Internet Technology

The IoT does not consist of a single technology, but rather it is defined as a technological paradigm that provides the endowment of Internet connectivity to any object on which physical parameters can be measured or act, as well as applications and relative intelligent data processing to them. Therefore, for the technology applied to the provision of connectivity to objects, the deployment of new dedicated networks is essential.

Given that the existing technologies at the time when the IoT boom began were not the most optimal for many of its applications, the market has had to adapt and innovate. Although it is true that we are in the process of transition, it is essential to understand the different approaches used:

There is currently a popularization of new native communication technologies for the IoT, of very low consumption, long range and with low cost of devices, of which we can highlight three mainly:

Within short-range technologies, there is a subgroup that includes those that offer connectivity between the connected object and mobile devices. For example, technologies such as Bluetooth, especially with its latest low consumption version, the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), or NFC, contactless communication technology, are revealed as keys in this interaction that we can call personal area. The BLE is also very useful for the realization of low-cost beacons with information exchange with mobiles, with examples as mediatic as iBeacons.

Short-range technologies, which require the deployment of repeaters or gateways. They have been key to the initial success of the IoT, but in many cases they are not very effective in large deployments, by transferring the responsibility of network operation to the end customer, a decision that has been revealed as inappropriate in the initial deployments made with these technologies or similar. In these we can talk about technologies such as ZigBee, Z-Wave, 6LowPAN, etc.

Traditional wireless connectivity technologies: WiFi and cellular connectivity (from 2G to 4G), both with high energy consumption, but widely supported and with great coverage.

Sigfox, a French operator deploying and managing its own network based on its own technology, operated in Spain by Cellnex Telecom and which has the first major IoT client in our country, Securitas Direct.

LoRa, an alternative technology to Sigfox, which gives the option of deploying private networks or being used by operators for their own IoT networks. In Spain there are no deployment plans, but in other countries, such as France, there are several nationals (Orange and Bouygues)

NB-IoT (Narrow Band IoT), LTE-M, etc, also known as 4G profiles for the IoT. These are the great bet of the operators to arrive in 2017/18 and that represent reduced versions of 4G, optimized for applications with low data and energy consumption. Several first world pilots with this technology have been made in Spain by Vodafone.

These networks have low consumption, cheap designs, high coverage and low data rate, but they depend on the maturity of the deployed network, which is still highly variable.

The use and implementation of these technologies on the rise are some of the challenges faced by professionals today. For this reason, at ICEMD, ESIC's Institute of the Digital Economy, we offer specialized training, with the Higher Program in Internet of Things and Industry 4.0, of which you can find more information and registration details here.