IIC Journal of Innovation | Page 80

A PoV on the IIC Industrial Internet Reference Architecture Gateway-Mediated Edge Connectivity and Management A gateway device typically mediates the connectivity between the Edge Tier and other tiers. It provides a scalable and secure way to support different types of device/proximity networks, devices and use cases. A gateway device typically supports one or more interfaces to the Proximity Network and one or more interfaces to Access Networks. One example of this is an On-Board Diagnostic Device (OBD) that connects on one side to the vehicle on-board diagnostic port on the CANbus and to a cellular network on the other side. Commonly used topologies for Edge Connectivity include the Hub & Spoke and Mesh. 3. GENERAL SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS The IIRA provides guidelines for identifying system characteristics that must be engineered into an IIS. It also provides guidelines for defining and adopting processes that ensure the IIS indeed has the claimed characteristics. Key system characteristics that are commonly required to be exhibited are given in the table below. The IIRA specifically draws attention to Safety, Security and Resilience as three core characteristics that are essential for ensuring availability of the core functions of an IIS. System Characteristics Attributes/Indicators Scalability  The ability to provide consistent performance and user experience, irrespective of parameters such as the number of platform users, connected devices, number of sensor data streams, concurrent requests, total size of data stored, size of published datasets, etc. Reliability  The ability to quickly detect any degradation or unavailability of services, initiate corrective action and provide high availability Usability  Ease of use of the IIS, applications, and APIs, including intuitive, consistent and responsive UIs IIC Journal of Innovation - 79 -