A New Approach to Remote IoT Connectivity

When we think of Internet of Things we generally think of the more consumer focused smart home applications, connected fridges, smart door locks etc. But many IoT applications are located much far apart from a field. This presents remarkable challenges to both the design and connectivity of the device, the biggest trouble is no scope for error, as troubleshooting and maintenance of remote and roaming IoT devices is complex and costly.

Experts forecast that by 2020; 20 to 50 billion IoT devices will be connected in their specific IoT ecosystems. This augmented growth requires that connected devices illustrate a high level of compatibility, accuracy and security. As IoT grows, companies connectivity expenses will increase by about 15 % annually through 2022. To seize this growth, connectivity providers will expand their coverage and analyze innovative technologies, containing low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs).

While the industry is being projected to grow constantly in the coming years, it’s better to work on new approaches to support connectivity. To achieve such sustaining connectivity, there are specific requirements to make your IoT connectivity future-proof. Here are some of the features that need to consider:

• Device design

Device design is interpretative and your connectivity must address remote updates whereas these are severe to troubleshoot and would cost you a lot during device downtime.

• Embedded devices

Change is throughout in the world of embedded systems. Furthermore, your connectivity must always receive the correct AT commands to assure that SIMs can be updated.

• Compatibility

Compatibility is an essential factor that needs to be taken into account for your device. By making sure that your coverage performs well for your device, the modem should take different connectivity options into consideration to not deal with its compatibility in the long term.

• Configuration

In terms of configuration, to assure that connectivity costs are maintained to a minimum, session lengths must be optimized to enable for data billing increments.

• Independence

One of the most challenging problems is it’

s accuracy since a device failure might put people in a risk or result in financial loss. Your connectivity should be remotely controlled, while access to several independent operators should be prioritized.

• Hardware

The compatibility of the printed circuit board design for 3G and 4G modems even if the current necessity is only for a 2G modem.

• STK (system application toolkit)

For remote configuration, the STK, the capability to utilize multi-IMSI SIMs and accepting OTA messages must always be involved.

• Firmware

Firmware must always enable association with various types of cellular connectivity through the SIM card. SIM cards must either be multi-network or multi IMSI (international mobile subscriber identity).

Selecting the Right IoT Connectivity Protocol

Selecting the right remote IoT connectivity protocol might look a little bit immense at first, but after interpreting a few core principles and by matching those with the requirements of your system, this task will become much easier.

Range

The distance over which communication between the different devices in an IoT network ecosystem takes place.

Using a protocol planned for short-range transmission obviously won’t be appropriated if your project needs communication over long distances. On the other hand, short-range protocols can be useful in cases where security is a concern by restricting the physical range of communication.  

Interoperability

The capability of a connected device, app or sensor is to interact with another element usually from a different manufacturer or host.

As technology proceeds it’s important that our systems are compatible to keep components away from becoming outdated. IoT connectivity protocols also require being able to combine elements that aren’t from the same manufacturer.

Security

Security Measures considered so that data is protected during the different stages of transmission and during storage.

When we transfer data from one point to another it becomes vulnerable and this is a major issue amongst companies working on initiating IoT connectivity to their products. Thanks to advances in security technology, there are various methods to assure that IoT networks are protected that include encryption, authentication and port protection.

Power consumption

Power consumption is not only a essential factor to take into accounts when designing products powered by batteries, and also to keep consideration of low power consumption and long lasting batteries.

Scalability

The capability of a protocol to continue performing as the network develops in number of connected devices. When selecting an IoT connectivity protocol it’s necessary to keep in mind that your system is likely to grow.

Scalability assures that as devices are added, the quality and tolerance of your network will be maintained at a high level. By creating a short overview that involves the requirements and specifications of your IoT project based upon the above factors, it will be much easier to decide which protocol is suitable.

With so many connectivity options are available for developers in IoT solutions and new norms being released all the time, how can developers determine the best suitable option for their specific application and one which will enable durability of the device?

• The type of application is an apparent place to begin with, since some technologies are more suitable to near range applications like Smart homes (such as a Bluetooth, WiFi and Zigbee) while others are much more suitable to remote or roaming applications (such as cellular and satellite).

• So a schematic way to look at this would be short range vs long range. Cost, power and range are the essential characteristics that require to be considered for any IoT application and generally short range technologies favour to be low cost and low power while long range tends to have higher connected costs and higher power. But what we are seeing as the market grows, there are many IoT applications that need an association of the two (low power, low cost and long range) which tends to a whole range of new technologies being introduced.

• On the other side, LPWAN has appeared as an option for applications which are power sensitive and need low data throughput and there are a whole host of emerging technologies and standards in this segment containing Sigfox, Weightless-W (first presented by Neul to operate in TV white space spectrum), LoRa and RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access).

• Since no two IoT applications are the same, when considering these various technologies it is not a question of which will make, but which is best suited to which application.

Of all the remote IoT connectivity options currently offer, cellular is one of the most flexible connectivity segment. In cities the growth of cell towers makes it a better option for Smart City applications and this infrastructure expands globally to support roaming and remote applications. The multi-network abilities provided by many cellular providers and the capability of the SIM card to roam across countries and continents makes it an absolute solution for roaming applications such as logistics and connected cars where a continuous connection with high efficiency is essential.

In the Internet of Things scenario, multiple devices collecting and transmitting data to one another, to a cloud and to people who use data-driven insight to make important decisions which is an idea of absolute connectivity.

It is more important in the industrial sector where the level of accuracy of data transmission not only affects operational and maintennace costs, but also ROI.