How will the IoT ecosystem be tested?

Phil Medd of Cobham Wireless

The large volumes and the diversity of devices that are predicted to be connected to the IoT over the next few years will introduce a new set of challenges in testing and validation – not only for the devices themselves, but also for the networks that will support them.

With use cases for applications that are expected to include connected lifestyle and healthcare applications such as wearable technology, as well as smart energy, public infrastructure, industrial automation, and connected cars, and connecting via local as well as cellular networks, there will be no single test solution that will suit all devices, says Phil Medd, senior technical product manager at Cobham Wireless.

The main challenge for testing these low-complexity, non-speech devices will be to reduce the cost of test and maximise throughput, while ensuring that any critical performance parameters are still being accurately validated. Multiple standards and technologies will be used to connect the IoT – 2G/EGPRS, Weightless-N, and proprietary low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies and protocols are already being used for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, and the market for these has been accelerating.

However one of the largest growth areas for IoT prior to the launch of 5G is expected to be in 4G LTE. The 3GPP LTE-M standard (also known as Cat-M or Cat-M1) will enable lower-cost, lower-power M2M devices to work within the currently available cellular networks and will also offer modes that improve in-building coverage.

Two other IoT standards – EC-GSM (Enhanced Coverage GSM) and NB-IoT – are also being introduced. Fast and flexible multi-standard, multi-device test systems like PXI Maestro are likely to provide a convenient route towards manufacturing test of low complexity IoT terminals.

The cellular networks that are being expanded to include IoT will also need new kinds of testing, and the effect of loading the network with millions of these devices will need to be validated. Although individual devices may not need much bandwidth, with millions more devices coming online the efficiencies of 4G and 5G will be needed to increase the overall capacity of the network in order to be able to handle them.TM500 IoT

The availability of network validation tools that emulate realistic data usage scenarios has been vital to the development and rollout of LTE, and in the future it will be equally important to include the characteristics of the predicted volume of IoT devices in the traffic models in order to ensure quality of service (QoS) and quality of user experience (QoE) as 5G networks develop.

The philosophy of ‘testing by design’ will provide the wireless industry with the blueprint to begin developing this framework, and this will necessitate the use of a validation environment based on virtualised network functions that can apply realistic scenarios for all types of ‘users’ – consumers, businesses and ‘Things’.

The latest generation of the TM500 network test system already has the capability to emulate tens of thousands of M2M/MTC devices, to evaluate the effect on the network of connecting large numbers of these low-power, low-complexity devices. This helps network operators and infrastructure vendors to validate 4G cellular network performance in preparation for deploying IoT connectivity.

The accelerating development of 5G is partly being driven by a demand for expanding M2M communications to enable many new IoT use cases, including those such as automotive applications or remote surgery, where the need for low-latency and high-reliability devices cannot be met using the existing connectivity technologies.

Looking to the future, 4G, 5G and legacy cellular will all form part of the eventual IoT mix. Many IoT devices need to operate indoors, so issues of in-building penetration need to be addressed as well. New architectures and frequency bands may be needed to improve indoor coverage.

A mixture of heterogeneous networks (HetNets) using small cells, WiFi offload, and more innovative indoor coverage solutions such as intelligent digital DAS (idDAS) – which allows mobile operators to use flexible repeater solutions to dynamically allocate capacity within buildings or areas – is expected to form part of the solution.

Software-defined networks utilising network function virtualisation (NFV) and self-optimising networks (SON) will increasingly be used by operators to help make networks more flexible and responsive to changes in demand. They will form an integral part of the development of the IoT, and in managing network resources to cope with the extra traffic that it will generate.

The author of this blog is Phil Medd, senior technical product manager at Cobham Wireless.

Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @IoTNow_ OR @jcIoTnow

RECENT ARTICLES

Get a US$50 Amazon voucher for sharing your IoT brand knowledge

Posted on: March 28, 2024

We want to know what you know about the IoT space. Just 3 minutes could earn you a US$50 Amazon digital gift card!

Read more

Enhance EV charging performance with cellular connectivity

Posted on: March 28, 2024

Electric vehicles (EVs) are steadily growing their market share at the expense of internal combustion engine vehicles. The growth is fuelled by several factors. Perhaps most importantly, prices for EVs have started to drop as competition in the industry is intensifying. New players and models are emerging, prompting several established EV makers to lower their

Read more
FEATURED IoT STORIES

What is IoT? A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on: April 5, 2023

What is IoT? IoT, or the Internet of Things, refers to the connection of everyday objects, or “things,” to the internet, allowing them to collect, transmit, and share data. This interconnected network of devices transforms previously “dumb” objects, such as toasters or security cameras, into smart devices that can interact with each other and their

Read more

The IoT Adoption Boom – Everything You Need to Know

Posted on: September 28, 2022

In an age when we seem to go through technology boom after technology boom, it’s hard to imagine one sticking out. However, IoT adoption, or the Internet of Things adoption, is leading the charge to dominate the next decade’s discussion around business IT. Below, we’ll discuss the current boom, what’s driving it, where it’s going,

Read more

9 IoT applications that will change everything

Posted on: September 1, 2021

Whether you are a future-minded CEO, tech-driven CEO or IT leader, you’ve come across the term IoT before. It’s often used alongside superlatives regarding how it will revolutionize the way you work, play, and live. But is it just another buzzword, or is it the as-promised technological holy grail? The truth is that Internet of

Read more

Which IoT Platform 2021? IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide

Posted on: August 30, 2021

There are several different parts in a complete IoT solution, all of which must work together to get the result needed, write IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide – Which IoT Platform 2021? authors Robin Duke-Woolley, the CEO and Bill Ingle, a senior analyst, at Beecham Research. Figure 1 shows these parts and, although not all

Read more

CAT-M1 vs NB-IoT – examining the real differences

Posted on: June 21, 2021

As industry players look to provide the next generation of IoT connectivity, two different standards have emerged under release 13 of 3GPP – CAT-M1 and NB-IoT.

Read more

IoT and home automation: What does the future hold?

Posted on: June 10, 2020

Once a dream, home automation using iot is slowly but steadily becoming a part of daily lives around the world. In fact, it is believed that the global market for smart home automation will reach $40 billion by 2020.

Read more

5 challenges still facing the Internet of Things

Posted on: June 3, 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly become a huge part of how people live, communicate and do business. All around the world, web-enabled devices are turning our world into a more switched-on place to live.

Read more