Designing Delay-tolerant Data Services for the Network of Things
1. Designing Delay-Tolerant Data Services for the
Network of ThingsDaniel Austin
Interstellar Travel, Inc.
daniel@thestarsmydestination.com
1st Annual Big Data Innovation Summit
April 09 2014 Silicon Valley, California
2. Big Ideas for Today’s Talk
The Internet of Things is Coming
Delay-Tolerant Networking for the
NoT
Big Data is Key to Networking
Millions of Small Devices
Adoption will be Driven by
Evolution of the Social Issues
Networks of
Things
Big Data
Delay-Tolerant
Networks
3. “If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things –
using data they gathered without any help from us – we would be able to track
and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know
when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling…”
-Kevin Ashton, 1989
The Network of Things
4. A Day in the Connected Life
…”a system where
the Internet is
connected to the
physical world via
ubiquitous
sensors…”
5. Characteristics of the Network of Things
• Many small messages
• Intermittent transmission
• Connectionless
• Stateless
• No guaranteed delivery
• Lazy/No Acknowledgements
• Mesh architectures based on proximity
• Mixed/variable security
6. Service Types for the Network of Things
• Proximity
– Identity
– Authorization/Eligibility
– History
– Personalization
• Location
• Companions/Presence
• Service Discovery
• Ordering/Billing/Payments
7. WPAN (NoT) Protocols
• IEEE 802.15.4 was designed for wireless PANS
– ZigBee and other protocols
• 6LowPAN (RFC 6282) describes how to route IPv6 over
802.15.4 networks
• Problems with IPv6 & NoT
– IPv6 requires minimum MTU of 1280 bytes
• Far too large for IoT messages
• Overhead for addressing ~ 40 bytes of IPv6 + 20 bytes for TCP
– IP designed for bulk data transport
• Congestion is not an issue for the NoT!
8. Bluetooth Low Energy vs 6LowPAN
BLE
• Range = 100m
• Security = 128-bit AES
• MSG SZ = 128 octets
• BLE 4.0 protocol
• Clean separation of BLE
protocol stack from TCP/IP
6LowPAN
• Range = 20m
• Security = 128-bit AES
• MSG SZ = 127 octets
• IPv6 over 802.15
• Mixed protocol stack
9. Delay-Tolerant Networking
• TCP/IP Assumptions:
– End-to-End connection
– Short, fixed delays
– Symmetric data rates
– Low error rates
– Some knowledge of existing network
• DTNs originated at NASA for interplanetary communications
(RFC 4838 & 5050)
– Applies to all intermittently connected scenarios, including the NoT
13. Big Data and the Network of Things
• Many Small Devices = Big Data
• Consistency, Availability, and (network) Partition take on new
meanings in the NoT
– DTNs weaken CAP assumptions
– Consistency can’t easily be checked
• Big Data, NoT, and Security
– Not based on encryption
– Anonymity through disaggregation
14. Are You a Big Data Problem?
• Each person will generate roughly 20 petabytes of data over
the course of a lifetime
– Users have little control over collection and storage
– Email, documents, receipts, bills (!), your car, music, books…
• Pervasive computing multiplies the problem
– Majority of data valueless out of context
– Security & Privacy concerns
• Networks of Things instead of ‘Internet of Things’
– Security by data partition
15. Ubiquitous/Anonymous Peering Patterns
• Peer-to-peer
• Low levels of security
• Resilient to network
partitions
• Proximity based – no identity
• Good for service discovery
Peer 1
Peer 2
Peer3
Peer 4
16. Client/Server Patterns
• Clients transmits to one server
• Higher Security
• Requires server asymmetry
• Can offer additional services
– History
– Personalization
– Identity
Privacy
Controller
Client 1
Client 2
Client 3
17. Design Rules for Data Services
• Security & Privacy First!!
• Delay tolerance required
• Idempotent/stateless
• Messages vs. Request/Response
• Anticipate Maximum Mesh
• Batched/Bundled vs. Event-Driven
18. Big Takeaways
• IoT <-> DTNs <-> Big Data
– pervasive = invasive ?
– Evolution of Big Data Depends on the IoT
• Delay-tolerance for mobile networks
– Realistic assumptions
– CAP theorem, store-and-forward consistency
– Online/offline distinction is blurring
• Only expect partial adoption, based on loose aggregations
– ‘Networks of Things’ vs. ‘Internet of Things’
Big Data
Network
of Things
Delay-
Tolerant
Networking
19. By 2020 everyone, everything and everywhere will be connected in
real time. More than 50 billion connected devices will be used in the
Networked Society.
Source: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/networked_society
20. Designing Delay-Tolerant Data Services for the
Network of ThingsDaniel Austin
Interstellar Travel, Inc.
daniel@thestarsmydestination.com
1st Annual Big Data Innovation Summit
April 09 2014 Silicon Valley, California
Thank You!
Editor's Notes
Security, Privacy, Reliability, Resilience
Notice I didn’t say ‘connecting’
I’ve borrowed this infographic from Libelium because I could not have done it better myself. Thanks to Libelium!