Iot Or Ubiquitous Computing ■A Sudden Surge of Interest in Iot, Or Ubiquitous Computing Around the Year 2000 in Japan

Japppan’s Perspective on IoT and Ubiquitous Computing International Experience Session. The Internet of Things Europe 2010

Ken Sakamura

Professor, the University of Tokyo

Director/CEO of YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory

Chair, TT--EngineEngine Forum, and uID Center

TRON Project (since 1984)

■“…most machines in our surrounding environment including pieces of furniture will use computers. It is conceivable that 100 computers for a man will exist.” …

● Ken Sakamura: “The Objectives of the TRON Project”, in TRON Project 1987, Springer-Verlag, 1987, pp. 3-16.

Copyright © 2010 by Ken Sakamura 1 Year 2000: IoT or Ubiquitous Computing ■A sudden surge of interest in IoT, or Ubiquitous Computing around the year 2000 in Japan. ■Why? ● New generation of very small passive RFID tags. ━Internet had become popular. ━Small, powerful embedded computer systems used in mobile phones, sensors, etc..

● The expectation of new application area using new devices.

New Generation of Passive RFID Chips

■ RFID technology has been around for a long time.

● But they had been large hardware. ━ Card-like shape. ━ Bulky tag like UHF tag. ■ Hitachi‘s mu-chip tag (2.45 GHz) changed the perception. ━ Small (0 .4mm ×04mm0.4mm) ━ Inexpensive (now 10-20 cents / unit). ■ People began to think really seriously about putting these tag chips to objects like individual goods finally.

■Very s mall amou nt of m em or y. A doz en bytes or so at most.

■The concept of “uID Architecture” using Ubiquitous Communicator.

● Store only the short identifier inside the tag chip.

● The information associated with the ID is stored on remote servers on the network, and is fetched by applications when they need it.

■Is such approach tenable? ● Supporting Technology ━The network : The Internet had become popular. ━The mobile user device: powerful mobile phones had become popular in Japan. We can embed R/W is such a device.

■“UC” for short ■A mobile communication terminal with reader/writer device of RFID tag and networking capability.

uID architecture as General Framework for Many Applications ■Everyyybody circa the y ear 2000 claimed that RID tag chips were too expensive. ■In order to lower the cost, we needed an application architecture that is

● as general as possible

● TbTo be used di in many appli litications. ■This also led to the development of uID architecture as a simple and general architecture applicable to many applications.

uID Architecture: Principle of Operations

■ A Computer Application Framework ■ Major features ● Tag-agnostics : any tags can be used (including barcode, passive RFID tags, etc.) ● Tags carry only an identifier, ucode, a simple number. ● Objects and places are marked with tags for identification. ● Information about objects and places are stored in remote servers, and are fetched from remote servers after “Resolution”. ● Simple ■ A bridge between the real world (tagged objects and places) and the virtual world (information about the objects and locations).

Some Merits of uID Architecture

■ucode, the identifier is 128 bits (only 16 octets). IitbdtthiInexpensive tags can be used store this identifier. ■uID architecture doesn’t impose any meaning to the bit fields of ucode. ucode is a plain number without any meaning. (Non-semantic code) ■It is easy to embed existing legacy product code systems within ucode since there is no a priori meaning to the bit-fields, and 128bits are wide enough.

Copyright © 2010 by Ken Sakamura 6 Ubiquitous Networking: One Assumption behind uID Architecture ■The use of network is mandatory for the resolution process in uID architecture. ■Comment ● In 2010, network access is ubiquitous. 3G, WiFi, Wi-Max, and other broadband network technology.

● Not storing information inside tags, and storing it in the information server has an advantage: less powerful tags can be used, and network security practice to control access to information can be employed.

Open Architecture

■uID Architecture is “Open” ● Technical specifications will be made freely available to the public.

● Technology for social infrastructure should be under the control of the masses.

● It should not be under the control of single or a few parties.

■Thus the “Open Architecture”

Back to the history from 2000

Establishing YRP UNL to Codify Well- understood Application Practices ■People began asking then how and for what the uID architecture can be used ■YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory (UNL for short). ■I serve as the director/CEO since its inception in FY 2001 . ■A laboratory for R&D on Ubiquitous Computing (IoT in other words) with researchers from both industry and academia.

■We set out to codify how uID architecture can be applied to various application issues. ■We eventually found two important classes of applications of uID architecture .

● Applications for Objects

● Applications for Places

Application for Objects

■Ttthdt“Objt”Tags are attached to “Objects”. ● Traceability (Food, Medical Drug, etc.)

● Maintenance

● Inventory Control ■Observ ation: ● In Japan, SCM is shadowed by maintenance and inventory control (in warehouses, and such) in terms of interest shown.

● When the package was made, ● By whom , ● Where, and ● And other info such as before which date the package should be consumed. ■ Application of tags on objects

Examples of Application for Objects

■There a re ma ny feas ib ility study experiments conducted all over Japan. ■We assign ucode to places, and embed ucode tags (passive and active RFID tags, infrared markers,,)p etc.) in places. ■Users obtain location-based (i.e., location- specific) information such as route guidance, public facility help, etc.

uID-based IoT Applications in Japan

■Alreadyyjp a major topic ● CASPIAN formed in 1999. ■Major issues had been already identified and discussed by the time UNL was established. ■We set out to evaluate various issues in the real-world feasibility experiments.

● Also, looked for oversights or unexpected issues in uID architecture framework.

■Public (or government) ilinvolvement tt to identification issues of individuals is mandatory. ■When identification of individuals are beneficial ((punder a watchful public scrutiny!).

● Accident victims who can’t speak for themselves.

● Disaster refugees in the case of earthquakes. Disaster Relief

■Many deployment examples based on uID architecture. ■These are led by ● Private Industry

● Government (regional and national)

● Our Laboratory (YRP UNL) itself.

Concluding Remarks (1)

■Why we designed uID architecture.

● To use low-cost tags with limited amount of memory. ━Optical barcode (such as two-D code can be used.) ■The basic principle of uID architecture ● Network Access Control ━Security and Privacy: With uID architecture, the network security practice is applicable to the protection of data related to objects and places.

■Application of uID architecture in Japan. ● Many feasibility study experiments which paved the way for useful future services in Japan.

● Many government offices (local and national) and commercial entities are interested in using the uID architecture in the future in Japan. ■What about the use of uID architecture in fooegreign cou coutntries?

● What is the governance of uID architecture? ● “Who issues ucodes?” ● “Do we have to get in contact with Japan's uID center each time we need ucodes?”

● Please don’t worry because …

Governance of uID Architecture

■Distributed Governance ● Such an arrangement is necessary and a minimum requirement to satisfy international user needs. ■Our policy: set up regional uID centers and let them handle local issue of ucodes.

● Large ucode subspaces is handed over to these regional uID centers to manage the issuance for the users nearby. ● Issuance to each regional customer doesn't have to be reported back to Japan's uID center. ■We hope to see a uID center in EU region which services users nearby.

■ CASAGRAS-2 (EU FP7) ● YRP UNL is a member and plans to contribute to resolution concept and design. ■ uID Center / Taipei ■ T-Engine Forum China ● a nickname of a government office ● Supported by ━ Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) ━ China Household Electric Appliance Research Institute (CHEARI) ■ Other activies in other places, too. ■ You are welcome to join the activities!

Than k you.

http://www.t-engine.org http://www.uidcenter.org