B&B Electronics’ Bill Conley to address the oneM2M initiative

Moderated by Carl Ford, co-chair of the conference, the Special General Session at 9:00am on Wednesday, August 28 will address oneM2M’s charter – the need for a standardized approach to machine-to-machine connectivity promoting interoperability across vertical industries and networks.

The M2M Evolution Conference will highlight how M2M technologies and the "Internet of Things" can be used to improve business processes, minimize risk, spur innovation, and drive revenue. It will touch on all application areas but will concentrate on those within the supply chain, transportation, energy, and healthcare sectors. Register here.

Launched in July 2012, the oneM2M global partnership is tackling the complexities in today’s service layer. Mr. Conley, a TIA delegate to oneM2M, explained that, as it stands today, carriers provide and manage connectivity, hardware vendors build hardware and get it network ready and certified, and developers and integrators make sure the software works. But looking forward, the range of data streams in M2M combined with the legacy of carrier interfaces points to a need for carriers to provide interoperability and for systems that share information better. The level of complexity in certification and SKU management also needs to be addressed.

oneM2M is working to create service layer optimizations to ensure the functionality and interoperability of M2M. To date, this service layer has been proprietary to each manufacturer’s implementation, so that it is not interoperable with other manufacturers’ equipment. oneM2M’s goal is to enable M2M services to share the same service layer language globally so they can talk to each other – and be interoperable.

During the session, Conley will discuss ideas to simplify the cellular network certification process for M2M devices – the topic he presented at TIA 2012 that prompted his nomination as a TIA delegate to oneM2M. Conley will demonstrate the complexities that device makers encounter while certifying M2M devices, and that users encounter while connecting such devices to carrier networks. He will propose some solutions, including a central, industry-supported M2M certification center that would encourage more collaboration between developers and carriers.

James Brehm, senior strategist, mobility and the unwired experience, for Compass Intelligence, and co-chair of the M2M Evolution Conference , comments: “Mr. Conley has a refreshing, candid view of the M2M industry, and his idea for a centralized, industry-supported carrier certification center is necessary if the M2M industry is to scale to its fullest potential. Conley’s knowledge of the technical, business and process issues and limitations is helpful in the oneM2M initiative.”

oneM2M welcomes device manufacturers, software companies and industry technology leaders to join – anyone who wants to have a voice in how devices will communicate with each other globally. “Being part of a group that gets to influence the path of M2M product development and connectivity is great,” said Conley. “oneM2M has already brought many forward-thinking global standards bodies to the table, to discourage proprietary approaches and fragmented standards from forming.”

Conley started his career in 1987 as an embedded design engineer, specializing in the digital, microcontroller, and microprocessor arenas. He has designed SCADA and telemetry solutions for remote monitoring and control for 25 years, earning several awards including the "Best of Wireless Telemetry" (2002 Sensors Expo). He holds 3 patents in the industrial wireless field.

The charter members of oneM2M include: Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) and the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC) of Japan; the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) of the USA; the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA); the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI); and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) of Korea. oneM2M has also welcomed other Partner organizations, including: the Broadband Forum (BBF), the Continua Health Alliance, the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI), and the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).