AllJoyn is an open source project, initially developed by the
Qualcomm Innovation Center, and hosted by the AllSeen Alliance, which provides a universal software framework and core set of system services that enable interoperability among connected products and software applications across manufacturers to create dynamic proximal networks.
Manufacturers can offer interoperable products and services, from the mobile devices consumers always have with them, to the appliances and media equipment in their homes, to the electronics in their cars and the office equipment in their workplaces.
The project offers core building blocks and services to address: discovery, connectivity, security and management of ad-hoc proximal networks among nearby devices. Not just a low-level communications protocol, the project seeks to solves higher-level problems including service-level discovery, capabilities broadcasting, remote procedure calls, interface sharing, all benefits of Wi-Fi security, message marshaling and the ability to react to dynamic, ad-hoc network changes.
The project is meant to be cross-platform, cross-brand, and cross-physical layers as it bridges ecosystems for individual markets and product categories. It promotes the discovery of new use cases and the creation of new business models offering interoperability across leading OS and embed devices like small home appliances that don’t run an OS.
The AllJoyn Core Framework includes a set of service frameworks that, by design, are very simple and address the desire for users to interact with their nearby things.
The initial set of service frameworks include:
Device Information & Configuration – allows the device to broadcast information such as device type, manufacturer and serial numbers; also allows the user to assign a name and password to the device.
Onboarding – allows headless and other simple devices to be easily connected via an intermediary to the user’s network.
Notifications – so products can broadcast and receive basic communications easily (text, image/video, audio).
Control Panel – enables a device like a smartphone or tablet to control another product via a graphical interface.
Audio – so any device with audio can stream it to any set of Alljoyn-enabled speakers, audio receivers and other audio playback devices.
With the
AllJoyn SDK, developers can drastically reduce the time, effort, and cost of adding peer-to-peer features to an application. Whether developing for a smartphone, tablet, television, PC, or embedded consumer electronics, AllJoyn is designed to provide the connectivity to enable groundbreaking new experiences.