Transforming IoT Device Management In the Connected World With User Services Platform (USP/TR-369) Solutions
Recent weeks have seen the release of two new additions to the Axiros AXACT range of embedded solutions. Joining the ranks are the AXACT USP (User Services Platform) and AXACT DUAL. Together with the Axiros AXACT TR-069 client, widely regarded as the gold standard agent for telecommunications customer premise equipment (CPE), AXACT USP and AXACT DUAL are transformative. They impact how devices can be managed, and how devices can enable a multitude of operations which supercharge administrative functions and build new applications.
In a time of already impressive technological advances in a connected world, USP brings equal benefit both to service providers and manufacturers. Our approach to the advanced endpoint service architecture creates a seamless bridge between the present and the future, embedded agents and standards-based controllers, and enables the safest environment for investment in advanced technology in the modern era.
USP, also known as TR-369, is the result of years of research and development under the auspices of the Broadband Forum. As with most great technologies, the technical report (TR) resulting in the creation of USP solves a number of technology limitations brought by the exponential growth of connected – and managed - devices. Happily, the hype surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) has subsided as a result of universal fatigue and general acceptance of the term describing the inevitable level of commercial and personal connectivity.
The proof, after all, surrounds us. Thermostats, smoke detectors, keyless entry pads and refrigerators are collecting and transmitting a lot of data. In business, industry and government, the level of connectivity is developing into a web of system interdependence, security, and – it could be argued – vulnerability. A measure of privacy and data security is indeed the subject of compromise. It is understood, for example, one must entrust certain data for a security system or a communication device to function as intended. The ability of connected equipment manufacturers and service providers offering interactive solutions to produce cost effective, yet secure enough products requires heavy investment in all facets of the solution. Internet modems, gaming devices, home security consoles and biohazard sensors in a government facility all share the same challenges in the connected world of 2019.
The investment made in USP by Axiros and the Broadband Forum provides the standards-based technology to create the safest connected environments to date. The implications are global, and the impact will be measured in billions – devices and fiat currency units. USP is a worldwide technology event.
Axiros has not been alone in our strident advocacy of standards-based innovation. Indeed, we have been in good company. We are proud to recognize our leadership in the area has been responsible for the early acceptance and growing support for USP and TR-369. The investment, over three years in the making, is powerful, for the Internet of Things is no longer a marketing phrase; it is a reality. How connected is the world around us?
Based on our research and that of IoT Analytics, there are currently over 7 billion connected IoT devices, and 10.8 billion connected non-IoT devices. In total, about 18 billion devices. Non-IoT devices, as defined here, include mobile phone, tablets and laptops. As transport technologies are transforming how devices are “connected”, the distinctions blur. As the totals easily approach 20 billion in 2019, the importance of connected device management becomes obvious. Specifically, the need for standards-based protocols and design architecture are essential to the protection of ongoing investment by manufacturers, service providers and the universe of application developers who build the future one iteration at a time.
The good folks at Statistia, moreover, forecast that by next year there will be approximately 6.6 network connected devices per person around the globe. As the world population approaches 7.5 billion people, this means that there could be nearly 50 billion network connected devices by 2020. One need not scour the headlines to understand the importance of security when these numbers are considered. How to create the secure and utilitarian connected world, however, has been less obvious; until the release of USP.
The endpoint service architecture of the AXACT USP and the AXACT DUAL not only helps bridge the gap between what is an IoT and Non-IoT connected device, it makes the distinction unimportant.
The design characteristics of the AXACT USP allow the agent to act as a service endpoint or bridge to IoT devices and to be managed by multiple task-specific server-side Controllers. The general concepts of a monolithic server-side application “managing” the embedded protocol stack of customer premise devices, and specialty applications running diagnostic and service portals, are forever altered. AXACT USP can be embedded anywhere from the largest telecommunications devices down to IoT devices, enabling unlimited ecosystems of management and service applications that use one standards-based client-side and server-side technology.
In the case of the AXACT DUAL, the agent can be managed by task-specific USP Controllers, by an Auto Configuration Server, or both. With the same flexibility of the ACAXT USP, the DUAL combines the best of TR-069 with our implantation of USP. For the first time an operator can create custom permissions for gaming services, home security systems, financial institutions, hospitals or government networks utilizing standards-based embedded technology and separately managed applications. In the modern connected world, this powerful combination is the new high-water mark for secure, utilitarian operational management of complex networks and the practical and efficient roll out of revenue generating services.
Utilizing either of the new AXACT agents running on a consumer or enterprise device, operators can design applications for both technical operations and business services. In this way USP Agents and Controllers are greater than the sum of their parts; the power is exponential.
The ability for securely connected, task-specific third-party applications to manage end-user services makes USP a transformative technology for customer Self Care and IoT derivative services such as Age at Home, Security and Asset Management. Because USP Controllers can be used as customer facing applications in the cloud - accessible via the web or a user’s smart phone - USP may be the most important multi-industry technology to emerge in years.
For more information on the power of USP and TR-369, and our entire range of solutions for the connected world, contact an Axiros professional at www.axiros.com.