IoT adoption could revolutionize the way industries operate, but there is a challenge in developing strategies to strengthen digital transformation efforts while maintaining security while increasing connectivity. To some extent, industries and enterprises implementing IIoT must plan and act like technology companies to securely manage both physical and digital components. Developers also face the challenge of successfully integrating manufacturing operations with IT, where both connectivity and information need to be secured. In a fully automated industrial environment, security is critical and must be actively managed to ensure security, data integrity, and services with strong authentication.
With billions of connected IoT / M2M devices in an industrial environment, this could potentially create more bottlenecks and lead to asset/information/privacy issues. IoT devices equipped with authentication, access protection, and security policies at this stage will allow ICS to quickly identify and recover compromised devices on the industrial network when a breach occurs. Of course, the cloud may not work for all IoT customers, especially in the industrial world, which strictly protects their data. Fortunately, the advent of edge computing will enable these clients to increasingly process their data locally.
With the sheer number and variety of options available, the ever-changing IoT connectivity landscape is now focused on meeting the needs of data-intensive environments in client and industrial IoT applications. However, given the inherent heterogeneity of use cases in the Internet of Things, the sad truth is that no communication protocol in existence or the near future will be able to host every possible intelligent application without any compromise in them. decisive factors for connecting to the Internet of Things.
When it comes to devising connectivity, the networking landscape remains complex and fragmented as there is no universal protocol that can cover all IoT use cases. In this article, we will provide an overview of the IoT connectivity environment and provide some examples of typical use cases for each technology.
If you’re in a hurry, head over to our pivot table at the end of this article. Taking into account the various possible definitions of the Industrial Internet of Things or IIoT (hence, as synonymous with the Industrial Internet or, in fact, the use of IoT in industrial markets and use cases, which tend to be quite different in nature, scope and technologies used, among other things) below is a timeline of some of the important developments that led us to where we are in the field of intelligent manufacturing and the Industrial IoT by the folks at Kepware (read Sam Elsner’s guest blog from Kepware on using industrial protocols to connect the IoT to a cutting-edge industry with some protocols mentioned in the infographic).
Emerging technologies are part of a comprehensive survey of the industrial connectivity landscape captured in my recently published Industrial Communications Report 2020. Overall, the number of nodes connected to Ethernet will double from 67 million to 117 million by 2024, which means India predicts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) o the Ethernet market at 11.3% over five years.
Networking is projected to have the largest share of the IoT industry by device and technology in 2026. Both wired and wireless technologies are an integral part of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication to collect real-time data from industrial equipment in various geographic regions.
In recent decades, industrial compounds, in particular, have undergone significant changes, especially in response to the changing needs of the manufacturing industry. The transition to Ethernet is accelerating as Industry 4.0, and IIoT solutions mature and become more widespread, and Ethernet is seen as an industrial networking technology that provides solutions.
In 2017, 25% of 13 million new industrial IoT connections came from wireless IIoT connections. The Internet of Things is promoting progress in various fields by introducing interconnected solutions, including utilities, connected vehicles, agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and the safety of businesses and homes. In the context of the fourth industrial revolution known as Industry 4.0, IIoT is an integral part of how cyber-physical manufacturing systems and processes must be transformed through big data and analysis.
In a broader context, it is the key to using case studies related to connected ecosystems or environments, such as how cities can become smart cities and how factories can become smart factories. IIoT integration can allow industrial companies to more accurately understand the progress of their operations and help them make smart business decisions.
Although IoT belongs to the general category of enterprise technologies with correspondingly long sales cycles, one of the advantages of IoT startups over many consumer IoT products is that they usually do not need to completely rethink behavior within the industry.
Of course, start-ups around IoT security have sprung up (see the relevant boxes in our IoT field), and many of the largest traditional security vendors have proposed IoT solutions (or at least focused on IoT Marketing information). This is why Industrial Internet of Things companies, as service providers, provide hybrid Internet connectivity solutions for industrial applications, from cellular Internet of Things and low-power geographic networks (LPWAN) to industrial fixed-line solutions and more. Connectivity is one of the basic principles of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
The adoption and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are driving architectural changes for IACS, including increased connectivity to industrial systems. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a new concept of fully connected, transparent, automated, and intelligent manufacturing configuration that improves manufacturing processes and increases efficiency. IIoT refers to the interconnected and automated use of machines, devices, and sensors operating in industrial applications.
IoT is a superset of all connected applications (consumer and industrial). It is commonly used to describe connected applications in consumer markets such as wearable devices, temperature control, home security systems, shopping, travel planning applications, etc. It is also the largest sector in terms of IoT spending (software, equipment, connectivity, and services).
Interesting work done by startups such as Filament (long-range wireless networks for connecting industrial equipment and infrastructure to the network) and Helium (portfolio company FirstMark), who will soon announce ambitious plans in this area (for more context and a great talk about the state of the Internet things in general, see CEO Amir Halim’s excellent short speech at Hardwired NYC). While there are many use cases for the Internet of Things, and its adoption is growing rapidly, the technology landscape can still overwhelm newcomers.
With a long history of use dating back to traditional M2M connectivity environments, cellular wireless remains the foundation for many IoT use cases and a popular choice among ISPs and device manufacturers. The current broadband releases will continue to improve cellular IoT and promote this connectivity option to serve multiple IoT use cases on the same network.
These solutions make connecting devices to the Internet much easier to deploy and manage than ever before, allowing organizations to focus on delivering innovative IoT connectivity landscape capabilities to customers and delivering tremendous ROI to their business. Progress has been made through collaborative efforts in the already described Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework, as well as through the work of standards organizations, including the DDS.