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ICT for Health: Networks, standards and innovation

Table 1 – List of OCF specifications and OCF healthcare devices

OCF specifications OCF healthcare devices Releases
OCF Core Specification Blood pressure monitor 2.0.0
OCF Core Optional Specification Glucose meter 2.0.0
OCF Bridging Specification Body scale 2.0.0
OCF Resource Type Specification Body thermometer 2.0.0
OCF Device Specification Heart rate monitor 2.0.4
OCF Wi-Fi Easy Setup Specification Pulse oximeter 2.0.4
OCF Device to Cloud Services Specification Sleep monitor 2.0.4
OCF Resource to AllJoyn Interface Mapping Specification Activity tracker 2.0.4
OCF OneM2M Module Class Mapping Specification Continuous glucose meter 2.0.4
OCF Resource to Zigbee Cluster Mapping Specification Cycling power meter 2.0.5
OCF Security Specification Cycling speed sensor 2.0.5
OCF Onboarding Tool Specification Cycling cadence sensor 2.0.5
OCF Cloud Security Specification
Table 2 – OCF specification development process and validation to OCF specifications. The OCF provides the
conformance test tool (CTT) to authorized test laboratories
Process Description (ATLs) and specification developers to validate devices.
1 Identify use cases, scope, and requirements Specification developers must define new test cases to the
2 Write draft specification CTT to test whether devices comply with the proposed
3 Develop open source code and test cases specification or not. The OCF gives logos to the devices that
pass the certification test. The final pillar is the open-source
4 Distribute draft specification for IPR review reference implementation of the OCF specifications.
5 Publish final specification Specification developers have to provide a properly working

defined as part of the OCF Device Specification. The open-source code to guarantee whether the proposed
development of OCF healthcare devices are further specification is valid or not. The CTT validates the reference
elaborated in section 4. implementation. A new specification is allowed to be
published if all three pillars are satisfied.
The OCF offers RAND-Z as its intellectual property rights
(IPR) to facilitate the deployment of OCF technology among 3.3 IoTivity
members. Offering manufacturer-friendly IPR policies
enables the growth of the market by attracting not only large IoTivity is an OCF-sponsored open-source project, which
enterprises but also start-ups. After a continuous merger with implements all mandatory features of the OCF specification
UPnP and AllSeen Alliance, the OCF has become one of the along with some optional features [15]. It provides a
most significant industrial consortia for IoT standardization. reference implementation of OCF specifications to ensure
Most recently in November 2018, the OCF announced that interoperability between OCF devices and certification of
OCF 1.0 specifications have been ratified as international OCF products. OCF members take advantage of IoTivity
standards by ISO/IEC JTC 1 and approved as ISO/IEC because publication of OCF specifications requires open-
30118 (Parts 1-6) [14]. source implementation and certification. In this sense,
IoTivity provides the fastest and the easiest way to develop
3.2 3-pillar alignment not only standards but also products. IoTivity can be
installed in many IoT devices, even in class 2 constrained
devices [16] to minimize CPU load, traffic and bandwidth.
Unlike any other industry groups or SDOs, the OCF has a IoTivity uses an Apache 2.0 license with its accompanying
unique policy when developing its specifications: the policy
is titled the "3-pillar alignment", which mandates patent grant.
specification developers to provide not only specifications,
but also a proof of passing the certification program provided 4. HEALTHCARE SPECIFICATION
by the OCF, and finally, an open-source reference DEVELOPMENT IN OCF USING IOTIVITY
implementation of the proposed specification. The ultimate
goal of 3-pillar alignment is to ensure full interoperability In this section, the authors carry out an in-depth analysis of
between devices and compatibility to specifications. their standardization efforts for the development of
healthcare IoT devices for the OCF specification and how
The first pillar is the specifications which define baseline they engaged in open-source reference implementations. The
functionalities and vertical profiles for OCF devices as authors primarily focus on the interaction with IoTivity and
described above. The second pillar is the certification why using the open-source solution was crucial during the
program to carry out conformance testing for interoperability specification development. The authors explain how IoTivity
offered a solution to meet the challenge of developing

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