Terminology » IoT » Advantages and Disadvantages of oneM2M

Advantages and Disadvantages of oneM2M

iot m2m protocol security communication

This page explores the advantages and disadvantages of oneM2M, outlining its benefits and drawbacks.

What is oneM2M?

Introduction:

  • oneM2M defines standards for M2M (Machine-to-Machine) and IoT (Internet of Things).
  • It’s supported by equipment vendors and deployed by telecom network operators.
  • It attracts and actively involves M2M-related business organizations, such as those in telematics, transportation, healthcare, industrial automation, utilities, and smart homes.
  • oneM2M prepares, approves, and maintains the necessary set of technical specifications and reports for various applications.
  • oneM2M offers end-to-end M2M services consisting of three layers: the application layer, the common services layer, and the network services layer.
  • Figure 1 depicts the oneM2M architecture, which consists of AE (Application Entity), CSE (Common Services Entity), and NSE (Network Services Entity). Various reference points (Mca, Mcc, Mcn, Mcc’) are shown between these entities for specific purposes.

oneM2M architecture

  • Major features of oneM2M:
    • Device and application registration
    • Data Management
    • Device Management
    • Location Management
    • Group Management
    • Notification system
    • Security
  • It provides a common technical framework and a globally recognized standard. It also addresses key business objectives, as mentioned in the benefits of oneM2M.
  • oneM2M offers a set of standards that provide a horizontal platform architecture. This enables applications to communicate securely through standard APIs to data sources, regardless of the underlying technology.
  • It incorporates common industry IoT protocols such as MQTT, HTTP, and CoAP.

Benefits or Advantages of oneM2M

Following are the benefits of oneM2M:

  • Lower costs (CAPEX): Lower cost of deployment (library of functions), programmers can focus on applications (not on underlying communications), and scale economies of horizontal service layer (common functions for diverse use cases).
  • Lower costs (OPEX): Efficient communications (Policy driven and event triggered), sensor data sharing (Produce once, consume many times), and transport economics (use best transport network for business needs).
  • Reduces fragmentation: A common services layer for different verticals and segments eliminates the need for application-specific platforms.
  • Enables new business opportunities: Service innovation and application opportunities arise from cross-sharing of resources and data across silos.
  • It is interoperable with legacy standards such as M2M, OMA lightweight M2M, AllJoyn, OIC, etc.
  • It uses a web-based architecture (i.e., RESTful). Hence, it can easily discover and access resources (data or devices).

Drawbacks or Disadvantages of oneM2M

Following are the drawbacks of oneM2M:

  • Technological challenges:
    • End-to-end message security
    • Many connections per device
    • Authentication and authorization mechanisms
  • A device cannot make autonomous “judgment calls” on privacy.
    • M2M/IoT may expose information about our lives without our awareness.
    • Privacy = Who can access information about me.
    • CSE needs to determine “Should I allow access?”.
    • Can’t ask a human to make a case-by-case judgment call.
    • CSE needs clear rules.
  • It should handle a large variety of deployments.
  • Any device in any deployment should interoperate.