BITXml - an introduction
Several attempts have been made in order to identify a 'killer protocol' in the M2M arena. The authors of BITXml decided that the best way to approach the problem was to define a high level, xml-based extendible protocol, targeting at first the core functionalities commonly required by generic M2M applications, lying on a very general architectural model. The major guidelines of the project were:

1. Readability
2. Easy extendibility of the protocol specs
3. Maximum compatibility with any kind of commercial / proprietary m2m module, programming language, operating system
   

In general, the BITXml protocol was designed to easily support different I/O ports, network protocols, and core application functionalities. The result of this approach is a high level, flexible and extendible protocol. A great help to anyone is facing the complexities of a generic M2M project and needs a reference framework to express commands and control processes in an easy yet powerful way.

BITXML is open source
The BITXml protocol specifications can be freely downloaded from the BiTXml website.

But the "open source" approach is not limited to the protocol itself: BITXML source code drivers (libraries) for Java and .Net have been released on Sourceforge.net, along with the documentation needed to write remote monitoring embedded applications that are natively compliant with the BITXML protocol specifications. So far, the authors have covered the Java (j2me, j2ee) and .net (windows, windows ce, windows for automotive) environments. The release of a C++ version (mainly for Linux based embedded modules) is planned for Q2 2008 and a C language version is under evaluation.

Reference URLs

BITXml project website
Java BITXML drivers source code and documentation
.NET BITXML drivers source code and documentation

I've seen bitxml in the past, but can anyone give real world applications where it's being used? It seems to me this would be a very useful initiative if we could get device manufacturers to stop writing their own proprietary protocols.

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