Short presentation at the IoTSiliconValley about hardware challenges for the Internet of Things

1. Hardware Challenges for the
IoT
Harry Doukas
IoTango
@BuildingIoT
harry@iotango.com

2. Short info about me
 Information & Communication Systems Engineer
 PhD in Biomedical Informatics
 Author of: “Building Internet of Things with the
Arduino”, ISBN: 978-1470023430
 Community Evangelist for Flyport Technology
 Startup Entrepreneur - IoTango
 Expert in:
 Sensor networks, cloud applications, wearable
computing, sensor data mining

3. IoT applications

4. IoT for Makers
Challenges
Easy to use -
Cost
learn
H/W
Power Communication
Connectivity
Plug n WiFi vs
Play RF

5. IoT for Makers
 Numerous prototyping platforms:
 Arduino
 ioBridge
 Flyport (Stay for the Demo!)
 Libelium
 …

6. IoT for Makers
 Arduino for (Home) Prototyping:
 Comes with Plug n Play modules
 Shields
 Supports various com. Interfaces
 BT
 WiFi
 ZigBee (famous XBee modules)
 3G
 RF

7. IoT for Manufacturers
 Build from scratch option  Use a prototyping
platform and save time
 Microcontroller Family - I/Os
 Arduino
 Sensors
 Flyport
 Communication
 Libelium
 Power
 ….
 Design
 Simulate / Prototyping

8. The Challenges!

9. Hardware Challenges Overview
Networking
Security Data
(Communication)
Resources (CPU/Microcontroller,
Interoperability
RAM)
Power Consumption

10. The Networking Challenge
 From the networking perspective - Which RF technology?
 Sure, Ethernet could be used in some cases

11. Questions to answer
PROTOCOL
RANGE
SUPPORT
POWER
CONSUMPTION
DATA RATE SECURITY

12. The WiFi vs RF Debate
 WiFi pros:
 Internet gateways (i.e. WiFi access points) are already
established
 IoT devices can have direct connectivity to the Internet without
the need for additional infrastructure (setup cost, maintenance
cost, etc.).
 Almost every smartphone is WiFi enabled
 An established standard, supporting a full TCP/IP stack
 Focus only on the application level programming for message
and information exchange.
 Integrates security

13. The WiFi vs RF Debate
 WiFi cons:
 Cost (even the Electric Imp at 25$ is much more
expensive than a pair of RF transceivers)
 Even low power WiFi has more power consumption than
RF (and also the communication protocol introduces
much unnecessary overhead)
 Low power has poor indoor performance

14. Attenuation: ‘real world’ problem that
needs to be considered
Source: http://www.wirevolution.com/category/wi-fi/

15. The WiFi vs RF Debate
 RF: Great benefits over WiFi in the context of M2M:
 Higher transmission range and better indoor
performance
 Better price
 Standards like ZigBee and 6LoWPAN include security
implementations and mechanisms for error
corrections/retransmission, etc. so that developers can
focus just on the application level as well.

16. WiFi vs RF: Who is the winner?
 Depends on the application / use case
 For instance, if an IoT system relies on a
limited number of devices and direct mobile
communication, then WiFi currently looks the
best solution.
 The Hybrid Solution
 Use RF for sensors
 Use a WiFi Enabled GW for Internet
Connectivity

17. IoT Gateways

18. WiFi vs RF: Poll results
WiFi vs RF for IoT: I would currently develop a product using:
1 RF
WiFi
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

19. WiFi vs RF: Poll results
WiFi vs RF for IoT: Which one will eventually win?
Low Power WiFI
1
RF (existing)
New RF for IoT
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

20. WiFi vs RF: Poll results
ZigBee is almost dead, there is no way it will be used in future IoT
products
1 Yes, ZigBee
ZigBee, not...
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

21. The Power Consumption challenge
 Back to RF challenge!
 Some modules offer:
 Hibernate / Sleep modes
 Consumption is Use case specific
 Sensor monitoring
 Information polling
 Routing issues…

22. Security Issues
 Security isn’t just software
 Key encryption
 Where does key reside
 How firmware is protected?
 Link encryption may be required to protect from
eavesdropping and data tampering

23. Answers (?)
 No global solution
 Use Case – Specific
 RF vs WiFi
 Low/High Power
 Security
 IoT Gateways can provide solution to
 RF/Networking issue
 Security issue

24. Is Standardization an answer?

25. The Flyport Prototyping Platform
• The modules
– WiFi
– Ethernet
• The basic features
– FreeRTOS
– PIC
– Embedded Webserver
– Multithreaded
– Remote firmware upgrade
– Re-mapable pins

26. The Flyport Prototyping Platform
• Expansions
• EnOcean Nest
• MP3 Nest
• Prices
• 63$ WiFi Flyport
• 50$ Flyport Ethernet
• Libraries
• Project examples / Community support

27. DEMO time!