CES 2023 promises to deliver a cornucopia of announcements and opportunities for IoT players, reports Antony Savvas
The annual global show in early January, run by the US Consumer Technology Association (CTA), is being held across the Las Vegas Convention Center and major hotels on the strip, including the Aria and the Venetian.
There will be hundreds of keynotes and presentations made at the various venues. The CES 2023 conference programme will highlight advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, the environment and sustainability, the metaverse and gaming, digital health, vehicle tech and advanced mobility, and home entertainment and smart homes, among other areas. New this year will be content on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3.
Economic headwinds
The show comes at a critical time for the IoT industry, as enterprises, vertical markets and national economies look to weather economic headwinds.
Galit Shemesh Cohen, product manager lead at IoT connectivity and management platform FirstPoint, says: “2023 will be a year of economic downturn, therefore an increasing number of businesses will be looking at how to reduce operational costs while still focusing on improving user experience. One significant way to achieve this goal is through digitisation through the Internet of Things, harnessing the power of millions of devices such as pressure and temperature sensors and electric, pneumatic actuators to collect, analyse, automate and control business data and processes. This will also improve end-customer satisfaction.”
One of the most exciting examples, she says, is smart grids, that will drive improved energy efficiency through increasing production resiliency, connecting to renewable energy and incentivising reduced energy use during peak load times. Cellular connectivity adapted to the different IoT needs – especially 5G – will be critical,” says Cohen. “Its promise, to support low latency, high bandwidth and a massive number of devices with unbreakable security, will undoubtedly be a game changer.”
IoT modules
5G module provider Fibocom echoes that sentiment. It says: “As 5G technology keeps evolving from usable towards useful, recently launched cutting-edge 5G module products, based on mainstream chipset platforms, have unleashed 5G’s potential in speed performance, network coverage and power consumption.”
Some of its own products include the Fibocom 5G Module FG170(W), which offers a “fibre-like wireless connectivity experience” with extended network coverage and boosted throughput, further enhancing 5G performance in fixed wireless access (FWA), industrial IoT, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), private networks, and other mass data scenarios.
Chip and module provider Sequans says a key driver in cellular IoT is its high level of security and flexibility, enabled by integrated eSIM technology now available and certified on leading cellular IoT chipsets.
“Our GSMA-compliant integrated eSIM in the Sequans Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT chip platform is Common Criteria EAL5+ certified, which saves on device costs and enables utilities to easily switch to any mobile network operator (MNO) at will, improving longevity and lowering operational costs,” says Sequans.
IoT Infrastructure Pavilion
At CES 2023, the IoT Infrastructure Pavilion will be located at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and will showcase the latest technologies that are the backbone of all connected consumer technology.
It has been organised by the IoT M2M Council (IMC) which has a mission of bringing technology adopters together with solutions providers through online and in-person events. The overall aim is to accelerate the adoption of IoT technology. The IMC counts more than 25,000 IoT buyers as members from 24 vertical markets across every continent. These are enterprise users and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that procure software, hardware and connectivity.
The IMC is organising attendee conferences, press events and networking receptions throughout the CES week.
Big IoT presence Big IoT presence
The companies located in the IoT Infrastructure Pavilion include Airgain, BICS, Digi International, iBASIS, KORE, 1NCE, 2J Antennas, Arima, AzureWave Technologies, Bantam Clean Power, Blues Wireless, BRT Systems, Canonical, Cygnus Reach, ESH Technology, floLIVE, GetWireless, Nichicon, Pod Group, Quectel, QuEST Global, Samyoung S&C, SIMCom Wireless Solutions, SmartWitness, Taoglas, Telit, u-blox, Vodafone, Voltaic Systems and WTIwireless.
The Pavilion is housed in the North Hall of the Convention Center, along with related exhibitions around vehicle tech and advanced mobility, artificial intelligence and robotics, digital health, and sustainability.
IoT solutions conference track
The IMC is also hosting two panel discussions at the LVCC focusing on different IoT technology. The first panel is, ‘Satellites provide new options for consumer devices’, taking place on Thursday 5 January at 2pm. The speakers here include Lilac Muller, vice president of product management at Kymeta; Tushar Sachdev, executive vice president and chief technology officer at KORE; Jaume Sanpera, founder and chief executive officer of Sateliot; and Rick Somerton, president and CEO of eSAT Global.
The lead-in for this panel is this: the main benefit of satellite connectivity has been ubiquitous coverage outside of cellular networks, including in maritime and deep-rural environments, but costs associated with satellite communications have been prohibitive for most consumer applications, until recently.
Today, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites have cut the costs of satellite connectivity by more than half, and it’s likely these costs will continue to drop. At the same time, innovations in device hardware are making it possible to seamlessly switch between satellite and terrestrial connectivity. The panel will investigate what’s happening now with satellite connectivity services and how that’s likely to impact consumer devices moving forward.
A threatened world
The second interesting panel is, ‘How low power IoT can help save the planet’, which is happening on Saturday 7 January at 2pm.
Speakers here include Natasha Barrios, director of sales at Quectel Wireless Solutions; Mobeen Khan, chief operating officer at Blues Wireless; and Ivo Rook, COO at 1NCE.
Climate disasters, breaking infrastructure, stressed supply chains and low food productivity are major issues creating public fear. But there is hope, says the IMC. The panel will discuss how new technologies are driving down the cost of communicating devices.
Sensorisation or mass IoT – the widespread deployment of communicating sensors – can help predict and speed responses to many of the aforementioned threats, the IMC maintains.
Connectivity like narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) and low-power wide area networks (LP-WAN), as well as messaging protocols like lightweight M2M (LWM2M), will feature in the discussion. They not only cut the costs of transmitting data, but also offer low-cost hardware options and extend the life of batteries and other components, while making it easier to mitigate a threatening world.
CES 2023 will take place in Las Vegas on 5-8 January 2023
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