OSGi Community Event 2015 The IoT Expert Group is the newest Expert Group in the OSGi Alliance, but what exactly is an Expert Group, and what does it do? What does that mean for OSGi as an IoT platform?</p> This talk from the chair of the IoT Expert Group will cover the progress of the IoT Expert Group since its creation in July, what outputs we can expect to see in the future, and also information about how you can get involved with the Expert Group. The OSGi service platform has existed as a modular micro-service runtime for well over a decade, and it was originally created to run on small embedded systems in the home. It turns out that the same model works very well on servers and in the cloud, making OSGi the perfect platform for end-to-end IoT development. In the last twelve months the OSGi Alliance have been on an IoT requirements gathering mission, the result of which has been the new IoT Expert Group. Fresh from their first official meeting in Turin the IoT Expert Group is now ready to start the process of building new standards within the Alliance. If you're interested in getting involved, or just curious about what's going on, then come along to find out more.

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
OSGi Community Event 2015
What’s happening in the IoT Expert Group?
Tim Ward
http://www.paremus.com
info@paremus.com

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
•Chief Technology Officer at Paremus
•7 years developing OSGi specifications
•Chair of the OSGi IoT Expert Group
•Interested in Asynchronous Distributed Systems
•Author of Manning’s Enterprise OSGi in Action
•http://www.manning.com/cummins
Who is Tim Ward?
@TimothyWard

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
OSGi - More than just a module
Framework

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
OSGi and IoT - I thought OSGi was a module framework?
•Yes, OSGi does provide a module framework
•No that is not all that the OSGi Alliance does!
•Certification exams - (there was one on Monday!)
•Additional specifications to offer new features to OSGi applications
•Three “Expert Groups” gather domain specific requirements
•These eventually become OSGi specifications

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi IoT Expert Group
•The IoT Expert group is the newest in the OSGi alliance
•It focusses on requirements that are relevant to IoT applications
•The IoT Expert Group provides a “common ground” for requirements that
straddled the existing Enterprise and Residential Expert Groups
•Existing OSGi specifications and technology will be reused where possible
•New requirements will be incorporated into new specifications/updates

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi standard

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi “standard”
Only the Core specification is a “single unit”
This defines the OSGi framework
Each version isn’t a single standard - there are
multiple specification releases
Core, Compendium, Enteprise, Residential…
OSGi is not a single standard
Work is beginning on the tenth version of OSGi!
The other Specifications contain chapters
Each chapter is an independent specification
This is similar to the way Java EE is specified

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
Writing modular standards
The OSGi standards are produced this way on purpose
OSGi is modular - you should be able to choose only the features you need!
Whilst the standards are all independent, some work naturally together
DS + Config Admin + Http Whiteboard => Simple Web App
Simple Web App + JDBC Service => REST Data Service
OSGi enRoute provides a ready-built platform for web applications
It also serves as an example if you want to create a custom platform!
http://enroute.osgi.org

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
Using modular standards
Another big benefit of keeping the chapters separated is their domain applicability
Some standards (e.g. the JPA service) are relevant to a single domain
Others are useful across many types of system (e.g. Config Admin)
The different specifications therefore share some chapters
The chapter numbering is constant between the releases
Different OSGi specifications therefore have a large amount of overlap
Using “OSGi” gives a common feel across domains

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
What does an Expert Group actually do?

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi specification process
OSGi specifications are written based on need
Everything starts with a requirement!
Related requirements are gathered together,
These are turned into an RFP document
RFP documents are published to GitHub
Publicly readable, but only members may write/update
When ready, RFP documents are put to a vote
Accepted RFPs are eligible for the next phase

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi specification process (2)
Once the RFC is ready then there is another vote!
An accepted RFP will then be turned into an RFC document
An RFC proposes solutions to the RFP requirements
RFCs are discussed and debated (just like RFPs)
Sometimes a number of iterations are needed
to come up with the “right” solution

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi specification process (3)
The specification is only complete once all three pieces are ready!
Then there is a final vote
The RFC document is used to write a specification chapter
The specification chapter is used to produce both
a reference implementation and compliance tests
Typically the authors of these are different
people (usually from different companies)

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The Specification release
Once new chapters are “ready” a new release will be created
Typically releases happen every 18-24 months
The process may seem complicated, but it ensures quality
The “three legged stool” of specification, RI and CT is required
Each of the pieces tests that the others are correct!
Another important factor is that the specification is iteratively improved
Make it as simple as possible but no simpler

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
OSGi and IoT

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
What is IoT?
IoT, or the “Internet of Things” is an industry buzzword
There is no one consistent definition of what it is
Many “IoT companies” still don’t have a complete IoT strategy
In amongst the hype there are two common themes
Internet — devices are connected both at a local and global level
Things — there are real objects interacting with the world
In most cases the “things” are cheap, low-power and relatively dumb
There are also typically lots of them!

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
What is IoT (2)?
Cheap, low power “things” normally can’t use TCP/IP
This makes it hard to connect them to the internet!
IoT systems therefore almost always have an IP enabled gateway
Apple Watch/Fitbit use low-power bluetooth to your mobile phone
Industrial sensors use IEEE 802.15.4 to talk to Ethernet bridges
The gateway is then responsible for filtering/aggregating/forwarding data
Mobile Phone recording fitness data - daily statistics uploaded to the cloud
Industrial gateway raises an alert when a sensor reports overheating

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
Why is OSGi good for IoT?
IoT “things” are usually too constrained to run Java, but most gateways do
OSGi was originally designed to run on residential gateways!
OSGi has also proven to be a great server platform
Having the same platform in the cloud and on the edge reduces impedance
OSGi is dynamic and remotely manageable by design
Edge servers must be easy to update
“Things” may come and go, or move, or break at any time

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
Why is OSGi good for IoT (2)?
OSGi’s dynamic behaviour is vitally important
Well designed OSGi systems will “self-heal” by dynamically re-wiring
OSGi services are a perfect model for the vagaries of “things”
In a server room losing a machine is bad, and a whole rack catastrophic
In IoT losing “a whole rack” is normal!
I take off my watch/leave my house/reboot my router/run out of battery…
OSGi is designed to cope with regular, sustained catastrophic failure
And then to start working again afterwards!

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The IoT Expert Group

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
The OSGi IoT Expert Group
The IoT Expert Group was formally created in July:
Many OSGi member companies are already participating
Regular status/discussion calls have started
The first Face To Face meeting is scheduled for January
Prior to its creation there were a number of OSGi IoT workshops
Requirements gathering for the EG
Based on these requirements there are already several active RFPs

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
RFP 176 — Malicious bundle security
An important aspect of IoT is security
How do I know that the bundle I’m installing is safe
OSGi has permissions and code signing, but what about mistakes?
This RFP is collecting requirements focussing on code quality and safety
Create and publish a collection of security guidelines
Known vulnerabilities to be reported
Framework independent test suites

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
RFP 177 — IoT protocols
IoT devices typically do not use “normal” communications channels
Power or compute constraints require a simpler alternative
This RFP is collecting requirements for communicating with IoT devices
MQTT and CoAP identified as primary targets for inclusion
Map the protocols to OSGi primitives so that protocols can be switched
Modular decoupling of protocol, transport and processing logic

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
RFP ??? — Remote device templates
There are many kinds of IoT device, all of which have different interfaces
Coding a different “access layer” for each device is impractical
It also requires software updates when plugging in a new device
This proposed RFP will collect requirements for self-describing device profiles
Similar to a DS descriptor the device publishes information about itself
This can be used to adapt device interfaces into a common format

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
Getting involved

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
How do I get involved?
•Submitting requirements to an Expert Group can be done by anyone!
•Add your own using OSGi’s public bugzilla - https://osgi.org/bugzilla/
•Follow the Expert Group’s work on GitHub!
•All RFP/RFC work is publicly available - https://github.com/osgi/design
•Participating in an OSGi Expert Group does require membership
•The lowest level membership is enough to contribute to specifications
•Members often participate in multiple Expert Groups

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015
•For more about OSGi...
• Specifications at http://www.osgi.org
• RFPs/RFCs at https://github.com/osgi/design
• Enterprise OSGi in Action
• http://www.manning.com/cummins
•Icons from http://www.toicon.com/
• Sharp Corners series by Shannon Thomas
Questions?
Thanks!
http://www.paremus.com
info@paremus.com
http://www.manning.com/cummins/

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OSGi Community Event - OSGi IoT Expert Group Nov 2015