IoT connectivity refers to how we connect all the different IoT devices and sensors, as well as other elements like gateways, routers, applications, platforms, and other systems to the IoT network.
In practice, IoT connectivity typically refers to different types of network solutions that we can use in IoT deployment, which can be differentiated by power consumption, range, and bandwidth capabilities. Different IoT capabilities vary in their requirements and might need different IoT connectivity options depending on these requirements.
Below, we will discuss these different IoT connectivity options.
Why So Many IoT Connectivity Options?
Nowadays, we actually have more than 30 IoT connectivity options available on the market, each with its own unique advantages and disadvantages. We can group them into bigger categories based on several factors, but still, choosing between them can be very confusing.
Why so many? Because IoT communications between devices are difficult and we’ll need better and better solutions to solve some important issues:
- Amount of Data: the amount of data being sent and received in an IoT deployment is rapidly growing, and current IoT connectivity solutions are increasingly challenged to handle this data volume.
- More Devices: more and more IoT devices, sensors, and appliances are being developed every single day from many different manufacturers. It’s very important to have a standard connectivity solution where all the devices can connect to the IoT network without any coordination required among manufacturers.
- Requirements: it’s very difficult if not impossible (at the moment) to have a perfect connectivity solution that is perfect in three key parameters: power, range, and bandwidth. So, current IoT connectivity solutions are about which trade-offs you are willing to make.
With that being said, we can categorize IoT connectivity options into three main categories, as we’ll discuss below.
Three Main Categories of IoT Connectivity Options
The ‘perfect’, or ideal, IoT network connectivity option would consume very little power, have a massive range, and should be able to send and receive a high amount of data (high bandwidth).
As discussed, however, this perfect solution doesn’t (yet) exist, so each connectivity option represents a trade-off between these three key parameters.
So, we can differentiate the 30+ IoT connectivity solutions we have today into just three major categories:
1. High Power Consumption, High Bandwidth, High Range
The ‘weakness’ of this type is high power consumption. IoT devices are often deployed remotely so they have to rely on batteries, and high power consumption can be a serious issue in these use cases.
However, this category of IoT connectivity options can send a lot of data over a great distance, and the main examples in this category are cellular IoT and satellite connectivity. Both can offer international or even global connectivity for IoT deployments.
Cellular IoT connectivity can be implemented for any IoT sensor/device within the coverage of cellular towers. Satellite connectivity, however, might be required if an IoT device is deployed remotely in areas without any cellular coverage (i.e. in the middle of the ocean).
Today’s cellular IoT connectivity providers like Truphone can offer international and even global coverage to support increasingly mobile and global IoT deployments. Truphone for Things data plan, for example, offers coverage in more than 100 countries.
2. Low Power Consumption, Low Bandwidth, High Range
A lot of IoT devices don’t really need to send a high amount of data, so various newer IoT connectivity options are designed to lower the power consumption by sacrificing bandwidth.
This category of IoT connectivity options is called LPWAN, which stands for Low-Power, Wide-Area Network. LPWAN connectivity solutions send only a small amount of data, allowing them to operate with very low power consumption.
LoRaWAN and Sigfox are two major examples of LPWAN IoT connectivity solutions, and they are very useful for a lot of IoT applications that don’t require much data but need a lot of range. For example, a simple sensor that only needs to send a single number (i.e. temperature range) but is located on top of a mountain far away from the server. Newer cellular connectivity options like NB-IoT (NarrowBand IoT) can also be categorized in this type.
3. Low Power Consumption, Low Range, High Bandwidth
Another alternative is to compromise range rather than bandwidth, and this type of connectivity is useful in implementations that only require limited range, like home connectivity.
WI-Fi, Bluetooth, and wired Ethernet connectivity are the most common examples of connectivity options in this category. Wi-Fi, for example, can deliver a huge amount of data with great speed, comparable to that of satellite or cellular connectivity, but the range is much more limited.
How to Choose the Right IoT Cellular Connectivity Option
As a general principle, you should choose a cellular connectivity option that can fulfill your IoT project’s needs based on these considerations:
- Range: whether your project requires communications over long distances or not.
- Bandwidth: the volume of data that’s being sent and received in a given time period in the IoT deployment.
- Interoperability: whether you use a lot of products from different manufacturers that might require backward compatibility and/or special integration.
- Security: with various cybersecurity threats today, it’s important to consider the security features offered by the different connectivity solutions. Make sure your data is well protected during the various stages of transmission and data storage. Any transmission of data from point A to point B would translate into some kinds of vulnerabilities, and it’s very important to minimize these vulnerabilities as much as possible.
- Power Consumption: as discussed above, how much power is consumed by the device when data transmission takes place. If most of your devices are battery-operated, then you should choose a connectivity option that only requires low power consumption. Also, even when your devices aren’t battery-operated, make sure electricity costs are kept in check.
- Scalability: how easy it is to scale the connectivity option as your IoT system grows. That is, as you add new devices, the quality of the connection should be maintained at a high level.
End Words
As discussed, each IoT connectivity solution offers a tradeoff between bandwidth, coverage range, and power consumption. In general, we can divide them into three main categories:
- High coverage range, high bandwidth, high power consumption: cellular connectivity belongs to this category. It is the best regarding coverage range and very reliable in high bandwidth use cases, but it takes a lot of battery power.
- Low coverage range, high bandwidth, low power consumption: wired connection (i.e. Ethernet), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth LE belong in this category.
- High coverage range, low bandwidth, low power consumption: various LPWAN solutions belong in this category.
The post All You Need to Know About IoT Connectivity Options appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
source https://homebusinessmag.com/home-office/internet-technology/need-know-iot-connectivity-options/
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