The deployment of wireless sensors in the IoT industry has been transformative in industries ranging from agriculture to healthcare and smart cities. Deploying wireless sensors, however, comes with a set of technical and logistical challenges, and companies using wireless sensors for their projects and research need to heed accordingly.
Technical challenges
The primary challenge in deploying wireless sensors is ensuring scalability and that comprehensive network coverage is in place to begin with. Sensors can’t operate properly without coverage in place to communicate with one another.
Recent podcast guests on IoT Unplugged have espoused the benefits of different network technologies to support wireless sensors in use cases like smart cities, particularly in rural or agricultural locations where infrastructure is lacking – but also cities, where there’s a lot of “noise” generated.
Phil Beecher, President and CEO of Wi-SUN Alliance said: “In dense urban environments, there’s often a problem with connectivity, either from technologies like cellular or other LPWAN technologies, where devices are buried in these urban canyons of glass or concrete or steel. Wireless mesh technology works particularly well there.”
Another technical challenge is energy consumption – particularly as wireless sensors operate using batteries. Prolonging battery life or even optimising battery performance requires efficient energy management, and can include the incorporation of test and measurement tools to understand battery performance before moving to optimise it.
In an interview given at Hardware Pioneers which took place at the end of May, Björn Rosqvist, Chief Product Officer at Qoitech said: “It’s not only important to optimise the hardware but to optimise the software, too.”
Data security and privacy and reliability and maintenance are equally important considerations, too. Wireless sensors can be vulnerable to security threats like data breaches and unauthorised access – the security threat posed by smart home devices that are wireless sensors was regarded as highly influential in the passing of the PSTI Act within the UK.
Logistical challenges
A primary logistical challenge for the deployment of wireless sensors is the initial setup costs, including the cost of hardware, software and infrastructure. This financial barrier can prove daunting for large-scale deployments in rural or underdeveloped areas.
Another challenge includes integrating wireless sensors with existing operational systems which may require compatibility and interoperability between different technologies.
Using energy harvesting techniques, making use of security protocols and tools like machine learning and artificial intelligence are all technologies that can help to address these technical and logistical challenges. For example, lightweight encryption algorithms and multi-factor authentication schemes are designed to secure data transmission without putting too much computational overhead on wireless sensors.
Ultimately, developers and device manufacturers need to be cognisant of these technical and logistical challenges to ensure the deployment of wireless sensors is a smooth process, and use cases like smart cities and industrial automation can benefit from the data and insights wireless sensors bring.
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