Enterprise IoT

Chapter 9. Background Information

The Track & Trace case study is an official testbed of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC). To better understand how this fits together, we will first provide an overview of IIC testbeds in general, followed by a high-level overview of Track & Trace. Next, we will look at the key drivers for this testbed, first from the perspective of an end user (Airbus), then from the perspective of a power tools vendor (Bosch Rexroth).

Industrial Internet Consortium Testbeds

As this is an IIC testbed case study, we first want to explain what an IIC testbed actually is. A more detailed description of the IIC itself can be found in “Industrial Internet Consortium”. To learn more about testbeds, we spoke to Michael Lee, Director of Testbeds for the IIC. In this role, Michael assists members with the identification, specification, creation, and adoption of testbeds. He also facilitates the creation of policies and procedures for these activities.

Dirk Slama: Testbeds are a key element of the Industrial Internet Consortium strategy. What exactly is a testbed?

Michael Lee: At its simplest, a testbed is a controlled experimentation platform where applications can be deployed and tested in an environment that resembles real-world conditions. The approximation of, but insulation from, the real world allows the issues of safety, security, reproducibility, etc. to be managed during an experiment. The experimentation itself can explore untested technologies or ...