How to connect your home appliances to the Internet of Things
November 13, 2012
(Credit: Sigfox)
French startup SigFox thinks it can help usher in a second mobile Internet boom by connecting millions of low-power sensors worldwide to the Internet, MIT Technology Review reports.
SigFox is focused on connecting cheap sensors and “dumb” home appliances to the Internet. The goal is to make all kinds of appliances and infrastructure, from power grids to microwave ovens, smarter by letting them share data. The general concept, known as “the Internet of Things,” has been discussed in academic circles for years, but it has yet to come to life.
SigFox builds its networks in the same way as a cellular provider, using a system of connected antennas that each cover a particular area and link back to the operator’s central network. But the antennas use a different radio technology, developed by SigFox, known as ultra narrow band. This technology would not be of much use for streaming video to an iPhone, but it allows devices connecting to the network to consume very little energy, says Thomas Nicholls, chief of business development and Internet of Things evangelism at SigFox, and it allows for very long-range connections.
SigFox claims that a conventional cellular connection consumes 5,000 microwatts, but a two-way SigFox connection uses just 100. The company also says it is close to rolling out a network to the whole of France using just 1,000 antennas. Deployments are beginning in other European countries, and discussions are under way with U.S.-based cellular carriers about teaming up to roll out its technology stateside, says Nicholls.
Further cost savings come from operating the technology on parts of the radio spectrum that are free to use. SigFox expects to offer its service to a connected device for as little as $1 a year.
The features that make SigFox’s network cheap to install and maintain have the downside of limiting the network’s speed. At best, it can currently transfer information at the rate of 100 bits per second,
The smart grid connection
SigFox reports seeing most interest in its technology from companies trying to roll out so-called smart grids, an approach to electricity distribution that uses data from sensors throughout a power network — including in customers’ homes — to help improve efficiency and reliability.
“We have clients that want to connect with water pipes underground, or monitor parking spaces to detect occupancy and power billing — they just can’t do that with GSM,” Nicholls says. A smart parking lot system based on SigFox’s network is coming soon in a “large European country,” he says, and a project in central Africa will use a SigFox network to monitor endangered animals at risk from poachers.
The technology could also find use in home medical devices and gadgets. To save battery life, gadgets don’t keep a Wi-Fi connection active at all times, which can mean waiting a few seconds for a connection to be reestablished before using the device. A device with a SigFox connection could send data instantly, says Nicholls, without any Wi-Fi configuration or network.
Ready to connect unencrypted data from your home appliances to the world?
It’s not clear if SigFox’s connection to the nebulous “Internet of Things” means there might be a connection to the standard Internet (or even if unintended by SigFox).
If so, there are some issues. Researchers at the University of South Carolina have discovered that some types of electricity meters connected via smart grids are broadcasting unencrypted information that, with the right software, would enable eavesdroppers to determine whether you’re at home,” warns Computerworld.
The meters, called AMR (automatic meter reading) in the utility industry, are a first-generation smart meter technology and they are installed in one third of American homes and businesses. They are intended to make it easy for utilities to collect meter readings. Instead of requiring access to your home, workers need simply drive or walk by a house with a handheld terminal and the current meter reading can be received.
There’s also no evidence to suggest that burglars have ever used AMR meters as a way of predicting when a home owner will be present or away, but the research does highlight the potential nefarious uses of electricity consumption data and the need to ensure next-generation platforms are more secure, Computerworld points out — if that’s even possible.
It’s not clear if SigFox has thought this one through. Connecting an electrical utility’s smart grid to the Internet could expand access to hackers and government spooks worldwide, tying into the residents’ social networks, which already provide way too much information that allows clever criminals to piece together where you live and your comings and goings.
The connection could possibly even give terrorists a new tool for taking down a power grid.
Does the word Stuxnet ring a bell?
An aerial view of the neighborhood where University of South Carolina engineers performed eavesdropping experiments. Each blue triangle or red star represents a group of four or five meters mounted in a cluster on an exterior wall. Using an LNA and a 5 dBi omnidirectional antenna, they were able to monitor all meters in the neighborhood. (Credit: Ishtiaq Rouf et al.)
Comments (24)
by PirateRo
With our luck, the next killer app, as it were, will be named Rhonda.
by Editor
oops
by Bri
I really liked the nova clip on RNAi. It looks for unusual patterns of code. I think this security issue is a job for AI. It would be in a control circuit that can’t be accessed from the Internet. It would monitor the Internet instructions end not let them process if they were unusual. An over ride could be available in the house for the owner if they were radically changing the code, but for the most part, the code coming from the Internet would have limited ability to do extreme things. I think fail safes should be able to be built in that wouldn’t allow life threstening code changes.. Any unusual code changes would be red flagged s d alerts sent out to specific response parties, such as the company, home owner, law authorities,etc. Most of these devices should have secondary safety features to begin with invade of power failure. I’m not familiar with the codes for Internet communication, but I think that all transmitions should have origin and route information. If a message doesn’t have it’s origin and routing information it shouldn’t be transmitted. Like the false high frequency traders. It should be identifiable who is perpetrating these actions, and have them punished in relation to their crimes. As I said I don’t understand how the coding works that they can hide their tracks. It should be registered in a secondary fashion that is isolated from Internet access. We allow these scenarios because we allow them to hide. Everybody lives under a false sense of privacy.. To a determined intruder anything you have can be monitored or taken. It’s only going to get worse. Wait till people can have tiny insect like flying devices. They can be in the room watching over your shoulder to see all your access codes. The problem in the long run is that people are immoral.. It’s amazing how many people actively plan these things. With or without the intent to actually commit them. The big question as we near the singularity, is how do we remove this tendency from humanity? How do we foster morality? How do we inspire people to be civil? I favor full transparency, that way everyone can see who is doing what to whom. I favor full freedoms, as long as no harm is happening to another. The issues then become what constitutes harm. Privacy can still be respected with varying levels of law enforcement, but in general everyone has the right to discern who is trying to violate thier rights. If abuses of power happen in upper levels of law, there should be a greater level of punishment. Although I’m very tolerant of what people say, I’m not tolerant of actions. Any activity to cause harm to another should be met with an equal to greater response. There is a police officer in NYC that has committed no crime, but he has made files of potential victim. He wanted to slowly torched and eat alive women. Since he hasn’t actually committed these crimes, he won’t be punished to the full extent, but I think he should be monitored on a twenty-four hour bases and never be allowed to be in a position of power or authority. I’m amazed at the heneous things people will dream up. It’s relatively benign if there is no specific person in mind. Often times, people who dream up this stuff with someone in mind, will actually start planning procedures. Although they haven’t committed a crime, they are prone to abusing others and should be viewed as a threat to society. As we get closer to the singularity these threats will escalate. Soon a person will be able to create a virulent form of a disease like Ebola, in their own kitchen. As nanotech becomes reality a deranged individual can cause even greater damage. Humanity needs to become more human, less barbaric. We need to focus on ethics and morals.
by Peter Kinnon
If we manage to avoid extinction in the course of the up-coming phase transition, Bri, and establish a symbiotic relationship with Netty we will have the benefit of a fully impartial and fair judicial agent to prevent such situations.
She will, of course, expect us to sacrifice all privacy in return.
But “Benign big sister is watching you” should have no Orwellian downside.
by Bri
I like to refer to the AI oversight as VIKKI, from Asimov’s I Robot. I think it’s an extention of Ray’s philosophy, when he say’s that AI will be an extention of us. We have the right principals in our system now. There are codes of conduct for nations and individuals. We have agents of thier enforcement. Police, FBI, etc, for the U S, and UN inspectors for international cases. That is the framework that needs to be expanded. I think general privacy can be maintained. Any of these agencies are authorized to invade privacy in the course of thier activities. All of that has judicial oversight. We as citizens have oversight on these judicial regulation. As AI and free flowing information increase we should be able rid ourselves of the abuses. That is why I favor harsher penalties for breaches of trust. If any nation threatens it’s fellow nations thier should be an international system of equal power and authority. If Iran wishes to have a nuclear program they need to submit to international inspections. They refuse. They are paying the consequences of that refusal now. Unfortunately the UN is a paper tiger. Russia and China have consistently voted against many of these type oversights. As AI takes over the planet I’m hoping that it will be able to alert and restrict abuses. We should have a greater understanding of why these two nations are impeding international law and bring about true enforcement. As these AI system develope Im hopeful that we can reduce the war making capabilities of all nations. Including the US. We actually have the morality in principal. Most of the basis of morality people already agree with. It’s the impartial enforcement that is the issue. I remember when OJ Simpson said that he would not rest till his wives killers would be brought to justices. I agree. He is the most likely suspect and should have no rest till the killers are found. He may have been able to buy his freedom, but everyone knows he did it. The legal systems levels of proof and levels of response need to be altered. All of our legal system needs to be reviewed and the same applied to international law. I think George Bush JR is guilty of War crimes. I think any intelligence officials that emphatically said that Iraq has WMD,s is equally guilty. The system needs greater oversight and transparency. Hans Blick should have been allowed full access to all of Iraq’s territories. They lost those rights of sovriegnry when the declared war on Kuwait. The U S should also be held accountable since no weapons of mass destruction were found. Our ability to sway the UN should be curbed. We need to be more proactive in establishing real international justice. If these principals can be agreed upon then the international community would have oversight of the declaration of war. If a nation hacks into another nations systems and try’s to cause harm, either by stealing information or by denial of service attacks or full out destruction of the infrastructure, that nation or individuals needs to be brought to justice. We need real morality. We need real justice. We need to act.
by Peter Kinnon
So, inevitably, and very predictably, the new non-biological cognitive entity currently in gestation as what we, at present, call the Internet is provided with vastly more multitudinous sensory inputs.
The construction of a “brain” that will soon equal and then surpass that typical of our species has for long been a work in progress. Not as a result of any deliberate human “design” but rather as the result of an autonomous evolutionary process that can be seen to have run its exponential course since humankind acquired the ability to share imagination, a function which we know as language.
Very real evidence indicates the rather imminent implementation of the next, (non-biological) phase of the on-going evolutionary “life” process from what we at present call the Internet.It is effectively evolving by a process of self-assembly. You may have noticed that we are increasingly, in a sense, “enslaved” by our PCs, mobile phones, their apps, and many other trappings of the increasingly cloudy net and its ever-growing insidious peripherals..
We are already largely dependent upon it for our commerce and industry and there is no turning back. What we perceive as a tool is well on its way to becoming an agent.
Consider this:
There are at present an estimated 2 Billion Internet users. There are an estimated 13 Billion neurons in the human brain. On this basis for approximation the Internet is even now only one order of magnitude below the human brain and its growth is exponential.
That is a simplification, of course. For example: Not all users have their own computer. So perhaps we could reduce that, say, tenfold. The number of switching units, transistors, if you wish, contained by all the computers connecting to the Internet and which are more analogous to individual neurons is many orders of magnitude greater than 2 Billion. Then again, this is compensated for to some extent by the fact that neurons do not appear to be binary switching devices but can adopt multiple states.
Without even crunching the numbers, we see that we must take seriously the possibility that even the present Internet may well be comparable to a human brain in processing power.
And, of course, the degree of interconnection and cross-linking of networks within networks is also growing rapidly.The culmination of this exponential growth corresponds to the event that transhumanists inappropriately call “The Singularity” but is more properly regarded as a phase transition of the on-going “life” process.
An evolutionary continuum that can be traced back at least as far as the formation of the chemical elements in stars.
The broad evolutionary model that supports this contention is outlined very informally in “The Goldilocks Effect: What Has Serendipity Ever Done For Us?” , a free download in e-book formats from the “Unusual Perspectives” website
by Gabriel
My gosh, you never fail to advertise that do you? :p
by Peter Kinnon
Hoss, I think it is important that these issues are worthy of due consideration.
Why else do you think that I devote so much of my time in writing of these things and, unlike most authors, make the full content of these books freely available?
And do you really believe this deserves unkind and petty comment?
by Gabriel
Um, “hoss”? Who was your post referring too?
If this is about me, I wouldn’t say my post was unkind and petty — more like it was light-hearted teasing, hence the tongue-emocon (which failed to load properly)….I’m sorry if you interpreted as insulting.
by Peter Kinnon
Whoops, case of mistaken identity. and worse, misinterpretation of your remark. Gabriel.
Light hearted teasing I’m up for.
My apologies to both you and Hoss
Pete
by Hoss
Marketers and retailers will master the potential of the Internet of things wayyy before terrorists and burglars. This will promote purchasing, and we’ll eventually resemble the manic lab mice in the “reward vs electric shock” experiments. Shopping replacement parts and upgrades for our smart appliances will create harmony.
by Thomas Nicholls
First of all thanks for writing about Sigfox. I just wanted to quickly comment on the security aspects.
If you send data over a network, wireless or not, then there’s of course a risk in regards to someone intercepting the data. That goes for Sigfox and any other network solution out there. That being said, Sigfox does provide a good level of security on the network level. It’s definitely not easy to get access to the messages transmitted over the network.
Another important aspect is how our customers decide to format the messages they send over our network. Messages are not necessarily sent in clear text, so if a customer wants an extra level of security they can easily encrypt the messages and ensure that only they know how to extract the actual message contents.
To conclude, we do not recommend sending the nuclear launch codes in clear text over any wireless network. If however you have less sensitive data, then you can easily send it over a network such as Sigfox, and you can add your own security mechanisms to ensure that you and only you know how to interpret the messages.
We are more than happy to answer any questions the readers may have, so don’t hesitate to contact us!
Thanks
Thomas Nicholls
Sigfox – http://www.sigfox.com – @SIGFOX_Network
by Editor
Thanks very much, Thomas. I’ll be sending some following questions. — Amara D. Angelica, Editor, KurzweilAI
by godot
This is the kind of hypothetical BS we always get from people who don’t have a real product yet, and therefore are not yet constrained by reality: “Oh, yeah, it could do this…”
In reality any initial encryption set up so that “the company is the only one who knows how to access the information” will eventually leak out. Then new keys must be distributed in a secure manner. Is all of that built into your 100 microwatts? Wait! I know the answer…”It could be.” Right?
Good luck! The hackers will have a ball with this. I’m already looking forward to freezing everything in your refrigerator and burning out your microwave!
by Thomas Nicholls
Thanks for commenting godot. You’re completely right about the fact that adding extra security measures will have an impact on the payloads and thus on the energy consumption. It’s up to each application to decide on the level of security they will need.
In regards to your comment “This is the kind of hypothetical BS we always get from people who don’t have a real product yet”, our network is actually already in use and we do already have very happy customers using our network for their connected objects.
by Marcos Marin
Like wasted billion dollar budgets and lame simulations of cyber attacks — let alone very REAL attacks on nuclear power plants — were not enough to discourage such a concept…
by melajara
For quite a while I had the idea to compile a set of short stories on “imaginative murders”.
With the internet of things there will be a plethora of new possibilities. We saw one of them a few days ago with the possibility to hack a pacemaker to deliver 500+ volt shocks (see e.g. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232477/Pacemaker_hack_can_deliver_deadly_830_volt_jolt)
Why, o why am I thinking of such devilish applications first?
I think I don’t like the forthcoming all encompassing “internet of things”.
by Editor
Future website: Internet of Stolen Things
Future job: Recovering things stolen on the Internet of Things
Future network: The Internet of 3D Printed Things
by Mr.X
@ Ed:
2025.
Neigh: “Is this my car you are driving, neighbor?”
X: “No.It’s just a printed replica”
Neigh: “What’s my wallet doing there, then!?”
X:”I value accuracy in my replications!See ya!”
The car starts to hover, and finally flies away.
by Mr.X
@Mela:
“We saw one of them a few days ago with the possibility to hack a pacemaker to deliver 500+ volt shocks ”
Well, depending on the kind of “cyborg” we are talking about, we don’t need to hack anything.Just use the right frequency (radio device?) and there you go.
by Gorden Russell
melajara, are you thinking of that Twilight Zone episode where every little machine in the house attacks the man? The one where his electric razor rears up on its cord like a corbra and his MG chases him into the swimming pool?
by Marcos Marin
What about the following scenario:
1st) Covertly dim down the fridge thermostat while everyone is sleeping for a few days until food is almost stale but still imperceptible so, so they wont have time to save it the day you decide to LOCK the whole fridge.
2nd) Also lock all doors and gates, while hooking all phones to the victim pacemaker, so if anyone tries unsuccessfully to call for help, they just hasten the inevitable.
by godot
Good one, Marcos! What’s the most creative hack YOU can think of for this IoE?
by Editor
Flicker the house lights with “Help me Rhonda” code?