Broadband Drives the Internet of Things

From the Broadband Commission for Internet Development, this document discusses machine to machine communications, or M2M. (Editor's note: Please see the end of this summary for definitions.) As stated in the discussion, inanimate objects are increasingly becoming part of the network as a so-called 'Internet of Things' (IoT): "Underlying both acronyms is a basic concept: using the Internet to transpose the physical world onto the networked one. IoT/M2M makes everyday objects ‘smart’ and context-aware. In doing so, it offers significant economic benefits and a huge range of new possibilities, because smart objects can sense their surroundings and respond to them without the need for human intervention."

Smart objects are designed to tailor their responses to their virtual environment, providing a "sense-and-control loop" that works to optimise resources, productivity, and quality. Home-grid applications of IoT/M2M include aggregating applications from multimedia entertainment to energy management and home security. Examples given include: smart billboards that tailor messages to the shopping habits of passers-by; and smart farming that can analyse parts of a field under cultivation and adjust fertilizer spread according to prevailing conditions; and production lines that can make changes to product detail through smart sensors and actuators.

Consultants predict "two broad categories of application: information and analysis, on the one hand, and automation and control, on the other. Within these categories, [they] further identify six broad applications, ranging from behaviour tracking (how people use products) to enhanced awareness in monitoring environmental and other events; decision analytics in resource exploration; process optimization; resource consumption control involving smart metering; and even complex autonomous systems that give vehicles 'autopilot' facilities."

In order to move forward, there is a need for "always-on" broadband bandwidth combined with huge networks. The "European Commission predictions suggest that some applications could involve the networking of up to 70 billion devices Europe-wide. In this, the communications economics and economies of scale that broadband brings are key for success." Strategies for moving IoT/M2M applications forward include expansion of broadband availability and capacity, meaning accelerating broadband policymaking and implementation on a national scale. One example of IoT/M2M moving forward in the United States and South Korea is the "Smart Grid" concept - deployment of complete energy monitoring and management infrastructures providing optimised energy production and consumption.

The document concludes: "But looking ahead to the future, IoT/M2M has big implications for network architectures, protocols and management, which may be quite different to networks 'powered by humans'. And getting there will require the development, standardization and deployment of many technologies, from smart sensors and actuators to new broadband protocols." The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), convener of the Broadband Commission, is involved in Smart Grid standardisation programmes on an international level, and following requests from industry executives, has established a focus group that is working towards agreement on Smart Grid telecommunication standards with other stakeholders, particularly in the energy sector. Through the auspices of ITU, experts have already agreed on Smart Grid standards for home networks. Another ITU Focus Group is also engaged in promoting coherent standardisation for fully networked cars and related transportation systems. The ITU plans to continue addressing broadband infrastructures.

Editor's note: Definitions and concept descriptions from Wikipedia:

• M2M - "...technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same ability....M2M uses a device (such as a sensor or meter) to capture an event (such as temperature, inventory level, etc.), which is relayed through a network (wireless, wired or hybrid) to an application (software program), that translates the captured event into meaningful information (for example, items need to be restocked)."

• IoT - "...generally imagined as a self-configuring wireless network of sensors whose purpose would be to interconnect all things..."

• Smart grid - "A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology with two-way communications to control appliances at consumers' homes to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency. It overlays the electricity distribution grid with an information and net metering system. Such a modernized electricity network is being promoted by many governments as a way of addressing energy independence, global warming and emergency resilience issues....A Home Area Network, or "home grid", extends some of these capabilities into the home..."