IPSO Alliance Facilitates Rapid Growth of IoT and M2M Markets in 2012, Looks Forward to Continued Success in 2013

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO--(Marketwire - Dec 18, 2012) -  The Internet of Things has arrived! 2012 was the year that infrastructure providers around the globe permanently enabled IPv6, cementing the Internet Protocol as THE enabler of the world's widest range of innovative applications, particularly for smart objects. The IPSO (Internet Protocol for Smart Objects) Alliance has continued to play a leading role in promoting the successful use of IP throughout the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) markets, and looks forward to an even more successful 2013.

In 2012, the IPSO Alliance welcomed 12 new members -- Aiden Oy, Cubic Global Tracking Solutions, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Grundfos Holding, Maxim Integrated Products, Millennial Net, Nokia, Renesas, Toshiba, Turkcell, United Technologies Research Center Ireland (UTRC-I), and WISENET. While these dozen firms represent an array of markets and end users, they share a common belief in the suitability of IP as the key communications foundational building block.

"IP technologies and their related communication standards are one of the key enablers for proliferation of embedded wireless devices. It has become critical for companies like UTC, who provide a comprehensive product portfolio for home and building management, to understand not only the current communication protocols, but also the emerging standards that will be required in the next generation of our products, in order to be at the front-end of the technological transformation. UTRC Ireland is looking forward to being an active member of the IPSO Alliance. This industry-led group is at the forefront of developing tomorrow's IP standards and membership in the organization will help us extend our leadership role in enabling future smart home and building solutions," shared Szymon Fedor of UTRC-I.

IPSO members shared their knowledge on the benefits of IP at dozens of conferences around the world, including Parks Associates' Smart Energy Summit (US); Mocana's Amphion Forum (GER); TIA2012 (US); and the M2M Forum (ITA). IPSO was also featured during the European IoT Week (ITA) in June, the 3^rd ETSI M2M Workshop (FRA) in October, as well as IEEE GLOBECOM 2012 (US) in December. Members spoke on a variety of topics with one central theme -- the benefits of using IP in smart object applications.

IPSO held its first European member meeting in Paris last spring, partnering with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to support interoperability testing of the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), a software protocol which allows very simple devices to communicate interactively over the Internet. The interoperability event was attended by 18 organizations which tested the world's first CoAP client and server implementations from China, the European Union, Japan, and Korea. The group assessed the understanding of the CoAP base specification being developed by the IETF, as well as testing protocol implementation interoperability and conformance.

One of the most compelling aspects of IPSO membership for organizations is the many interoperability tests that IPSO has hosted. "The IPSO interoperability events serve as a valuable venue for members to find ways to converge their technological applications in areas where clearly defined standards for interoperability do not yet exist. These events further demonstrate that an industry-agreed framework and direction will lead to more robust interoperability for the Smart Grid," said Lizardo Hernandez, Group Product Manager from Landis+Gyr.

The Alliance also sponsored IETF's Bits N Bites community network events at IETF 84 (Vancouver) and IETF 85 (Atlanta), where members demonstrated interoperable implementations of 6LoWPAN, IPv6, and CoAP on a wide range of IP-enabled devices including embedded sensors, light bulbs, smart meters, and an entire Lego city. These and other interoperability tests have enabled IPSO to develop a new Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Application Framework, available for download at http://www.ipso-alliance.org/technical-information.

The IPSO Alliance is planning more interoperability events and demonstrations throughout 2013, as well as expanding its webinar and white paper series. During three interoperability events held in 2012, companies including Ericsson, INRIA, Landis+Gyr, Lulea University of Technology, Nivis, NXP, Proto6, Sensinode, Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS), STMicroelectronics, Watteco, and WISENET demonstrated interoperability between various types of IP-enabled devices and products including electric meters, light bulbs, remote controls and motion sensors. Over a dozen companies came together throughout these events to test their implementations of 6LoWPAN, IPv6, CoAP and HTTP to ensure interoperability of these IP-enabled M2M protocol suites that form the basis of the Internet of Things. The IPSO Alliance is planning more interoperability events and demonstrations throughout 2013, as well as expanding its webinar and white paper series. To reach any of our member organizations to discuss their latest innovations, please email marketing@ipso-alliance.org to arrange a meeting.

About the IPSO Alliance

The IPSO Alliance is the primary advocate of IP for Smart Objects for use in energy, consumer, healthcare, and industrial applications. The Alliance, a non-profit entity whose members include leading technology, communications, and energy organizations, promotes the use of the Internet Protocol to serve as the foundation for a network of sensor-enabled physical objects to communicate with each other as seamlessly as individuals do over the Internet.

IPSO Alliance membership is open to any organization supporting an IP-based approach to connecting smart objects. For more information, visit www.ipso-alliance.org or contact Kate Easton at marketing@ipso-alliance.org.