TIA’s First Smart Device Communications Specification Lays Foundation for Future Standards on M2M and the Internet of Things

New Standard Establishes Reference Architecture Specifications for Universal Adoption of IP-Enabled Applications Across Vertical Markets

The Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TR-50.1 Smart Device Communications, Requirements and Architecture Engineering Subcommittee released its Smart Device Communications Reference Architecture standard addressing machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies and markets.

The landmark standard, TIA-4940 Smart Device Communications Reference Architecture, addresses common requirements and interoperability of essential intelligent/smart devices across industries.

The specification will work across both wired and wireless transport layers and take advantage of IP-enabled applications covering different types of vertical markets. The standard will help enable M2M communications such as:

• Smart metering for utility networks
• Remote healthcare monitoring for patient services
• Traffic monitoring for intelligent transport systems (ITS)
• Building automation including green, sustainable and carbon-reduction initiatives

Cheryl Blum, TIA Vice-President for Technology and Standards said:

“We are very pleased that the committee developed this M2M Standard quickly with effective collaboration with other international Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) throughout the process”

The standard takes into account: security (e.g., data content, authentication, signaling); end-to-end performance and scalability of equipment and networks; and device management (including discovery and identity).

TIA Associate Vice President for Standards and Technology Herb Congdon gives an overview of the new standard in a video interview on TIA Now.

The subcomittee’s parent committee, TR-50 Smart Device Communications Engineering Committee, has also created a Security Ad-Hoc group to analyze the threats that may be posed by M2M services and to assess how they can be mitigated effectively. The group is being chaired by Mr. Chuck Bokath of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which is working on M2M network and device security.

TIA also hosts the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) M2M Standardization Task Force (MSTF), chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Smith, TR-50 Chair and CTO of Numerex Corp. At the GSC-16 meeting held recently in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the MSTF provided an extensive map of M2M activities in organizations and forums around the world.

View TIA Now tianow.org.