Subject: [homegate] Smart Metering / M2M

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:40:52 +0200

Hi all,

I want to raise another topic which will be important in the future: Starting with smart metering (at least in the EU), M2M applications will become more common also for end-users. Till now there are no standards available dealing with M2M connectivity, but some activities have started recently (e.g. in the ETSI). Although we might not be able to take them into account for the first draft (since they just began), but we should keep in mind, that there will be some new standards regarding M2M connectivity in the near future (perhaps very near in the EU because of the smart metering regulations that force operators and energy utilities to do something), which might/should be included in the home gateway. If they are not, users would need more than one, which is uncomfortable.

Carolin

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From: Iljitsch van Beijnum <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:22:10 +0200

On 17 jun 2009, at 9:40, <[email-masked]> wrote:

> with smart metering (at least in the EU), M2M applications will  
> become more common also for end-users.
>

Don't know what M2M means...

In the case of smart metering, where a service provider that isn't the  
_internet_ service provider wants connectivity to devices in the home,  
things get interesting.

For instance, what if the utility company wants to borrow some  
capacity on my internet connection for smart metering but I don't have  
one?

I guess this is often/usually solved by installing their own  
connectivity, which would be effective but wasteful. I can envision a  
situation where utility companies etc get to use a little bandwidth  
(at an extra-low traffic class) on through _any_ home gateway that  
they can connect to (over wifi or maybe through IP-over-electricity  
grid) regardless of whether this home gateway belongs to the exact  
same customer as the meter in question. Of course there are some  
authentication/authorization issues here.

One of the issues that I as a home user have is that my internal  
network is kept safe from devices that I have little control over,  
such as utility meters, IP refrigirators and so on, which the utility  
company or refrigiration service provider or what have you, or, more  
likely, anyone who manages to hack into these devices, could use to  
spy on my local traffic.

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From: "Richard Bennett" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:41:57 -0700

I don't think we're anywhere close to being able to write specific BCPs for
smartgrid monitoring and control. Regarding the question of grabbing other
people's bandwidth, you're likely to run afoul of the law in many
jurisdictions if you want to do that. The Homeplug networking folks (LAN
over home power lines) ran into a problem simply trying to coordinate
beacons in neighboring houses because it would have required deliberately
sending an unsolicited message. 

It seems to me that we can draw a bright line between current,
well-understood practices and things that someone might want to do in the
future. This activity needs to have a here-and-now focus.

Richard Bennett

-----Original Message-----
From: Iljitsch van Beijnum [mailto:[email-masked]] 
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 8:22 AM
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [homegate] Smart Metering / M2M

One of the issues that I as a home user have is that my internal  
network is kept safe from devices that I have little control over,  
such as utility meters, IP refrigirators and so on, which the utility  
company or refrigiration service provider or what have you, or, more  
likely, anyone who manages to hack into these devices, could use to  
spy on my local traffic.
_______________________________________________
homegate mailing list
[email-masked]
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/homegate

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From: Sabahattin Gucukoglu <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:24:29 +0100

On 19 Jun 2009, at 16:22, Iljitsch van Beijnum wrote:
> capacity on my internet connection for smart metering but I don't  
> have one?

On a related note, for appliances needed to gain utilities like for  
instance VoIP, a service provider often wants his box between yours  
and your main pipe in order to gain the necessary QoS.  (Presumably,  
there is a case to be made for getting working QoS markings supported  
by homegates.)

I'm not in favour of either needing alternative connectivity for  
utilities, nor particularly of tampering with the network.  I should,  
and consumers should, be able to just plug it in and make it work  
(trademark, patent applied for).

Cheers,
Sabahattin