IoT Edge Analytics

Posted by alvina on April 25th, 2019

IoT (Internet of Things) has today become big business and is expected to increase steadily if not rapidly over the coming few years. Basically, the IoT is connecting of sensors to other devices which then make those devices work in certain ways. An example of this is that a sensor on a door will show someone is approaching and it is then IoT that makes that door open.

Most IoT devices though are set much further apart than just a sensor by a door and so communications have to be kept between these devices and the sensors for it to be effective. This means that the IoT telecom connections are essential for it to be useful. Although so far this has been good for the telecom industry, it may not be in the future as IoT edge computing is now emerging. This technology which will allow the decision making to be made at the sensor and so reduce the need for long transmissions over longer distances. The advantages of this is that they will not suffer if there is a breakdown or delay in the telecom systems which has become a potentially increasing problem as more and more devices are connected. This means that although IoT in telecom industry was a bonus, it may not always be.

Today’s technologies are therefore concentrating on IoT edge computing rather than their reliance on telecom networks but of course, this means that with the IoT edge analytics there is more for users to learn whereas before they could depend on the “cloud” to provide the analytics for them. Having more sophisticated tools at the point where the sensors are located may mean that technological expertise may also have to be present which opens up many job opportunities for those knowledgeable about IoT and analytics.

It is estimated that over the next few years, millions of dollars will be spent on different IoT systems, connecting them and of course any analytic tools that are associated with it. IoT is certainly changing the way our world works and is a technology that will go with us well into our future. As a fairly new conception, only now are learning establishments getting in tune and starting to give lessons on IoT although classes in the past have made mention of it but usually little more.

It is the use of IoT that allows a farmer’s crops to be watered automatically if the sensors sense a dry spell. It is IoT which allows city authorities to be able to have traffic lights changed when different rates of traffic are sensed by the sensors. In the hospitals it is also IoT that allows a patient to automatically receive medication when drops in certain vital signs are detected by sensors and it is IoT that switches on and off the street lights depending on how much sunlight the sensors detect. IoT is therefore a part of all our lives whether we recognize it or not and the introduction of edge technology will mean that those aspects of our lives may no longer be dependent on the stability of a telecom system.