Google IoT OS 'Brillo' Effort Targeting Home Routers

[paulbates]

Google IoT OS 'Brillo' Effort Targeting Home Routers

From NextMarket

 

 

Yesterday, The Information reported on a new effort by Google to create new software for the Internet of Things. The Information reported it would run under the Android brand and would connect low power devices such as fridges, light bulbs, garden monitors and more. Brillo likely would be part of the broader Android family.

I asked around from my sources and got some more information on Brillo not found anywhere else. This is what I learned:

 

Google’s been out talking to manufacturers about Brillo for a few months. One of the key early targets for Google was home router manufacturers. This is because as part of the local “smart things" network architecture envisioned by Google (at least in the home), there would be a set of code (likely a full RTOS) running on a home router that would enable it to talk to low power devices and act essentially as the smart home hub. According to my sources, Google has approached numerous router manufacturers such as Netgear, Asus and possibly others. They say Google sees existing home device categories - particularly the home router -as a very logical device to act as a central part of the smart home architecture. It’s essentially a post-hub vision (a direction for the smart home I’ve been writing about for over a year). Basically Google wants Brillo to do for routers what Android did for phones.

 

Much of the compute will run in the cloud. My sources compared it to the same overall concept as Google Chrome OS, which as many know was an architecture that utilized an ultra thin software client OS for Google Chromebooks and run much of the compute the cloud. 

 

With Brillo, my sources say Google is talking about utilizing low power radio technologies other than Thread (a Nest-initiated effort that's now an industry consortium) such as Zigbee. The reason is Google knows they would need to talk to a variety of installed legacy nodes currently running out there today, many of which have Zigbee radios that wouldn’t necessarily be field upgradable to Thread (both technologies run atop the IEEE 802.15.4). My sources say they're also talking Thread as well, but the news here to me is that it's bigger and beyond Thread.

 

The team working on Brillo, according to my sources, reports to Craig Barratt, who many will recognize as the former CEO of Atheros (which later became Qualcomm Atheros after Qualcomm acquired the Wi-Fi chipmaker). Barratt, as you can see from his Linkedin, has been a VP with Google since June 2013. Brillo is also very much not part of the hardware group being run by Tony Fadell, as Barratt’s overall responsibility includes the Google access efforts such as Google Fiber, Loon, Drones. 

 

All of this makes sense to me. A few thoughts based on what I’ve learned:

 

• The Information stated Brillo would run on low power devices with 32 to 64 MB of RAM. The problem here is that much RAM is not typical of most ultra low power devices in the home. Smart locks or smart bulbs have much less than that, typically running something like 128KB of internal RAM, an order of magnitude lower than 64 MB or RAM. This validates the router-centric network architecture from my sources. While I can envision other devices other than a home router running the full Brillo stack (like maybe, say, a Nest Thermostat?) and bridging to these truly low-power, low-memory devices, the home router has always been the most logical device category to absorb the home IoT hub capabilities. 

• The vision allows Google to insert itself into the smart home and consumer IoT use cases without relying on their own native hardware. While Nest and Dropcam are doing fairly well in a nascent smart home market, the reality is there are a variety of platforms out there and Nest is throwing elbows with the likes of Apple, Amazon and likely Microsoft in the future. This will allow them to align themselves with the popular brands already running the biggest network in the home today, the existing home network. 

• Since the company has been talking about radio technologies other than Wi-Fi and targeting home router makers, I expect they are talking to these companies about building home routers with new radios. This is a new model, obviously, except for some very forward leaning home router makers such as Securifi (who started shipping a home router with embedded Zigbee/Z-Wave this year). I imagine Google’s probably been talking to Securifi as well (or at least they should be).

• Given this is not part of Nest, does this make sense to have essentially what is a competing vision for consumer IoT and smart home? Maybe, but it certainly fits with past Google behavior. Google’s had a long history of competing and overlapping efforts; witness its multiple efforts to reach us with consumer video with Android TV, Chromecast, YouTube, etc etc. 

That’s it. I’ll have more thoughts next week on this as we learn more. Keep an eye out for the full details at Google I/O next week.

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[Teken]

All I know is if Google decides to collaborate with a router manufacturer it better not be with Cisco / LincSys! Ever since Cisco bought out LinkSys their product has been complete sh^t!

 

If I didn't have so many dependencies on their mobile App and other resources. I would have dropped them like a bad habit long ago. They have the worst product development and support I have seen in the last ten years.

 

Literally, their support is at the same level as Smartlabs when speaking about firmware updates! If you buy a router from them you should be lucky if their is a firmware update before its replaced by another piece of crap product.

 

On Point: I can't say whether or not I have buy in to have my network router having native control of my homes HA systems. Like you said this might be where the industry is heading so lets see how that plays out. All I know is I won't be the first sheeple in tossing around hard earned cash for something not proven etc.

 

Everyday I get more worried all those crazy movies I loved so very much will come true. Where Sky NET in Terminator comes along, as we already see in IBM's Big Blue / Watson. Seeing cars already self guided and people having the ability to engage the breaks, accelerator, ignition etc.

 

All of this integrated stuff will truly be the baine of our existence . . .

 

In 20 years so many people will be so dumb because everything is automated and done for them. God only knows where man kind will be from there.

 

At some point critical thinking, trouble shooting, problem solving, and the will to exceed will go away. One only needs to look at the kids coming out of school!

[G W]

Look at the Almond router. I really like mine.

[Teken]

Look at the Almond router. I really like mine.

It said its not available unless you're talking about the lower model?

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

[G W]

It said its not available unless you're talking about the lower model?

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

Okay, look at the specs of the Almond. It's not perfect but it has Z-Wave built-in.

[Teken]

Okay, look at the specs of the Almond. It's not perfect but it has Z-Wave built-in.

Yeah I saw the specs a few months back and at the time it was the top model I considered for purchase.

 

Was this product a KS project back in the day?

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

[G W]

Yes, I got mine on KickStarter. And I feel it's still more advanced, for the price, than any router I can off the shelf today.

[larryllix]

I dumped a DLink years back. Not too bad, for it's time, but the ISP sent out disconnect signals on the lowest level that it rebooted on. This was to control bandwidth of P2P packettes. Since made illegal I understand.  DLink assured me that the newer models still do this on receiving that signal. Takes about 3-5 minutes to come back up to speed,

 

Next I bought a Cisco top of the line about $300 with HDD servers on it. What a P.O.S.! 5GHz was good for about 12 feet. Updraded it with DD-WRT opensource freeware and suddenly works well. Connects my WebControl in a remote building to my house LAN with it's bridge mode added t it with the upgrade.

 

Latest I went and got a NetGear AC1900. Class act and very settable with good reliability. I need to investigate turning down the Tx power though as people can see it a kilometre away in my rural setting. I love to set unused guest SSID to things like Municipal_Free_WiFi or SexShop just to tease the neighbours. Yup. Start the rumour mill working in a small town.

[Teken]

My next router will be a Asus branded AC variant. 

 

I'm hesitant on buying a new router because (yet again) someone has to up the ante on speed etc. How about these people make the real world range and speed practical. How about more than (4) Ethernet ports like 6/8. How about they drop the whole USB 2.0 and make all the ports USB 3.0!

 

And how about they stop catering to the stupid with the plain and simple UI controls! I don't know why it takes people like Tomatoe and others to make an existing product better??

 

Cisco / LinkSys should be completely embarrassed knowing people who have absolutely nothing to do with them are releasing firmware 100 times better than their engineer!

 

Cisco / LinkSys you suck . . . 

[bipto]

... Cisco / LinkSys you suck . . . 

LOL...  Linksys was sold to Belkin 2 years ago.  By most accounts I've heard / reviews I've read, etc., their latest round of product offerings under their new parent is a vast improvement over their bargain-basement Cisco days.  Understandably you may not be ready to rush right out and buy, but you might not want to be quite so quick to count them out... 

[G W]

My next router will be a Asus branded AC variant.

 

I'm hesitant on buying a new router because (yet again) someone has to up the ante on speed etc. How about these people make the real world range and speed practical. How about more than (4) Ethernet ports like 6/8. How about they drop the whole USB 2.0 and make all the ports USB 3.0!

 

And how about they stop catering to the stupid with the plain and simple UI controls! I don't know why it takes people like Tomatoe and others to make an existing product better??

 

Cisco / LinkSys should be completely embarrassed knowing people who have absolutely nothing to do with them are releasing firmware 100 times better than their engineer!

 

Cisco / LinkSys you suck . . .

How about just buying a router that is a router?

 

I have a router, switches, access points and firewall. The access points connect to the switches and can all run independently of the router. The switches connect to the firewall which connects to the router.

 

The internal network is gigabyte.

 

The router only has to support the speed of the ISP.

 

So, ta-da, I only need upgrade the components that I want to.

[paulbates]

I'm building up ET ports again. Pre wireless, ET was the only choice. Once wireless came in and stabilized, most of my devices went that way and 4 ports on the router were fine. Now with a NAS, ISY, 2 Pis, TV and a AMI meter appliance, its back to another switch. There seems to be a trend for single purpose hubs that require ET connectivity.

 

The Pis could go wireless based on my application mix. but I need to find a 5ghz adapter for the Pi that has been documented to work out of the box on raspbian; without having to recompile libraries, etc. That's proving hard to find.

[Teken]

How about just buying a router that is a router?

 

I have a router, switches, access points and firewall. The access points connect to the switches and can all run independently of the router. The switches connect to the firewall which connects to the router.

 

The internal network is gigabyte.

 

The router only has to support the speed of the ISP.

 

So, ta-da, I only need upgrade the components that I want to.

 

Everything you have stated is 100% spot on and I do agree. My comment was more about having my cake and eating it too! I already have my network system broken down into independent hardware layers. The problem I ran into was trying to balance my energy consumption vs features to performance aspects.

 

I had to retire a host of enterprise managed switches, hubs, POE switches etc when energy conservation was the primary goal. The same thing with eight blade servers because in the big picture none of this gear was every being used as intended and I certainly could not afford to pay for the hydro bill each month just to host small services like a SMTP server, Web Server, SysLog Server etc.

 

I guess trying to balance consumer vs enterprise gear in the hopes the power requirements are the same is something that perhaps in the future will come to pass. 

[G W]

While I don't like giving money to utilities, I do spend money on my convenience and pleasures.

 

I like my toys and if the toys utilize power, I happy to oblige. I do save where is is practical and convenient. I have replaced every light with highly efficient LEDes. My garage door is battery powered and charged by solar panels. All outside lighting is LED.

 

All grounds watering is now sub-surface. Showers for my 4 children are times. Hot water is heated on demand. My washed and dryer are he4.

 

My house is heated by gas and cooled with outside and sub-surface air.

 

I have done much to make my house efficient so I can drive my SUV and power my toys.

[G W]

By-the-way, you can have your cake and eat it, but you will have to share some with me.

[larryllix]

.....

 

The router only has to support the speed of the ISP.

 

.....

Yes, but every router that I have seen has four ports on it, meaning it has an attached hub or switch and that part should support the speed of your LAN.

 

My ISP service may only be 25 Mbits/second but I frequently pass movies through from one PC to my media player at 500MBits/second. The router section to my ISP is not involved. Even then they take around one minute per movie to move.

[G W]

Yes, but every router that I have seen has four ports on it, meaning it has an attached hub or switch and that part should support the speed of your LAN.

 

My ISP service may only be 25 Mbits/second but I frequently pass movies through from one PC to my media player at 500MBits/second. The router section to my ISP is not involved. Even then they take around one minute per movie to move.

I don't trust all-in-one devices and I've never found a good "one size fits all" item.

 

Never. Never I say, never. Not even if it's pretty, pretty, pretty.

 

I don't know, maybe it's just me, I've only been doing this 40 years.

[larryllix]

I don't trust all-in-one devices and I've never found a good "one size fits all" item.

 

Never. Never I say, never. Not even if it's pretty, pretty, pretty.

 

I don't know, maybe it's just me, I've only been doing this 40 years.

I assume you are not talking about the modem and router combination. For sure. The only ones of those I have heard of have been terrible. These are ones our cable local  ISP (Rogers) is forcing on people. A neighbour has one and can't get his WiFi across the room, My one son has his configured as a bridge into a decent router,  and another bought one and just tossed it 

 

I have  a few switches that stand alone but I have not seen a router without a built in hub as yet. It would always require a hub or switch unless you are running a single computer on your LAN. What brand of stand-alone router do you have?

[G W]

I use a Cisco 4700 router.

[larryllix]

I use a Cisco 4700 router.

From the old Cisco commercial line before Cisco ruined there reputation with the cheap home lines. That  power supply would probably burst my router cabinet into flames.  OTOH the PS rating isn't what is being consumed, for sure. Most of us could never afford that Lexus of the line.

 

I installed a lot of Cisco larger switches, years back, building  a multiple city WAN with fibre optics for supplying services to ISPs and larger consumers. Cisco stuff was built like a brick shiphouse back then. I suspect the upper lines still are.

 

I made sure I got my last router with a switch instead of the usual hub built in. It moves a lot of data traffic with Gigabit Ethernet, that doesn't involve my ISP.

[G W]

I'm looking at getting a new ISP router that does use less power and is more efficient. I don't want wireless and it only needs two LAN ports. One that goes to my main switch and one for my Vonage adapter.

 

My network is very modular and I can replace any one item without taking down the rest of the network.

[Jimbo.Automates]

It looks like Weave could be a bigger deal, a common way for all devices to communicate, similar to the new node server in 5.0.  http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/28/google-announces-brillo-os-for-the-internet-of-things/

[Teken]

Oh God yet another protocol?

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

[G W]

It looks like Weave could be a bigger deal, a common way for all devices to communicate, similar to the new node server in 5.0. http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/28/google-announces-brillo-os-for-the-internet-of-things/

Only if everyone adopts it.

 

I'm willing to adopt it if Google gets the big guys to play. If it can be implemented on the ISY it has a good chance.

[Teken]

Only if everyone adopts it.

 

I'm willing to adopt it if Google gets the big guys to play. If it can be implemented on the ISY it has a good chance.

This is exactly why the mass has no freaking clue what to buy, adopt, or deploy. Everybody wants to control the HA industry with their ideal protocol.

 

I trust google as far as I can lift a 600lbs phat man over my head.

 

 

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent