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KerryM
Troubleshoot1
(*) 1980 A multi-story Bank with remote facilities addressed and installed a ...
What Internet of Things needs to become a reality
Kaivan Karimi, Freescale; Gary Atkinson, ARM
10/30/2012 10:57 AM EDT
Building blocks of the IoT
Sensing Nodes: The types of sensing nodes needed for the Internet of Things vary widely, depending on the applications involved. Sensing nodes could include a camera system for image monitoring; water or gas flow meters for smart energy; radar vision when active safety is needed; RFID readers sensing the presence of an object or person; doors and locks with open/close circuits that indicate an intrusion at a building; or a simple thermometer measuring temperature. Bottom line, there are many different types of sensing nodes, depending on the applications. Who can forget the heat-seeking mechanical bugs that kept track of the population of a building in the movie Minority Report? Those mechanical bugs represent potential sensing nodes of the future.
These nodes all will carry a unique ID and can be controlled separately via a remote command and control topology. Use cases exist today in which a smartphone with RFID and/or NFC and GPS functionality can approach individual RFID/NFC-enabled “things” in a building, communicate with them and register their physical locations on the network. Hence, RFID and NFC will have a place in remote registration, and, ultimately, command and control of the IoT.
Layers of Local Embedded Processing Nodes: Embedded processing is at the heart of the IoT. Local processing capability is most often provided by MCUs, hybrid microcontrollers/microprocessors (MCUs/MPUs) or integrated MCU devices, which can provide the “real-time” embedded processing that is a key requirement of most IoT applications. Use cases vary significantly, and fully addressing the real-time embedded processing function requires a scalable strategy (using a scalable family of devices), as one size will not fit all.
In the home automation example, depending on the size or type of residence, requirements could vary from a simple network to a more complex structure with hierarchical, nested sub-networks controlled at different levels. For example, in a single-family home, all windows, doors, electrical outlets and/or electrical equipment and thermostats could have simple embedded controllers that communicate with a master MCU/MPU hybrid device for command and control of the entire house. In turn, this master device can communicate via the Internet with a variety of “clients,” from the security service provider and other service providers to portals that can give the homeowner access to remotely control all of these connected “things.” In an apartment building, the same idea can be extended, with an even more complex, layered network hierarchy that includes apartment-level command and control, as well as floor-level and building-level command and control.
Wired and Wireless Communication Functions: The role of the communication function is to transfer information gathered by the sensing nodes and processed by local embedded processing nodes to the destinations identified by the local embedded processing nodes. And, once the data is remotely processed and new commands are generated, the communication function brings back the new commands to the local embedded processing nodes to execute a task.
Sometimes this could be as simple as sensing a fridge door being left open based on energy use, and after analyzing the data, automatically closing the door via a mechanical mechanism or generating a warning for the homeowners’ “home automation app.” Or, it could be as sophisticated as communication to an autonomous vehicle to avoid an accident.
Use cases could vary drastically, but what is common to these command and control communication links is that they typically only need to carry few Kilobytes of data for any given node, unless high-bandwidth image processing or video data is involved.
Software to Automate Tasks: Getting all segments of the IoT to communicate and work together is key to the success of the technology rollout, and that means deploying a lot of software (and middleware) that will enable machines to talk with each other and the infrastructure around them.
From a nuts and bolts perspective, this means lots of middleware to get various heterogeneous devices to talk to each other. For example, in a smart meter application, an analog front end (AFE) reads the meter and the MCU manages the meter to interpret and push the data through the communication pipe, which will be communicating with the house on one end and the curbside on the other end. While most developers have a clear view of the software architecture from a device, communication pipe, and application profile perspective, the service-level fabric must also be considered for a given application.
In this configuration, the sensing node (here the AFE) is using an embedded processing (MCU) node to translate and transmit the data through the communication functions to the central embedded processing node in the house, as well as the one on the curbside. A lot of middleware software is needed to enable this interaction to happen reliably, with the services delivered seamlessly.
Remote Embedded Processing Units (access to cloud computing): Since there are not yet industry-wide IoT best practices agreed upon and deployed, many component providers are approaching the connection between devices and the cloud as a connection to their niche cloud, as opposed to the cloud. Some companies promote that all devices will be “dumb nodes,” with all processing and decision-making done within “their cloud.” Alternatively, some believe only minimal access to the cloud for basic Internet-related services will be required, with most of the “thinking” done locally. The architecture and building blocks of the IoT as described in this article allow for a number of different approaches, which will likely be necessary due to the wide variety of use cases and configurations anticipated. That flexibility will be needed to optimize system-level performance.
So, why does software get such a big headline? Software enables the various services the IoT will provide. Services are the means by which the IoT will address certain needs. Those needs could exist today, or they may be things we don’t yet realize we need, but someday we’ll wonder why we never had them before. Many people forget that until 20 years ago, most of us lived without mobile phones and didn’t see a need for them, but now they’re the most widespread personal gadget owned by people in the western world. Along those lines, some IoT services will address needs easily identifiable today (e.g. asset tracking, smart energy, etc.), but others are yet to be defined.
Full Security Across the Entire Signal Path: Some people bundle this topic within the software portion of the IoT, but it deserves the attention of a separate category. Without a solid security mechanism for all of the IoT building blocks mentioned above, the IoT won’t be as pervasive as it’s anticipated to become.
When we say security, we really mean security of information – the information that gets passed around by various parts of the system and is context- and service-dependent. For example, knowing the location of a person could be considered a good thing if the person was lost. However, if that person felt his or her privacy was being compromised, knowing the location information is a bad thing.
Sensing Nodes: The types of sensing nodes needed for the Internet of Things vary widely, depending on the applications involved. Sensing nodes could include a camera system for image monitoring; water or gas flow meters for smart energy; radar vision when active safety is needed; RFID readers sensing the presence of an object or person; doors and locks with open/close circuits that indicate an intrusion at a building; or a simple thermometer measuring temperature. Bottom line, there are many different types of sensing nodes, depending on the applications. Who can forget the heat-seeking mechanical bugs that kept track of the population of a building in the movie Minority Report? Those mechanical bugs represent potential sensing nodes of the future.
These nodes all will carry a unique ID and can be controlled separately via a remote command and control topology. Use cases exist today in which a smartphone with RFID and/or NFC and GPS functionality can approach individual RFID/NFC-enabled “things” in a building, communicate with them and register their physical locations on the network. Hence, RFID and NFC will have a place in remote registration, and, ultimately, command and control of the IoT.
Layers of Local Embedded Processing Nodes: Embedded processing is at the heart of the IoT. Local processing capability is most often provided by MCUs, hybrid microcontrollers/microprocessors (MCUs/MPUs) or integrated MCU devices, which can provide the “real-time” embedded processing that is a key requirement of most IoT applications. Use cases vary significantly, and fully addressing the real-time embedded processing function requires a scalable strategy (using a scalable family of devices), as one size will not fit all.
In the home automation example, depending on the size or type of residence, requirements could vary from a simple network to a more complex structure with hierarchical, nested sub-networks controlled at different levels. For example, in a single-family home, all windows, doors, electrical outlets and/or electrical equipment and thermostats could have simple embedded controllers that communicate with a master MCU/MPU hybrid device for command and control of the entire house. In turn, this master device can communicate via the Internet with a variety of “clients,” from the security service provider and other service providers to portals that can give the homeowner access to remotely control all of these connected “things.” In an apartment building, the same idea can be extended, with an even more complex, layered network hierarchy that includes apartment-level command and control, as well as floor-level and building-level command and control.
Wired and Wireless Communication Functions: The role of the communication function is to transfer information gathered by the sensing nodes and processed by local embedded processing nodes to the destinations identified by the local embedded processing nodes. And, once the data is remotely processed and new commands are generated, the communication function brings back the new commands to the local embedded processing nodes to execute a task.
Sometimes this could be as simple as sensing a fridge door being left open based on energy use, and after analyzing the data, automatically closing the door via a mechanical mechanism or generating a warning for the homeowners’ “home automation app.” Or, it could be as sophisticated as communication to an autonomous vehicle to avoid an accident.
Use cases could vary drastically, but what is common to these command and control communication links is that they typically only need to carry few Kilobytes of data for any given node, unless high-bandwidth image processing or video data is involved.
Software to Automate Tasks: Getting all segments of the IoT to communicate and work together is key to the success of the technology rollout, and that means deploying a lot of software (and middleware) that will enable machines to talk with each other and the infrastructure around them.
From a nuts and bolts perspective, this means lots of middleware to get various heterogeneous devices to talk to each other. For example, in a smart meter application, an analog front end (AFE) reads the meter and the MCU manages the meter to interpret and push the data through the communication pipe, which will be communicating with the house on one end and the curbside on the other end. While most developers have a clear view of the software architecture from a device, communication pipe, and application profile perspective, the service-level fabric must also be considered for a given application.
In this configuration, the sensing node (here the AFE) is using an embedded processing (MCU) node to translate and transmit the data through the communication functions to the central embedded processing node in the house, as well as the one on the curbside. A lot of middleware software is needed to enable this interaction to happen reliably, with the services delivered seamlessly.
Remote Embedded Processing Units (access to cloud computing): Since there are not yet industry-wide IoT best practices agreed upon and deployed, many component providers are approaching the connection between devices and the cloud as a connection to their niche cloud, as opposed to the cloud. Some companies promote that all devices will be “dumb nodes,” with all processing and decision-making done within “their cloud.” Alternatively, some believe only minimal access to the cloud for basic Internet-related services will be required, with most of the “thinking” done locally. The architecture and building blocks of the IoT as described in this article allow for a number of different approaches, which will likely be necessary due to the wide variety of use cases and configurations anticipated. That flexibility will be needed to optimize system-level performance.
So, why does software get such a big headline? Software enables the various services the IoT will provide. Services are the means by which the IoT will address certain needs. Those needs could exist today, or they may be things we don’t yet realize we need, but someday we’ll wonder why we never had them before. Many people forget that until 20 years ago, most of us lived without mobile phones and didn’t see a need for them, but now they’re the most widespread personal gadget owned by people in the western world. Along those lines, some IoT services will address needs easily identifiable today (e.g. asset tracking, smart energy, etc.), but others are yet to be defined.
Full Security Across the Entire Signal Path: Some people bundle this topic within the software portion of the IoT, but it deserves the attention of a separate category. Without a solid security mechanism for all of the IoT building blocks mentioned above, the IoT won’t be as pervasive as it’s anticipated to become.
When we say security, we really mean security of information – the information that gets passed around by various parts of the system and is context- and service-dependent. For example, knowing the location of a person could be considered a good thing if the person was lost. However, if that person felt his or her privacy was being compromised, knowing the location information is a bad thing.
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SylvieBarak
10/31/2012 2:45 PM EDT
You know what the Internet of Things really needs to take off? Assurance that the security is in place to make it a good thing to use...
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lcovey
11/1/2012 12:10 PM EDT
Not so sure about the security angle, Sylvie. Like Helen Keller said "Security is an illusion." It will never be absolute unless humanity suddenly becomes universally sinless.
The real issue of the IoT is the management of data. Current search is based on words and phrases, primarily, but it is constantly being gamed by the SEO industry. We need a software approach that institutes an automated omniscience, more than just artificial intelligence, that brings the right information to the devices when requested. There's a lot of stuff we need to know but it comes to us in semi-truck loads, rather than in appropriate amounts. when someone figures that out, the IoT will take off.
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KerryM
5/7/2013 2:29 PM EDT
Sylvie,
I agree that you hit the nail on the head.
lcovey is right that managing the data is a 'big deal'. But unless you can be sure that the data is authentic/accurate/reliable, it's not clear that the data will be of any value. And if I can spoof data to make it look like it came from you instead of me there are all sorts of unpleasant options.
The technology is there - cryptography, hardware security devices, protected protocols - we just need to see them get integrated in the solutions.
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kaivan.karimi
10/31/2012 3:34 PM EDT
You are absolutely right Sylvie. With Millions/Billions of devices hanging off the "universal neural net", the potential security issues can be disastrous….…. No one likes to see something benign like their home electricity hacked. Imagine what can happen to larger mission critical infrastructures if they become the target. Security for IoT is perhaps the most aspect of the whole thing.
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Max the Magnificent
10/31/2012 3:47 PM EDT
See also my blog: IPv4, IPv6, The Internet of Things, 6LoWPAN, and lots of other “Stuff” ( http://bit.ly/VE4fMH )
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iniewski
11/1/2012 3:01 PM EDT
Pretty interesting stuff Max, would you be interested in giving a talk on this topic at emerging technologies event in Whistler in 2013? www.cmoset.com, Kris
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Max the Magnificent
11/1/2012 3:12 PM EDT
I didn't write this article -- but I can put you in touch with the authors if you wish
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expendable crewman #1
10/31/2012 4:44 PM EDT
How long will it be before “We” become part of the “Internet of Things”? As soon as everything about you is able to be tracked, you will not be allowed to be without your connected device. To make sure that doesn’t happen the device will be embedded in you at birth and constantly transmit data about you. Not long after that the data will become bidirectional instructing you how to best serve the collective. Resistance is futile.
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Max the Magnificent
10/31/2012 4:45 PM EDT
That's why I never go outside without wearing my aluminum hat
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expendable crewman #1
10/31/2012 4:55 PM EDT
Is that the one with the propeller on top?
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Max the Magnificent
10/31/2012 4:59 PM EDT
No -- the Propeller Beanie is actually used to hide my aluminum skull-cap (I don;t want people to laugh at me :-)
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docdivakar
11/1/2012 12:04 PM EDT
Good article... one thing the authors do not mention is the value from prognostics capability that can be in the embedded processing layer of sensor networks.
MP Divakar
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kaivan.karimi
11/2/2012 5:31 PM EDT
Hi MP,
Hope all is well. could you please elaborate more?
Thanks,
Kaivan
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docdivakar
11/21/2012 5:30 PM EST
Kaivan, didn't get to this message for a while, sorry for the late reply.
My comment was rather high-level, addressing the local embedded processing layer most often done by MCU/Micro's you were referring to. I think there are many software+hardware solution opportunities, both hierarchical or single stack, that can provide intelligent and correlated information from IoT. I will stop right there (since that is what I am working to protect as IP!). But you were right on track in the article!
MP Divakar
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mac_droz
11/2/2012 6:16 AM EDT
Apart from being interesting concept for all the geeks around, why would you need your home to be smart? One of the arguments I hear is that it will save the energy.... what a lot of bollocks. Unless we start building houses that are truly passive (that's the technology to follow and it exists for more than 20 years) nothing will change. If your house is not insulated than the super-duper thermostat with weather prediction and all the IP addressable light bulbs will not make it warmer. What is wrong with standard light switch? Are we too retarded to use it? And remember to switch it off when we leave the room? Or do you guys have 1000W lamps in every room?
Sorry for my rant but every now and then I see those articles about super benefits of smart homes but they are not addressing real problems.
The real problem with houses is to keep them warm/cold depending on the season with as little external energy as possible.
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iniewski
11/2/2012 10:57 AM EDT
Good point @mac_droz, the benefits of smart homes were never clear to me...and exactly to your point: I have moved to a brand new house from 15-year old house. The old house was properly build with extra wall insulation. The new house was build to some green standards, have high tech windows, efficient lighting etc. And guess what, walls are thin and my heating being is larger although the new house is less than half the size of the old ones. I can install as much electronics as I want the heat is escaping thru the walls and holes in all windows and doors. I guess I ended up getting a stupid house ;-)...Kris
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Bert22306
11/2/2012 4:27 PM EDT
Okay, another "excuse" to utter my mantra: the IoT is nothing more than "more of the same." Like everything else touted as being something brand new, yes, even this "cloud" business, in reality it is an evolution of what just about everyone is already familar with.
The Internet, to get down to the fundamentals, has ALWAYS been about "things." Internet addresses have ALWAYS been the address of an interface to a "thing." Not to a person. To a computer, to a peripheral device such as a printer, to a sensor, to a router, to a server at home or at work or in "the cloud." All things. Even your e-mail "address" becomes translated into the actual IP address of a "thing."
It's only cost and available Internet bandwidth that has kept things more or less under control. But already, you can contact your home PVR over the Internet, you can contact your car over 3G (and get remote diagnostics), easy enough to think of controlling your home heating system remotely over the Internet, and surely everyone knows that your home heating systems are also auto-adjusting (for too many decades to bother mentioning).
Remote and automated factory controls have been available for many years. Remote as well as automated control systems for cars, airplanes, ships, public transportation systems such as Metro, airport ground transportation systems, you name it, have also been with us for a whole lot of time now. Connecting each of these to the Internet, assuming they aren't already connected (many are!), is not a huge leap, is it?
So, if you want to make a few more of your own personal devices ALSO available over the Internet, surely this shouldn't be seen as ground-breaking innovation?
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kaivan.karimi
11/2/2012 5:21 PM EDT
Hi Bert22306,
You are absolutely right that all of this can be done today from remote comand and control basis, and IPv6 will make it more pervasive. This said, there are a ton of services being worked on that leverages these capabilities today, that VCs weren't spending money on before, and now they are. IPv6 along with a set of security standards, maybe the tipping point that leverages most of what is there today, and come up with a whole new set of services.
all the best,
Kaivan
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Bert22306
11/2/2012 5:38 PM EDT
Kaivan, I agree that IPv6 can make these Internet-connected devices "more pervasive," simply because it has so much more address space. But a problem might be that people will misconstrue that comment.
You don't HAVE to use IPv6 to achieve most of these capabilities. And the security measures available in IPv6 are also available in IPv4. The very same security protocols.
So as far as I'm concerned, people should not go off assuming that this IoT was practically impossible until now.
One simple technique, which has worked for decades, is that previously isolated control system networks are connected to the Internet via a gateway device. The gateway device is easily capable of accepting messages from the Internet at an interface with an IP address, and then translating that address into the scheme used by the previously isolated control system net. And vice versa, for messages originating from the control system net.
With that technique, as well as more standardized techniques such as NAPT, you can greatly expand the usefulness of even the 32-bit IPv4 address space.
It' true that refrigerators and toasters have not typically been connected to the Internet in the past, so perhaps the average joe didn't know this could be done. However EET readers should not be bowled over by any of this.
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kaivan.karimi
11/9/2012 5:04 PM EST
Hi Bert,
IoT is nothing but a collection of evolutionary steps that most of the technologies are available today, however collectively it enbales new classes of services....the "whole" at that point will be much greater than the sum of the pieces.
BR,
Kaivan
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iniewski
11/2/2012 4:32 PM EDT
I agree @Bert...IoT is just a new buzzword, along the lines of many other ones (like cloud computing which was done years earlier without using the term)...marketing news buzzwords though, otherwise we would be lacking any exciting topics to talk about ;-)
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kaivan.karimi
11/2/2012 5:16 PM EDT
Hello @mac-droz and iniewski,
Hope all is well. @mac_droz has a great point about passive houses with the right insulation, as indeed heating and cooling are the largest expense for most home, and account for over 50% of the energy use in a typical U.S. home. You don’t need a “smart home” to keep cost down on your heating, cooling or lighting for that matter. There are a couple of cases, that a “connected” home with visibility into their appliance usage can help the grid, hence the concept of energy savings. During the peak hour for cooling or heating, e.g. 2-5 pm mid July in Austin, Texas, when the air conditioner is blasting non-stop, and the grid is experience a peak capacity….at the margins, the cost of producing electricity is a lot more expensive for the utility companies, than what they are selling the electricity to you. If they can track your appliances usage and make sure that during these peak hours you are not also as an example running your washing machine, and incentivize you to run it late at nights, then it’s a win-win for everyone, and cost of energy consumption can be reduced by a reasonable amount. This can only happen when the energy usage can be tracked at a major appliance level at the time of usage, as oppose to aggregate at the meter.
Most other services related to a “smart home” are convenience based, for remote tracking and monitoring and command and control….all of this can be done today, with or without the IoT tag on it… the only thing that makes all of this happen is IPv6, so more unique addresses for more uniquely identifiable devices on the internet.
Iniewski,
I am working on a paper on the role of sensor fusion in IoT that may be suitable for your cmoset. Please send me an email and we can discuss (kaivan.karimi@freescale.com).
All the best,
Kaivan
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iniewski
11/2/2012 5:42 PM EDT
thank you Kaivan, I will be happy to discuss, will send you an email in a moment
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Chris_999
11/8/2012 4:21 PM EST
Is there a chance to get the images in higher resolution
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Max the Magnificent
11/8/2012 4:43 PM EST
Let me see what I can do -- my Internet went down in the office, so I'm working from home -- I'll have a look around tomorrow -- Max
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Max the Magnificent
11/9/2012 9:45 AM EST
I just uploaded them as a PDF http://bit.ly/RJnB4J
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iniewski
11/9/2012 11:34 AM EST
Max, interesting pictures...I will be editing a book on IoT in 2013, would you be interested in co-editing? kris.iniewski@gmail.com
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kaivan.karimi
11/9/2012 5:00 PM EST
Try
http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/white_paper/INTOTHNGSWP.pdf
I can also send you the ppt version of each graphic. please send me an email kaivan.karimi@freescale.com
and let me know which one you want.
BR,
Kaivan
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Chris_999
11/9/2012 5:15 PM EST
Many thanks for following up so quickly with the images!
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Max the Magnificent
11/9/2012 6:01 PM EST
I live to serve :-)
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Troubleshoot1
3/11/2013 1:14 PM EDT
(*) 1980 A multi-story Bank with remote facilities addressed and installed a 100% Computer Controlled “complex”. It was operational on Day One. Within the next (7) Years additional technology was adapted in other projects that would be very compatible to enhance the First Project. (Interactive Tele-video with data – proven 1966, Holography Proven 1986, To the Penny monetary flows same day as start of SWIFT. Yet another example is the Chicago Mercantile exchange.) All other areas were already functional. Real World Functional operations exist to prove it! Newer devices such as the Apple I-5 and similar have addressed total communications with all these functions at this time. The ONLY limitations are the “VISION” of those involved and the KNOWLEDGE they share!!!
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