In the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) there is a clear need for a high level of interoperability between independently developed systems, often from different vendors. Traditional methods of interoperability including protocol gateways and adapters are often used at the network layer. Recent work on application interoperability has emphasized the use of middleware or protocol proxy/gateway. However, middleware tends to move the interoperability problem rather than solving it, and there are scalability issues with increasing the number of proxies, reconfiguration effort, and required bandwidth and processing overheads. This paper proposes a secure, on-demand, and transparent protocol translator for the IIoT. Targeting the challenge of interoperability between Internet protocol-based communication protocols, this paper analyzes current solutions and develops a set of requirements to be met by IoT protocol interoperability. The proposed protocol translator is not a middleware, it is a service-oriented architecture-based participant, it is used on-demand when needed, it does not introduce design time dependencies, it operates transparently, it supports low-latency, and it is secured through the use of Arrowhead authorization and authentication.

IoT Interoperability—On-Demand and Low Latency Transparent Multiprotocol Translator

Using the internet of things in smart energy systems and networks

A distributed algorithm is presented that can be used to solve the single-destination shortest path (SDSP) problem or the all-pairs shortest path (APSP) problem for a class of clustered data networks. The network graph is assumed to be characterized with a balanced hierarchically clustered (BHC) topology. The BHC topology is introduced in this paper and is shown to be a realistic characterization for a large class of interconnected data networks. For certain types of BHC topologies, the SDSP problem can be solved with computation and communication time complexities of O(log n), assuming one processor is available at each of the n number of nodes. Assuming p processors are available at each node, computation and communication time complexities of O((n/p) log n) and O(n log n) are achievable, respectively, for solving the APSP problem. It is also shown that the algorithm converges in an asynchronous environment. >

A fast distributed shortest path algorithm for a class of hierarchically clustered data networks

Major technical issues for interconnecting computer networks that must be solved, which include selection of a protocol level at which to interconnect, addressing, routing, fragmentation, and congestion control, are discussed. Specialized gateway devices used to interconnect networks and implement any necessary internet protocols are examined. Two leading alternatives have been developed by the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Internet community (datagram internet protocol) and by the CCITT (International Telegraphy and Telephony Consultative Committee) for public data networks (concatenation of virtual circuits). The new ISO standards encompass both approaches, but providing interoperability between them is still a problem. >

Network interconnection and gateways

Local area network technology is rapidly evolving to fill the need for shared, distributed resources and data. The use of LANs in factory automation, office automation, and distributed data processing systems reflects the variety of approaches in use today. This real need for different technologies to solve different applications, together with the competitive nature of the systems business, is making the need to communicate among different types of LANs increasingly clear. In addition, local network systems require access to remote resources and information. The solution to the interconnection of different types of local networks, and the connection of local networks to long-haul networks, is the use of high-performance internetworking gateways and bridges. Internetworking enables the development of hybrid networks and offers the best of all technologies. Only with these hybrid network systems can we achieve a truly integrated, multivendor network system. LANs have been developed to solve the problems of interconnecting different types of equipment. LAN technology has been driven by the sometimes conflicting requirements of interfacing to an installed equipment base with many price/performance levels and multiple interface standards. As multiple types of networks have evolved to solve diverse networking problems, so have multiple types of internetworking gateways evolved to solve different internetworking problems. In this article, we will explore architectural issues faced in the design and implementation of Bridge Communications' gateway products. Several examples of internetworking applications are presented to illustrate a few types of gateway services and their specific architectural requirements.

Benhamou

Papers

Multilevel Internetworking Gateways: Architecture and Applications