THE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNET-OF-THINGS INDUSTRIAL
CHAIN BASED ON HYPERCYCLE THEORY
Qian Xiong, Xiyan Lv
Institute of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
Yanchun Liang
Institute of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
Keywords: Internet of Things, Industrial Chain, Hyper Cycle.
Abstract: This paper analyzed the development characteristics of China’s internet-of-things industrial chain based
on hyper cycle theory. It considered the development of the internet-of-things industrial chain as the result
of hyper cycle, just like the origin of life. After that, it analyzed the development status of this industrial
chain and the mechanism of its hyper cycle structure. After all, the internal and external factors had been
explored in order to provide some reference for the development of the internet-of-things industrial Chain
in China.
1 INTRODUCTION
The internet-of-things is to connect all the objects
with the internet by RFID and information sensing
devices such as barcode. Its ultimate purpose is to
reach the goal of identifying and managing wisely.
Besides RFID technology, the sensor technology,
nanotechnology, intelligent terminal technology will
also get more extensive application (Wei Liu et al.
2010). In China, the development of the
internet-of-things is still in the early stage and there
is still no uniform and standard definition about it.
The establishing process of China's
internet-of-things industrial chain can be considered
as the forming process of an organism. The current
domestic research of the internet-of-things mostly
concentrated in the technical level. For its industry
chain is seldom researched. This paper analyzed the
internet-of-things industry chain based on the hyper
cycle theory. It can provide theory foundation for
the policy making and strategic plan of the
internet-of-things industrial chain.
2 THE PRESENT
DEVELOPMENT SITUATION
OF CHINA'S
INTERNET-OF-THINGS
INDUSTRIAL CHAIN
The concept of ‘internet-of-things’ is based on the
premise that using RFID, intelligent terminal
technology to identify the objects and using
network to undertake data exchange. And then it has
been constantly extended and perfected.
In China, the development of the
internet-of-things is in the initial stage and domestic
manufacturers have just realized some small range
of applications such as Electronic Toll Collection
(ETC).
However, there are still a series of problems in
China's internet-of-things industry chain
development. For example, the development of each
unit on the industry chain is imbalance. Also, there
are obvious differences in the order of obtaining
profit and the future development space. What's
more, the leader of the industrial chain is not clear
and external support is not enough. These problems
need further and in-depth analysis in order to
explore effective and reasonable solution.
513
Xiong Q., Lv X. and Liang Y..
THE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNET-OF-THINGS INDUSTRIAL CHAIN BASED ON HYPERCYCLE THEORY.
DOI: 10.5220/0003588905130517
In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ITLS-2011), pages 513-517
ISBN: 978-989-8425-56-0
Copyright
c
2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
3 THE SELF-ORGANIZING
FEATURE OF THE
INTERNET-OF-THINGS
INDUSTRIAL CHAIN
Self-organization means that various components of
the system interact and cause the system to achieve
the development of natural evolution without the
pushing of external forces. The hyper cycle theory
in the self-organization theory system can be used
to analyze the development process of industrial
chain. And that can provide some reference for the
problems such as the composition of the industrial
chain, the value chain in the industrial chain, etc.
Firstly, the formation of a self-organizing system
needs 5 main conditions: the system is open; the
external input reaches a certain threshold; the
system is far from equilibrium; the system is a
nonlinear system; the system faces fluctuation.
(Guangming Zhang et al. 2010)
(1) The openness of the internet-of-things
industrial chain
The development of China’s internet-of-things
industrial chain started evening compared with
developed country. So we should continuous learn
the advanced experience and technology from the
other countries. So it is obvious that the
internet-of-things industrial chain system is open.
(2) The external input reaches a certain
threshold
The research on China’s internet-of-things
industrial chain now emphasizes on technical level.
And the research on something beyond technology
such as the privacy security, legal protection and the
public approval degree is far from enough. Only
when the external input reaches a certain threshold
can the internet-of-things industrial chain system
reach an orderly state, and realize a stable
development.
(3) The system is far from equilibrium
The development of the units in the industrial
chain is not balanced. For example, the number of
the enterprises who manufacture application
equipment and provide the system integration is
large, while the links of chip designing and
manufacture as well as software application and
development is relatively weak. Anyhow, the
difference between units in the industrial chain fully
explained its character of far from equilibrium.
(4) The system is a nonlinear system.
The development of the internet-of-things
industrial chain is not the simple algebra addition of
the technology and service of every enterprise in the
industrial chain. The function inside the
internet-of-things industrial chain is nonlinear and
can emerge new qualitative.
(5) The system faces fluctuation
Fluctuation is the random disturbance on the
system and its structure. Only by enlarge the
function of fluctuation and create “giant
fluctuation”, can the system break the bondage of
original inertia and bring about qualitative change.
(Guangming Zhang et al. 2010)
Judging from worldwide, the development of the
internet-of-things is imbalance. Europe and
Japan-Korea countries are in the lead, while many
developing countries are just in the beginning stages.
So, the exchanges between counties will create a
“giant fluctuation”.
All in all, the internet-of-things industrial chain
has the feature of self-organizing. In the next step,
the author will use the hyper cycle theory, which is
a kind of self-organized theory, to analyze the
industrial chain specifically.
4 THE HYPERCYCLE
EVOLU-TIONARY PRINCIPLE
OF THE
INTERNET-OF-THINGS
INDUSTRIAL CHAIN
4.1 The Evolutionary Principle
of Hypercycle
The hyper cycle theory stated that the origins and
evolution of life is realized through the form of
hyper cycle organization. The formation process of
hyper cycle organization is as follows:
I
1
and I
2
are replicators which are closed and
quantitative. The replicate enzyme of I
1
is E
1
and the
one of I
2
is E
2
. Their replicate enzymes can
recognize the two DNA sequences which have a bit
difference. They are more conducive to replicate
either itself or the opposite side just because the
close degree in which their replicate enzyme and
DNA sequences combine is different. There are 4
coupling way between the two replicators and their
replicate enzymes.
If E1 can help to catalyze the self-replication of
I1 and can help to catalyze the self-replication of I2,
the competition between them is enhanced. Even I
1,
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I
2
, E
1
, E
2
is said to be in equilibrium, this balance is
fragile. And the result is ‘Survival of the fittest or
Survival of the luckiest’. (Figure 1(a))
If both E1 and E2 are more suitable to catalyze
the self-replication of I1 (I2) than I2 (I1), the result
is the self-replication of I1 (I2) is enhanced and the
self-replication of I2 (I1) is weakened. (I1) will be
replaced by I1 (I2) in the competition. (Figure 1(b),
Figure 1(c))
Figure 1: The interaction forms between replicators and
replicate enzyme.
However, if E1 can help to catalyze the
self-replication of I2 and can help to catalyze the
self-replication of I1, there will be no winner in the
competition between I1 and I2.Both of them are
forced to cooperate. The system which is composed
of replicators and replicate enzymes ultimately
develops the coupled mode of self-enhancement and
mutual enhancement and forms the two-unit hyper
cyclic structure.(Figure 1(d)) Only in this way of
hyper cycle can the organism be formed. After that,
the mutant of I1 called I1’may appear.( Figure 2(a))
If E1’ is more helpful for I
1
to replicate than E2, or
for I1 and I2 to replicate, the mutant I1’ will enter
the hyper cycle as I3. With the increasing
emergence of aberrance and natural selection, more
and more replicators can generate nonlinear
interaction by functional coupling, form
complicated multi-unit hypercyclic structure.
Figure 2: The forming process of the multi-unit
hypercyclic structure.
4.2 The Characteristics
of the Hypercycle Structure
of the Internet-of-things Industrial
Chain
The formation and development of the
internet-of-things industrial chain has the
characteristics of self-organized. If we regard the
industrial chain as living organisms, then the units
in the industrial chain are the replicators of the
organisms (I
i
in the hyper cycle structure).Every
replicator replicate in order to enhance and
consolidate its status in the internet-of-things
industrial chain. If there appears the mutant I
1
in
the process of aberrance, that means new units has
joined in the industrial chain. As long as the units
want to keep its status in the industrial chain, they
must play their core superiority as well as they can.
And they may affect the value creation of the others
through function coupling. That is the coupling
effect created by the self-enhancement and mutual
enhancement between replicators and replicate
enzymes. But there is a little difference between
living organisms and the industrial chain. That is,
the purpose of the organisms is to form a life, while
the purpose of the self-replication and coupling of
the units in the industrial chain is to create value.
The simulation relationship between the
internet-of-things industrial chain and organisms is
as follows:
Table 1: The simulation relationship between the
internet-of-things industrial chain and organisms.
the hyper cycle
structure of
organism
the internet-of-things
industrial chain
replicators which
are
closed(RNA)I
1
,I
2
The units in the industrial
chain. Such as RFID & sensor
provider, the
internet-of-things operator.
Replicate
enzymes(informat
ion encoded by
RNA)E
1
,E
2
The core technology,
profitability, business level,
innovative ability,
cooperation inclination of the
units in the industrial chain.
Replication of
replicators
The units manage its own
core technology and try
technology innovation and
business expansion.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNET-OF-THINGS INDUSTRIAL CHAIN BASED ON HYPERCYCLE THEORY
515
Table 1: The simulation relationship between the
internet-of-things industrial chain and organisms (Cont).
Replicate
enzymes is
helpful for the
self-replication of
replicators
The units try to achieve a
favorable development by
using its own comprehensive
strength and the information
obtained from the external.
Replicate
enzymes is more
helpful for the
other replicator to
replicate
If the technology innovation
and information of one unit is
helpful for the development
of another one, then they can
promote each other by
information sharing,
communication and
cooperation.
The aberrance of
replicators (there
appears the
mutant of I
1
called
I
1
’)
New unit wants to join the
industrial chain. It can either
perfect the function of the
industrial chain or form a
contrast competition
relationship with a certain
unit.
The aberrance is
meaningful. In
other words, the
replicate enzyme
of I
1
’is more
helpful for I
1
to
replicate than E
2
.
In this case,
I
1
’will become I
3
and it can join the
hyper cycle
structure.
If the technology and
professional ability
(professional software
products) of the new unit I
1
can meet the needs of I
1
(operators and service
providers) and it is more
conducive to the cooperation
with I
2
, then I
1
will join in
and form a better structure.
5 THE ANALYSIS
OF THE HYPERCYCLE
STRUCTURE OF CHINA’S
INTERNET-OF-THINGS
INDUSTRIAL CHAIN
5.1 Internal and External Analysis
Firstly, analyze from the perspective of the units
inside the industrial chain. The communication
network industrial chain can be regarded as a
relatively stable hyper cycle structure. All the units
in the industrial chain can be regarded as close
replicators in this hyper cycle structure. They use
their own replicate enzymes (core technology,
profitability, business level, and innovation ability,
cooperation orientation) to catalyze the
self-replication and mutually enrich. Along with the
development of the internet-of-things, besides the
original demands in the communication network
industrial chain, there exists new demands such as
internal technical demand, external policy demand
and environment support.
Driven by the new demands, the units in the
industrial chain begin corresponding technical
innovation and business expansion. They try hard to
meet these needs and improve its status in the
industrial chain. At the same time, relevant
enterprises outside the industrial chain (including
domestic and abroad) hope to join this emerging
industry chain relying on its technical superiority
and to obtain corresponding interest distribution.
In this process, on the one hand, communication
module providers and operators use their own
replicate enzymes (core technology, profitability,
and business level, innovation ability) to catalyze
the self-replication and aberrance. On the other
hand, there existed the mutant of the original
replicators from outside the industrial chain, such as
RFID & sensor providers.
5.2 Problems
To the current situation, both the internal units and
the external environment are quiet incomplete and
unstable, for instance:
(1) The Lack of dominant. The development of
any industry must depend on the convergence and
coordination of all units in the industrial chain and
reasonable distribution of benefits. So, to achieve
good development of internet-of-things industrial
chain, there must be a dominant to promote the
development of the whole industrial chain. Now
there is still no dominant in the internet-of-things
industrial chain.
(2) The development of the units in the
industrial chain is unbalance and the coupling
capability between them is weak. This mainly
reflected in the RFID technology. Low-frequency
RFID technology is more mature while UHF and
microwave RFID lack of domestic technology.
Links which need relatively high technological
content such as IC design, software applications and
development are relatively weak.
(3) The lack of support from the external
environment. The current national policy guidance
has been adequate. But relevant laws and
regulations, security measures and public
recognition are far from enough.
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5.3 Suggestions
To conclude, for the current development of the
internet-of-things industrial chain in our country,
the investment and research should be strengthened
in the following aspects:
(1) Determine the leader of the industrial chain.
The leader of the industrial chain should have a
considerable degree of control. On one handit
should restrict the upstream equipment suppliers, on
the other hand it should increase control through
cooperation, specifically, in the form of purchasing
products and services.
(2) Continue to strengthen the research in
technology, especially in weak links such as chip
technology and related interface standards.
(3) Establish the reasonable mechanism for
cooperation and competition, and also the
mechanism for profit distribution. The mechanisms
should have the function of helping the units to do
the self-replication. At the same time, the replicate
enzymes are complementary. It means that the units
can achieve co-evolution by exchange of
information and complementary of resources.
(4) The formulation of related laws and
regulations is important, so is the research on safety
and security program. Also, it is necessary to
increase the propagandas among the public.
6 SUMMARIES
According to the analysis, the internet-of-things
industry chain in China is constitute of RFID and
sensor technology provider, communication
module provider, middleware provider, system
software integration provider and internet-of-things
operators. Then, it analyzed the hypercycle structure
of both the internal units and external environment.
In this way, it deeply analyzed the problems
existing. Such problems have the following impact:
Firstly, it can affect the self-replication of the units
in the industrial chain. Some units, especially the
technology provider, may be affected for the lack of
effective replicate enzymes, for example, technical
standards. Secondly, it can affect the coupling
capability between the units in the industrial chain.
This is has no good for the cooperation and
competition between units. What’s more, it can
affect the ability of selection and mutation of the
units. Such facts may bring about the threats of
Information security.
To conclude, the development of China’s
internet-of-things industry chain can not only limits
in terms of technology. It is also important to
formulate relevant standards and regulations,
determine the leader of the industry chain and
strengthen the propaganda among the public.
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