California, July 8, 2014: Almost every passing day sees the birth of new alliances around the nascent field of the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, a new consortium, the Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) was launched with the backing of technology industry leaders like Atmel Corporation, Broadcom Corporation, Dell, Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Wind River.
The OIC, according to a press release, shall focus on improving interoperability and defining the connectivity requirements for the billions of devices that will make up the IoT. It will look at defining a common communications framework based on industry standard technologies to wirelessly connect and intelligently manage the flow of information among personal computing and emerging IoT devices, regardless of form factor, operating system or service provider.
The Internet Of All Things has already reported on similar alliances formed earlier. One such, the AllSeen Alliance a brainchild of the Linux Foundation, was setup in the middle of December last year. The AllSeen Alliance is the 11th Linux Foundation Collaborative Project.
Then, in March this year, another front, the Industrial Internet Consortium, was set up. The Consortium is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the IoT — a term for a connected network of sensors and devices. It aims to “break down the barriers of technology silos to support better access to big data with improved integration of the physical and digital worlds to unlock business value.”
Now, there’s the OIC. In this alliance, member companies will contribute software and engineering resources to the development of a protocol specification, open source implementation, and a certification program, all with a view of accelerating the development of the IoT. The OIC specification will encompass a range of connectivity solutions, utilising existing and emerging wireless standards and will be designed to be compatible with a variety of operating systems.
Leaders from a broad range of industry vertical segments – from smart home and office solutions to automotive and more – will participate in the program.
The first OIC open source code will target the specific requirements of smart home and office solutions, stated the press release. For example, the specifications could make it simple to remotely control and receive notifications from smart home appliances or enterprise devices using securely provisioned smartphones, Tablets or PCs. Possible consumer solutions include the ability to remotely control household systems to save money and conserve energy. In the enterprise, employees and visiting suppliers might securely collaborate while interacting with screens and other devices in a meeting room. Specifications for additional IoT opportunities including automotive, healthcare and industrial are expected to follow.
Additional member companies including other leading appliance and device manufacturers, service and solution providers, chipset manufacturers and more are expected to join OIC in the coming months.
Image Credit: OIC
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