What is IIoT and Impact on Manufacturing?

Before we discuss IIoT, let’s understand what is IoT. Internet of Things, IoT is a network of things, intelligent computers, and systems that are connected to the internet to collect and share data in time series manner. A ‘thing’ can be any physical object or device that is capable of transmitting data. So, from consumer products like a television set, refrigerator, or large commercial products like windmill and oil well, and everything in between is considered as ‘Thing’. The collected data is sent to a central Cloud-based service where it is aggregated and processed with other data and then shared with end users in a useful way. Various studies predict that over 30 Bn devices will be connected to the internet over the next 5 year. The IoT will increase automation in homes, cities, stores, and in many industries such as automotive, chemical, FMCG, and others.

The Industrial IoT is part of this larger concept known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The application of IoT in the manufacturing industry is called the IIoT (or Industrial Internet or Industry 4.0). The IIoT will revolutionize manufacturing by enabling the acquisition and accessibility of far greater amounts of data, at far greater speeds, and far more efficiently than ever before. A number of innovative companies have started Industry 4.0 initiatives and driving IIoT projects to make their factories smart factories.

What are the Benefits of IIoT?

Earlier, manufacturers have machines connected using DCS, SCADA, PLC, or similar operational technology. Most of these are siloed efforts lacking wholesome visibility across the factory or a plant. The IoT changes this by greatly improving data collection efficiency, scalability, time & indirect labor savings for industrial organizations. There are numerous IoT success stories where companies are already benefiting from the IIoT through cost savings with better energy conservation, predictive maintenance, improved safety, and other operational efficiencies. IIoT initiatives are breaking the data silos for industries and connect all of their people, processes, and data from the shop floor to the top floor. Business leaders can use IoT data to get a full and accurate view of how their enterprise is doing, which will help them make better decisions.

IIoT Protocols for Data Collection

IIoT shifts the paradigm for machine data. Ability to collect and process data at large is one of the biggest advantages of IIoT platforms. However, manufacturings plants have a variety of equipment and heterogeneous devices where machines. This poses a challenge in data collection while making a transition to the IoT. Different IIoT protocols such as UPC-UA/DA, bi-directional MQTT, and others are preferred as communication protocols.

Challenges for the IIoT

Although security is touted as the biggest challenges for IIoT projects, in our experience of over 150 IoT projects globally, technology maturity of the enterprise and interoperability are probably the two biggest challenges surrounding the implementation of IIoT. Tech writer Margaret Rouse writes, “A major concern surrounding the Industrial IoT is interoperability between devices and machines that use different protocols and have different architectures.” Datonis IoT Platform offers a wide array of such protocols and ability to build custom protocols making it easier to rapidly build & deploy IoT Solutions in industrial scenario. The second aspect of technology maturity or culture of change adoption is crucial for IoT implementation. It may be a huge effort to uplift the old infrastructure to support IIoT projects and bring cultural changes to make such projects successful, as operational transparency unearthed by IoT could be shocking at times.

The Future of the IIoT

The IIoT is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 28% over next 7 years, claims IDC. It is widely considered to be one of the primary trends affecting industrial businesses today and in the future. Industries are pushing to modernize systems and equipment to meet new regulations, to keep up with increasing demand, speed and volatility. Businesses that have embraced the IoT have seen significant RoI in terms of improvements to productivity, quality, maintenance, safety, energy savings, and decision making. This trend will continue to grow as IIoT technologies are more widely adopted and benefits are evident.

The dynamic landscape of today’s reality is largely influenced by revolutionary innovations that have disrupted our current ways of conducting business. It is imperative to understand how businesses, policy makers, and governments can leverage the powerful potential of emerging technologies to unlock a bright future for the competitive world tomorrow.

Information technology has revolutionized business operations leading to higher ROI, smooth process management, and overall increased productivity and efficiency. The business world over are now getting ready to deploy solutions with the advent of emerging technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Let’s understand the details of how these trending technologies can add more value while solving critical issues for your business.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a decentralized, transparent, and secured digital ledger of activities that can be programmed to record virtually everything of value. Blockchain technology can then be utilized and tweaked to provide solutions, depending on the nature of the business.

• Blockchain is a database that is shared over a computer network.
• Once data is added to the database, it’s very difficult to alter it.
• Records are bundled together in a block and are added to one chain one after another.
• Blockchain creates hash values to protect data from alteration.
• Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, and public digital ledger that provide transparency and security.

Since blockchain is still emerging as a technology, some of the most common challenges that businesses face is scouting the right resources that understand using and deploying this technology effectively.

Blockchain can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, integrating machine learning with blockchain makes it phenomenally cost effective. In fact, when integrated with IoT, it effectively works on its own without human intervention.

On the other hand, when blockchain is used along with AI, which gets predictive analysis of customers by assessing their preferences based on their online activities such as likes, cookies, preferences and other data collected by an algorithm, it ensures that the data we use is secure and incorruptible.

Security of data is most important thing that Blockchain provides. AI needs to be able to secure personal data — blockchain can solve that. Additionally, blockchain cannot be cost effective without AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI focuses on machines that react like humans using various algorithms. AI technology includes speech and facial recognition, machine visions, and more. Below are points describing AI and its features in greater detail:

• AI focuses on the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans.
• AI has reshaped organizations by introducing new opportunities.
• AI includes the ability of a machine to perform learning, reasoning, problem solving, and planning.
• AI is also used for collecting real-time data, and by performing intelligent search, it can interpret text and images to discover patterns in data.
• AI uses various algorithms for machine learning.

AI is growing tremendously as tech giants such as Google, Microscope, and Amazon offer AI as a service. And developers can bring their own data to train algorithms that suit their needs.

AI is best at predictive analysis, but it can solve a similar-looking problem statement. Suppose AI detects faces better than humans but that algorithm is not suitable for solving, say, a math problem.

Additionally, AI is used for accessing data, but when it comes to real-time data and analytics, it faces some problems. With the help of IoT, we can gather large quantities of data in a different format and store it in the cloud.

AI helps machines learn from their experiences and data, while IoT is all about interactions between devices using the Internet. IoT is a powerhouse for data collection, which is then used by AI to learn and make predictions.

Real-World Example

Smart homes, with the help of sensors, manage things efficiently. Suppose that whenever a fridge runs out of milk, an IoT sensor will detect that there is not milk and, since the device is connected to the Internet, will notify the grocery store. Then, milk will be repurchased via a payment conducted online and received by an online wallet. This is a perfect example of AI and IoT working together.

IoT devices need AI for making them work efficiently, and in turn, AI cannot work properly without IoT devices, since they provide a huge amount of data and are used for predictive analysis. Both, together, can bring a revolutionary change in our society and business.

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT involves a network of devices that connect inanimate objects to the Internet without human intervention.

• IoT provide unique IDs to objects, computing devices, digital machines, and interrelates them.
• Organizations are accepting IoT in various industries for understanding customers, improving decision-making, and adding value to business.
• IoT includes hardware, sensors, data acquisition, pre-processing, and cloud analysis.
• IoT is a system of « things » embedded with sensors for connectivity to perform a better exchange.

Smart cities have adopted AI for real-time data analysis and for keeping track of their actions. Dubai is considered one of the most digitally progressive cities, and soon, it will be considered the first blockchain-based city, as it is adopting innovations that utilize blockchain.

Additionally, smart cities can reduce resource consumption and traffic congestion by using IoT devices, optimizing the use of electricity, water, and other resources.

Blockchain is adding value to IoT by making devices more secure by encrypting data, which is then transferred via the Internet. At this stage, technology is already facing security threats. But when blockchain is combined with IoT, it can generate amazing security innovations across industries.

Blockchain builds trust, reduces costs, and accelerates transactions, making stronger bonds with the customer and provides efficient products.

Blockchain and IoT make a perfect match, providing secure data and taking business transactions to a new level.

The convergence of blockchain, AI, and IoT will maximize benefits for each of these and minimize the risks. IoT is connected to devices where data can be hacked, stolen, or defrauded. Introducing AI will help defend it from malware and hackers while blockchain can help maintain transparency and security. Combining all three technologies will make them more powerful and strengthen aspects of the technology that are more vulnerable.

With permission of Ankita Shrimali

 

 

L’Internet des Objets est l’un des secteurs les plus sujets aux spéculations. Tout le monde veut savoir de quoi sera fait demain. C’est bien normal : il s’agit de repérer les tendances IoT les plus pertinentes. Voici les 7 thématiques technologiques qui animeront 2019.

 

 

1.Industrialisation : une des tendances IoT qui prendra de l’ampleur en 2019

C’est sûrement l’une des tendances IoT qui prend déjà de l’ampleur en cette fin d’année 2018. 

Maintenant bien assimilé par les entreprises, l’Internet des Objets connaît sa vraie première phase d’industrialisation. Les entreprises du secteur industriel terminent les preuves de concept et installent maintenant des capteurs ou connectent leurs machines actives sur les chaînes de production. Soyons clairs, les usines complètement connectées ne sont pas légion.

En revanche, les données de certaines chaînes de production sont maintenant analysées par des logiciels de production et d’aide à la maintenance. On parle de maintenance préventive et dans le meilleur des cas de maintenance prédictive. Les systèmes les plus avancés versent dans l’automatisation des tâches.

Que ce soit la connexion des nouveaux outils, la commande de nouvelles pièces, l’appel d’un technicien ou bien encore l’assemblage d’éléments, les possibilités sont nombreuses.

Les projets d’automatisations généralisés se multiplient. Il suffit de prendre l’exemple de la France pour s’en rendre compte. A Fougères près de Rennes, Atlantem, le fabricant de menuiseries va ouvrir en 2019 une usine 4.0 qui emploiera 150 salariés. Pour l’occasion, la société va créer 50 nouveaux postes. De son côté, Mars compte investir 26 millions d’euros dans “l’automatisation, la flexibilité et la qualité de production” de son usine près de Strasbourg comme le rapporte les Echos.

 

 

2. Edge computing : faciliter l’analyse des données en temps réel

L’industrialisation de l’IoT dépend forcément des technologies déployées. Dans le cadre des usines connectées, il s’agit davantage de connecter des machines. Cependant, bon nombre de responsables d’usines veulent installer des capteurs qui recueillent et permettent d’analyser en temps réel leurs activités. 

En cela, l’Edge Computing est une technologie idéale. Elle permet de réduire les temps de latence entre la collecte et le traitement des données. Ce dernier peut être opéré depuis des passerelles IoT ou bien les objets eux-mêmes. Pour cela, les entreprises privilégient les infrastructures de Cloud Hybride. Elles vont préférer adopter des espaces de colocations dans des datacenters proches de leurs sites plutôt que de passer par le Cloud public. La technique la plus fiable consiste à mettre en place des micro-datacenters auparavant utilisés par certains services des entreprises.

Le secteur industriel n’est pas le seul à avoir besoin de cette analyse en temps réel. Le déploiement des voitures autonomes, des systèmes de sécurité intelligents reposent sur la même technologie. L’Edge Computing reste et sera l’une des tendances IoT 2019.

 

 

3. Machine Learning et IA embarquée

L’Edge Computing sous-tend une autre des tendances IoT 2019 : le machine learning ou l’IA embarquée. En effet, les concepteurs d’objets connectés veulent davantage de puissance de calcul et d’intelligence embarqués. Pour cela, il y a deux méthodes. Soit il faut muscler la vitesse d’horloge des composants. Soit il faut tabler sur l’intégration des algorithmes de machine learning préalablement entraînés depuis de puissantes infrastructures.

Les fabricants de voitures autonomes adoptent davantage la première méthode. 

En ce sens, Nvidia développe des cartes basées sur des processeurs graphiques pouvant prendre place au sein des véhicules.

Cependant, la méthode préférée des concepteurs d’objets connectés reste l’embarquement de modèle de machine learning. Même avec un Raspberry Pi, il est possible de récupérer des données et de les corréler à un modèle prédéfini. Depuis une caméra, il détectera par exemple le non-port du casque en milieu industriel, la présence d’une personne devant une porte, enclencher le suivi d’objet, etc.

A terme, il s’agit de confier plus d’intelligence, plus d’indépendance et d’autonomie aux objets connectés.

 

 

4. Autonomie énergétique des objets

Émanciper les objets connectés des systèmes centraux et des smartphones demandent un effort particulier. 

Le grand défi des concepteurs est de construire des produits au temps d’utilisation record. Pour cela, un soin tout particulier est apporté à l’autonomie énergétique des batteries utilisées. Certains dispositifs comme des capteurs environnementaux doivent pouvoir relever des données pendant plusieurs années. De même, dans un contexte de loisir, les fabricants de wearable doivent éviter de vendre des appareils à recharger tous les jours.

Dans le premier cas, les fournisseurs Sigfox et LoRa vantent les capacités de leurs réseaux IoT pour leur faible consommation d’énergie. Ils travaillent avec les fabricants pour augmenter au maximum la durée d’activité des appareils. 

Les plus performants émettent des données pendant plus de cinq sans besoin de charger la batterie.

Dans le second cas, un acteur comme Qualcomm a dévoilé son nouveau SoC pour montre connectée. Le Snapdragon Wear 3100 permet d’utiliser un dispositif perfectionné au maximum pendant cinq jours. Les bracelets connectés un peu plus simples disposent eux d’une vingtaine de jours d’autonomie. L’année prochaine, les dispositifs seront, nous l’espérons, encore plus performants.

 

 

5. Sécurité IoT

Voilà un secteur particulièrement dynamique. 

Les entreprises de cybersécurité multiplient leurs efforts pour proposer des outils toujours plus performants. Ils s’adressent notamment aux concepteurs de produits IoT et aux utilisateurs de ces derniers, principalement des entreprises. De leur côté, les fabricants adoptent le principe de security by design. Cela leur assure la sécurisation des fonctions de bases des objets.

Cependant, il faut avant tout sécuriser le parc de dispositifs IoT déjà installés. C’est dans cette manne de produits mal protégés que les hackers piochent pour former leurs botnets IoT. Ils réalisent ensuite des attaques DDOS afin de brider l’accès à des services populaires.

Si les entreprises sont de plus en plus alertes à ce sujet, les cabinets de recherche ont découvert bon nombre de failles ou de botnets en 2018. La plupart du temps, les équipes de recherches arrivent à stopper les propagations de malware avant qu’un problème n’ait lieu. Il faut dire que certains cyberattaquants se contentent de recopier le code mis en ligne par un autre hacker.

Cependant, les professionnels ont remarqué l’émergence de nouveau moyen de piratage plus évolué. L’une des grosses Tendances IoT 2019 est donc la sécurisation des nouveaux appareils. Les sociétés comme Symantec, Avast, Qihoo et autres travaillent au développement de solutions mêlant IA et cybersécurité.

 

 

6. La 5G, de nouveau une des tendances IoT 2019

Ah, la 5G ! Voilà un sujet dont on entend parler régulièrement depuis deux ans. En revanche, les applications concrètes peinent à pointer le bout de leur nez. Alors, pourquoi l’ajouter dans ce top des tendances IoT 2019 ? Tout simplement, car les premiers déploiements à grande échelle et les premières offres commerciales seront lancés dès l’année prochaine. Il s’agira dans un premier temps de diffuser des contenus très haute résolution sur des smartphones. L’on imagine que de nombreux tests en lien avec des voitures autonomes seront menés.

Outre le début des déploiements à large échelle, l’année 2019 sera l’occasion de voir les premiers projets IoT exploitant cette technologie. En France, l’Arcep a notamment lancé plusieurs consultations en 2018 pour analyser et comprendre les besoins des entreprises.Cela permettra notamment de régler certains problèmes de connexions rencontrés avec les systèmes MtoM actuels.

 

 

7. Constellation IoT

Après le déploiement de la 5G, du NB-IoT, de LoRa et de Sigfox, les opérateurs veulent maintenant aller dans l’espace. Plusieurs entreprises veulent lancer des nanosatellites en orbite basse afin de créer des constellations IoT. Collecte Localisation Satellites, Sigfox, Eusatel, Startlink (SpaceX), Fleet Space ou encore Iridium sont quelques-uns des acteurs prêts à déployer de tels infrastructures spatiales.

L’objectif n’est pas de créer un nouveau protocole IoT, mais de transmettre les données en rendant compatibles les standards IoT avec les bandes de fréquences spatiales. Il s’agit de couvrir l’ensemble des territoires qui ne sont pas encore desservis par les réseaux cités précédemment. L’espace maritime est le premier terrain de jeu visé. Cela permettrait de réduire drastiquement les coûts de géolocalisation en se passant des contrats d’interopérabilités entre les opérateurs. En France, l’exploitation spatiale bénéficie depuis peu d’une fiscalité avantageuse. Voilà donc un vecteur de développement important et une des tendances IoT à suivre de près.

ObjetConnectés.com

 

Choosing the right IoT connectivity protocol for your business is an important decision.

However, it’s not so black and white. Our team finds that customers underestimate the advantages and disadvantages for certain radio technologies. In some cases, we actually recommend cellular protocols to companies who are planning to deploy indoors. That’s because cellular IoT connectivity protocols can be easier to set up, provide better reliability, and allow the maker of the device to be in control of the data.

Many other decisions can impact the type of radio you should choose, such as availability of infrastructure (cellular network and Wi-Fi networks), or the price sensitivity of your customers. That’s why in this guide, we’ll discuss different IoT connectivity protocols, and which one could be the best connectivity option for your IoT solution.

Everything You Need to Know About Wi-Fi Connectivity 

Advantages

• Minimal to no recurring cost — Unlike cellular devices, Wi-Fi connected devices come with no recurring costs. That’s because cellular devices require a SIM card and carry the cost of a data plan from a cellular provider. Wi-Fi also tends to be cheaper because you don’t have to pay to access the network infrastructure (i.e. the Wi-Fi network). It should be noted that IoT platforms often charge a small recurring fee for connectivity usage, including Wi-Fi. However, this recurring fee is much cheaper than your typical cellular connectivity data plan.
• No bandwidth restrictions — No bandwidth restrictions make Wi-Fi a good choice for high bandwidth applications (like audio and video streaming). If you intend to stream security video footage from one place to another, Wi-Fi may be the way to go. For businesses, you don’t need to consider the cost of bandwidth because your devices will leverage your customers’ existing Wi-Fi networks.
• Low latency — Due to complex carrier networking infrastructure, cellular devices typically have to transmit data through more systems than Wi-Fi. If the device is roaming, messages must go even farther and are often given lower priority. Additionally, in order to reach long distances from the tower, cellular radio protocols have to tolerate significant message loss by taking extra time to retransmit. As a result, Wi-Fi based devices exhibit lower latency than cellular devices.

Disadvantages

• Control of IoT connectivity — Wi-Fi connected devices are dependent on the router’s connection to the Internet. If your home router provides a weak Wi-Fi signal, your device will have a poor connection. Unlike cellular, a Wi-Fi device requires that your customers know how to configure the device for access to their network. Wi-Fi connectivity also puts device data in the hands of your customer, and that is less than optimal if the value of the solution resides in the data. 
• Barriers — Wall construction material (such as drywall, metal framing, and building materials) often interfere with Wi-Fi signals.
• Home Routers — Wi-Fi is great for many indoor connected products, as the devices are generally close to the router. Although, outdoor smart products (like connected hot tubs) are often too far from the home router to establish a reliable connection. Many products are available to help extend a Wi-Fi signal. However, this requires extra setup to get started. For outdoor coverage, Wi-Fi extenders or special outdoor access points are necessary, which also require power and add additional points of possible failure, plus additional costs.
• Setup experience — Users constantly change SSIDs and passwords, which can easily disrupt a device’s connection to a router. Certain firewalls and other connection filtering solutions also require IT administration to configure a “work-around”, creating more setup complications. Cellular simply ‘works’ without any end-user configuration.

Everything You Need to Know About Cellular Connectivity

Advantages

• Connect anywhere, anytime — Cellular networks cover 90 percent of the world’s population, allowing you to connect your IoT device pretty much anywhere.
• Low power, low-cost — In recent years, the power and cost of cellular chips have reduced dramatically, meaning you can swap out cellular for Wi-Fi at a similar cost and power consumption. Cellular is now comparable in cost and power to Wi-FI, so you can consider them for more use cases.
• Designed for traffic — Existing cellular infrastructures are designed to handle constant communication. Unlike Wi-Fi networks, cellular network quality is going to be more consistent across the United States. That’s because you’re essentially paying a company (like AT&T or Verizon) to manage and provide a strong connection. You’re also are not limited by how much data you can send over a cellular network due to no limiting regulations.
• Penetration — Cellular communication protocols are better at reaching hard to reach or underground places because they can penetrate solid barriers easier.
• Security — With a cellular network, you are paying another company to manage security for you, which makes security breaches less likely. On the other hand, Wi-Fi networks can easily be hacked if end-users don’t properly update and patch their home Wi-Fi networks. 

Disadvantages

• Data Plans – Accessing cellular infrastructure carries a recurring cost that not all IoT business models can support.
• Managing carriers — Cellular carriers can be a pain to work with. It’s best to choose an IoT platform that takes care of the cellular carriers for you. Cellular carriers are more likely to respond to IoT providers faster because they are taking care of a larger amount of devices. If you’re a small business, you’re not going to be as high of a priority for cellular carriers. They will take care of larger clients before they take care of the smaller use cases, which is why IoT providers have an advantage to negotiate strong cellular carrier relationships.
• Changing cellular IoT connectivity standards — Newer and better cellular standards are always coming out. Once it was about 3G, now it’s all about LTE. Fortunately, current LTE standards are designed to be deployable for the next 10+ years. So, you don’t need to change any time soon. However, Wi-Fi formats and structures change frequently with changing technologies. Cellular infrastructure is regulated by governments and maintained by companies dedicated to uptime.

How to Choose the Right Cellular Connectivity Option 

Unlike Wi-Fi, you have to make additional considerations on the type of cellular IoT connectivity you want for your IoT device. At the moment, 2G and 3G radio technologies are being phased out, so that eliminates some of the potential options. But there are still other radio technologies that need to be considered like Cat-M1 (LTE) and NB-IoT.

Cat-M1

Category M1 (Cat-M1) is one of the newest cellular protocols available for IoT applications. Cat-M1 is an LTE chipset that is designed to integrate with sensors — it consumes less power, which means fewer truck visits and longer uptime. Verizon and AT&T just launched Cat-M1 networks a year ago, and IoT platforms  are starting to offer Cat-M1 as a part of their cellular connectivity offerings.

Narrowband IoT 

Narrowband IoT (also known as NB-IoT or LTE-NB1) is a proposed Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology that is supposed to work anywhere. NB-IoT can be deployed within the existing LTE spectrum and carriers will be able to update their networks through firmware updates. NB-IoT can also be used as a standalone deployment within its own dedicated spectrum where deemed necessary.

Everything You Need to Know About Mesh Connectivity

As IoT platforms have matured, they have started to embrace a low-power, low-cost alternative that can bridge the gaps between these devices: wireless mesh networks.

A wireless mesh network is an infrastructure of nodes (a mesh topology) that are wirelessly connected to each other. These nodes piggyback off each other to extend a radio signal (like a Wi-Fi or cellular connection) to route, relay, and proxy traffic to/from clients. Each node spreads the radio signal a little further than the last, minimizing the possibility of dead zones.

It should be noted that not all wireless mesh solutions provide these benefits, but this is the complete list that is unique to Particle Mesh:

1. No Single Point of Failure – Build a local mesh network that is self-healing — if an individual device goes offline, the network can reconfigure itself to the closest connection. This means no data loss, no dead zones, no problems.
2. Self-Extending – Additionally, if you need to get more range out of a mesh system, you can add another node and the messages can hop through the mesh back to the gateway.
3. Reliable Networks – Interconnected devices can simultaneously transfer data smoothly and will not complicate the network connection. If one node goes down, another nearby node can pick up the connection and continue data communication.
4. Low-cost, low-power – Using wireless mesh networks eliminate the cost and complexity of installing fiber/wires between facilities. As more or less coverage is needed, wireless mesh nodes can be added or removed. Mesh uses comparable amounts of energy as Bluetooth, so you can design devices that last for 3-5 years then get tossed and replaced.

Is Wireless Mesh Networking Right for You?

When using wireless mesh networks for your IoT project, it is important that you consider these three core variables: installation, network management, and support.

1. Installation — This aspect entirely depends upon your intended application. You need to ask yourself if you actually needed a distributed set of mesh nodes for your use case. If you intend to implement wireless mesh networking for your home, this is relatively easy deployment that can be achieved with low-cost hardware. If you intend to implement mesh for commercial or industrial applications, you should setup a small-scale, prototype, mesh network to determine the efficiency of the system before deploying a mesh networking system at large.
2. Device Management — Most wireless mesh networking solutions come with some form of device or network management through a desktop or mobile application. When comparing solutions, it’s important to find one that allows you to manage fleets of devices, monitor event logs, perform diagnostics, and send updates wirelessly. The more control you have over your mesh-topography the better.
3. Support — When selecting a mesh-solution, it’s also important to consider the community surrounding it. Mesh networking solutions with limited adoption will have fewer resources available to aid you in development. For example, Particle’s development kits have a large developer community surrounding it, which makes it easier to find information and support when needed. Also, by selecting a more widely adopted wireless mesh networking solution, you will ensure that integrating your IoT device with existing cloud services will be easy.

How to Choose the Right IoT Connectivity Platform

When examining IoT connectivity protocols, you also need to examine the current IoT platforms on the market. You need to choose an IoT platform that provides the right IoT connectivity for your solution. It’s often difficult to choose the right IoT platform because they all market themselves in a different way and don’t provide the same solutions. So, here are some questions you should ask yourself when choosing an IoT platform for your connectivity needs:

• IoT Connectivity — How well does the vendor’s network coverage fit your business’s current and future initiatives?
• Method of IoT connectivity — What type of IoT connectivity do you need? Do you need a Wi-Fi or cellular solution for your IoT product? You need to assess these needs and see how the vendor can address them.
• Geographic Coverage — Do they provide embedded sim with global support? Does the IoT platform cover the regions your business needs?
• Data Plan — Does the vendor offer a fair data plan? You’ll want the ability to pause or suspend your data services at any time and the ability to control how much data that is used.
• Data Access — How will you integrate the data acquired through the IoT platform with your enterprise back ends and current cloud service? What do you plan to do with this data? Does the service match those needs?
• Type of service — How does the IoT platform describe and sell themselves? Some services are purely IoT connectivity platforms, while others are end-to-end solutions that offer the hardware, software, and connectivity. You need to assess what your business needs. How will your needs change over time?

The Bottom Line

Choosing the right IoT connectivity protocol for your business or connected project is an important decision. You must consider the advantages and disadvantages of each radio protocol before moving forward with your project. Taking the time to become acquainted with the benefits of each radio protocol will save you a lot of headache and heartache down the road.

IoT development is essential to the prosperity of your business. Click here to learn more about the wide scale of applications for enterprise IoT.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has changed our perception of technology and its application in our daily lives. IoT is a technology that links all other technologies together! The IoT development market is expected to reach a value of over $457 US Billion dollars by the year 2020. Further fueling this growth, many of the top non-IT companies have already invested in IoT services by outsourcing it to IoT development companies.

On the other hand, we have other buzzwords and trends in technology such as blockchain. A technology which is hyped up so much due to its potential, yet not many know too much about it. It is true; the theoretical descriptions about blockchain applications are indeed revolutionary if these find a practical implementation. But nothing, yet, has been done with blockchain development, which proves anything about it.

But when it comes to IoT, its potential is clear, and its application in today’s smart devices has changed the way we perceive and understand objects and scenarios in our daily lives. Just about every sector and element in the corporate world has been affected by IoT development, and an iot development company today finds many clients willing to leverage this technology to attain competitive advantage. Here are all the reasons why your business needs it.

IoT Is Gradually Taking Control Over Hardware Operations

IoT development is mostly connecting smart devices to the Internet via a website, app, or software. Yes, IoT is mostly a better utilization of the Internet. But while its conventional uses involved the sync of virtually existing websites, images, and all multimedia elements within the world-wide-web interface, IoT takes it to a new hardware level.

The simple and traditional Internet could have, at most, affected how a website or app loads. IoT affects how collections of hardware function as a whole! Until the dawn of IoT, offline and online/cloud-based businesses were considered completely different from each other.

Today, as it stands, the online and virtual world is gradually taking control of the physical hardware. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the greatest technologies, such as the steam engine, were almost entirely manually controlled. After the scientific revolution and in today’s age of information, the manufacturing of electronic and hardware-controlled devices is highly automated through software running on Internet networks. Even a finished, electronic product, such as a Tesla vehicle, can be controlled through a smartphone app today!

So, the future isn’t far when the doors of your office, the lights, software, computer systems, payroll, and everything else you could add in between could be controlled through a single device synced with every activity within the business environment.

And unlike something like blockchain, these examples aren’t merely an imagination of the mind. Instead, a primitive stage of such a use case can already be found with smart devices, such as the Philip hue Bulbs, Smart Routers, Smart Cameras by Nest, and Amazon Alexa-powered smart appliances of today.

The businesses of today are defined by their online presence and the ease with which it can deliver services through these mediums. In the future, the best companies will be the ones that make maximum use out of their IoT networks. 

Also read: How to leverage IoT & Big Data for Digital Transformation

IoT Can Be Combined With Anything!

To put the heading into context, we can consider IoT as a flavor enhancer in the world of technology. It can be used anywhere, and not just that; almost every existing technology can benefit from the application of IoT.

Let’s start with blockchain. This is, perhaps, the most hyped technology since the Internet. The integration of IoT with blockchain can result in revolutionary new methods for tracking supply chain operations. The transactions during the entire process of obtaining raw materials from suppliers and its transfer from middlemen to finally the retailer can be recorded on an immutable blockchain network and synced to smartphones through IoT to be viewed by consumers.

IoT can also be enhanced through AI and machine learning. Use cases of smart cameras using AI/ML for face detection and for identifying suspicious behavior have been discussed for a long time now. IoT can further enhance the technology by providing alerts to connected devices in case of threats and other notifications.

Yet, another technology where IoT finds its use is in chatbot development. Chatbots are considered to take the human-business interaction to newer levels with its neat interface, interactive communication experience, and instant delivery of information. With the use of IoT, chatbots can directly communicate with customers on behalf of the businesses. Chatbots equipped with access to sensors on appliances can inform its users about defects in the product or about any repairs or refillings that may be required. 

Also read: What can Chatbot development do to Revitalize your Business

That’s not all. IoT can be implemented in other applications, which include digital identity authentication, device authentication, and detection of counterfeit products through its integration with blockchain, AI/ML, and other technologies.

Remotely Accessing the Real World Through IoT

While the Internet was and is all about accessing tons of information through the world wide web, IoT is all about accessing the real world through the same technology. A company making full use of IoT can manage nearly all its operations through a single controller device. The next generation of consumers will be able to manage routine activities in their daily lives the same way, but the service they would be using to do so depends on which company puts its feet forward the earliest.

Companies such as Google and Amazon were able to capitalize on the Internet to make themselves successful. It is these companies yet again, which are first in the race to develop an ecosystem of IoT powered devices. Yet, it is unlikely that these two giants will hold a monopoly on this technology.

Today, new and emerging startups are coming up with new applications of IoT, and the advantage they have over the corporate giants is their unique specializations, something that top companies catering to wide audiences cannot gain so easily.

As long as you, as a business owner, have a specialization the product/service offered, and as long as you have an audience that can benefit from IoT, it makes absolute sense to have it implemented in your business. Unlike other technologies, like blockchain, IoT isn’t a hope for the future; it exists in the present, and companies are already leveraging it to the fullest.

Download The Comparative Guide to Rules Engines for IoT to learn what are the most common automation technologies used in the IoT domain for application development