Unit III- IP Layer
The Business Case for IP
Data flowing from or to “things” is consumed, controlled, or monitored by
data center servers either in the cloud or in locations that may be distributed
or centralized.
Dedicated applications are then run over virtualized or traditional operating
systems or on network edge platforms (for example, fog computing).
These lightweight applications communicate with the data center servers.
Therefore, the system solutions combining various physical and data link
layers call for an architectural approach with a common layer(s) independent
from the lower (connectivity) and/or upper (application) layers.
Internet Protocol (IP) suite started playing a key architectural role in the early
1990s.
IP was not only preferred in the IT markets but also for the OT environment.
A) The Key Advantages of Internet Protocol
Key advantages of the IP suite for the Internet of Things:
1. Open and standards-based: The IETF is an open standards development
organizations (SDOs) that focus on the development of the Internet Protocol
suite and related Internet technologies and protocols.
2. Versatile: No given wired or wireless technology fits all deployment criteria.
Communication technologies evolve at a pace faster than the expected 10-
year to 20-year lifetime of OT solutions. So, the layered IP architecture must
be equipped to cope with any type of physical and data link layers making it
ideal for long-term investment.
3. Ubiquitous: All recent operating system releases, from general-purpose
computers and servers to lightweight embedded systems (TinyOS, Contiki),
have an integrated dual (IPv4 and IPv6) IP stack. IoT application protocols in
many industrial OT solutions have been updated in recent years to run over
IP. IP is the most pervasive protocol as it is supported across the various IoT
solutions and industry verticals.
4. Scalable: IP has been massively deployed and tested for robust scalability.
Millions of private and public IP infrastructure nodes have been operational
, for years, offering strong foundations for those not familiar with IP network
management. IP has scalability is one of its strengths.
5. Manageable and Highly Secure: Adopting IP network management brings
an operational business application to OT. Network and security management
tools can easily leveraged with an IP network layer. There are some
challenges such as securing constrained nodes, handling legacy OT protocols,
and scaling operations.
6. Stable and resilient: IP has a large and well-established knowledge base and
it has been used for past 30 years in critical infrastructures, such as financial
and defense networks. IP has been deployed for critical services, such as
voice and video, which have already transitioned from closed environments to
open IP standards.
7. Consumers’ Market Adoption: IP is common protocol that links IoT in the
consumer space over broadband and mobile wireless infrastructure.
8. The Innovation Factor: IP is the protocol for applications ranging from file
transfer and e-mail to the World Wide Web, e-commerce, social networking,
mobility etc. PC to mobile service and mainframes to cloud service is some
innovation enabled by IP.
The adoption of IP provides a solid foundation for the Internet of Things by
allowing secured and manageable bidirectional data communication
capabilities between all devices in a network.
IP is a standards-based protocol that is ubiquitous, scalable, versatile, and
stable.
Network services such as naming, time distribution, traffic prioritization,
isolation can be leveraged with IP.
From cloud, centralized, or distributed architectures, IP data flow can be
developed and implemented according to business requirements.
B) Adoption or Adaptation of the Internet Protocol
Before IPv4, X.25/X.75 was standardized and promoted by service providers,
while computer manufacturers implemented their own proprietary protocols,
such as SNA, DECnet, IPX, and AppleTalk.
Multiprotocol routers were needed to handle this proliferation of network
, layer protocols.
Adaptation means application layered gateways (ALGs) must be implemented
to ensure the translation between non-IP and IP layers.
Adoption involves replacing all non-IP layers with their IP layer counterparts,
simplifying the deployment model and operations.
Example 1: Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications
are typical examples of vertical market deployments that operate both the IP
adaptation model and the adoption model. SCADA is an automation control
system for remote monitoring and control of equipment. Implementations that
make use of IP adaptation have SCADA devices attached through serial
interfaces to a gateway tunneling or translating the traffic. With the IP
adoption model, SCADA devices are attached via Ethernet to switches and
routers forwarding their IPv4 traffic.
Example 1: ZigBee solution that runs a non-IP stack between devices and a
ZigBee gateway that forwards traffic to an application server. A ZigBee
gateway often acts as a translator between the ZigBee and IP protocol stacks.
Factors for best model suited for last-mile connectivity:
1. Bidirectional versus unidirectional data flow: Bidirectional
communications is common but some last-mile technologies offer
optimization for unidirectional communication. Example: Different
classes of IoT devices, as defined in RFC 7228, the device that
communicate through LPWA technologies, include fire alarms sending alerts
or daily test reports, electrical switches being pushed on or off, and water or
gas meters sending weekly indexes. Here it is not necessarily worth
implementing a full IP stack. Potential drawback in one way
communication is that it is not possible to download new software or
firmware to the devices, which makes bug and security fixes more
difficult.
2. Overhead for last-mile communications paths: IP adoption implies a
layered architecture with a per-packet overhead that varies depending on the
IP version. IPv4 has 20 bytes of header at a minimum, and IPv6 has 40
bytes at the IP network layer. For the IP transport layer, UDP has 8 bytes
of header overhead, while TCP has a minimum of 20 bytes. If the data to
be forwarded by a device is infrequent and only a few bytes, you can
potentially have more header overhead than device data, generally in
LPWA technologies. Decision to be made whether the IP adoption model
is necessary or optimization. Example: Plane traffic control that is run
The Business Case for IP
Data flowing from or to “things” is consumed, controlled, or monitored by
data center servers either in the cloud or in locations that may be distributed
or centralized.
Dedicated applications are then run over virtualized or traditional operating
systems or on network edge platforms (for example, fog computing).
These lightweight applications communicate with the data center servers.
Therefore, the system solutions combining various physical and data link
layers call for an architectural approach with a common layer(s) independent
from the lower (connectivity) and/or upper (application) layers.
Internet Protocol (IP) suite started playing a key architectural role in the early
1990s.
IP was not only preferred in the IT markets but also for the OT environment.
A) The Key Advantages of Internet Protocol
Key advantages of the IP suite for the Internet of Things:
1. Open and standards-based: The IETF is an open standards development
organizations (SDOs) that focus on the development of the Internet Protocol
suite and related Internet technologies and protocols.
2. Versatile: No given wired or wireless technology fits all deployment criteria.
Communication technologies evolve at a pace faster than the expected 10-
year to 20-year lifetime of OT solutions. So, the layered IP architecture must
be equipped to cope with any type of physical and data link layers making it
ideal for long-term investment.
3. Ubiquitous: All recent operating system releases, from general-purpose
computers and servers to lightweight embedded systems (TinyOS, Contiki),
have an integrated dual (IPv4 and IPv6) IP stack. IoT application protocols in
many industrial OT solutions have been updated in recent years to run over
IP. IP is the most pervasive protocol as it is supported across the various IoT
solutions and industry verticals.
4. Scalable: IP has been massively deployed and tested for robust scalability.
Millions of private and public IP infrastructure nodes have been operational
, for years, offering strong foundations for those not familiar with IP network
management. IP has scalability is one of its strengths.
5. Manageable and Highly Secure: Adopting IP network management brings
an operational business application to OT. Network and security management
tools can easily leveraged with an IP network layer. There are some
challenges such as securing constrained nodes, handling legacy OT protocols,
and scaling operations.
6. Stable and resilient: IP has a large and well-established knowledge base and
it has been used for past 30 years in critical infrastructures, such as financial
and defense networks. IP has been deployed for critical services, such as
voice and video, which have already transitioned from closed environments to
open IP standards.
7. Consumers’ Market Adoption: IP is common protocol that links IoT in the
consumer space over broadband and mobile wireless infrastructure.
8. The Innovation Factor: IP is the protocol for applications ranging from file
transfer and e-mail to the World Wide Web, e-commerce, social networking,
mobility etc. PC to mobile service and mainframes to cloud service is some
innovation enabled by IP.
The adoption of IP provides a solid foundation for the Internet of Things by
allowing secured and manageable bidirectional data communication
capabilities between all devices in a network.
IP is a standards-based protocol that is ubiquitous, scalable, versatile, and
stable.
Network services such as naming, time distribution, traffic prioritization,
isolation can be leveraged with IP.
From cloud, centralized, or distributed architectures, IP data flow can be
developed and implemented according to business requirements.
B) Adoption or Adaptation of the Internet Protocol
Before IPv4, X.25/X.75 was standardized and promoted by service providers,
while computer manufacturers implemented their own proprietary protocols,
such as SNA, DECnet, IPX, and AppleTalk.
Multiprotocol routers were needed to handle this proliferation of network
, layer protocols.
Adaptation means application layered gateways (ALGs) must be implemented
to ensure the translation between non-IP and IP layers.
Adoption involves replacing all non-IP layers with their IP layer counterparts,
simplifying the deployment model and operations.
Example 1: Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications
are typical examples of vertical market deployments that operate both the IP
adaptation model and the adoption model. SCADA is an automation control
system for remote monitoring and control of equipment. Implementations that
make use of IP adaptation have SCADA devices attached through serial
interfaces to a gateway tunneling or translating the traffic. With the IP
adoption model, SCADA devices are attached via Ethernet to switches and
routers forwarding their IPv4 traffic.
Example 1: ZigBee solution that runs a non-IP stack between devices and a
ZigBee gateway that forwards traffic to an application server. A ZigBee
gateway often acts as a translator between the ZigBee and IP protocol stacks.
Factors for best model suited for last-mile connectivity:
1. Bidirectional versus unidirectional data flow: Bidirectional
communications is common but some last-mile technologies offer
optimization for unidirectional communication. Example: Different
classes of IoT devices, as defined in RFC 7228, the device that
communicate through LPWA technologies, include fire alarms sending alerts
or daily test reports, electrical switches being pushed on or off, and water or
gas meters sending weekly indexes. Here it is not necessarily worth
implementing a full IP stack. Potential drawback in one way
communication is that it is not possible to download new software or
firmware to the devices, which makes bug and security fixes more
difficult.
2. Overhead for last-mile communications paths: IP adoption implies a
layered architecture with a per-packet overhead that varies depending on the
IP version. IPv4 has 20 bytes of header at a minimum, and IPv6 has 40
bytes at the IP network layer. For the IP transport layer, UDP has 8 bytes
of header overhead, while TCP has a minimum of 20 bytes. If the data to
be forwarded by a device is infrequent and only a few bytes, you can
potentially have more header overhead than device data, generally in
LPWA technologies. Decision to be made whether the IP adoption model
is necessary or optimization. Example: Plane traffic control that is run
