Reliable mobile data connection when it matters
- 01 Nov 2018
- Roy Church – GCF Steering Group Chair (Samsung Electronics)
GCF and TTA recently announced the establishment of a global certification solution for oneM2M. This addition of oneM2M certification to the portfolio is in-line with its strategy of expanding from the “telco” sector to the “smart connectivity” space, enabling certification of products and solutions in a wide range of industry verticals.
But why does oneM2m certification make sense for GCF and what does it mean for the industry? We review this new development in order to answer these questions.
The M2M market is growing rapidly with some forecasts predicting that wireless M2M will account for almost one billion of the 10 billion mobile connections in use by 2020. Access to low cost electronics has made it relatively easy to embed connectivity into a wide variety of devices and manufacturers are developing a multitude of task-specific M2M systems. This is typical of an emerging market, but robust standards are required to underpin sustainable market growth. Standards ensure scalability, interoperability and security, whilst reducing duplication of hardware and customised software. In addition, M2M systems integrate telecoms, IT and consumer electronics along with software applications, challenging standards bodies who must deal with converging technologies and different industries.
Conceived in 2012, in anticipation of the need for global standards governing M2M systems, oneM2M released its first standard in 2015. Since then it has become the leading global standardisation body for M2M and the IoT, with over 200 partners and members, including global standards bodies and companies from the IT, telecoms and other sectors. TTA Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) of Korea is a key partner of oneM2M, having been chosen as its global testing and certification organisation to help drive the certification of its standards. This recent announcement by TTA and GCF is in line with TTA’s mission to expand oneM2M certification services through collaboration with overseas testing institutes.
Wireless technologies and M2M systems are inextricably linked and Interoperability of M2M devices with each other and with world class networks at both the application and radio layer is critical.
Based on its lengthy collaboration with 3GPP, GCF is extremely well placed to provide M2M certification. GCF’s global eco-system includes most of the world’s key players from the mobile industry, including device manufacturers, operators and representatives from the test industry. GCF will leverage this eco-system along with its well proven processes for developing certification requirements to produce oneM2M certification specifications.
This development underlines GCF’s intent to expand its horizons from the “telco” space to the “smart connectivity” space, enabling certification of products and solutions in a wide swathe of industry verticals. GCF’s strategy for 5G will now continue to build on the work of both 3GPP and oneM2M in order to provide an effective and efficient certification scheme supporting the commercial roll-out of 5G devices and services worldwide.
GCF oneM2M Certification will be key to ensuring proper functionality and compliance with industry standards for fast, efficient, and secure M2M solutions.
Manufacturers of M2M devices will now have a simplified interface for all certification requirements for their devices. GCF certification will not only ensure seamless connectivity and interoperability with back end networks, it will also cover standardised technologies like oneM2M globally, allowing for safe and secure transactions
With M2M and IoT connectivity predicted to grow exponentially and 5G on the horizon, this collaboration between GCF and TTA is critical to the management of M2M services.