Elsevier

Advanced Engineering Informatics

Volume 33, August 2017, Pages 208-229
Advanced Engineering Informatics

Review article
A review of essential standards and patent landscapes for the Internet of Things: A key enabler for Industry 4.0

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2016.11.007Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper is a formal overview of standards and patents for Internet of Things (IoT) as a key enabler for the next generation advanced manufacturing, referred as Industry 4.0 (I 4.0). IoT at the fundamental level is a means of connecting physical objects to the Internet as a ubiquitous network that enables objects to collect and exchange information. The manufacturing industry is seeking versatile manufacturing service provisions to overcome shortened product life cycles, increased labor costs, and fluctuating customer needs for competitive marketplaces. This paper depicts a systematic approach to review IoT technology standards and patents. The thorough analysis and overview include the essential standard landscape and the patent landscape based on the governing standards organizations for America, Europe and China where most global manufacturing bases are located. The literature of emerging IoT standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Guobiao standards (GB), and global patents issued in US, Europe, China and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are systematically presented in this study.

Introduction

Intelligence is the key enabler to facilitate work and in a broad sense and consists of two parts. Algorithmic intelligence describes how to reach a goal via a process (e.g., driving your car to a destination) and tactical intelligence describes how to reach the destination with consideration to changing factors (e.g. checking the car tire pressure to compensate for changing road conditions). I 4.0 in the simplest form concerns enabling manufacturing with the element of tactical intelligence using techniques and technologies such as IoT, cloud computing and big data. IoT is considered to be a paradigm shift for Internet technologies. Estimations show that as of 2014 the number of IoT-enabled devices has exceeded the world’s human population. IoT is used by consumers as well as by manufacturers that rely on cyber (software, data systems) and physical (devices, machinery, equipment) connectivity to function effectively. While I 4.0 was initially considered a technology experiment, it is now a necessity to maintain competitiveness in a constantly changing industry environment. IoT is a core enabling technology that enables industries to move from I 3.0 to I 4.0 by inserting intelligence into products and processes across the supply chain. I 4.0 also represents the aggregation of IoT, CPS, cloud computing and big data analytics to improve the goal of a near zero defect state [1] (see Fig. 1).

This article intends to present the latest development overviews in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) as a key enabler for Industry 4.0 (I 4.0). The main emphases include

  • The formal background and introduction to I 4.0 and IoT are described using a layering of IoT device and process terms. For the sake of clarity, IoT technologies are separated into four layers that are organized to consolidate the focus of IoT innovations consistent with the literature and emerging standards for advanced manufacturing.

  • The analysis and consolidation of I 4.0 context standards landscape for IoT are constructed with information abstracted from official/governing bodies, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Guobiao standards (Standardization Administration of China GB).

  • The analysis and creation of a patent landscape for IoT in the I 4.0 context using information abstracted from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The significance of this research is to understand the emerging standardization landscape and the technical impact of the IoT related patents. The trends and outcomes will identify the potential creation of patent barriers, the exploration of new technologies for long-term commercialization, and strategies that may be adapted to accelerate the adoption of IoT technologies. The research provides academicians and practitioners with a scientific basis to predict future development trends and evaluate the status of their IoT technology infrastructure.

The motivation for this paper comes from the need to understand the nature and causes of the collaborative trends of industries to standardize and license technologies. The rapid pace of collaboration leads to the creation and adoption of many technologies and ultimately shorter product life cycles. Industries that collaborate harness the potential of rapid change and realize new market benefits. Standardization helps industry avoid interoperability issues and understand the technology landscape as the new technology frontier is created.

Section snippets

Background and literature review of IoT

The phrase Internet of Things (IoT) was first used by Ashton in 1999 [3]. The concept of IoT is to enable real world objects with speech, vision, hearing, smell, and touch, so inanimate things can perform jobs more accurately and responsively collaboratively and with learning [4], [5], [6], [7]. The transformation is possible only when sets of technologies are created that are broadly applicable to industry. Various aspects of IoT technology have been reviewed in the academic literature [4], [5]

Standards for IoT

Standards simplify the job of stakeholders by ensuring uniformity and encouraging interoperability. With the introduction of I 4.0, many countries have actively developed and promoted the new industry standard. Equipment, suppliers, factories, production lines, products and customers are integrated under I 4.0. Therefore, there are specific standards for all players. Fig. 7 shows the standard structure of I 4.0 which consists of two parts, the basic common standards and the key technology

IoT patents related to manufacturing applications

Standard essential patents (SEPs) and the related emerging standards are mapped to the intellectual property owners to better understand the leaders defining the technology landscape. For example, on September 10, 2015, Ericsson invited other companies to participate in a joint licensing program for standard essential patents indicating the creation of a standard patent pool in the near future [96]. In order to predict which companies will develop patent joint licensing agreements, a patent

Patent landscape analysis

In the section, the overall patent landscape analyses for the perception, transmission, computation and application layer including top assignees - IoT key players, IoT patents top IPCs and the technology application matrix are introduced.

Conclusions

IoT is helping companies improve customer relationships, track tools, deliver products faster, and reduce costs. Applying Moore’s law, IoT sensors will become less expensive and create new business opportunities [1], [112]. The key challenges for IoT are that the current many industry software systems are a legacy, closed-box system that prevents machines from communicating with each other over the new Internet protocols of IoT [113]. Standardization is essential for technology adaptation.

Acknowledgement

This research is partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology research grant in Taiwan (MOST 104-2218-E-007-015-MY2).

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