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Subject: new OASIS discussion list: web service devices


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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