IoT connectivity is growing on a rapid scale, with around 14 billion connected IoT devices in deployment, and billions more to come by the beginning of 2030. Like with the many variations of devices that can be connected, the ways to connect them are diverse. LoRaWAN, Satellite, Sigfox etc, all are possible ways to wirelessly connect your devices. Yet Wi-Fi and Cellular stand out as the main forms, with Cellular estimated by Ericsson to make up around 3 billion IoT connections.
Jim Hassman, President of Blues, a company that aims to make every physical device ‘smart’ via its connectivity ‘Notecards’ has discussed with IoT Insider their products and sales trends, offering a unique insights into broader trends in IoT connectivity.
As mentioned, why Blues’ insights prove so interesting because they represent the coming online of devices that were previously not connected entities, so seeing trends in their offerings provide a specific example of what companies not inherently IoT focused or founded are looking for when they decide to connect their devices.
Cellular connectivity’s leading industrial edge
“Blues provides multiple ‘completely swappable’ connectivity modules called Notecards (or radio options if you will – Cellular, LoRa, and WIFI) with a single API to the Cloud,” says Hassman. “Amongst these options, Cellular remains the predominant choice by customers. Within Cellular, CAT 1 is the most purchased as it has much better performance than NBIoT or Cat M.” This preference alludes to the importance companies are placing on reliable, high-performance connectivity that can support the substantial data requirements of IoT devices. The inclination towards Cellular technology signals a broader search for solutions that balance performance with power efficiency and coverage, crucial for applications in industrial and critical infrastructure contexts.
Equally, Hassman’s insights reflect a growing reliance on Cellular connectivity to facilitate advanced IoT functionalities. “The entire design center of Blues’ Notecard and Notehub is predicated on the idea that we provide a complete hardware module that includes connectivity, security, certification, location, and antenna power management,” Hassman explains. This approach underscores the evolving IoT landscape, where the demand for data-intensive applications continues to rise, necessitating infrastructure that can support such devices without compromising on energy consumption or network availability.
Yet Cellular does not hold a monopoly. “While Cellular remains the dominant radio for industrial IoT, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are still fairly large in consumer IoT,” explains Hassman. “LoRa also continues to grow, with over 1,500 individual devices built on their network from various companies.”
Satellite is also receiving growing demand, according to Hassman, who says its ability to provide coverage in locations where the other radios do not have service crucial for some operations. Yet, it has drawbacks, “The problem with satellite is that it is not priced for IoT, it’s priced for cell phones and internet services,” says Hassman, who goes on to explain how Blues is aiming to change, through features like API to the Cloud with no code changes required and the ability to swap Notecards.
The industries adopting
When looking at the industry adopting these connectivity Notecard and Notehub, Blues recently showcased over 20 customer solutions at CES in Las Vegas across numerous industries and use cases. The main targeted industries were refrigeration, precision healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas. “In almost all these products, customers had been struggling for years to build a connected product,” said Hassman. “They succeeded in just a couple of weeks of using Blues’ Notecard and Notehub in their projects.”
For refrigeration, for instance, Cellular connectivity, particularly CAT 1, remains a strong option for use due its robust performance and reliability, ensuring continuous monitoring and control over temperatures and system efficiency across distributed locations. In precision healthcare, a combination of Cellular and Wi-Fi would be paramount, with Cellular offering broader coverage for remote patient monitoring and Wi-Fi enabling high-throughput data transfer in hospital settings for real-time health data analytics. Manufacturing could leverage both Cellular and LoRa technologies; Cellular for real-time monitoring of machinery and operations over vast industrial complexes, and LoRa for low-power, long-range communication in sensor networks monitoring environmental conditions or equipment health; Agriculture would benefit from LoRa and Cellular connectivity; LoRa for its low-power requirement and long-range capability, ideal for sensor deployment across expansive agricultural fields, and Cellular for real-time data transmission to Cloud platforms for analysis, thereby facilitating precision farming techniques. Lastly, the oil industry, operating often in remote and challenging environments, would likely lean towards Cellular connectivity for its reliability and extensive coverage, ensuring critical infrastructure such as oil field pumps and drilling equipment are continuously monitored and controlled to prevent unscheduled downtimes and optimize production efficiency.
The speed and success in which Blues’ connectivity solutions are able to be deployed enable these sectors, which are tipped as some of the industries IoT is most likely to affect, to overcome longstanding barriers to IoT integration and has led to innovations in the sectors as a whole rather than just a singular company’s process innovation.
The future of connecting IoT devices
With the burgeoning of 5G, many wonder could this new connective technology will stand to effect IoT. Hassman, however, argues we should hold our horses: “People wonder when 4G will sunset and when they will have to move to 5G,” says Hassman. “5G will not have a big impact on IoT, especially the low bandwidth low power type products I’ve mentioned here as the modem itself is over $300. It’s a non-starter from a business case perspective.”
Does that mean Blues will not bank on it with any new iterations of its Notecard solutions? “Wouldn’t it be convenient if Blues came out with a Notecard that was 5G “like” that would ensure the life of connected products, but at a price point that worked for the business case… stay tuned,” teases Hassman.
One technology Hassman is clearly more bullish on, however, is AI. Enterprises have no shortage of valuable AI use case ideas, but they do have limited data in some cases from physical products, machines, and assets. This is where Blues can help, argues Hassman. “These devices that are disconnected today can become intelligent services that feed these AI use cases – whether it be machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, or generative AI. There are many published projects out there on Hackster.io doing TinyML on the Edge using Blues. The Edge and the Cloud are connected now, which changes everything about AIoT.”
Equally, demand for IIoT devices has increased dramatically in recent years, resulting from the increasingly connected world and the need for data insights for business leaders to make more informed decisions. This lends itself to a trend of wireless harmonisation – the ability of solutions to adapt to multiple radio access technologies. This in itself, could see modes of connectivity growing in similar pace to each other as solutions begin to accommodate both forms and thus the decision for connectivity need not be an either or.
“Looking to the future, we will see increased usage of satellites for IIoT connectivity, as they offer high-speed broadband access in remote regions,” states Hassman. “While several challenges are still associated with satellite IIoT, more companies will explore this technology to meet customers’ wireless harmonisation needs.”
From the dominance of Cellular connectivity, the diversity of applications, and the future of connecitivty, Hassman points towards a future where IoT connectivity solutions are not only technologically advanced but also accessible and adaptable to the needs of a diverse range of sectors. The harmonisation of these connectivity solutions is essential to cater to the unique attributes and growing prevalence of the different modes of connectivity. This approach ensures that IoT deployments can leverage the most suitable technology—whether it’s Cellular for high-speed data and widespread coverage, LoRaWAN for long-range and low-power applications, Wi-Fi for local networks, or Satellite for remote areas. By adopting a harmonised approach, developers and businesses can create flexible, resilient IoT systems that can switch between or combine different connectivity options as required, thereby maximising efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing the scalability of IoT solutions. This adaptability is crucial for supporting the rapid expansion of the IoT, enabling it to meet the increasingly complex demands of modern, data-lead industries.
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