Professor

Ryerson University, Toronto,

Canada

Abstract:

Machine to Machine (M2M) communication refers to data communication between smart electronic devices that do not need human supervision or even interaction. Examples of M2M networks include smart utility (electricity, water, and gas) networks; automotive networks for safety and infotainment; networked safety and security systems in residential and commercial buildings; and others. M2M communications are also a crucial enabling technology for the development of the Smart Grids which are currently in development throughout the world.

M2M communications have a huge growth potential: it is estimated that there are about 50 billion machines in the world, out of which around 50 million are connected using wireless technology (2008), with the potential to grow to 187.1 million connections in 2014. Wider acceptance of M2M communications will allow device manufacturers to build and deploy myriads of smart devices that
will comprise the M2M network which will allow service providers to deliver existing services in a more cost-effective manner, to create new revenue streams with novel service offerings, to, and to use innovative charging models (e.g., pay-by-use) for the services rendered. However, further development
and wider acceptance of M2M communication-enabled devices and services has to meet many challenges, in particular those related to communication technologies:

The number of M2M terminals is potentially of the order of billions, yet each terminal must be addressable individually or as a member of a group; advanced addressing mechanisms must be
developed to support this. Large number of devices also implies that the majority of communications will use some wireless technology; furthermore, many of the M2M terminals will operate on battery power, making energy efficiency a priority.

Traffic volume from individual terminals may vary in a range that spans several orders of magnitude: from few bytes once a month to a few kilobytes per second; most of the traffic occurs in
the uplink direction. In addition, most applications require reliable and delay-intolerant data delivery. Messages are typically short and, thus, comparable in size to the overhead imposed by the current communication protocols. Innovative approaches must be sought to support M2M communications by
minimizing signaling overhead and improving bandwidth and energy efficiency.

M2M networks are, and will continue to be, heterogeneous, due to different requirements of corresponding applications and services. Seamless integration and interoperability of heterogeneous wireless networks must be achieved. M2M networks are expected to operate unattended over extended periods of time, and they must be able to dynamically re-configure themselves to make the best use of available resources, including, but not limited to, wireless spectrum. Unattended operation of M2M
terminals implies automated power-up, maintenance and configuration, as well as subscription management by service providers and operators. Unattended operation also means that proper authentication and authorization of all messages must be ensured, and facilities must be put in place detect compromised or misbehaving terminals and isolate them from the network as quickly as possible.

In this talk we will address problems of cellular M2M, capillary M2M, cognitive access for seamless cross-domain operation and security in M2M.

Dr. Jelena Mišić is a Full Professor at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. She received her PhD in 1993 from University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. She has authored and co-authored 2 books, 22 book chapters, 80 journal papers and more than 130 conference papers. Prof. Mišić is currently serving as associate editor in
IEEE Transaction on Vehicular Technology, Computer Networks and Ad Hoc Networks (Elsevier), and Security and Communication Networks (Wiley). She has served as TPC co-chair for many conferences including IEEE Globecom and MASS. She has served as TPC member for more than 100 conferences in the past 6 years.