Page 28 - Unleashing the potenti al of the Internet of Things

1 Unleashing the potential of the Internet of Things

8.3 Network layer

This consists of the following two types of capabilities:

– Networking capabilities: provide relevant control functions of network connectivity, such
as access and transport resource control functions, mobility management or authentication,
authorization and accounting (AAA).

– Transport capabilities: focus on providing connectivity for the transport of IoT service and
application specific data information, as well as the transport of IoT-related control and
management information.

8.4 Device layer

Device layer capabilities can be logically categorized into two kinds of capabilities:

– Device capabilities:
The device capabilities include but are not limited to:

Direct interaction with the communication network: Devices are able to gather and upload
information directly (i.e., without using gateway capabilities) to the communication
network and can directly receive information (e.g., commands) from the communication
network.
Indirect interaction with the communication network: Devices are able to gather and upload
information to the communication network indirectly, i.e., through gateway capabilities. On
the other side, devices can indirectly receive information (e.g., commands) from the
communication network.
Ad-hoc networking: Devices may be able to construct networks in an ad-hoc manner in
some scenarios which need increased scalability and quick deployment.
Sleeping and waking-up: Device capabilities may support "sleeping" and "waking-up"
mechanisms to save energy.
NOTE – The support in a single device of both capabilities of direct interaction with the communication
network and indirect interaction with the communication network is not mandatory.

– Gateway capabilities:
The gateway capabilities include but are not limited to:

Multiple interfaces support: At the device layer, the gateway capabilities support devices
connected through different kinds of wired or wireless technologies, such as a controller
area network (CAN) bus, ZigBee, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. At the network layer, the gateway
capabilities may communicate through various technologies, such as the public switched
telephone network (PSTN), second generation or third generation (2G or 3G) networks,
long-term evolution networks (LTE), Ethernet or digital subscriber lines (DSL).

Protocol conversion: There are two situations where gateway capabilities are needed. One
situation is when communications at the device layer use different device layer protocols,
e.g., ZigBee technology protocols and Bluetooth technology protocols, the other one is
when communications involving both the device layer and network layer use different
protocols e.g., a ZigBee technology protocol at the device layer and a 3G technology
protocol at the network layer.

14 Rec. ITU-T Y.4000/Y.2060 (06/2012)