This paper highlights some crucial design challenges of Machine-to-Machine
(M2M) systems. The focus is on the cellular based, wireless wide area network
systems. Design of M2M terminals, used as wireless sensor nodes, is covered
in detail, including the criteria for selecting appropriate core and hard-
ware peripherals. Discussion is extended to modeling and design of terminal?s
embedded software. Communication using framework and backend application
software architectures are explored. Practical examples of the described
design principles are demonstrated.