Feature: Sensor technology
The final frontier for global IoT
By Eric Hewitson, Business Development & Strategy Manager, Wyld Networks K
evin Ashton, the British technology pioneer who first coined the phrase “the Internet of Tings” to describe connecting objects in the physical
world to the Internet, said: “What the Internet of Tings is really about is information technology that can gather its own information. Oſten what it does with that information is not tell a human being something, it [just] does something.” His vision was that by using data gathered without any help from humans, we would be able to track and count everything and greatly reduce waste and cost. While early predictions about the
number of IoT devices were over- optimistic, IoT technology has been steadily finding its way into many aspects of our lives, delivering the benefits that Ashton foresaw. But successful IoT projects need to balance the cost of sensor, connectivity and data platforms against the value of data to end users
The value of satellite IoT is in its ability to augment terrestrial LPWAN networks and provide a
fallback for terrestrial networks, whilst acting as a default
for those situations where it is the only available method
and applications. Tese sometimes highly-complex calculations start with determining the parameters of key elements such as distance, data rate, security and, perhaps most critically, power consumption. Tis is particularly the case for remote IoT, where success is determined by the ability to deploy and leave sensors off the grid, through battery- or solar-powered things that can be leſt in place for years on low power, chirping data back to the cloud. But there’s the rub. It comes down
to the question of connectivity. It’s no good having a low-power soil moisture sensor in a field with no connection; estimates suggest that only 15% of the world’s surface has terrestrial connectivity. Reflecting this, Inmarsat research recently revealed that 75% of IoT decision makers are struggling to kick start their IoT projects due to connectivity issues. Additionally, there is a perception that remote IoT requires high power, making it impractical for the widespread
28 July/August 2022
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
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