| |March 20147CIOReviewfor local operating networks are being developed all the time.The question becomes, how do we bring all these devices together to capture the same benefits from the IIoT that the Internet of computers created?In many ways, it is the same challenge faced by companies such as Cisco in the 1980s and 1990s: How to bring the installed legacy base together and onto common new technologies.Local Operating Networks to the Industrial Internet of ThingsEchelon began working on the control networks that would become the IIoT 25 years ago, well before there was an Internet. The impetus behind the company's founding was simple: There were Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs), so why were not there Local Operating Networks (LONs) to provide the control plane for all electrically operated devices in homes, commercial buildings, factories, and more?From the beginning, LONs consisted of semiconductors, embedded software, controllers, and management software offering benefits such as simplified wiring, lower cost of installation and operation, the possibility of more flexible configurations, and improved convenience and efficiencies.Because LONs have always operated mission-critical devices, they need different capabilities than computer networks, including:·Reliability. They have to automatically route around failures and keep operating if parts of the network become cut off from the rest.· Scalability. They need to operate in networks of hundreds of thousands and millions of devices.· Ability to self-configure and self-secure.These large-scale networks connect devices and not people, so they have to function without human intervention.· Interoperability. Any device, from any manufacturer, must be able to connect to a network and operate with other devices present.Today, more than 100 million devices are interconnected on LONs created by Echelon, and there are some 1 billion devices connected together into control networks using various languages, or protocols, from many manufacturers. Besides LonWorks, these device-networking technologies include BACnet, KNX, DALI, and many more.The next step in the evolution of device networking is to bring together the variety of protocols that make up the legacy installed base of devices, as well as the emerging language of the IIoT: IPv6. This will be done with emerging multi-protocol, multi-media platforms such as Echelon's own IzoTTM platform, which serve a purpose similar to multiprotocol Internet routers of old: Enable legacy systems to talk to new ones without wholesale replacement of the former.So what does this mean for enterprise IT and facilities executives? First, both need to understand and inventory the existing device networking systems within their enterprises, and understand what technologies are underpinning those systems. Second, these executives must understand the possible IIoT applications that are relevant to their enterprises and prioritize them in terms of business benefit. For example, an operator of restaurant chains may see that the integration of their heating, air conditioning and ventilation system (HVAC) with their next-generation LED lighting system might create better ambiance and customer comfort, and therefore, lead to more revenues. Finally, the IT and facilities executives need to work out a common target architecture that allows for the smooth converging of legacy device networks with the IIoT platform of choice, to ensure the target application can be supported with minimal unnecessary disruption to existing systems and a clear path to the future.The IIoT is the next phase of the Internet. The industry is creating enabling platforms for device networks that bring together the vast installed base and the quickly emerging Industrial Internet of Things. This will jump-start the industry that is so full of potential. To take full advantage of these exciting new developments, IT and facilities executives must get together and create a common plan.The industry is creating enabling platforms for device networks that bring together the vast installed base and the quickly emerging Industrial Internet of Things
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