If you are one of those who are sure that humanity will die out the moment refrigerators and cars learn to easily enter into a criminal conspiracy against their owners, then we have two news for you. Bad and good. The bad thing is that, purely technically, there are practically already possibilities for this. Any devices can be equipped with Internet access and trained to transmit data to the network without human intervention. The good news is that thanks to this very interaction between device and device (M2M, that is, Machine-to-Machine, “machine-to-machine”), you and I will be able to live more comfortably, better and safer, and machines still have a lot of good and useful things to do , before they have the time and opportunity to rebel, as the classics of science fiction prophesy to us.
If you are one of those who are sure that humanity will die out the moment refrigerators and cars learn to easily enter into a criminal conspiracy against their owners, then we have two news for you. Bad and good. The bad thing is that, purely technically, there are practically already possibilities for this. Any devices can be equipped with Internet access and trained to transmit data to the network without human intervention. The good news is that thanks to this very interaction between device and device (M2M, that is, Machine-to-Machine, “machine-to-machine”), you and I will be able to live more comfortably, better and safer, and machines still have a lot of good and useful things to do , before they have the time and opportunity to rebel, as the classics of science fiction prophesy to us.
Some M2M capabilities are available today, even in Ukraine. Some interesting cases are used in other countries, but can easily be implemented in our country. Some things, of course, are still at the stage of ideas and ideas, but the future is approaching so quickly that even ideas are just around the corner. We at the editorial office wondered what was already happening in a world where a machine learned to communicate with a machine, and this is what we found out.
1. What is M2M and why should I know about it?
M2M, also known as machine-to-machine communication, also known as M2M telemetry, is defined by the ubiquitous Wikipedia as “a general name for technologies that allow machines to exchange information with each other, or transfer it unilaterally.” At the household level, these can be meters that transmit data on the electricity or water used directly to the organization offering the service, bypassing your running to the staircase or under the bathroom for up-to-date data and specially trained “grandmothers” who check it once in a while so that you do not deceive the housing office. At the societal level, this is the ability to track the movement of buses, an additional whip for a taxi driver so that he does not drive at a speed of 120 km/h around the city, scaring away schoolchildren and dogs, this is up-to-date information about the condition of elevators in residential buildings. At the business level, this is control over the operation of all corporate facilities. At the industry level, this means monitoring and timely correction of production problems. And much more, which we will discuss in more detail later.
2. So this is the “Internet of Things”? Or is the Internet of Things M2M? Or is it all completely different?
Today there are so many terms on the topic of “smart” machines, which are cherished by various vendors and service providers, that sometimes the devil himself breaks his leg as to who has Internet for whom and what is what for.
Let's start with the fact that there are two parallel existing synonymous terms - “Internet of Things” (promoted by Intel) and “comprehensive Internet” (the brainchild of Cisco, which has taken less root in our mass information space). This is such a global concept that covers the world of devices capable of interacting without a person, and the world of equipment (various chips, for example), necessary to implement the possibility of this communication), and technologies, protocols, standards, and communication channels. The “Internet of Things” is Big Data, to which the best minds and businesses of our time are just looking for an approach to extract useful information.
M2M (for ease of understanding and to reduce the length of the text, we will focus on this term) is part of the “Internet of Things” or “comprehensive Internet”. What concerns connected devices and associated applications, ready-made software and hardware solutions, architectures, specific structured data that have a specific owner who analyzes this data.
What comes to my mind is the association with a literary work that has a theme and an idea. The idea is what the author wanted to say, the theme is how he conveyed his thought. By analogy, the “Internet of Things” is about what is connected to the network, M2M is about how it is connected, that is, specific tools.
Something like that
If we get into specific numbers, the “Internet of Things” today unites about 9 billion devices connected to each other in different ways. 6% of these devices use the operator's infrastructure, the rest use other types of connections, for example, microwave, cable, etc.
It is expected that by 2020 the number of devices in the Internet of Things will reach 23 billion. Of these, about 8% will be connected using regular cellular communications and another 11% using the new LPWA standard, which is currently being developed by 27 leading operators world, as well as vendors and manufacturers of chips and equipment for mobile networks. This standard implies the ability to transmit data over long distances and at the same time low power consumption. There is an opinion that its implementation will lead to explosive growth of M2M in particular and the Internet of Things in general.
3. Smart bracelets, watches, refrigerators, smart meters - are they all M2M too? Or is it the “Internet of Things”?
In the consumer segment, in the mass market, M2M is just wearable electronics, medical equipment, large household appliances such as refrigerators, small household appliances, and even non-techniques at all. In connection with the latter, I remember an interesting case with “smart” home water filters that can notify the manufacturer when it’s time to change the cassette. In general, many manufacturers of electronics and household appliances are working in the direction of “smart” appliances. But the very concept of “smart” does not immediately point to M2M. There are devices (and this is most bracelets, for example) that connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and are controlled through an application. This is not M2M. M2M is when a device has its own chip or connection to the Internet in another way to transfer data, and this transfer occurs automatically, without a magical kick from the user.
4. What do mobile operators have to do with it?
M2M appeared long before the mass distribution of data transmission and even before GPRS. But the introduction and distribution of affordable tariffs for mobile Internet via GPRS made it possible to reduce the cost of M2M and expand the scope of application. Today this is a very promising technology.
Previously, for example, a call from a stuck elevator to the control room was also carried out using analog communication.
Many data were generally monitored by people.
Banks had the opportunity to connect their terminals only with a cable. Optical, copper, radio relay. It was all extremely expensive - to build the physical “last mile”, to extend the cable to each ATM. Therefore, they began to look towards alternative solutions. At first, GSM was viewed with caution as a cable replacement due to security issues. But GSM itself is a fairly secure connection, and banks additionally encrypt the connection at all levels. For example, when you pay at a POS terminal with a card and thus send information about your passwords, encryption is carried out at all levels. That is, there is no risk for banks, the same is with GSM communications, and banks have now come to the conclusion that about 60% of ATM connections (in Ukraine) occur through the operator’s card. It's cheaper, faster, and safe.
5. So, ATMs are already so smart that they can order money for themselves over the phone? What else is interesting?
Yes, indeed, Ukrainian (and even more so Western banks) are not so rich as to hire grandmothers with notepads who will check the number of banknotes in ATMs and bring their data to the branches, from where collectors will then be sent. But banks are not the only users of M2M.
There is also a trend in cars to be connected to the network. This does not work in Ukraine yet, even if you bring a car with a SIM card from abroad. But the AT&T operator, for example, allows you to equip your car with a card, distribute Wi-Fi in the car through it, download data on road conditions, plot a route, and download some kind of entertainment content. If an accident occurs, the car immediately sends a signal to the appropriate service without human intervention. The technical components of a modern “advanced” car are also monitored to identify problems using the network. Sensors indicate that it is time, for example, to change the oil or measure the tire pressure. The condition of roads and many other things is taken into account. All this exists and will continue to develop.
The car of the future: the Shvets, the Reaper, and a Wi-Fi hotspot
In Europe, it is generally required by law to equip all cars with an eCall system. ECall is a digital call, a signal that is transmitted by the car where it is needed in the event of an accident.
This allows all services that need to be involved in such a case to quickly respond to the call and save lives. In Russia, the same thing is done using GLONASS. There is nothing like this in Ukraine yet. But such solutions allow the country to have its own huge array of data (Big Data), which can be used to understand which cars, where and when they get into accidents. In addition, it is important for saving lives and ensuring safety on the road, because in emergency situations minutes count.
Another interesting point related to M2M in cars. Large operators such as AT&T, Telefonica have international alliances. Within the framework of these alliances, there is an agreement that there is one global SIM. And this global SIM works in the networks of partner operators as in the native network, without additional roaming costs. This is very important for the motor transport segment, when, for example, a car can be produced in Japan, but in the end it comes to Germany. Or vice versa. Everywhere, this alliance operator card should work so that the user does not have to delve into how to replace it when traveling to another country. There are portals, there are platforms that allow the manufacturer to manage this card and device. And activate it only when it (in the car) has reached, for example, its destination. And change the operator if suddenly for some reason the operator is not suitable. For example, due to communication problems. In this case, this card can switch to the network of another operator simply on the fly.
The next segment is finance. M2M is actively used in payment terminals.
If we talk about Ukraine, then specifically in our market, a surge in the segment of payment terminals occurred in 2013, when the law stipulated the obligation to transfer data on cash transactions to the tax office (by the way, we have interesting material about how government regulation affects the telecom industry in general) online. Owners of those terminals that cannot be physically connected to a wire or Wi-Fi have only one option - connect them using a GSM card. Businesses now need to buy modems for their cash register terminals in order to transfer data. Therefore, this segment instantly increased. Influence at the legislative level was one of the key ones here.
M2M is also used in such an important area for Ukraine as agriculture. If we talk about specific cases, then, for example, one of the Ukrainian agricultural companies purchased a large batch of modern, very expensive tractors. Now it is important for her to ensure that the tractors are used correctly. Since this company is a certified partner, they are allowed to tamper with the tractor's system without voiding the warranty. M2M in this case collects data on the condition of different parts of the tractor. Ukrainian specifics are such that in addition to this, it is necessary to control that fuel is not drained or there are no “wrong” flights.
M2M allows you to monitor instrument readings in real time. Let’s again move a little away from Ukraine for real cases. The Turkcell operator has a Smart Energy service, which is provided jointly with partners. It allows you to monitor electricity consumption at different points.
For example, you have a chain of pharmacies. A special digital meter with a multi-tariff accounting system is installed there. He can calculate expenses at different rates depending on what time certain devices are used. It has a GSM modem with a card. In Turkey, such a meter is placed behind the main meter, since the main one traditionally belongs to the company providing energy services.
Nothing special, just a smart meter
This device monitors consumption. It can compare the performance of different objects on a map and identify if there are strange results in a certain place. For example, consumption at the same point is off the charts, which means we need to figure it out. In fact, for the owner, this does not mean that he installed such a meter and started saving. No. He installed such a counter and began to analyze and collect the history of his consumption.
Then the owner, for example, understands that it is advisable to replace conventional lighting with LED lamps. Or it obliges store employees to turn off the lights when leaving. Or he runs some campaigns, and he has a tool that allows him to measure the results before and after. And he sees that such and such an initiative helped save so much in money, so much in kilowatts. This service has a special web interface, which also displays the weather forecast, where there is a linking of meters to a map, reports and analytics, remote configuration of data collection, alerts and notifications.
In Turkey, where electricity tariffs are high and increase significantly when the reactive energy threshold is exceeded, many small businesses are very careful about their expenses, so the service is popular there.
6. Can I negotiate with the supplier, install a meter, and transfer the data to him online, and pay online, so that I don’t have to run to the meter for readings?
Newly built houses, as a rule, are already equipped with systems that collect data on the energy consumption of each apartment and centrally transfer it to the supplier’s accounting system. There are separate pilot projects in old buildings in Kyiv, but they are not widespread, alas.
7. What is there in Ukraine that is not only for business?
There is an initiative to dispatch elevator facilities. This means that every elevator must be automated and equipped with network access.
Most elevator service companies have long been using a SIM card to communicate with the dispatcher. In addition, communication is needed to transmit data about emergency situations. Before using operator M2M channels, communication with the control room was carried out via cable.
Almost all adjustable traffic lights in Kyiv are connected by cable. This is all very expensive and difficult. Something happens to cables regularly. They either disappear or fail. Therefore GSM looks like a good alternative. However, it all comes down to the banal lack of money for re-equipment of existing systems.
8. In some cities of Ukraine, public transport is equipped with trackers that allow you to monitor its movement. Is this also M2M?
Yes, KievPasTrans transport is equipped with an M2M module for monitoring, so through, for example, the EWAY application you can monitor its movement. It contains GPS sensors and a GSM card. GPS transmits coordinates, and GSM transmits data about these coordinates to the server. Many minibus owners also equip their fleet of vehicles, because they receive real benefits from the ability to control the movement of their own fleet.
9. So ATMs and trolleybuses “eat” my mobile Internet? How much traffic does the ATM generate? Or transport that is being monitored?
As a rule, it depends on where the ATM is installed and how often transactions occur in it. But on average it is 20-50 MB per month. That is, less than a megabyte per day. One packet in a session for transport monitoring weighs on average 2 KB; in the banking sector it is larger, because the ATM generates requests and receives responses, and so on several times in one transaction.
Often, in M2M, 2G is enough to transfer small amounts of data. If the volume of data is significant, for example, video surveillance, then such volumes are transmitted essentially by 3G (which, as we know, is actively being built).
10. Is there anything for health?
Specifically in Ukraine, healthcare is an area where technology is sparse. But in the world of M2M it is already being used in medicine. In particular, to monitor any indicators of the body and transfer data to treating doctors. Although for complete harmony and penetration of M2M into every home, it is still necessary to have a large number of available devices that could take readings accurately at home, while being accessible to patients.
It's no secret that diabetes is one of the global health problems. The number of people infected amounts to hundreds of millions of people; this can already be safely called an epidemic. In figures, in Ukraine there were about one and a half million people suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes in 2013 alone.
Realizing the scale of the problem, the Turkish operator Turkcell launched a pilot project in 2012 at a medical school in Istanbul, which is at the intersection of M2M and medicine. A control group of those patients whom doctors monitored using M2M solutions was selected. Patients with diabetes were offered a glucometer with Bluetooth, patients with blood pressure problems were offered a blood pressure monitor with Bluetooth.
"Smart" set for your grandparents
With big buttons in case some of them have trouble seeing
These devices are connected to a special gateway device in which a SIM card is installed. The gateway supports two accounts, which can be easily switched between, which is convenient for a family of two elderly people.
Patients used Bluetooth-enabled glucose meters for regular measurements at home. After clicking on the Upload button on the gateway, the data was sent via SIM card to the doctor. The doctor, the patient’s relatives, and the patient could also have access to the data via the web interface. An Android application has been launched for advanced users. But for a person who does not understand technology, it was enough to measure blood pressure or sugar and press one button to transmit the data.
The doctor, in turn, knows his patients what values are normal or excessive for them. Moreover, in the data table, abnormal values are highlighted in red. The doctor collects a history of readings, he sees when there is an increase in sugar, if we are talking about patients with diabetes, or pressure, if we are talking about those users who have problems with blood pressure. This makes it easier for the doctor to determine the cause, and the patient does not have to make an extra trip to the clinic. And in critical cases, if there is alarming data from the patient, an ambulance can even go to him.
There is also a special call center that will remind the patient if he did not take measurements on time.
The monitoring system reduces the risk of complications. Prevention is always cheaper than cure.
The product is offered in Turkey both at the state level and to private clinics. Many children are willing to pay for such monitoring for their elderly parents. They buy an annual subscription, which includes equipment, call center support and doctors. This is such a comprehensive solution.
Turkcell’s subsidiary, lifecell, plans to adopt the Turkish experience in the future.
11. Well, okay, what can business in Ukraine get from M2M in our country?
The segment of payment and point-of-sale terminals and security and safety are the two most developing areas of M2M in our country. Then comes vehicle monitoring. Also, using M2M, it is possible to monitor the company’s mobile “objects”, i.e. field employees, couriers.
12. How is monitoring of company facilities carried out?
A company employee has a phone with Android OS and GPS. A special application is installed on it. When a sales representative, merchandiser, supervisor, promoter, or courier goes on a route, he turns on this application. Such an application can be turned on only during the working hours of this employee. The phone is a business one; therefore, the employee must work during working hours and not engage in personal matters.
The employee went outside - the companions had identified themselves. Any deviations from the route are visible in the interface. Whether the person was at this outlet or not, how long he spent there. The advanced package of such an application allows you to assign routes for every day. The user simply turns on the program and sees the completed task for that day. The software also allows you to transfer photos from a specific location. This is useful, for example, for a promoter who records the results of his work for a report, or for a merchandiser who goes around retail outlets. He can immediately take a photo of the layout of the goods through the program and transmit this photo via GPRS to the office. And on site, in the office, its manager immediately has all the information from different points. This service has been operating for a long time with lifecell and is called “Mobile GPS”.
13. Transport monitoring – what, how, why?
Transport monitoring is a service that is aimed both at owners of logistics companies and at taxi or other transport services. The exact capabilities depend not so much on the operator, but on the partner who provides the hardware and software. Yanina Posokhova, lifecell corporate product management expert, talks about one example of the implementation of transport monitoring.
“Today we are working with 10 partners to provide this particular service. We communicate with corporate clients who have their own fleet of vehicles, find out the need for monitoring and present the solution to the client. The client chooses the solution that suits him based on how wide the capabilities of the web interface are, or on what sensors in the car he wants to use, for financial reasons. Some partners have sensors that can be equipped on the entire machine. Some have purely monitoring and speed control. Those. We connect together with a partner. By the way, on our website you can find all the solutions for business clients.
The fleet is equipped with a GPS module for collecting coordinates and a GSM card with a special tariff for transmitting data to the information collection server.
When a car moves in open areas, satellites always see it and transmit data about the route. If the car is in the garage, then the satellites cannot see it. But some of our partners have already found a way out of this situation - using cell ID, that is, using cells that show where the car with a SIM card is located when there is no GPS signal.
The frequency of signal transmission is adjusted at the discretion of the user. Usually it takes 30-60 seconds, then the route is completely visible on the map. You can increase the polling interval to at least 1 hour, but then the route will not look so clearly.
The service owner has enormous opportunities to monitor and manage literally everything. You can outline geofences so that if a car leaves a certain geofence, the service owner will receive a notification about this.
The service allows you to measure the vehicle's speed. The web interface will display all speed violations and emergency braking that occurred.
There are also sensors to control fuel drainage.
M2M software can create route sheets. The car can be tied to the driver and route sheets can be generated. This system allows you to automate and simplify many processes for transport companies.
We, as an operator, have a solution for such companies, a special tariff. Both for use in Ukraine and abroad. It is very expensive to use GPRS when roaming. However, there is a demand from business, since both passenger and freight transport travels abroad from Ukraine. To remove this price barrier, we identified about 20 countries, mainly Europe, plus CIS countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Moldova), where we established a list of operators in whose networks the card is registered and data is transferred. These networks offer preferential rates for GPRS - 10 hryvnia per megabyte. For roaming this is very little money. Therefore, our corporate clients actively use this tariff.
In January, for companies that operate in M2M verticals, we expanded the capabilities of the Self-Service System and launched the “M2M Manager” service for monitoring and managing M2M lines. Now the Corporation Administrator can manage his lines in his Personal Account: both voice and M2M. In the “M2M lines” section, exactly those lines that the client has defined as M2M will be available for management, control and work with data/reports. This means that he himself determines this.
The administrator can change the display of information in the main window of the service to suit his needs. For example, add a device identifier, object position (for example, via SMS ping), a note (comment) on this object (for example, driver’s name, address) and much more.
He can see the details of the line by clicking on its number. Information that was not in the Main Menu is displayed here. The status of roaming services, what is the line balance and the remaining packages, what about access, is there a credit limit, etc.
Upon client request in the M2M service settings, VPN tunnels can be built using a separate access point through which data will be transmitted. An access point for connecting to the Internet, for example, in a smartphone, is standard, everyone uses it. It is open and has a dynamic IP address, which is issued for one session. And clients need to have a dedicated IP address, otherwise they will not be able to find the card on the network. Therefore, separate access points are being built. A customer who already has his own personal access point can remove shared access points that he does not need and add his own access point to his lines. The situation is the same with the IP address. The ability to manage all this yourself significantly saves time for both the client and the operator.
For the owner of a corporation, M2M and regular communication can be either on the same contract or on separate ones. It all depends on the wishes of the owner.
All information from your personal account can be exported and worked with in Excel.”
14. And when you write that we are talking about a “ready-made solution,” what is meant by this “solution”?
“Ready solution” implies a proposal for equipment, software and operator tariff plan. The operator does not undertake to advise and select equipment for the client; in this case, this is the responsibility of the partners. The more functionality, the higher the cost of the solution. The operator, in turn, offers a suitable tariff and provides special SIM cards, and provides the ability to control and manage the cards.
In the case of M2M, these will most likely even be SIM chips - more reliable and practical solutions that are guaranteed to last at least 10 years. Such SIM chips are not inserted into the GSM slot, but soldered. They allow you to minimize the size of the device itself, in addition, they are thermal, dust and moisture resistant. However, there are also thermal SIM cards. They are standard size, like regular SIM cards, but with additional protection. They also do not have authentication counters, which allows you to extend the life of the card.
SIM chip and its device
15. Do M2M SIM cards have anything to do with our 140% mobile penetration in Ukraine? Or are they counted separately?
M2M is included in these numbers; no one counts them separately. Large companies such as Turkcell, VimpelCom, AT&T maintain separate statistics and have a separate report on M2M lines. In Ukraine the scale is not yet the same, so there is no need for this. Still, our country is behind much of the world in terms of technology.
Strong global growth in the M2M space is predicted. We decided to write about this area: what businesses need M2M, who is involved in machine-to-machine interaction in Russia and the world.
M2M (Machine-to-Machine) is the general name for technologies that allow devices to exchange information with each other. These are wired and wireless sensor systems that transmit information from one device to another.
M2M market
There are more than 2 billion “connections” between 200 million devices in the world. It is expected that by 2022 the number of such connections will be 18 billion.
Experts estimate the volume of the global market at $250 billion, and by 2022 they predict up to $1.2 trillion. This growth is associated with the development of cloud computing technologies and the growth of smartphone sales.
According to Deloitte research, smartphone penetration increased 19% year-on-year in 2014 to reach 66%.
Will M2M save mobile operators?
Every year, users buy less and less mobile services from mobile operators (subscription to weather news, etc.). For this reason, some operators are starting to look for alternative sources of income - and are becoming more involved in M2M solutions. Now operators offer not only communication between devices, but also other services - for example, analytics.
Currently, M2M connections account for 3% of the total number of all mobile connections. In the world, 428 mobile operators offer M2M - and this is 40% of all mobile operators.
The key players in the Russian M2M market are mobile operators and the banking sector. Analysts estimated the Russian market at $3 billion at the end of 2013.
The largest M2M market is Asia (42%). Then Europe (28%), North America (18%) and Latin America (8%).
The largest markets by country for M2M are Sweden (23%), Norway (15%), New Zealand (14%) and Finland (11%). Interestingly, the USA is only in 8th place.
Today, M2M solutions are used in logistics, security, consumer electronics, industry, medicine, energy, trade, housing and communal services and many other industries.
Why is M2M needed?
Increasing IT efficiency for business and government.
Public and private organizations can benefit greatly from automated business processes, resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) optimization.
M2M adds new features to your products and services. For example, electronics can be directly linked to security systems or an insurance company to prevent problems in a timely manner.
Allows companies to comply with regulatory requirements.
Sometimes government regulation involves constantly taking readings from instruments. This factor can give a strong impetus to growth for M2M in the next 2-3 years.
Ecology.
Real-time M2M helps optimize processes. For example, in a car park, M2M can reduce the amount of time it takes to find a free space - thereby reducing the amount of vehicle exhaust released into the air.
M2M Leaders
Now the global leaders in the field of M2M are American (AT&T, Sprint, Verizone, etc.) and European (Telenor Connexion, Vodafone, Telstra, etc.) operators.
The formation of the Russian M2M market began in the 2000s - then cellular operators had appropriate tariffs for corporate users.
The first consumers were large fleets that track the location of their vehicles. Then they were joined by customers from the financial sector, using M2M to communicate with cash registers in stores. The market received a big boost in development due to the widespread distribution of payment terminals for services.
In Russia, mobile operators offer their solutions: MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2 and others.
Despite the fact that M2M is directly related to the sphere (IoT), we will consider only horizontal solutions - directly Machine-to-Machine. There are very few such solutions, even those not related to cellular operators, in Russia. You can note the company M2M-Telematics.
Young players are also emerging - for example, the Skolkovo Foundation resident company GO+. Using the platform, you can both deploy existing M2M networks and create new ones based on the provided APIs. The founders of the project report that the system is not tied to a specific type or manufacturer of equipment. The solution is presented for both free and commercial use - All-in-One. Access to the client part of the service is provided through a browser or mobile application.
This year the project became a finalist in the Startup Village competition and won the Intel-Skolkovo Global nomination. The project was also selected as a semi-finalist of the SLUSH 2013 startup competition and presented its project in Helsinki.
One of the founders of GO+, Alexander Grankin, believes that M2M in Russia is primarily necessary for transport infrastructure equipment and modern medical devices.
Will cloud services be able to displace mobile operators?
As for the market prospects, Alexander Grankin admits that for some time the monopoly in M2M will remain with cellular operators.
We decided to ask the experts: do cloud M2M services not associated with cellular operators have the opportunity to displace these same operators?
Leonid Sergeevich Voskov - Professor, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Systems and Networks at MIEM NRU HSE - believes that cloud systems will find their niche along with cellular operators.
He also predicts a problem: more and more electricity will be needed to process volumes of information, so there will not be enough electricity.
Anatoly Levenchuk - President of TechInvestLab - believes that “cloudiness” is not a determining factor in the development of M2M solutions.
He says the future of M2M depends less on new technologies than on government non-intervention.
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Anatoly Levenchuk President of TechInvestLab |
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How do you think M2M can help your business?
The relatively young Machine-to-machine (or M2M) segment in Russian cellular networks is developing rapidly. Transfer of telematic information and remote monitoring, monitoring the location of vehicles and company employees, video surveillance and organization of VPN networks - millions of existing live and potential “iron” subscribers can significantly “warm up” the new market. In addition, along the way, we solved many problems in various areas related to the need for remote control.
The term “telematics” refers to the combination of telecommunications and information technology for the purpose of transmitting information between different devices over a distance. The interaction of devices (machines) using communication technologies is called Machine-to-machine or M2M. The spread of mobile communications in the world and in Russia contributes to the rapid development of M2M services, as it provides an inexpensive and effective way of communication between devices within the coverage area of a cellular network. Today, almost any device equipped with a microprocessor can be connected to the network using a GSM module and exchange data with other devices or an information processing center via GPRS, SMS, CSD channels (Circuit Switched Data - a standard circuit-switched data transmission technology in the GSM network ) or MMS.
M2M in the world and in Russia
Assessing the global M2M market, experts cite the following figures: today there are about 100 million devices in the world that remotely transmit data to information processing centers. According to their estimates, the optimal way to transmit M2M data is through wireless networks. This is due both to the savings on cable laying and to the four times shorter duration of the data transfer session itself between devices in wireless networks (5 seconds) compared to a wire (20 seconds). According to the agencies Future World Consultancy, RSA, Allied Business, Berg Insight and ABI Research, the projected annual growth of the M2M market in the world in 2012 will be 80-120%.
According to MTS estimates, M2M services in Russia and the CIS countries today are at the initial stage of development, and the number of M2M modules in the MTS network in the most developed market of Moscow today is less than 1% of the subscriber base. At the same time, the Russian M2M market is growing rapidly, and, according to the company’s most conservative estimates, the number of users of MTS M2M services in Russia will exceed 3 million in the next five years.
According to MTS Vice President for Commercial Affairs Mikhail Gerchuk, the first step of MTS in the development strategy of M2M services was the launch of the Telematics tariff. According to its terms, within the framework of connecting various GPRS packages (from 5 to 90 MB) with a fixed subscription fee, the cost of 1 MB of traffic will be 2.8 rubles (outside/over the package - 4.75 rubles). The traffic rounding threshold is only 1 kB, which is optimal, given the small volume of each telematics session.
MTS is already implementing a similar project jointly with MOEK (Moscow United Energy Company) in the M2M sector. The project provides for the transfer of secure data on energy consumption within the framework of an automated monitoring system. MTS SIM cards are installed in energy consumption meters, which ensure continuous transmission of information to the server of the Central Energy Accounting System of MOEK. The transmission of information via MTS communication channels occurs almost instantly, so the counting is carried out with the highest possible accuracy. This allows for optimal planning of energy supplies, which means improving energy savings, reducing losses and saving fuel. According to experts, the introduction of an automated system for technical accounting of energy resources can reduce energy consumption by up to 10%.
Other market players are also paying increased attention to the M2M segment. According to Tatyana Zvereva, head of the media relations department at MegaFon, the operator was the first company on the Russian market to release a federal offer designed for this segment.
“Launched in 2006, the “Management of Remote Objects” offer still has a number of unique advantages - non-tariffed roaming within Russia and uniform tariffs for the entire country. We also provide clients who need it with a secure channel that ensures the safety and security of their data. As practice shows, such offers are interesting for banks and companies working with various meters and payment terminals - this is about 1% of companies on the Russian market,” said Tatyana Zvereva.
The “Management of Remote Objects” service is intended for secure wireless access to information about remote objects integrated into technological networks. The service allows you to exchange information with remote objects via GPRS, SMS and CSD channels, including transmitting reports, receiving commands and performing certain operations. In addition, it is possible to create wireless networks for data collection and quickly expand networks by connecting new objects in a minimum time. The subscription fee (you need to purchase a separate SIM card and GPRS modem) ranges from 95 to 480 rubles (15 MB and 150 MB of data, respectively) per month, with traffic rounded up to 2 KB (average amount of data transferred during each session) . In addition, SMS (1 ruble) and CSD voice channels (1.4 rubles/minute) can be used as backup data transmission channels.
Beeline also considers the M2M segment interesting and promising. The operator’s press service notes that the company has been working in this direction for about a year, offering special tariff plans and solutions for this segment. Among the projects already implemented for corporate clients of Beeline, it is worth noting the national tariff plan “Monitoring” using EDGE/GPRS, CSD channels, which allows increasing the efficiency and manageability of the client’s business. It is intended for use in security and logistics systems, ATMs, payment terminals, monitoring systems for housing and communal services and vehicles. The monthly subscription fee of 45 rubles includes 15 MB of GPRS Internet traffic, 15 minutes of outgoing CSD calls (all incoming calls are free). Data packages are rounded up to 10 KB, and in addition to the package, 1 MB of data will cost 3.45 rubles (from 00:00 to 08:00) and 6.45 rubles (from 08:00 to 00:00). In accordance with the tariff plan, an SMS will cost the client 1.45 rubles, and 1 minute of outgoing CSD traffic will cost 1.45 rubles (from 00:00 to 08:00) and 2.45 rubles (from 08:00 to 00: 00).
...plus GPS and positioning
In addition to the actual transmission of telematic information, cellular operators actively provide their networks for determining the location of any objects. To do this, a mobile terminal with a GPS receiver is installed on vehicles, which at certain intervals transmits information to the dispatch center via GPRS/SMS channels of operators.
Thus, MTS, in partnership with Sitronics, is implementing a project for automated monitoring of vehicles using the NIKA service for the Unimilk Company (see news section dated January 19, 2010). Previously, MTS has already implemented similar projects with the Moscow Metro and the Zelenograd Automobile Plant. The latter, thanks to the introduction of such a system, managed to reduce non-production vehicle mileage and fuel and lubricant consumption by 5% and ensure a reduction in costs by 6.1 million rubles per year.
MegaFon offers the Mobile Watch service for the corporate sector, designed to determine the location of any mobile object using a subscriber GPS/GLONASS device with a built-in SIM card. The monthly subscription fee for each terminal is 800 rubles, which includes 5 MB of GPRS/EDGE traffic, as well as 20 outgoing SMS messages. Transferring 1 MB of data (GPRS/EDGE) costs 7 rubles, and SMS costs 1 ruble (both for the home region and for roaming). Receiving free data via voice channel (CSD) in roaming will cost 9 rubles per 1 minute.
Beeline implements the Transport Monitoring service in partnership with the companies M2M Telematics and Nexo-TK.
Head of Corporate Clients Department
M2M Telematics company Marina Boksha
According to the head of the department for working with corporate clients at M2M Telematics, Marina Boksha, the Transport Monitoring program, jointly with Beeline, is suitable for companies with their own fleet of vehicles from various sectors of the economy: transport, construction, housing and communal services, logistics, trade, production of goods and services, finance and medicine. This is a comprehensive solution aimed at increasing the efficiency of motor transport enterprises by solving various problems of managing and monitoring the fleet of vehicles. A wireless connection via the Beeline network (GPRS) provides an affordable way to communicate equipment installed on vehicles with the control center of the enterprise. Clients who have connected to Transport Monitoring have the opportunity to control the costs of data transmission services used in the monitoring system (payment for M2M telematics and communication services is carried out through a single Beeline account).
Keep track of everything and everyone
But you can also remotely control the location of each company employee. For corporate clients, MTS offers the “Mobile Employees” service, where the location of employees and the client’s transport will be determined based on two technologies: MPS (Mobile Positioning System - a system for determining the location of a subscriber based on wireless network resources) and GPS. At the same time, the accuracy of determining the location of a mobile phone within the city (MPS) is 150-500 meters and 2-6 km outside the city, and when using equipment with a GPS function, the accuracy of location increases to 5 meters. The “Mobile Employees” service allows you to receive information about the movements of employees, vehicles or cargo at a specified interval or according to a schedule, generate automatic reports on the movements, completion of tasks by employees, as well as on mileage and fuel consumption of vehicles. The use of the service not only allows for accurate regular remote control, but also creates the possibility of more productive correlation and adjustment of routes. Today, the service is available in more than 130 cities of Russia, it can be activated on the basis of the following special tariffs: “Classic” (limited fixed number of requests per month, as well as the use of additional “packages” of requests) and “Unlimited” (unlimited number of location requests per month).
Meanwhile, from January 25, 2010, MTS plans to launch an updated “Mobile Bodyguard” service (a personal security system that allows, in the event of a threat, to quickly call a mobile police unit or response service using a regular cell phone). To connect to the “Mobile Bodyguard” service, subscribers must fill out a security agreement with a special application, which indicates all the subscriber’s coordinates. When you press one button on the subscriber's cell phone, the telephone number of the monitoring station is automatically dialed. The duty operator, automatically receiving all the data specified when concluding a security contract, immediately sends a private security group to the specified address. This service is available to all mobile phone users connected to the MTS network in Moscow and Moscow Region. The subscription fee is 30 rubles/day, while MTS subscribers connected to this service are provided with a free response team visit no more than once a month (30 calendar days), the second and subsequent visits within one month are provided under additional conditions.
MegaFon is present in this market with the Corporate Navigator service, operating throughout Russia and designed to control the movement of company employees. At any time, their location is shown via a WEB interface on a detailed map on the Internet; in addition, employee coordinates are available via WAP service, SMS and USSD requests. The subscription fee is different and varies depending on the number of requests, the smallest package of 10 requests will cost 45 rubles/month, and the largest package of 1000 requests will cost 2300 rubles. The most interesting additionally paid services here include connecting a notification about entering/exiting a given zone (with an interval of 3 and 8 hours, 5 days), as well as building a route on a website with determining the subscriber’s coordinates.
Beeline implements the Mobile Navigator service together with the GPS company.
VPN and video surveillance
In addition, mobile data services can also be used to organize corporate VPN networks (Virtual Privat Network). The Mobile VPN service from Beeline is intended for building secure virtual networks, both using fixed-line operators (SCS Sovintel (Golden Telecom, now part of Beeline), Orange Business Services (Equant) , "TransTeleCom"), and without them. To use the service, the client needs a laptop or pocket computer with GPRS support. If necessary, terminals, ATMs and other equipment can be connected to the corporate VPN network.
Commercial Director of Sky Link Andrey Tsybakov notes that when organizing VPN channels, the mobile Internet is indispensable. It is needed for switching ATM networks, security systems, when equipping towers in environmental and meteorological monitoring systems, monitoring road conditions and various business tasks.
At the same time, the speed of mobile Internet (for Sky Link this is 3G/EV-DO technology with a data transfer speed of up to 3.1 Mbit/s downlink) allows you to organize online video surveillance systems. Sky Link subscribers in the Moscow region can already use the wireless interactive monitoring and control system CDMA SMART VISION, developed by Videofon. The boxed set includes a Sky Link USB modem and a portable video camera from Videofon (its cost is 11 thousand rubles excluding VAT), and the system can be activated with any operator tariff plan, depending on the volume of traffic. You can connect up to 60 external security alarm sensors for various purposes (motion, smoke, opening, etc.) to it, when triggered (the so-called “alarm event”) the user is notified via SMS or email. Online broadcasting on the Internet can be carried out through a WEB browser in three modes: frame-by-frame, slide show and video.
According to Andrey Tsybakov, video broadcast systems based on 3G Internet “Sky Link” are already used in St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk, Novosibirsk, Ryazan and Omsk. Mainly, they are designed to monitor the road situation in places with the highest concentration of vehicles and maintain public order on the streets. For example, in St. Petersburg, this helped organize round-the-clock video monitoring of the traffic situation on bridges. The operator offers its subscribers in St. Petersburg a set for video surveillance of remote objects “Everything is under control!” Depending on the configuration, it may include 1-4 video cameras with a power supply, an IP video recorder, a C-motech CNU-680PRO router, a set of wires and an R-UIM card. The cost of such a kit, excluding the cost of the modem, is 17.8 thousand rubles. In addition, Sky Link offers another set with an IP video camera that combines analog and digital components in one device, and a C-motech CNU-680 PRO router with support for EV-DO Rev.A for 18,950 rubles. A special “Video Surveillance” tariff plan is also offered, which includes the “Public Static IP Address” service and 250 MB of traffic in the monthly subscription fee of 500 rubles. Over the 1 MB limit it will cost 1 ruble, and outgoing calls within the Sky Link St. Petersburg network will cost 50 kopecks/minute, outgoing local calls will cost 1.35 rubles/minute, and SMS will cost 1.5 rubles.
In general, according to Andrey Tsybakov, mobile Internet has good prospects in the M2M segment. Sky Link sees strong demand from corporate clients, especially in areas with low cable network penetration. In particular, such customers use wireless modems for various telemetry, monitoring and navigation systems.
M2Mnews.ru / 04/19/2015What are M2M technologies?
M2M is an abbreviation for “machine-to-machine”, i.e. "machine-to-machine". M2M technology allows you to combine remote objects and systems to automate business processes. It is with the help M2M technologies our life becomes easier. The scope of application of M2M technologies is very wide. This technology has become so firmly established in our lives that we can no longer imagine a comfortable civilized existence without it. Payment terminals, ATMs, security and control systems, vehicle monitoring and much more. All this works precisely thanks to M2M technologies.
Let's look at the use of M2M in a little more detail using an example. Let's take an ATM. It can automatically transmit information via GSM networks if it has run out of cash or check paper, or, conversely, has accumulated too much cash and requires the arrival of collectors. Or let’s take transport as an example. Using M2M technologies, you can monitor a wide variety of information about a car: coordinates, fuel consumption, speed, temperature characteristics, diagnose engine operation, and more.
Wireless and wired M2M technologies
When we talk about M2M technologies, we primarily mean the wireless method of data transmission. But M2M is also widely used for wired communications. However, first things first.
Usage wireless M2M technologies cheap and technologically advanced. They allow you to avoid spending money on laying cable infrastructure, save time and allow you to minimize human resources. Wireless M2M technologies also help to increase the mobility of working personnel. M2M using wireless communications is widespread at the highest level: border security, government rescue services and law enforcement agencies. Wireless M2M technologies allow for fast response from the communication center. M2M also allows you to monitor mobile objects - for example, the movement of vehicles, the location of goods in a warehouse, and learn about the status of a vending machine. In addition, wireless M2M technologies use sensors to monitor the mechanical stress of high-rise buildings and bridges.
Signal coverage of cellular operators in developed countries is close to 100%, however, given the widespread development of wireless M2M technologies, they will not be left without work. M2M technologies are a very promising market for cellular operators, and its potential capacity is large.
However, one should not think that wired M2M technologies- this is the last century. They not only play an important role, but one cannot do without them, for example, in production, when wireless M2M technologies in the conditions of steel structures and reinforced concrete around simply do not work, due to non-penetration of the signal.
Areas of application of M2M technologies
Let's look at the areas of application of M2M technologies in a little more detail.
M2M technologies for the Internet. This is the most popular area of M2M application today. Almost everyone in their home has a modem that provides Wi-Fi communication.
M2M technologies for cars. Taxi services and transportation companies are buying GPS trackers en masse and installing them on their fleet. This device helps the robotic dispatcher know the exact location and speed of the vehicle. This greatly increases the efficiency of transport.
M2M technologies for the home. Using M2M, you can remotely control the temperature in your home and ensure its safety. Also, using M2M technologies, you can control electrical equipment in your home. All you have to do is send an SMS.
M2M technologies for housing and communal services. Today we record water and electricity meter readings and submit these readings to the relevant organizations. In the future, these readings will be read automatically and remotely. Perhaps the bank will also join this process - funds will be debited automatically.
M2M technologies for health. M2M sensors can monitor a person’s temperature, blood pressure and pulse. You can also find out the location of the patient. All this allows you to take timely measures and send help if necessary.
M2M technologies for automated accounting. Any product in the warehouse has an electronically readable sticker. By scanning the product, you can monitor the movement of goods and stock. Warehouse management using M2M technologies can be fully automated.
M2M technologies for security. After leaving your dacha or your own apartment, you can use a camera to remotely monitor the safety of the premises. When motion is detected, the sensors will immediately send you an SMS or mms with a picture of what is happening.
M2M technologies for vending machines. M2M equipment allows you to remotely control coffee machines, payment terminals, banking machines, protect this vending equipment, and monitor its performance.
The future of M2M technologies in Russia
Experts talk about the rapid growth of M2M technologies in our country. First of all, because the number of industries where M2M is used is growing. And this is greatly facilitated by crisis phenomena in the economy, because M2M technologies help reduce costs.
A pilot project has already been created in Moscow, within the framework of which about 150 thousand apartments in one block are equipped with M2M modules for taking readings from various meters. New medical equipment has emerged that requires remote wireless access. Also, “smart” traffic lights and stops are appearing on the streets of Russian cities. There is also talk of creating entire “smart” cities, the infrastructure of which will be managed by an automated system using M2M technologies, rather than by people. And finally, “cloud technologies”, which are in a global trend today, will also use M2M through web interfaces.
