Do you know what the Internet of Things is? Hopefully, you are at least a little familiar with the concept, because it will soon impact the world around you, both at home and at work.
The Internet of Things often abbreviated as IoT is an all-encompassing concept that involves connecting electronics to either the Internet or each other, through an open network. This can include anything that has an on and off switch, such as smartphones, computers, appliances, wearable devices, thermostats, TVs and so much more.
It can even apply to machines and components that you wouldnt normally consider, like the engine of a vehicle, light bulbs, or the drill on an oil rig.
Anything that can be connected eventually will be connected. Although this may seem a tad ridiculous, there is a bit of logic behind the concept. The more things that can be tapped into remotely, monitored and connected means the more convenient, efficient, and productive your life, or workspace, will be.
For instance, consider a connected alarm that can signal you that its time to wake, turn on your coffee maker so that it starts brewing a pot of your favorite caffeine surge, and turn off the do not disturb mode on your smartphone. A scenario like this is possible by syncing up those devices through a wireless (or wired) connection of some kind.
Its where a lot of modern technology is going, and its why you see everything being labeled with the smart moniker these days.
Of course, connecting all these devices presents some significant hurdles for the engineers creating the networks, hardware and technology to do all this.
1. Security
One of the biggest challenges with modern technology of any kind is how secure it will be, especially when it comes to sensitive data.
Remember that connected alarm clock we mentioned in the scenario above? Theoretically, it could be a potential access point for unscrupulous individuals who want to hack into your local network and gain access to devices connected to it.
Imagine what would happen if a hacker like that breached an uber-connected environment, where all the different devices are communicating with one another. The data these devices collect individually may not be valuable, but together it would allow someone to build a profile of you or your family that could be used to harm or extort you.
This might sound far-fetched, but its entirely possible.
So engineers need to ensure that every connected device even something as simple as a smart coffee maker employs suitable security measures.
That means managing elements like authentication and user permissions, open ports, and data encryption.
2. Bandwidth
For a device connected to a local home or office network, bandwidth isnt such a big deal. It wont necessarily matter from a data consumption standpoint what a connected coffee maker is doing unless its tying up the network its connected to then people would be a bit irate.
However, when it comes to mobile devices, bandwidth consumption is a huge limiting factor in many aspects. It has to be controlled and modest on the users side, because they wont want to see a huge increase in their wireless bills every month. But it also has to be reasonable from a server standpoint, because when hundreds or thousands of IoT devices are tapping into a server at once, things can get pretty hairy.
Bandwidth usage needs to be lightweight, and remote servers especially for online services need to be able to handle an intense workload, including a massive amount of traffic.
There are several ways around high bandwidth consumption, but one of the best is to use compressed data. The challenge with doing that is you have to ensure other connected devices can read the compressed data thats being sent.
3. Cross-Platform Signaling
A vast number of wireless devices use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology to communicate, and thats working just fine now, but in the near future, engineers may need to come up with something better. IoT devices will need to be able to send and receive signals simultaneously in order to transfer data between them.
This can be done several ways. The devices can communicate with one another directly, or they can communicate through an intermediary such as an online service hosted on a remote server or a local network.
Whatever the form of communication, it needs to be reliable, speedy, and strong enough to handle continuous use.
4. Power Consumption
The idea of a wireless device that is continuously transferring data will also bring to the surface the next challenge on our list power consumption. This is a big deal for both mobile and stationary devices.
By nature, IoT devices tend to consume a lot more power than a device that is not connected to a network, and it makes plenty of sense why. That said, power consumption needs to be reasonable on all fronts.
A mobile device is no good if the battery drains fast because of a constant connection, and a static device like a connected coffee maker is no good for consumers if its using tons of power and raising the monthly bill. These devices need to be power efficient from both a cost and consumption perspective.
This can be solved by using energy efficient components and cutting down on the amount of power consumed. For instance, devices that are not currently being used should automatically be able to enter a low-power state or hibernation mode.
5. Detection
Anytime you connect a device to your network, the router, other computers, and various smart devices have a way to detect its presence. The opposite can be said for when a device is turned off or disconnected. Those same components are able to identify what has happened and can then take the necessary actions.
A computer, for example, might show that a remote printer has gone offline. If and when you try to send a document to that printer, it will tell you its down, and that it needs to be reconnected before that can happen.
That is exactly the same kind of interaction you want from other IoT devices. They need to be able to identify when hardware is offline or online, if only so that users will know when something is wrong.
This can be solved by using a more universal communication or software system across the IoT market. Imagine an open-source platform or SDK tools that allow teams of developers to build support for other connected devices right into their product at launch.
Where Is the IoT Going?
Provided engineers and developers can overcome these challenges and they likely will only one question remains: Where will the IoT go in the near future?
By 2020, it is estimated that there will be anywhere from 20 to 30 billion connected devices on the planet. So, the future of IoT looks exactly like youd expect. Anything that can be connected will be connected, especially when theres an efficiency gain to be had.
The most important hurdle that will need to be overcome, at least for now, is related to orchestration. In other words, engineers and developers will need to find a way to make IoT devices more aware of their counterparts.
As with any form of technology, however, it should come as no surprise that youll see growing pains. It will take engineers, developers, and manufacturers some time to perfect many forms of this technology. We cant expect it to be perfect right away.
