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Bluetooth Automation IO, and its place in a cable replacement solution

Bratz, Kasper LU and Krantz, Jakob (2017) EITM01 20171
Department of Electrical and Information Technology
Abstract
Bluetooth Automation IO, and its place in a Cable Replacement Solution:

With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and a desire for connectivity between
even the smallest devices, several low powered wireless technologies are fighting
for a place in the IoT market. The Automation IO profile for Bluetooth Low Energy
was designed to provide a low-level standardized way of exposing digital and
analog inputs/outputs on a Bluetooth enabled device, and to give Bluetooth LE
a chance in the IoT and automation market.
Automation IO is a relatively new profile, and there doesn’t exist a proper evaluation
of its uses or requirements. This thesis intends to bridge that gap by providing
a thorough assessment of the Automation IO profile,... (More)
Bluetooth Automation IO, and its place in a Cable Replacement Solution:

With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and a desire for connectivity between
even the smallest devices, several low powered wireless technologies are fighting
for a place in the IoT market. The Automation IO profile for Bluetooth Low Energy
was designed to provide a low-level standardized way of exposing digital and
analog inputs/outputs on a Bluetooth enabled device, and to give Bluetooth LE
a chance in the IoT and automation market.
Automation IO is a relatively new profile, and there doesn’t exist a proper evaluation
of its uses or requirements. This thesis intends to bridge that gap by providing
a thorough assessment of the Automation IO profile, its practical use cases, how
to integrate it into an actual cable replacement module, as well as investigate its
place in IoT and automation.
To examine whether Automation IO has a spot in IoT and automation, we first
had to evaluate the underlying technologies. We did this by conducting a comparative
investigation of Bluetooth LE compared to other low-powered wireless
technologies. We also evaluated the Automation IO profile by investigating how
to include it in an actual cable replacement module, how it interacts with an existing
solution, as well as what practical use cases exist for the profile. By integrating
an Automation IO Service into an existing cable replacement module, we investigate
the requirements for such a module and provide hardware requirements and
recommendations for how this integration can be accomplished.
The result of this thesis shows that Bluetooth LE is a powerful tool for connectivity
in hardware restricted devices, and compares well with other low-powered wireless
technologies. Bluetooth LE does, however, lack some of the benefits of mesh networking
necessary for an extensive home automation system. The Automation IO
profile is shown to provide a flexible, standardized protocol for exposing I/Os for
most generic I/O modules. Our investigation also shows several benefits of having
this as a standardized profile, rather than having vendor specific custom solutions. (Less)
Popular Abstract
Imagine if there was a way to control and interact with any low-level device wirelessly,
the possibilities would be endless. The Bluetooth Automation IO profile attempts to
do just this. Today you can find Bluetooth almost everywhere; it is in cars, phones,
headsets, portable speakers, etc. Bluetooth has recently made its way into smaller-,
embedded-systems and can now be found in even the smallest devices. Just as you can
play music from your phone to any portable speaker, regardless of its manufacturer,
imagine if there was a way to interact with all of these small devices in a standardized
way. Bluetooth profiles are what allows this fantastic compatibility between devices
and specify how devices communicates to accomplish use... (More)
Imagine if there was a way to control and interact with any low-level device wirelessly,
the possibilities would be endless. The Bluetooth Automation IO profile attempts to
do just this. Today you can find Bluetooth almost everywhere; it is in cars, phones,
headsets, portable speakers, etc. Bluetooth has recently made its way into smaller-,
embedded-systems and can now be found in even the smallest devices. Just as you can
play music from your phone to any portable speaker, regardless of its manufacturer,
imagine if there was a way to interact with all of these small devices in a standardized
way. Bluetooth profiles are what allows this fantastic compatibility between devices
and specify how devices communicates to accomplish use cases, such as streaming
audio between a phone and a speaker. Automation IO is such a profile for low-level
communication between any arbitrary device. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Bratz, Kasper LU and Krantz, Jakob
supervisor
organization
course
EITM01 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
ZigBee, Thread, Bluetooth Low Energy, Automation IO, BLE
report number
LU/LTH-EIT 2017-592
language
English
id
8918758
date added to LUP
2017-06-28 11:29:22
date last changed
2017-06-28 11:29:22
@misc{8918758,
  abstract     = {{Bluetooth Automation IO, and its place in a Cable Replacement Solution:

With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and a desire for connectivity between
even the smallest devices, several low powered wireless technologies are fighting
for a place in the IoT market. The Automation IO profile for Bluetooth Low Energy
was designed to provide a low-level standardized way of exposing digital and
analog inputs/outputs on a Bluetooth enabled device, and to give Bluetooth LE
a chance in the IoT and automation market.
Automation IO is a relatively new profile, and there doesn’t exist a proper evaluation
of its uses or requirements. This thesis intends to bridge that gap by providing
a thorough assessment of the Automation IO profile, its practical use cases, how
to integrate it into an actual cable replacement module, as well as investigate its
place in IoT and automation.
To examine whether Automation IO has a spot in IoT and automation, we first
had to evaluate the underlying technologies. We did this by conducting a comparative
investigation of Bluetooth LE compared to other low-powered wireless
technologies. We also evaluated the Automation IO profile by investigating how
to include it in an actual cable replacement module, how it interacts with an existing
solution, as well as what practical use cases exist for the profile. By integrating
an Automation IO Service into an existing cable replacement module, we investigate
the requirements for such a module and provide hardware requirements and
recommendations for how this integration can be accomplished.
The result of this thesis shows that Bluetooth LE is a powerful tool for connectivity
in hardware restricted devices, and compares well with other low-powered wireless
technologies. Bluetooth LE does, however, lack some of the benefits of mesh networking
necessary for an extensive home automation system. The Automation IO
profile is shown to provide a flexible, standardized protocol for exposing I/Os for
most generic I/O modules. Our investigation also shows several benefits of having
this as a standardized profile, rather than having vendor specific custom solutions.}},
  author       = {{Bratz, Kasper and Krantz, Jakob}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Bluetooth Automation IO, and its place in a cable replacement solution}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}