Down the rabbit hole with SORACOM IoT Platform

Introduction

This is my second article on IoT solutions, following the Smart Shipping Label. The Smart Label's brilliant engineering allowed me to focus more on hardware, but I neglected key IoT topics like security, privacy, interoperability, and scalability.

My journey with SORACOM also began with a piece of hardware, the SORACOM LTE-M Button, but as I tested it, I fell down the rabbit hole of the IoT platform.

From Researcher to Entrepreneur: The Founding of Soracom

SORACOM ( sora means sky in Japanese and com stands for communication ) has been co-founded by Kenta Yasukawa . He used to work at Ericsson as a researcher and this allows him to understand key IoT challenges like security, connectivity, and device management. He believes that the cloud could solve these problems so he joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a Solution Manager to gain experience in the area of cloud solutions. This combination of telecommunication and cloud skill lead to a secure and scalable IoT platform.

SORACOM IoT platform

System architecture

SORACOM IoT platform has been built on top of AWS. The system architecture is depicted in the diagram below.

Soracom Air

Soracom Air provides SIM technology. This system component provides cellular connectivity:

• Soracom Air offers both SIM card and Embedded SIM (eSIM) form factors.
• Soracom Air works with mobile network operators all over the world to provide global coverage
• The whole SIM-related process is fully automated. There are no minimum order quantities, and no need to contact any account manager.

The most imported feature is related to security. While a typical cellular device may require exposing a private server to the Internet or configuring firewall exceptions for devices to access the server, SORACOM provides multiple network services that connect cellular devices directly to private networks, with transmitted data never traversing the open Internet. This has been achieved by the implementation of P-GW ( Packet Data Network Gateway ensures the UE’s connectivity to external packet data networks) in AWS. See the diagram below.

SORACOM Arc

Soracom Arc is a secure link service that allows compatible devices to connect directly to the Soracom platform using any standard internet connection, such as WiFi, Ethernet, or satellite. Arc uses WireGuard?, a lightweight open-source VPN implementation that employs the latest encryption technologies, to create a secure connection between a device and the Soracom platform.

For those who spend some time in R&D, this is a clear indication that SORACOM ARC has been created to accelerate prototyping. Arc allows to experiment with the SORACOM IoT platform using an emulation environment.

SORACOM VPG (Virtual Private Gateway)

When Soracom Air for Cellular devices connects to the Soracom platform, core networking services are provided by a platform gateway. As the default gateway is shared among all Soracom users, certain gateway functionality, such as private networking and device-to-device access, is disabled to ensure device and network security.

SORACOM VPG adds another layer of security. Once configured the customer's traffic is segregated from the rest and can be routed separately. In addition, when Internet gateway functionality is disabled in VPG Air, devices will be blocked from communicating directly with Internet resources. The following services are available for customers when VPG is configured :

• SORACOM Canal is a network connectivity service that directly connects Soracom Virtual Private Gateways to AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks through AWS Peering Connections or AWS Transit Gateway.
• SORACOM Direct provides connectivity to customer systems outside of Amazon Web Services environments using a physical dedicated line.
• SORACOM Door connects customer systems outside of Amazon Web Services environments using a virtual private network connection.

SORACOM IoT Platform Services

When a customer does not route data to an external system SORACOM platform offers services that allow the processing of data from IoT devices.

Network and Connectivity services have been already described together with architecture. Below description of key services. For the rest please refer to SORACOM documentation.

Interface

SORACOM Platform offers access via Web User Console and API. In addition, SDK is provided to simplify the development process for popular languages and frameworks.

Application

• Soracom Beam is a proxy service for forwarding data from a device to an endpoint specified, such as a server within a network environment. Proxying with Beam allows for offloading encryption workloads to the cloud, controlling endpoints for multiple devices in groups, and integrating devices that have protocol limitations.
• Soracom Funk is an adapter service that sends data from a device directly to a cloud service function for processing. Funk allows for greatly simplifying the logic embedded on a device, reducing device-side resource consumption, and instead handling data in the cloud without setting up complex server environments.
• Soracom Funnel is an adapter service that transfers data from a device directly to a specified cloud service. Funnel allows for offloading encryption workloads to the cloud and integrating devices that have protocol limitations.
• Soracom Harvest is a data collection and visualization service for Soracom Air and Soracom Inventory devices. Harvest provides data storage for devices and generates charts from numerical data that can be accessed directly from the User Console.
• Soracom Lagoon is a customizable dashboard service that allows for building detailed visualizations for an IoT application. Lagoon extends data collected on Soracom Harvest and lets users easily visualize their application data without setting up any infrastructure.

Device

The Soracom LTE-M Button is an easy-to-use, battery-powered IoT button device with built-in cellular connectivity provided by Soracom that allows button click events to be sent wirelessly to the cloud from anywhere LTE-M coverage is available. With a cellular modem, antenna, and all other components integrated inside a sturdy IP54 case, it allows exploring various IoT concepts and even building simple but powerful applications without the need to design, test, or build complicated hardware.

Technical Specification

The LTE-M button is delivered by UnaBiz (original product name UnaBell). SORACOM provides SIM technology. The button is using Monarch LTE Platform provided by Sequans Communications

SORACOM LTE-M Button Simulator

As mentioned above platform offers connectivity using Virtual SIM for building simulators. In the case of LTE-M Button, such an environment has been created by 木村健一郎 and SORACOM User Group Japan.

Intended usage

• Reordering
• Parcel Pick-up
• Call Taxi
• Alert Emergency
• Elderly Assistance
• Maintenance Repair
• Crowd Management
• Call Back Request

Drive test

The test has been conducted using the LTE-M button HW and SW simulator.

Deployment

SORACOM LTE-M button setup requires just battery insertion and SIM registration in the SORACOM Platform. In the case of customers who are using multiple SIM cards, there is a concept of SIM groups implemented which allows to addition of devices to a preconfigured group.

I tested the LTE-M Button in several locations in Germany and Poland. Data exchange between a button and the SORACOM cloud was possible only when BTS was in sight. According to "supported carriers" LTE-Cat M1 in Poland provided by Orange Polska is still in the beta phase. However, I expected that there shouldn't be any issues in Germany since Vodafone Business IoT is on the list with full support of LTE Cat-M1. It is worth adding that LTE-M Cat1 has nationwide coverage in both cases and I don't have a problem with other IoT devices.

I had the full support from SORACOM and I decided to debug my device. This leads me to the conclusion that this particular copy of the LTE-M button has a problem with antenna sensitivity i.e. L3 call can be established only in perfect propagation conditions.

Operation

Following the Setup Guide I tested the following services :

• Data storage and visualization SORACOM IoT Platform has a built-in service for data storage and visualization. Visualization can be done via Harvest service which is a simple tool for graphical data presentation and Lagoon. The Lagoon is a powerful service for charts, graphs, and alerts for the web based on Grafana Service configuration is simple, straightforward, and well-documented. SIM groups allow to pre-process data i.e. convert from binary to human readable format. There is a basic AI functionality which allows to analysis of incoming data.

• Direct invocation of FaaS ( Function as a Service ). In this test, the Soracom Beam service was used to trigger an HTTP webhook to send an email whenever the button is clicked. For this example, IFTTT (If This Then That) service was used, which is a popular automation service that provides an intuitive way to quickly build different event-driven actions. IFTTT has a vast library of official and community-made actions that can be combined with a webhook (as well as other types of events), making it easy to prototype different behaviors for your LTE-M Button.

Training

SORACOM offers exhausting documentation for each platform service. In addition, there are free webinars and consultations with SORACOM representatives

Support

SORACOM offers ticketing service and support provided during standard working hours.

Summary

It is absurd to me, that as a hobbyist, it is much easier to buy SIM cards from Japan via Amazon than buy an IoT sim with LTE-M support from a local CSP.

So first of all if You are a hobbyist and You would like to play with IoT, the SORACOM IoT platform is a great solution because You are one click away from a full IoT solution including a simulation environment

For business, SORACOM is the Holy Grail of IoT because of is fully automated, built with security in mind, and scalable.

References and further study

1. Getting started with SORACOM
2. Securing Devices & IoT Backend | Soracom Product Overview - YouTube
3. Soracom, ft. Kenta Yasukawa // Hackster Café - YouTube Hackster.io
4. Rakuten Tech Conference 2017 | SORACOM and IoT in the real world | PPT
5. Full LTE architecture and components