As much as IoT technologies have real applications, there is no shortage of connectivity solutions behind it. Depending on the specifications of a particular IoT use case, each communication option may provide different service activation scenarios, compromising power consumption, range, and bandwidth. For example, if you are building a smart home, you can integrate indoor temperature sensors and heating controllers into your smartphone so you can remotely monitor the temperatures in each room and adjust them in real time to meet your current needs. In this case, the recommended solution is the IP-based IPv6 network protocol Thread, which is specifically designed for the home automation environment.
Given this diversity and variety of communication standards and protocols, the real need to develop new solutions may increase, although some documented Internet protocols have been in use for decades. This is because current Internet protocols, such as Tcp / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), are often not efficient and too efficient to operate effectively in new IoT technology applications. This section provides a brief description of the main alternative Internet protocols specifically designed for use with IoT systems.
The review refers to the most popular wireless IoT technologies divided into high-frequency areas that each solution can achieve: short-range IoT wireless solutions, medium solutions, and wide-area network solutions over long range.
Short-range IoT network solutions:
As an established short-range connectivity technology, Bluetooth is a key solution for the future of the portable electronics market, such as wireless headsets or geolocation sensors, mainly because it is widely integrated into smartphones. The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol is designed to save and reduce power consumption and requires little power from the device. However, there is a trade-off involved: When large amounts of data are transferred frequently, BLE may not be the most effective solution.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of the first IoT applications ever implemented and provides location solutions for IoT applications, particularly in supply chain management and logistics, which require the ability to locate objects in buildings. The future of RFID technology goes beyond simple location services and offers potential applications from hospital patient tracking to improving health efficiency to providing real-time product location information to Minimize stores to identify sold out situations.
Mid-range solutions:
Developed with IEEE 802.11, it is still the most widely used and well-known wireless communication protocol. Its widespread use in the IoT world is mainly limited by higher-than-average power consumption due to the need to maintain high signal strength and fast data transfer for better connectivity and reliability. As a key technology for IoT development, Wi-Fi provides a broad foundation for an amazing number of IoT solutions, but it also needs to be managed and used in marketing to generate profits for both service providers and users. Linkify is a great example of a WiFi management environment that provides a value-added service that enables public WiFi access points. Linkify is one of AVSystem’s innovative solutions and offers almost limitless WiFi customization and guest marketing opportunities.
This popular wireless network standard is most commonly used in traffic management systems, home electronics, and the mechanical engineering industry. Zigbee is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard and supports low data rates, low power consumption, security and reliability.
Developed specifically for smart home products, Thread uses an IPv6 connection to allow network devices to communicate with each other, access cloud services, or communicate with a user through wired mobile applications. Wire critics have pointed out that due to market saturation, the second wireless communication protocol increases fragmentation in the IoT technology stack.