iCONET

Physical Internet management and control platform that will serve as a test platform to validate and develop the R&D needed to drive the Physical Internet (PI) concept.

Problem

The technology focus of the ICONET project will be to produce a cloud-based IP management and control platform that will serve as an experimental platform that will support the research and development needed to drive the Physical Internet (PI) concept forward throughout the project.

The project requirements gathering workflow will be incorporated into the IP reference architecture model, which will be used as the basis for the initial and subsequent design iterations of the proof-of-concept (PoC) cloud-based IP management and control platform. This PoC platform will enable the detailed study of deployed and simulated physical Internet use cases driven by Living Labs requirements. It will allow detailed research on all physical Internet concepts to promote the state of the art of digital prototype IP in the course of ICONET.

By conducting detailed research in the areas of inter-node and PI node connectivity, intelligent optimization of PI nodes, network abstractions and encapsulation protocols, routing algorithms and logic, IoT topologies and IoT integration mechanisms, security and privacy, real-time data analytics. optimization of IP networks and simulation of IP networks, significant progress is expected to be made in the following areas:

• Deliver the digital backbone for PI. A cloud-based connectivity platform on which IP networks can be created based on federated IP nodes.
• Support for IP connectivity platform as a service across a multitude of cloud infrastructures
• Facilitating interconnection between clouds to create federations of IP nodes/hubs
• Forming a digital IP connectivity framework: linking and federating previously disconnected logistics networks to enable the realization of the IP concept.

Results

The project results demonstrate that applying IoT and Data Analytics solutions to improve logistics and reduce CO2 emissions in transportation through the ‘physical internet’ is key. The new distribution model is an open global logistics system, based on physical, digital and operational interconnectivity through encapsulation, the use of interfaces and protocol design.

The European Iconet project is validating the new communication infrastructure and the reference architecture for operating in future ‘physical internet’ logistics networks.

As an expert technological partner in technologies applied to the logistics sector, in this project framed in Horizon 202, ITA is in charge of the design of the necessary infrastructure and the simulation of the new scenarios.

The physical internet management rules will make the best decisions for the package to arrive safely and efficiently. The main advantage of ‘physical internet’ is that better use will be made of logistical resources, space in trucks, trains, ships or warehouses.