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12 Radio Frequency Bands Should you opt for your device to connect wirelessly, you'll need to decide whether to use licensed or unlicensed radio frequency bands. Some of the key differences between licensed and unlicensed bands are detailed in the table below: Organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) define and set the regulations and transmission requirements for the licensed radio frequency bands, so the guarantees and protections come from reputable agencies. It's important to note that the unlicensed bands are regulated, but they do not afford the protections (and thus, better service guarantees) of licensed bands. Power Consumption Identifying a device's power consumption needs is equally important. For battery-powered devices, an important concept to determine is how often a battery would need to be changed. If it's too frequently, the device won't succeed in the market. Conversely, if the battery puts out too little power, the device may not have the functionality to succeed in the market. With utility costs becoming a greater focus for product commercialization, power consumption is important to consider for plug-in devices as well. If a new device or set of devices requires a high amount of power to run properly, that extra power cost could turn away cost-conscious consumers and hurt a product's chance of succeeding in the marketplace. Topology Finally, you'll need to decide the best scheme for your devices to connect with others. At this point, three main topology schemes lead the current IoT landscape: Star, peer-to-peer, and mesh topologies. Star Topology In a star topology, every node or client connects to a central network device. A common example of this is an in-home entertainment system (see image). In that system, the speakers and the TV (the nodes or clients) all connect to the receiver (the central network device). Our cellular infrastructure also operates on a star topology, whereas our cell phones (clients) all connect to cell towers and a central station (central network device). Mesh Topology A mesh topology is an advanced form of peer-to-peer topology. Properly constructed and optimized, it allows devices to communicate and cooperate with each other for maximum data efficiency and battery usage. One innovative example of a mesh topology is FabFi. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, FabFi is a small-scale, open-source wireless network being developed to transmit wireless Ethernet signals using common building materials and off-the-shelf electronics. However, there are significant hurdles one must overcome to optimize a mesh topology and implement devices so that they function properly; otherwise, the battery lifetimes can be greatly shortened. One such hurdle is a properly optimized implementation for battery-powered nodes. If not done properly, the battery lifetime is greatly shortened, putting the node at risk for failing in the market.