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Interoperability: Making devices talk to each other. CSE481M: Home Networking Capstone April 13 th , 2011. D evices on an island. Need a language in common if they want to talk to each other. More devices on an island.
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Interoperability: Making devices talk to each other CSE481M: Home Networking Capstone April 13th, 2011
Devices on an island Need a language in common if they want to talk to each other
More devices on an island Standardized languages reduce the number of languages each device needs to know
Designing a language (standard) • A big challenge: making it future proof • New devices and functionality will emerge
How to design a future-proof language? • Define the basics that everyone understands • Implement extension dialects • DLNA, Z-Wave, ZigBee, … • What is the Speakeasy approach?
Can there be one universal language? Has not happened so far …. Unlikely: different concerns and capabilities
Interpretation • Allows devices that speak different languages to talk • Without requiring them to learn new languages
Another dimension of being future proof Being able to talk to devices with new languages
Enabling interpretation in practice • Ship interpreters with the system • Acquire dynamically • From the cloud (as in Windows) • From the device (as in Speakeasy) • Successful model? • Bootstrapping problem • Discovering devices • Establishing some common basis
Systems perspective: The ability to talk is not enough • Restricting communication • Simultaneous (conflicting) talking • Need equivalents of social rules
Implementing communication rules • Closed systems (monolithic) • Easy to implement the first time but difficult to extend • Extensible systems • Need rule specification and enforcement mechanisms
The ugly truths of designing standards • Technical fights • E.g., how many bytes for device type? • Non-technical fights • To give edge to your company • Example: Stories of Cisco filling IETF rooms • Just coz • Example: point vs. comma in ALGOL • => Long drawn out process • Compromises can render the final product unusable • ZigBee Z-Wave
The hard facts of adopting standards • Each company makes a selfish decision • Even if involved in the standardization process • Chicken-and-egg problem • Little first-mover advantage • Testing is hard • Major teething issues • Most never take off