The Internet of Things (IoT) is more than just a collection of sensors that capture and share data for analysis. IoT has evolved from single point remedies to robust solutions, enabled through a network of interconnected devices and technologies to solve a spectrum of challenging business issues. At the same time, there exist major hurdles when embarking on an IoT project – one of which lies exactly where the value chain starts.

The majority of legacy industrial and commercial assets and systems were not designed with wireless communications in mind. Failing to select the right IoT connectivity could derail your initiative from the outset. The IoT connectivity challenge is manifold as it also encompasses data integration, privacy and security issues. To effectively manage the risks and architect your IoT network for long-term viability, make sure you factor in these five essential considerations.

1. What are the range, power and bandwidth requirements of my connected devices?

These three factors often come at the expense of each other. It’s all about finding the right balance that best suits your use cases. For example, different from factory automation tasks, most industrial monitoring applications pertain to the intermittent, latency-tolerant transmission of small-sized telemetry data. What’s more important is the ability to connect assets at remote locations where power supply is severely constraint, or absent altogether. Likewise, vast, structurally dense industrial facilities require a reliable wireless link that can travel through great physical obstructions. In this regard, a solution that delivers extensive range and minimal power footprint benefits would outweigh one that offers millisecond-latency communications.

2. Is the network easy to deploy and could it involve any complications?

Highly integrable, plug-and-play IoT connectivity is key to streamlining the costs and complexity of an IoT deployment. The industry needs a solution that acts as the bridge between legacy OT and IT systems to break down existing data silos and unlock operational visibility. On one end, the wireless IoT connectivity can be easily retrofitted into field assets and equipment without complex hardware modifications and production downtime. On the other end, it enables straightforward data transfer to the existing IT infrastructure and business applications for data democratization and informed decision-making.

3. Could it help me address multiple operational challenges?

While no connectivity is use case agnostic, it would be a mistake to think that each IoT application requires a heterogeneous wireless solution. Typically, you could have a unified network to simultaneously tackle different low-power, low-throughput use cases – from asset and facility management to environmental monitoring and occupancy detection. This would lower upfront investment and simplify the management of your IoT architecture to accelerate the path to ROI.

For a wireless network to accommodate growing applications, scalability is a prerequisite. Increasing the number of end points should never come at the cost of other important factors like network reliability and ease of deployment. Equally important, you want IoT connectivity that can support both static and fast-moving devices to tap into a wide range of worker, asset and fleet data.

4. Is the wireless connectivity future-proof?

A common mistake companies often make during the beginning of an IoT deployment is failing to incorporate future needs. While a digital project often starts small, you need to be ready when it’s time to scale. With the exponential increase in connected devices and radio traffic in the near future, the chosen connectivity must be purpose-built for interference resilience. Also, given the whirlwind speed of today’s technology, ensuring long-term interoperability is paramount. Coming with a well-articulated and transparent technical framework, software-driven, standard-based wireless solutions can seamlessly support new cross-vendor devices in years to come.

5. How does it align with my security and data privacy strategy?

An IoT network is only as secure as its wireless link. To protect enterprise data against malicious attempts, end-to-end encryption is critical. Specifically, robust cryptographic schemes must be integrated into each part of the data chain – from devices to gateways and from gateways to network management and application platforms. What’s more, you need to consider which third-party vendors can have access to your data. Managed IoT connectivity services by network operators require all messages to be re-routed through their server before reaching the end enterprise applications. If data privacy is top of mind, a privately-owned network is the way to go.

Data is the lifeblood of IoT and connectivity is the vein to transport and circulate it. The wireless decision is intertwined with multiple aspects of the network architecture and ultimately impacts the success of your IoT initiative. Asking these five questions will help you navigate the jungle of wireless protocols and standards and opt for the best solution.

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There’s a lot that goes into getting an IoT project off the ground, but it doesn’t always result in success. Indeed, the new IoT Signals report by Microsoft found out that nearly one-third of projects fail in the proof-of-concept (PoC) stage. Various technical and organizational factors weigh in, but the leading cause pertains to the inability to justify the cost of scaling IoT.  

It goes without saying that there’s a huge difference in deploying and managing a few devices versus thousands or even tens of thousands of devices. A PoC certainly helps bring all the moving pieces together to get the first big picture of the overall solution. Still, many technical requirements for overcoming IoT scalability issues in the future might not be considered even when the PoC turns out to be a success. The transition from a PoC to a full-scale roll-out can only come off, if scalability is planned from day one. 

Technical complexity is one of the greatest IoT scalability issues. As such, choosing the right technology with the right architecture is paramount to safeguard the long-term viability of your connected system. In this blog, we discuss five essential considerations you should look into when planning for large-scale IoT implementation.  

1. Large Wireless System Capacity  

With the breakneck speed of innovation that’s happening in the IoT space, you want to make sure your wireless system can nimbly accommodate a fast-growing number of endpoints that arrive down the line. Such network expansion must not come at the cost of message delivery and Quality-of-Service, especially when it comes to mission-critical commercial and industrial use cases. The underlying wireless technology largely dictates this.  

The massive deluge of data traffic imposes great bandwidth challenges, as devices within and across systems vie for their place in the radio spectrum. Dependable indicators like the number of daily messages that can be handled per gateway can help you evaluate the scalability of a wireless solution. Concurrently, with sub-GHz radio technology, you can segregate IoT networks from other 2.4 GHz legacy systems to mitigate jitter and congestion issues. Above all, a solution purpose-built for interference immunity is key to overcoming IoT scalability issues pertaining to reliable network operation in a crowded spectrum.

2. Simplified Network Planning and Setup 

Piggybacking back on the previous point, many wireless technologies might promise to support thousands of devices per gateway. Still, reality could look very different. As soon as a large number of endpoints need to be integrated, the complexity in network planning and configuration can quickly inflate to the point of being unmanageable. This challenge often comes with multi-hop mesh solutions.  

Given the short radio range of many mesh protocols, you need to ensure devices are well distributed and repeaters are employed as required for the transmission link to work. Adding moving nodes can further make network performance unpredictable. And troubleshooting is especially challenging due to the complex traffic flows. If you want your IoT at scale with minimum complications, a star topology network is most likely in your best interest. 

3. Interoperable Architecture  

Each IoT system is a mashup of heterogeneous components and technologies. This diversity makes interoperability a prerequisite for IoT scalability, to avoid being saddled with an obsolete system that fails to keep pace with new innovation later on. By designing interoperable architecture from the get-go, you can counter fragmentation and reduce the integration costs of your IoT project in the long run. 

Today, technology standards exist to foster horizontal interoperability by fueling global cross-vendor support through robust, transparent and consistent technology specifications. For example, a standard-based wireless protocol allows you to benefit from a growing portfolio of off-the-shelf hardware across industry domains. When it comes to vertical interoperability, versatile APIs and open messaging protocols act as the glue to connect the edge network with a multitude of value-deriving backend applications. Leveraging these open interfaces, you can also scale your IoT deployment across locations and seamlessly aggregate data across premises.  

4. Remote Network and Device Management  

As the network quickly grows, a manual approach to deploying, managing and maintaining devices simply won’t cut it. Not to mention, many devices are deployed at remote, far-flung or attended locations where technicians or employees often don’t set foot in. For successful IoT scalability, network and device management can’t be seen as an afterthought; it’s must be planned from the outset. 

There are various aspects that play into the optimal health, security and connectivity of individual devices and the overall network. How can large batches of devices be provisioned efficiently and securely? Is authentication natively built into the provisioning process? Can I easily configure and update field devices from afar? How can I troubleshoot network and device issues? What does the end of life management process look like? These are just a few out of numerous questions to be answered 

In addition to a comprehensive strategy and careful planning, you’ll need a powerful network and device management tool to better streamline and automate the management process.  

5. Flexible and Scalable Software Infrastructure 

The cloud is probably on the radar of almost every company that looks to collect and process massive IoT data streams. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should transfer all processing work to the cloud. In many scenarios, a combination of cloud and edge/on-prem deployment is called into action to strike the right balance between scale, cost, latency and data privacy. With that in mind, you want to make sure your connected system can support such hybrid workflows and enable seamless migration from the edge to the cloud.  

Whether you want to build you own IoT software and applications, outsource these from third-party vendors, or opt for a combination of both, microservices and container-based design is the way to go. In the DevOps world, containerized applications have been a great success story due to their modular, resource-efficient and platform-agnostic nature. This makes them as well a perfect fit for a hybrid IoT architecture where individual service containers can be deployed independently in any compute environment – be it an edge gateway, an on-prem server or a cloud platform. Plus, leveraging modern container orchestration tools like Kubernetes, you can easily deploy, manage and scale the software to adapt to changing needs. 

Scaling an IoT deployment can be a challenging and intimidating endeavour, but don’t let this put you off harnessing the enormous opportunities IoT has to offer. While the five criteria discussed above by no means represent an exhaustive list, they can serve as a useful baseline to help you avoid the common IoT scalability issues and start architecting an infrastructure that can grow with your IoT requirements. 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing relentlessly. According to IoT Analytics, there were around 9.5 billion connected devices in 2019, which far exceeds the original forecast of 8.3 billion devices. As companies look to adopt IoT to fundamentally transform business operations and value delivery, it’s immediately evident that IoT is an ecosystem game. No single vendor is able to deliver an end-to-end connected solution alone, and strategic partnerships will be paramount for companies to successfully harness IoT potential.

A technology alliance is formed precisely to achieve this goal. Revolving around an innovative core technology, it aims to deliver easily consumable and accessible connected solutions for end customers in industrial, commercial and consumer marketplaces. To do so, it brings together a variety of vendors with complementary solutions and expertise to fortify partnerships and overcome resource gaps. Ultimately, technology alliances are deemed to establish the technical and operational foundation needed for a vibrant and sustainable IoT ecosystem.

IoT vendors, in particular, are in a unique position to reap the multifold benefits of technology alliance initiatives.

1. Reduce Risks and Accelerate Time-to-Market

Cutting-edge technologies are continuously reshaping the competitive landscape and presenting unprecedented business values, but they don’t come without challenges. The more innovative the technology, the higher the stakes as companies enter uncharted territory where the market is largely nascent. Being part of a technology alliance allows you to seize disruptive IoT possibilities while mitigating the inherent risk and complexity that come along. By leveraging partners’ capabilities and focusing on your core competencies, you can reduce development time and costs to deliver viable IoT products to the market, faster.

2. Transcend Technical Adoption Barriers

To tackle the challenge of growing IoT fragmentation, interoperability must be infused into IoT design from the get-go. In this context, a technology alliance serves as an overarching standard umbrella of the focal enabling technology to pave the way to an open, scalable and interworking ecosystem of diverse products and solutions that are built on top of it. Besides immediate technology access, active standardization effort and robust testing and certification programs allow participants to benefit from easier technical integration, alongside enhanced technology transparency and compliance. This, in turn, helps to ensure long-term quality and compatibility of their connected devices and applications.

3. Generate and Capture New Business Opportunities

Technology alliances further provide a platform for cross-domain businesses – from developers and manufacturers to system integrators and service providers – to exchange knowledge and identify new technology use cases and business opportunities across verticals. At the same time, member vendors can capitalize on a bigger sales channel and larger coverage, while augmenting value proposition by combining complementary offerings to deliver a market-ready, end-to-end solution to their customers.

The MIOTY Alliance: A Real World Example

Founded in early 2020, the MIOTY Alliance is a representative example of such a technology alliance where companies can come together to deliver on the promise of IoT.  With Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) quickly establishing itself as one of the major IoT enablers, the alliance aims to empower global tech players with easy access to MIOTY – the only LPWAN protocol ratified by ETSI for unmatched Quality-of-Service, scalability and mobile communications. Learn more about MIOTY technology here.

Existing members like BehrTech bring in unique expertise and capabilities to help turn the enormous potential of the MIOTY protocol into reality. Specifically, MYTHINGS Central provides hardware vendors and solution providers with a versatile, out-of-the-box network and device management tool for their MIOTY-enabled devices and services, to deliver greater product value to the end users. Likewise, system integrators can faster engineer MIOTY-powered solutions that are tailored to their clients’ needs, by capitalizing on MYTHINGS rapid prototyping modules.

To sum it up, in the fast-changing IoT ecosystem with constantly evolving requirements and outcomes, technology alliances offer a strategic means for businesses to tap into emerging, disruptive innovations and unleash entirely new market opportunities.

Beyond a simple catchword, the Internet of Things (IoT) is here to stay. According to the latest IoT Survey by PwC, 93% of executives believe IoT’s benefits outweigh its risks, and 70% have ongoing and under development IoT projects. Yet despite its growing prevalence and widely known opportunities, navigating the IoT ecosystem is often simpler said than done. With so many pieces working in concert with each other, enterprises might find themselves struggling to assemble the IoT puzzle.

The truth is, while each IoT system is unique in its combination of chosen solutions, the underpinning components that lay its groundwork are more or less uniform. With a solid understanding of the fundamentals, you can streamline IoT complexity and design your own system in a more efficient way. In this blog, we decode six building blocks of a wireless IoT architecture you should know. These include edge devices, connectivity, network gateways, network and device management, data center/the cloud, and IoT applications.

1. Edge Devices

Edge devices, or the “things”, are where the IoT data chain starts. Quite often, they refer to smart sensors that can automatically pick up information about their surroundings, human vital signs, or conditions of the larger equipment and machine they are embedded in. These sensors vastly vary not only in their sensing functions but also in the sensing technology and the precision level guaranteed.

Newer sensors come with a self-contained and compact design to enable multi-sensing ability and easy installation. Besides the sensing module itself, smart sensors are also integrated with a microcontroller for processing, a wireless transceiver for communications, and most likely a battery unit. In large-scale industrial and commercial deployments that incorporate thousands of devices, long battery life is deemed critical to minimize the cost and complexity of network maintenance.

2. Connectivity

Acting as the voice of edge devices, the connectivity link is responsible for transporting sensor data to the corresponding IoT gateways/ base stations or, in some cases, directly to the cloud/backend system. The increasing pervasiveness and readiness of wireless communications have been seen as one of the leading factors expediting the IoT revolution. Your connectivity choice largely depends on range, power, throughput, mobility, alongside other important network requirements dictated by the use cases in question and the operating environment of end devices. Beside prevalent cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mesh solutions, the newcomer Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) have quickly gained a foothold in the IoT space, due to their unique characteristics for industrial and commercial markets.

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3. Network Gateways/ Base Stations

As a larger number of IoT devices are low-computing, resource-constraint sensors, they lack the ability to communicate directly to a central server and the end application. As such, a network gateway is often deployed as the bridge between edge devices and the upstream IT infrastructure. It aggregates data from numerous, heterogenous endpoints, converts the data into transportable formats and offloads it to the processing server via high throughput backhaul connections like wired Ethernet or WLAN.

Amidst the unabated rise of edge computing, many IoT gateways are now embedded with enhanced functions and analytics capabilities. Beyond wireless signal decoding, newer gateways can filter, pre-process and even analyze data right at the edge to lessen the burden on the core IT infrastructure while minimizing latency and response time in mission-critical scenarios. Note that despite its unique benefits, edge computing is not always a must in an IoT architecture.

4. Network and Device Management

Sitting between the edge network and the data processing layer, the network and device management piece is responsible for device lifecycle management, alongside network maintenance and troubleshooting. While often overlooked, this element is critical to ensure only authorized devices can access your IoT network and impending bottlenecks can be swiftly spotted and resolved via a centralized, intuitive UI portal. It additionally provides a streamlined way to provision, de-commission, monitor and control a vast number of endpoints, allowing you to seamlessly scale your deployment. A versatile network and device management tool comes with an open, lightweight and platform-independent design, together with cross-vendor device support and robust integration tools.

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5. Data Center/ Cloud Infrastructure

Providing the fundamental IT infrastructure for your IoT applications, the data center is your central repository where all data ingestion, storage and processing take place. Traditionally, data centers have often been installed on-premises and managed by the enterprises themselves. Yet, as the enormous wave of IoT data floods in, hyperscale cloud infrastructure is taking over the stage. The elastic and agile nature of the cloud allows the computing resource to be flexibly scaled or downsized on-demand. Simultaneously, you can avoid the cost and hassle of deploying, running and maintaining on-site servers, while being able to access your data from everywhere.

Top-tier cloud vendors offer solid tools and services like real-time streaming, rule engines/workflows, data orchestration and machine learning frameworks to facilitate the development of powerful IoT applications on top of the cloud infrastructure.

6. IoT Application

An IoT application is the end-user touchpoint where data is synthesized, analyzed and presented in a straightforward, visually engaging manner to address real-world problems and empower intelligent, data-driven decisions. Often cloud-hosted, this could come as a mobile app, a web service and/or a desktop application and is easily integrable into your enterprise systems for process and workflow automation. The IoT application is a vital component of your connected architecture, as it is where value creation actually happens.

Some IoT applications come fully out-of-the-box and are bundled with the compatible connected devices in a single offering, whereas others are tailored-built with the help of an application enablement platform, allowing them to be device- and connectivity-agnostic.

IoT systems drastically vary, and some may include additional layers not mentioned here. Yet, these six fundamental components should provide a reference architecture to help you better navigate the IoT ecosystem and piece together the essential moving parts that best cater to your or your customer’s use cases. Additionally, it’s important to bear in mind that security must be the seamless thread that weaves through every component of your entire IoT architecture.