[Fwd: [tc-announce] new OASIS discussion list: web service devices]

["Karl F. Best" <karl.best@oasis-open.org>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [tc-announce] new OASIS discussion list: web service devices
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 10:45:12 -0400
From: "Karl F. Best" <karl.best@oasis-open.org>
Reply-To: karl.best@oasis-open.org,  karl.best@oasis-open.org
Organization: OASIS
To: members@lists.oasis-open.org,  tc-announce@lists.oasis-open.org, 
xml-dev@lists.xml.org

Upon the request by three eligible participants, I have created an OASIS
Discussion List for the purpose of discussing the possible creation of
one or more OASIS Technical Committees related to Web Service Devices.
Discussion on the list will begin in seven days, and the list and its
archive will be deleted after 90 days. One or more TCs may or may not be
formed as a result of this discussion.

The participants in the discussion list should decide if there is
sufficient interest to form an OASIS TC, write a proposal to start the
TC (including the TC charter), and select a TC chair.

The discussion list has been proposed by the following members of OASIS:

James Blaisdell, Mocana, james@mocana.com
Adrian Turner, Mocana, adrian@mocana.com
Paul E. Thorpe, OSS Nokalva, thorpe@oss.com
Ash Vasudevan, CommerceNet, ash@commerce.net

The discussion leader will be James Blaisdell.

In order to participate in this discussion you should subscribe to the
"devices-discuss" discussion list by sending a message to
devices-discuss-subscribe@lists.oasis-open.org. OASIS membership is not
required in order to subscribe to this list. If you do not wish to
subscribe but wish to view the discussion you may view the list archives
at http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/devices-discuss

-Karl

=================================================================
Karl F. Best
Vice President, OASIS
office  +1 978.667.5115 x206     mobile +1 978.761.1648
karl.best@oasis-open.org      http://www.oasis-open.org




SCOPE STATEMENT FOR ONE OR MORE OASIS TECHNICAL COMMITTEES:
WEB SERVICES FOR DEVICES

Background

Several members of OASIS are planning to organize one or more new
standards projects concentrating on connected and mobile devices, and
articulating web services functionality for managing and coordinating
them as interoperable networks. OASIS will launch a discussion list
(open to nonmembers as well as members) for scoping those efforts.

Together with Mocana Corp. and others, OASIS presented the concept at a
May 2003 CommerceNet industry event, and identified two potential groups
of interested technologists and users: those interested in the
horizontal development of device-specific versions of relevant web
service functions, and those focused on specific applications in
healthcare. One possible organizational strategy, which should be
discussed by the community of potential participants, is a generalized
Web Services for Devices TC focusing on the horizontal issues, and a
second Web Services for Medical Devices TC to articulate the specific
requirements of that industry.

The draft below is a starting point for further discussion by interested
parties and prospective participants.

Statement of Purpose

Computing is undergoing a major evolution to "networks of devices".
Tomorrow's device networks may eclipse the scope of today's people and
computer networks. Forrester predicts that the number of devices on [the
Net] will reach 870 million in five years and skyrocket to 14 billion by
2010. According to the study, of these 14 billion devices, 95% will not
be PCs.

While the majority of business processes will encompass these connected
devices, there are business and technical obstacles to their widespread
adoption and deployment. This technical committee aims to address these
obstacles, by leveraging and where appropriate adapting current web
services technologies to the special environments and use cases posed by
wireless connected devices.  Just as web services enable loosely-coupled
business systems to interact more efficiently, the services provided by
physical devices may be managed, orchestrated, and made interactive and
reliable using basic web services methods.  Connected devices will be
more capable of error detection, self-correction and re-routing, as
"management by exception" becomes the norm in the physical world --
whether it be factory floor machinery that knows it has broken down,
medical diagnostics equipment that has triggered an alarm, or RFID
readers that are able to report delivery and location of supplies.

Development of a set of service orchestration protocol suitable for
devices would have potential applicability across a large number of
vertical markets. We anticipate the early opportunities for applications
and proofs-of-concept will occur in healthcare, supply chain automation,
telecomm & internetworking and the energy sector.  Where relevant, we
expect to work closely with existing OASIS technical committees (such as
e-Procurement and Emergency Services) to identity appropriate use cases
and demonstration opportunities.

The purpose of the initiative is to create standards to allow device
manufacturers and service providers to be able to develop relevant
services (e.g., status report, alarm and data supply functions),
regardless of the device architecture, that work interoperably with
infrastructure across multiple software platforms that support the
standards.

Wherever possible, existing web services standards initiatives will be
leveraged and extended to encompass devices.  We anticipate close
coordinating relationships and possible re-use of components of a number
of existing OASIS configuration, discovery, display, management,
messaging, reliability and security specifications, including
*  Provisioning Services
*  Security Services
*  XACML
*  Web Services Distributed Management
*  Web Services Reliable Messaging
*  Web Services Remote Portlets

At the same time, some aspects of sub-PC devices may require special
attention in developing appropriate specifications and practices.
Unlike general computing PCs, many embedded systems are very limited in
capability, processing power, and storage.

The systems interfacing to these devices must identify and account for
these limitations. Error recovery is an important issue for embedded
devices; it is possible that different degrees of ability and tolerance
for rollbacks and the ability to efficiently abort a super-sized
operation are needed in this domain.

List of Deliverables

The proposed TC(s) may proceed in four steps:
      (1) Collection, harmonization and prioritization of the technology
and user requirements for service-oriented device architecture in the
subject field;
      (2) Definition of one or more specifications of data standards
suitable for use in connecting and coordinating remote devices on a
vendor-neutral basis.   (The group may, if it proves possible and
appropriate, specify subsets or use profiles from other existing OASIS
standards suitable for this type of application.)
      (3) Possibly, the articulation, in white papers or further work,
key functional components of the effective use of web services for devices.
      (4) Identification of additional verticals where focused specific
efforts may be needed.   (In scoping, for example, it may become clear
that the hardware or applications in a particular field impose their own
needs for device type recognition,, special issues of distance or
configuration, or other standardizable matters specific to that field).

The work is expected to address a range of issues, possibly including:
*  Device-to-device interoperability, and the parameters, taxonomy and
discovery methods necessary to achieve it
*  Internet-scale device identity; authentication by device rather than user
* The special demands placed on existing messaging, provisioning and
security schemes by intermittent, highly asynchronous objects
*  Scale, message and object size negotiation
*  Operation abortion and recovery
*  Transference of locality and ownership
*  Network outages, and non-static network identity
*  Network memory for persistence and logging
*  Acute diversity of bandwidth and device type; possible special
taxonomies for classes of device
*  Additional activities that may be needed to fulfill the requirements
of this framework.



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-- 
=================================================================
Karl F. Best
Vice President, OASIS
office  +1 978.667.5115 x206     mobile +1 978.761.1648
karl.best@oasis-open.org      http://www.oasis-open.org