Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1442778
Connecting Devices to the Internet of Things By James Blankley, Molex Industry Market Analyst Some projections for the global Internet of Things (IoT) market are that it will grow to $457 billion by 2020, up from $157 billion in 2016 (Forbes, 2017). More recently, Microsoft announced that it will invest $5 billion in the IoT over the next four years (Microsoft IoT, 2018). Over the past 6-8 years, according to IoT Institute, well-known players like Cisco, Intel, Google, and Qualcomm have invested heavily in IoT companies as they work to build out their ecosystems. Given those statistics, it's only rational (and, frankly, essential) to see household device manufacturers continue to design new IoT-enabled products. However, determining where to start can be a daunting task for start-ups and small businesses. There is currently no regulatory agency to set standards for the IoT, and the variety of communication protocols resembles the American Wild West of the late 1800s. The good news is that there are certain protocols that seem to be very promising in the IoT marketplace. Some of them are well-known, but others are relatively obscured from the mainstream consciousness. The following is a list of requirements identified by Cisco IoT experts as important for start-ups and small businesses to know when looking to design for the IoT. Determining Your Needs There are four important requirements you'll need to establish prior to starting your design: 1. Range 2. Radio Frequency Bands 3. Power Consumption 4. Topology To get yourself started, ask and answer two questions: 1. What is your desired area of coverage? 2. Do indoor and outdoor deployments need to be differentiated? Depending on your needs, the most promising communication technologies are as follows: • Short Range = Less than 100m distance between two devices • Medium Range = Between 100m and less than 1.5 kilometers • Long Range = Distances greater than 1.5 kilometers 11