Antenna Systems & Technology - Summer 2014 - (Page 16)

FEATURE ARTICLE Connectivity Critical for Internet of Things Success By Jeff Shamblin, Chief Scientist - Ethertronics By the end of this decade, the Internet of Things (IoT) will span roughly 212 billion devices worldwide, IDC predicts. IoT is an enormous opportunity, but it's not without challenges including providing reliable connectivity, a wide range of bands to support (including low LTE frequency bands of 700 MHz and 900 MHz) and price pressures. Key challenges include reliability and performance. Health care, security/surveillance and offender tracking are three examples of how IoT applications have high, often mission-critical performance and reliability requirements. Further complicating reliability in the case of health care and offender tracking, is antenna detuning caused by hand, body and environmental effects. A device that works fine in free space may not be able to connect to the network when placed on a person's ankle for example. Because the IoT opportunity is so big, it's attracting many companies, such as consumer electronics and medical equipment manufacturers, that have little to no experience with wireless. That puts them at a competitive disadvantage in terms of time-to-market and cost. Another significant challenge is LTE. Although LTE's multi-megabit speeds might seem like overkill for the vast majority of IoT applications, it's a mistake to use that to rule out LTE. The entire mobile ecosystem is migrating to LTE, which is why it's already sliding down the cost curve, making it an increasingly good fit for the price-sensitive IoT market. For IoT applications that will remain in the field for five, 10 or 15 years, such as utility meter reading and in-vehicle infotainment, LTE makes immediate sense because it eliminates the expense and hassle of replacing modules as more operators phase out their 2G, 2.5G and possibly 3G networks. The catch is that LTE creates several new challenges for IoT manufacturers. For example, it's designed for use in more than 40 bands, half of which are currently in use. To enable global roaming with GSM/GPRS/ EDGE/UMTS (3G), a single SKU or both, an IoT device would need to support only three to five bands. To achieve a single SKU, global roaming on LTE (4G) or both, an IoT device would need to support a dozen or more bands. IoT manufacturers typically don't have the experienced in-house RF engineering staffs of smartphone and tablet developers to design, integrate, and go through the iterative process antennas require until the product passes operator certification. That's just for LTE. Many IoT applications require some combination of 3G/2.5G/2G fallback, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, NFC or GPS, which often means additional bands and thus additional antennas. It's typically challenging to find enough room inside an IoT device to support multiple antennas, especially those sold directly to consumers, whose form-factor expectations are set by increasingly thin tablets and smartphones. Even if the IoT application doesn't require global roaming, there's still the challenge of finding room for the physically larger antennas required for lower frequencies such as 400 MHz, 700 MHz and 900 MHz. Lower frequencies are common for IoT applications for reasons such as better in-building penetration and LTE bands in North America. The IoT market is notoriously price-sensitive, often more so than the tablet and smartphone markets. That's why device manufacturers rely on RF solutions that they can quickly and cost-effectively add to their IoT products, instead of having to develop antennas and other RF components entirely in house, or heavily customize off-the-shelf products. The more development overhead, the tougher it is for manufacturers to price their IoT products competitively yet profitably. Savvy companies are turning to antenna system experts with extensive experience providing turn-key antenna system solutions for complex products. This approach helps device manufacturers bring products to market quickly and at considerably less cost. 16 Antenna Systems & Technology Summer 2014 www.AntennasOnline.com http://www.AntennasOnline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Antenna Systems & Technology - Summer 2014

Editor’s Choice
Optimizing RF Signal Performance to Improve LTE Coverage and Capacity
Managing the Tower Top for LTE Advanced
Connectivity for Internet of Things Success
Capitalizing on Network Architecture Trends
Antennas
Components/Subsystems
Short-Range Wireless
Software / System Design
Test & Measurement
Industry News
Marketplace
Insatiable Hunger Feeds DAS

Antenna Systems & Technology - Summer 2014