IoT Services Platform: Functions and Requirements

Abstract

This chapter introduces the IoT Service Platform, which is considered to be the cornerstone of successful IoT solutions. It illustrates that the Service Platform is responsible for many of the most challenging and complex tasks of the solution. It automates the ability to deploy, configure, troubleshoot, secure, manage and monitor IoT entities, ranging from sensors to applications, in terms of firmware installation, patching, debugging and monitoring to name just a few. The Service Platform also provides the necessary functions for data management and analytics, temporary caching, permanent storage, data normalization, policy-based access control and exposure. Given the complexity of the Services Platform in IoT, the chapter groups the core capabilities into 11 main areas: Platform Manager, Discovery & Registration Manager, Communication (Delivery Handling) Manager, Data Management & Repository, Firmware Manager, Topology Management, Group Management, Billing and Accounting Manager, Cloud Service Integration Function / Manager, API Manager and finally Element Manager addressing Configuration Management, Fault Management, Performance Management and Security Management across all IoT entities.

Problems and Exercises

• 1. This chapter categorized the IoT Services Platform into 11 functions. a. Name and define each of the 11 functions. b. List and define the Element Manager functions.

• 2. What are the traditional FCAPS management functions? Do they also apply to IoT? If so, Are they sufficient?

• 3. List six reasons why the overall management functions of IoT solutions are more multifaceted than traditional networks.

• 4. IoT solutions are considered much more complex to manage than traditional networks?

  • A. Why?—List top five factors.

  • B. Why does the Fog layer introduce new changes for IoT?

• 5. This chapter mentioned that not all IoT entities will be IP address enabled.

  • A. Why is that? Provide an example of IoT devices that are not IP addresses enabled.

  • B. How does management system track such devices?

• 6. What is device registration on IoT? Why is it needed?

• 7. List the key responsibilities of the discovery function.

• 8. It was mentioned in Sect. 5.1 that for non-IP addressed enabled sensors, IoT sensors may be tracked by the combined (1) IP address of the gateway and (2) sensor address. Why both addresses do are needed?

• 9. Why IoT device self-registration is preferred over the method where a new IoT device have the capability to be identified during the discovery process?

• 10. The IETF has released NETCONF and YANG which are standards focusing on Configuration management. Name two other older methods that can be used for configuration management? What are their shortcomings?

• 11. Section 5 indicated that Accurate discovery is essential for many management tasks including asset management, network monitoring, network diagnosis and fault analysis, network planning, high availability, and others.

  • A. Provide short definitions of asset management, network monitoring, network diagnosis and fault analysis, network planning, and high availability.

  • B. Why is accurate discovery essential for each of the above functions?

• 12. What are the key differences between Provisioning and Configuration functions? Which one is done first?

• 13. What are key differences between deployment, provisioning, and orchestration?

• 14. What are the most basic two management functions to provide new services?

• 15. Provide an example of Service-Level Diagnostics and Fault Management Function in IoT where all devices are working correctly but the service level parameters are not being meet.

• 16. Why Fault Management is considered by many experts to be most challenging and important management function of IoT-based networks?

• 17. What are the three main functions of Fault Management? Provide detailed description of each term.

• 18. What are the concepts of fault tolerance in IoT networks? Give three examples of failures that should be handled by fault tolerance function in IoT-based networks.

• 19. Fault tolerance is not just a property of individual IoT element; it may also impact the IoT communication protocol. For example, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) was design as reliable two-way communication protocol, even in the presence of failed or overloaded communications links. How is this achieved in TCP?

• 20. There are special software and instrumentation packages designed to detect failures. A good example is a fault masking system. How does Fault Masking system detect failure?

• 21. What is Diagnostic Signature? Where it used?

• 22. In priority order, what are the top three IoT management functions that a service provider needs to provide to provide very basic services? Justify your answer.

• 23. Why Fault Management is considered to be very challenging in IoT network? That is, what are the main differences between managing IoT network and a traditional network?

• 24. Why IoT management is considered to be most challenging and complex task of the solution?

• 25. Section 7.2 indicated the need for a complete configuration backups with rollback capabilities as a key requirement for the IoT Platform Manager. What is configuration rollback? Why is it needed? Provide an example?

• 26. What are the definitions of Sensitivity and Dynamic Range? What are the typical units of Sensitivity and Dynamic Range?

• 27. What is Hysteresis? What is a typical unit of Hysteresis?

• 28. What is a firmware? What does it do? Why is it called so?

• 29. Why firmware Images are loaded into ROM and not the device storage?

• 30. How come Firmware Management was not part of the tradition FCAPS?

• 31. Data may be retrieved from various IoT sources including IoT devices and network elements (e.g., sensors, gateways, switches), IoT subscribers and IoT applications. IoT device and network element data is assumed to be collected by collection systems or by collection agents.

  • A. What are the key differences between a collection system and a collection agent?

  • B. What is IoT subscriber data? How is the data collected?

  • C. What is an IoT application data? How is the application data collected?

• 32. In a table list three subscription and notification requirements along with examples of a subscriber and notification message.