitter is up to five times more energy-efficient than the current Bluetooth Low Energy solutions. This means that the entire measurement device can be made more autonomous or additional functions implemented. This also enables the size of the battery to be reduced, so that the entire device can be made smaller – which leads to a significant increase in comfort in portable systems, for example.

The start of a new movement

These small, portable and easy to use measuring tools for monitoring vital parameters not only form the basis of a “professional healthcare sector” today, but are also at the heart of the so-called “Quantified Self” movement: The common interest of the members lies in recording and using information on health, behaviour, environment and other personal matters with the goal of gaining know-ledge and changing behaviour. A pioneer in this field is the French company Withings. The company develops intelligently linked devices and corresponding user-friendly Apps, which can help the user to improve their health and wellbeing. For example, Withings launched the Smart Body Analyzer on the market at the start of the year, which completely re-invents the bathroom scales: The first set of scales to be connected to the Internet now measures heart rate and the air quality in the room in addition to weight and percentage body fat. Withings also presented the Activity Tracker Withings Pulse last month. It is half the size of a matchbox and measures heart rate, steps and calories, the distance covered, altitude and quality of sleep. Cedric Hutchings, CEO and co-founder of Withings, explains: “The Quantified Self movement lifts the field of healthcare to a new stage of development. The Withings solutions give users control over their own health and help create a more trusting relationship between patients and health experts.”

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The Internet of Things is not the future anymore. The Internet of Things is the present,” asserted Kevin Ashton at the third “Internet of Things Week” in June 2013 in Helsinki. And Ashton should know: he is regarded as the “father” of the Internet of Things. The co-founder and former Executive Director of the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) first used the term “Internet of Things” back in 1999. Ashton envisaged computers capable of acquiring information independently of human control; capable of understanding the real world without human intervention. He believed such networks would reduce outages and deliver huge savings on costs. After all, he thought, human capacities are limited; we have too little time, and we work too imprecisely.

Inanimate objects acquire an identity

Ashton described the Internet of Things as the intelligent interconnection of everyday objects – equipment, machinery and, quite literally, all kinds of “things” – over the Internet based on programmability, memory capacity, sensor technology and communications capabilities. The “things” are able independently to exchange information, initiate actions and mutually control each other. To do so, they are assigned their own identity in the form of a code, in the same way that computers and other networked devices are uniquely identifiable by their IP address. On the Internet of Things, everyday things such as cars, domestic appliances, electricity meters and even items of clothing can communicate with each other and be controlled over the Internet.

Microprocessors plus sensors plus -communications

This network is based on small-scale microprocessors built-in to the various objects which communicate wirelessly. Integrated sensors enable these mini-computers to detect and monitor their environment, process the data they capture, and share it with other objects or the Internet. This makes it possible to create “smart” objects which “know” where they are, what other “things” are close by, and what the ambient conditions are. They are able to capture this data and so record their own history. This means, for example, a pack of meat can store all the data relating to the origin, processing and supply chain of the product, or a freight container can record position, temperature and humidity data and send it to a control centre.

Different areas are being interconnected

At present, the Internet of Things still comprises individual networks developed for specific purposes. The best example is in cars, where the safety functions, engine management and communications systems are interlinked to create sophisticated driver assistance systems which, in some cases, are also capable of autonomous decision-making (such as the emergency braking system). In the building services sector, too, networks are increasingly being created to interlink the management systems for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, telephony, security and lighting, so as to enhance comfort and improve energy efficiency. As the Internet of Things advances, these and many other networks will be interlinked and extended with more safety and security, analytical and management functionality. The Internet of Things will become increasingly powerful and efficient, opening up even more opportunities to enhance the human experience.

A world-changing technology

“The Internet of Things is a world-changing technology like no other,” says Kevin Ashton. “There are immeasurable economic benefits and the world needs economic benefits right now.” Ashton sees the Internet of Things as being the answer to the planet’s population growth, and to the human hunger for more and more things: food, energy, mobility, comfort.

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The volume of data produced worldwide is doubling every two years according to recent estimates. 1.8 zettabytes – or 1.8 trillion bytes – of data were generated last year alone. As everyday objects become more and more interconnected, the Internet of Things will boost that trend still further. This will make the question of how to handle such enormous data flows, and how to make better use of them, increasingly important. Because conventional approaches to information processing are reaching their limits: The volumes of data are overstretching conventional database systems, while at the same time widely differing data formats – videos, text, sensor data etc. – are having to be processed and analysed, in some cases in real time. This is where so-called Big Data solutions can help: They enable large, heterogeneous data sets to be analysed at high speed. “Big Data is more than just lots of data; it is above all a challenge to the scientific and business communities to deliver and interpret the right data, at the right time, in the right context, and derive the right action from it,” stresses Peter Liggesmeyer, Vice President of the German Informatics Society (GI).

A wide range of applications have already been implemented

In fact, Big Data is no longer a futuristic vision; it is already being turned into reality, as highlighted by the recent IBM study “Analytics: The real-world use of big data”. It found that around three quarters of the companies surveyed had already launched, or were planning to launch, Big Data projects. “One in four companies have even already started realising concrete projects,” reports Martina Fiddrich, IBM Director of Sales Midmarket IMT DACH. “Our study also reveals what SMEs hope to gain from Big Data in concrete terms: they want to understand their customers’ needs and behaviour better, and to be able to respond more rapidly to those needs.” But it is not just businesses which can profit from Big Data: In Stockholm, for example, Big Data technology is being deployed to manage the road traffic. Real-time analysis of some 250,000 anonymised items of road user location data together with data from a variety of video and sensor systems has cut individual drive times by as much as 50 percent and reduced emissions by 20 percent. Big Data offers major opportunities in the medical field too: New analytical methods will allow data from thousands of studies and anonymised patient records to be utilised in order to develop personalised therapies with significantly better chances of obtaining cures, such as for cancer patients.

No success without data protection

The Big Data market is still relatively new, but according to a study by the Experton Group global sales in 2011 were already around 3.3 billion Euro. The figure for 2012 is expected to be about a third higher again, at around 4.5 billion Euro. And by 2016 the global Big Data market is forecast to be worth almost 16 billion Euro. “Big Data will be one of the key technologies in mastering the great challenges of the future, such as maintaining a high standard of healthcare and successfully changing the direction of energy policy,” asserts Michael Kleinemeier from the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). But that will only happen if one precondition is met: “In order to utilise the opportunities offered by Big Data, and safely prevent abuse, a new balance must be found with regard to data protection.” Because the more data is available for evaluation, the greater will be the risk of abuse and loss of control. That is why German Consumer Affairs Minister Ilse Aigner is demanding that data protection should be built-in right from the design stage of Big Data applications. She is also keen to help users preserve their rights by providing active informed consent. As she asserts: “That is particularly important where user profiles are created.” Bulk evaluation must only be allowed in relation to effectively anonymised data.” Aigner also wants the EU data protection directive to be rapidly advanced as an instrument for protecting consumers and Internet users, and to place data protection on a high level Europe-wide: “Data protection laws must finally be brought in line with the information age, at a European level.” In doing so, she acknowledges that a balance is needed between innovation and privacy: “In view of the ever more sophisticated data acquisition and analysis technologies available, we need a broad-based public debate about data protection. That is why it is important to lay the foundations for data protection in relation to Big Data now, before it’s too late.”

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