AllJoyn™ is a collaborative open-source software framework that makes it easy for developers to write applications that can discover nearby devices, and communicate with each other directly regardless of brands, categories, transports, and OSes without the need of the cloud. The AllJoyn framework is extremely flexible with many features to help make the vision of the Internet of Things come to life.
Proximal Network
The AllJoyn framework handles the complexities of discovering nearby devices, creating sessions between devices, and communicating securely between those devices. It abstracts out the details of the physical transports and provides a simple-to-use API. Multiple connection session topologies are supported, including point-to-point and group sessions. The security framework is flexible, supporting many mechanisms and trust models. And the types of data transferred are also flexible, supporting raw sockets or abstracted objects with well-defined interfaces, methods, properties, and signals.
Flexible
One of the defining traits of the AllJoyn framework is its inherent flexibility.
It was designed to run on multiple platforms, ranging from small embedded RTOS platforms to full-featured OSes. It supports multiple language bindings and transports. And since the AllJoyn framework is open-source, this flexibility can be extended further in the future to support even more transports, bindings, and features.
- Transports: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Serial, Power Line (PLC)
- Bindings: C, C++, Obj-C, Java
- Platforms: RTOS, Arduino, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows, Mac
- Security: peer-to-peer encryption (AES128) and authentication (PSK, ECDSA)
Common language for Internet of Things
In order to fully realize the vision of the Internet of Things, devices and apps need a common way to interact and speak to each other. We believe that common language is the AllJoyn framework: it serves as the glue to allow devices from different companies, running on different operating systems, written with different language bindings to all speak together, and just work.
The AllSeen Alliance, working with the open-source community, is defining and implementing common services and interfaces that solves a specific use case, such as onboarding a new device for the first time, sending notifications, and controlling a device. Developers can then take these services, integrate them into their products, and know that they are compatible with other devices and apps in the AllJoyn ecosystem.
Beyond common services and interfaces, an app or device can also implement private interfaces. So, the app can both use common services and interfaces to participate in the larger AllJoyn ecosystem, while at the same time, use the AllJoyn framework to communicate with apps and devices in a private fashion. The AllJoyn framework enables this flexibility.
Optional Cloud
The AllJoyn framework runs on the local network and does not require the cloud to function. Apps and devices talk to each other directly — fast, efficient, and secure. No need to go out and wait for the cloud when the device is right next to you. And in cases where the cloud is needed, the AllJoyn framework supports that as well through a Gateway Agent. One main advantage of this architecture is security: only the Gateway Agent is directly connected to the Internet, reducing the number of devices connected to the Internet, and thus reducing the attack surface.
Momentum
As a collaborative open source project, the AllSeen ecosystem continues to grow and evolve. More common services are being added with each release, including implementation for multiple platforms. There is strong momentum, and with your help, the AllJoyn framework can very well be the common language for the Internet of Things.
Next steps
Learn more about use cases. Then head over to learn about the overall Architecture, Core Framework, and Base Services.