Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer an illusion. From a cutting-edge technology that was beyond the reach of most people, IoT has penetrated households and offices and every known segment. We don’t even recognize IoT devices but we do understand the convenience they offer. You control your home appliances through your smartphone without manually checking each one? That’s IoT in Home Automation. You get alerts if someone is trespassing on your property? IoT in Home Security. From smart door locks and smart alarm clocks, the growth of IoT in the consumer electronics sector is unprecedented. The growth curve is no longer linear, it is exponential. Any new technology can grow only if the infrastructure supporting it is solid and can withstand change. The increase in IoT devices creates connectivity issues in IoT networking.

With the addition of more and more IoT devices, we face an important question. How can the network handle so many devices at once and what are the challenges we face?

We shall look at the prominent connectivity issues faced in IoT networking.

1. Reliable Network Signals

This is by far, the biggest challenge while building any IoT device. While building IoT devices at home for personal use or small-scale deployment, we have a single network connection. We can be sure that the data transmission between the source and destination is always completed due to reliable networks. Now imagine that the same IoT device is deployed on a large, worldwide scale. We need to be sure that the network is reliable and that the data will always reach the destination.

Gartner predicts that by the end of 2020, there will be 5.8 billion IoT devices worldwide. Networks across the world need to be equipped to accommodate these IoT devices. The sheer volume of devices could potentially overwhelm the network. There are newer technologies like Wi-Fi 6 that can efficiently handle a large number of devices with a single router. However, the fact remains that with billions of IoT devices, reliable network signaling will be a big challenge.

2. Security

The security of any network-connected device has always been a concern. Your smart door locks and smart security systems would be of no use if someone with malicious intent can take over them. Every IoT device needs to have proper authorization for sending or receiving data over the network. Hackers can exploit network vulnerabilities by using IoT devices with no authorization to steal data. All IoT devices and servers need to have end-to-end encryption. Moreover, there will always be IoT devices communicating with the server through open ports. Open ports are dangerous and are susceptible to hacking.

IoT devices storing data in the cloud are also vulnerable. The possibility of the data stored in the cloud being compromised is very real as hackers are increasingly turning their attention towards the cloud. Whatever precautions and security measures we take, IoT devices will always be vulnerable to security threats.

3. Network Bandwidth

With thousands of IoT devices, we need to have servers large enough to seamlessly transfer data. The networks have to be reliable for bi-directional data transfer as we have seen before. Bandwidth consumption, especially in cellular networks is an expensive proposition due to the limited frequency bands available. We need large server farms to handle all the data. Another extension of this problem is the fact that IoT devices don’t have a common licensed frequency band. Manufacturers work around this problem by manufacturing IoT devices to work on ISM bands (Portion of radio spectrum reserved internationally for Industrial, Scientific and Medical applications). However, ISM bands are not the same around the world. This leads to a big problem where IoT devices manufactured in one country may not work in other countries.

4. MAC Protocols

This issue arises because different vendors prefer different technologies at the data link layer. Some of them are LAN, Bluetooth, WiFi, ZigBee, and many others. Heterogeneity at the MAC layer is the main aim of standardization bodies to ensure interoperability between IoT devices. It is difficult to standardize such technologies, so vendors have full control over which technology they incorporate in their devices.

5. IoT on the move

With the increase in popularity in V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication, we need protocols for communication between vehicles that are moving. For personnel tracking or asset management, IoT devices need to be mobile. Mobile IoT devices need standard mobility protocols. Cellular technology is, of course, one solution. However, as stated before, it is expensive. Hence, we have Narrowband IoT which uses only a narrow band of the cellular spectrum and can be used for low bandwidth applications.

Host-Based Mobility and Network-Based Mobility are two Mobility protocols. The former is power consuming so more research is being funneled into Network-Based Mobility (NM). Sensor Proxy Mobile IPv6 (SPMIPv6) is one such NM scheme. A Mobility Access Gateway (MAG) resides on the IoT gateway and determines the presence of a new Mobile Node (IoT device). The MAG handles message transmission between the IoT device and the network.

6. Detecting Device Presence

It is critical to be notified when an IoT device goes off the network for an interval and then comes back online. These disruptions can lead to serious security threats. It needs to be identified whether there is a problem in the network itself or with the device. If there is a network problem, it needs to be fixed at the earliest to monitor all the IoT devices operating in that network. If the problem is with the device itself, whether it is a manufacturing defect or a security concern needs to be verified immediately. In general, detecting device presence on a network is a real challenge when there are a variety of devices operating in it. As stated before, a network needs to identify in real-time whether all the IoT devices are authorized or not. Unidentified IoT devices must be restricted immediately.

7. Power Consumption

The power consumption of IoT devices is a major problem. Phones and laptops can be regularly recharged, unlike IoT devices. IoT devices are designed to work on battery power for months or years. Such devices cannot consume too much power as it will drastically shorten the lifetime of the device. Technologies like Bluetooth and WiFi came up with low power versions – Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Low-Power WiFi. These technologies significantly reduce the power consumption of the IoT device.

8. Device Interference

Device interference is a major problem with millions of IoT devices. Phones and laptops also use WiFi. As a result, IoT devices connected to the same network can lead to interference and lower speeds. It can lead to sub-optimal performance. Communication over the wireless spectrum is generally half-duplex, only one device can communicate at a time within the network. In a home scenario, it would not pose much of a problem. However, offices, hospitals, and industries have hundreds of IoT devices using their networks along with the other non-IoT devices. Device interference will pose a big problem. Detecting device presence will help in identifying all the authorized devices so that no IoT device uses the network without proper authorization. 100% network visibility is not enough. Improving network quality is the only way of solving device interference as the IoT devices are only going to grow in number.

Conclusion

There are many challenges and connectivity issues faced in IoT networking. This article has listed some of the major ones. Going forward, these are the crucial issues that need to be tackled. IoT devices will soon penetrate every sector. Existing technologies may not be able to handle a large number of IoT devices. We may see new technologies emerge or we may see existing ones revamped. The fact remains that IoT will soon become an irreplaceable part of life. With the expected boom of 5G, we may see a whole new range of IoT devices. Soon, some of the connectivity issues in IoT may be resolved.

Hope this post was informative. Happy learning!