RAIN’s Place In The IoT

What “is” the IoT?

• 1999: Kevin Ashton coined IoT while at P&G– Problem: Tracking lipstick sales– Solution: Use RAIN to wirelessly provide a digital identity for each

lipstick item

• Oxford English dictionary definition– The interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded

in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data

• ISO/IEC JTC 1 definition– A global network infrastructure linking physical and virtual objects

through the use of interoperable data capture and networkingmethods

• NIST Primitives & Elements of IoT Trustworthiness– There is no simple, actionable, universally accepted IoT definition– The IoT is an instantiation of a Network of Things (NoT)– The IoT has it’s ‘things’ tethered to the Internet

Is IoT Really a Hodegepodge?

Characterizing the IoT

• The IoT IS NOT– A single technology or a single thing

– Restricted to powered electronic devices

– Restricted to devices with sensing capabilities

• The IoT REQUIRES– Internet identity for things

– Communication links to the things

– A way to authenticate a thing’s identity

• The IoT SHOULD INCLUDE– Locating the thing

– Allowing the thing to be mobile

– Bidirectional communications with the thing

RAIN has Many IoT Attributes

RAIN Delivers Connectivity to Billions of Things

ApparelPersonal Care

Pharmaceuticals

Logistics

Electronics

Healthcare

Liquor

Fresh Food

Location

RAIN Radios are Complementary to

Other IoT Radios

Connected by

Connected by

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Our Mission Statement is IoT-Like

MissionTo enable businesses and consumers to identify,locate, authenticate, and engage items in oureveryday world

VisionA future where everyday things are part of a connectedworld … like raindrops to the sea

Where is RAIN in the IoT?

RAIN Vision IoT Perception Today

Where is the “Internet” in RAIN?

Current numbering systems

are not Internet-friendly

Current systems are a

Network-of-Things

Where are the Consumers in RAIN?

• RAIN Mission: To enable businesses and consumers toidentify, locate, authenticate, and engage items in oureveryday world

• Consumers have tagged items

• Consumers can have readers

• Will consumers be able to identify, locate, authenticate,and engage things on the Internet?– Only if “things” have a broadly accessible internet identity

MonsoonRF's

RAIN-enabled

light canister

RAIN’s Scorecard

• The IoT REQUIRES– Internet identity for things

– Communication links to the things

– A way to authenticate a thing’s identity

• The IoT SHOULD INCLUDE– Locating the thing

– Allowing the thing to be mobile

– Bidirectional communications with the thing

• Back to NIST…– To be part of the IoT, and not just a NoT, we need to give

RAIN-connected things a digital identity on the Internet

–

RAIN is not Alone

• The IoT REQUIRES– Internet identity for things

– Communication links to the things

– A way to authenticate a thing’s identity

• The IoT SHOULD INCLUDE– Locating the thing

– Allowing the thing to be mobile

– Bidirectional communications with the thing

• Other radio technologies give Internet identityto electronic devices, not all things– The identity is typically the device’s network address

– IP address is notan item identity

Draft IoT-EG White Paper

• Expert Group on the IoT (IoT-EG)– Subgroup on Identification

• Excerpts

– It seems unclear at this stage whether usage will drivedevelopments towards a globally unique scheme or severaldistinct ID spaces with varying degree of interoperability

– Another issue that needs to be taken into account is theconceptual difference between the ID of an object and itsnetwork address (or addresses)

IoT Numbering is an Opportunity!

BackwardsCompatibility

Security

Time-LimitedUniqueness

Interoperability

DataGovernance

Meta-DataAvailability

Discovery

GovernmentRegulations

Partitioning

NetworkIndependence

DataIntegrity

Authentication

ID SpaceHarmonization

UnstructuredData

Privacy

RAIN is Part of the Solution

• RAIN will be at the numbering table– RAIN is identifying the “things”

• RAIN discussed this topic with GS1– RAIN is the technology

– EPCs identify products, a subset of things

– We suggested championing a numbering system for things

• We will have an IoT numbering forum at thenext RAIN meeting in San Jose– Invite a broad range of stakeholders

Let it RAIN!!