Machine to Machine (m2m)

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Machine to Machine (m2m)

There are three 3G mobile broadband system configuration options that will provide our partners with different offerings, each having associated advantages and disadvantages.

These are:

layer-3 (standard aql® service);
layer-3 (private interconnect);
layer-2 (also known as L2TP).

Details of these three configuration options are provided below.

Note: these configuration options currently only apply to aql® data SIMs.

LAYER 3 (standard aql service)

aql® allocate and assign IP addresses to SIMs.
H3g terminates and manages the L2TP session.
Data from the device is sent to the internet via the aql® NATting gateway.
The device is presented on the internet as a single internet-routable IP address. This is the external IP address of the NATting gateway. (aql® have a NATting gateway hot fail-over pair. Therefore, should the primary gateway fail, the secondary gateway will continue the service and will present the data with a second internet-routable IP address.)
The device uses aql’s caching DNS servers.

Advantages:

No partner equipment or infrastructure is required (excluding provisioning and billing).
Very little technical knowledge is required.
No technical management of the service is required.
Almost immediate activation and deployment.
A truly plug-and-play solution (similar to a standard 3G internet service).
A caching proxy service increases the speed of the web browsing experience.

Disadvantages:

The partner has no control over IP address assignment.
All devices are presented on the internet as a single IP address on the internet (a many-to-one mapping: all devices are presented on the internet with a single and shared IP address).
NATting at the internet gateway prevents the establishment of new inbound connections to devices (i.e. it is not possible to initiate a new connection to a device).
The partner has no control over the DNS servers used by the devices.

LAYER 3 (private interconnect)

Each SIM has two IP address in the reserved 10.0.0.0/8 range. aql® allocate and assign IP addresses to SIMs within a range pre-agreed with the partner.
The IP addresses assigned to SIMs are static and unique (i.e. when assigned to a SIM they are not then assigned to any other SIMs).
Either of the two assigned IP addresses may be used by the SIM at any given time (at random, IP address assignment takes place when the session established and continues until the session is terminated).
The two assigned IP addresses are identical with the exception of the second octet. The second octet of the second IP address will be 10 greater than the first IP address, i.e. a SIM may be assigned IP addresses 10.1.2.3 and 10.11.2.3.
H3g terminates and manages the L2TP session.
The data passes from the device into the partner’s network via a private interconnect.
The data is presented with the reserved 10.0.0.0/8 IP address of the SIM (there is no NATting between the device and the partner’s network) and is routed to the partner based on decisions made by aql’s routers (source IP address based policy routing, setting the next-hop per assigned IP address range).
The partner has complete control of the routing of the traffic, once it has entered their network via the private interconnect. This can then be routed as required, i.e. direct to the internet or onwards to private networks.
The device may use DNS servers provided by the partner.

Advantages:

More simple than layer-2 with lower technical knowledge and infrastructure requirements.
Data is delivered direct to the partner and does not traverse the internet.
Unfiltered two-way communications between the partner and the device.
No NAT prior to the delivery of the data to the partner.
Provides a private and secure enclave 3G mobile broadband network.
The partner may provide their devices with specific DNS server IP addresses (two DNS server IP addresses per private interconnect).
The partner can capture traffic before it is routed to the internet, which will support the deployment of value-added services.

Disadvantages:

The partner has no control over IP address assignment, although they do know the two IP address range associated with the SIMs that will enter their network via the private interconnect.
Each device has two IP address in the reserved 10.0.0.0/8 range and may use either of these IP addresses at any given time.
The partner must have a private interconnect with aql® (at a suitable point-of presence) that can be connected into aql’s internal routers.
The partner must provide a gateway into their network from the private interconnect (i.e. a ‘next-hop’, which may be the VRRP IP address of a pair of routers).
The partner must have an infrastructure capable of receiving and routing the data.

LAYER 2 (L2TP)

aql® hand over the entire L2TP session to the partner (one session per MSISDN).
The partner terminates and manages the L2TP session.
The partner may assign any IP address to connecting devices using their own equipment.
The equipment typically required by a layer-2 partner would include a Layer-2 Network Server (LNS) with associated RADIUS server to manage L2TP tunnel attributes and IP address assignment (a database would also be required).
IP addresses assigned by the partner do not have to be pre-registered with aql and can be allocated dynamically and as required.
The partner has complete control of the routing between the device, their network and any onward connections.
The same IP address can be assigned to multiple devices. This is useful if a partner has two customers that require identical IP addresses (e.g. MPLS, business broadband back-up).
The partner controls DNS server IP address assignment.

Advantages:

The premier 3G mobile broadband solution.
The partner controls all IP address assignment and routing, including DNS.
1-to-1 static IP address mappings, including internet-routable IP addresses.
A device can be assigned a single IP address.
The same IP address can be assigned to multiple devices.
No Network Address Translation (NAT) prior to the delivery of the data to the partner.
Direct two-way communications between the partner and the device.

Disadvantages:

The partner must have an infrastructure and equipment capable of terminating the L2TP sessions (LNS, RADIUS server, database), managing IP addresses and routing the data.
Resources required to develop, manage and configure the infrastructure and equipment.
A greater level of technical knowledge is required.