The essential function of the Internet of Things (IoT) is the connection of the internet with the physical devices, to sense, compute, and intelligent control by network communication, enable wireless transmitting and device control.
The core logic of the IoT is to establish a “sensing-communication-control” system:
– Sensing: Collecting information such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and location movement from the physical environment through sensors, cameras, and other relevant devices.
– Communication: Securely and efficiently transmitting the collected information to the control terminal, through technologies such as Wi-Fi, 5G, and Bluetooth.
– Control: Processing and analyzing the data, and sending commands to terminal devices, to control devices and applications, such as smart household appliances and industrial controls.
The applications of IoT is evolving rapidly, becoming more intelligent, more efficient, and developing into more specialized fields.
The IoT is undergoing three major transformations:
1. From “Interconnection” to “Intelligent Connection”:
Artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply integrating into the IoT, actively analyzing, predicting, and making decisions while collecting data.
For example, in industrial scenarios, AI can analyze equipment data to perform predictive maintenance, and even alerts before malfunctions occur, preventing equipment failures.
2. Processor Decentralization:
Sending all data to the cloud for processing is slow and consumes too much bandwidth. The current trend is to allow devices to process data directly on local devices (at the edge), resulting in faster information processing and response, that saves a lot of network resources.
This trend has also inspired technology TinyML, which runs lightweight AI models directly on miniature, low-power IoT chips, enabling local intelligent inference.
3. Low Power Consumption:
Many IoT terminal devices, such as agricultural signal acquisition equipment, cannot replace their batteries frequently, therefore, low power consumption is a core requirement for long-term.
For example, scattering communication technology allows devices to reflect and modulate electromagnetic waves in the environment like a mirror to transmit information, with power consumption as low to microwatts.
Passive IoT (Ambient IoT) is an even more cutting-edge direction. Devices do not require batteries, and can operate by obtaining energy from the environment directly (such as radio waves). Companies like Huawei, are already promoting its commercialization.
How will the Internet of Things change the world?
The Internet of Things (IoT) has permeated all aspects of production and daily life. According to typical cases published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it’s main applications are in the following areas:
– Smart Manufacturing: Manufacturing is the most mature area for IoT applications.
The IoT connects personnel, materials, and equipment in factories, enabling intelligent management upgrades, creating unmanned factories, improving efficiency and reducing costs.
– Smart Energy: Under the goal of “energy conservation and emission reduction,” the IoT is the best tool for building a smart energy system.
Whether it’s national oil and gas pipeline networks or urban power grids, they all rely on the IoT to achieve coordinated scheduling and intelligent power supply management, across the entire area.
– Smart Cities: Traffic lights have evolved from simple timers to “intelligent transportation” systems, that can adjust in real time according to traffic flow.
For example, Wuxi(a city near Shanghai) has implemented dynamic changes in traffic lights at some intersections based on traffic flow, even allowing buses to have green lights all the way, improving urban traffic efficiency significantly.
– Smart Agriculture: In the agricultural sector, the IoT can monitor the breeding and planting hubs in real time, analyze environmental changes and trends, provide timely alerts and reliable references to the management system.
– Smart Homes: Smart homes and wearable devices are also typical applications of the IoT.
Key Challenges in future:
The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) still faces several security challenges. The primary risk is that a large number of low-cost terminal devices, with limited computing power, are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Ensuring connection and communication security for a vast number of IoT devices, is a key concern of technological development.
What are the commonly used core components on IoT devices?
Besides PCBs, a complete IoT system typically consisted by several types of core components, they take various tasks and work collaboratively, to achieve sensing, communication, and controls.
The following are the core components, their roles, key characteristics and technologies, and typical product examples:
Core Component Categories and Their Core Roles in IoT Devices
🕹️ Main Control Chip (MCU/SoC):
Responsible for storing and running programs, processing sensor data, and controlling all external devices. It is the computing core of IoT devices.
Key Features and Technologies:
– Low Power Consumption: Most IoT devices are battery-powered and extremely sensitive to power consumption.
– High Integration: Often integrates wireless communication functions, becoming a “wireless SoC” to reduce size and cost.
Typical Products/Examples:
– Espressif ESP32-C5 (RISC-V architecture, supports Wi-Fi 6)
– Nordic nRF54L15 (supports Bluetooth Low Energy, Matter)
– China Mobile ChipStar CM8620 (RISC-V architecture Cat.1 chip)
📡 Communication Module:
Responsible for sending processed data and receiving data, instructions from external sources, it is crucial for device networking.
Key Features and Technologies:
– Diverse Protocols: Supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Cellular Networks (4G/5G/NB-IoT), Zigbee, etc.
– Lower Barrier to Apply: The module encapsulates complex communication protocols, allowing device manufacturers to use them directly, simplifies development complexity significantly.
Typical Products/Examples:
– Fibocom MA510 (LTE Cat M/NB-IoT module, standby power consumption as low as 3.2µA)
– Murata Type 2LL (Module integrating Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4)
– u-blox NORA-B2 (Bluetooth Low Energy 5 module)
👁️ Sensors:
Responsible for converting signals from the physical world (such as temperature, humidity, pressure, gas concentration, brightness, images, etc.) into electrical signals and sending them to the MCU.
Key Features and Technologies:
– MEMS Technology: Miniaturized, low-power MEMS sensors are the mainstream, widely used for motion detection, environmental sensing, etc.
– Diverse Types: Includes environmental sensors, motion sensors, image sensors, etc.
Typical Products/Examples:
– Bosch BME690 (Four-in-one environmental sensor: temperature, humidity, air pressure, air quality)
– MTV4.0 Bluetooth Temperature and Vibration Module (Integrated temperature sensor and three-axis MEMS accelerometer)
– XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense (Integrated camera module)
⏱️ Time and Frequency Components (Crystal Resonators/Oscillators)
Provide precise timing signals to the chip, ensuring all operations and communications run at a unified pace, they are the cornerstone of system stability.
Key Features and Technologies:
– High Precision: Ensures stable and accurate wireless communication (such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GNSS positioning).
– Miniaturization and Low Power Consumption: The extreme requirements of IoT devices for size and power consumption have driven the development of time and frequency components towards smaller and more energy-efficient designs.
Typical Products/Examples:
– Taijing Technology’s quartz crystal resonators and temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXOs).
Key Selection Criteria and Future Trends
When selecting these components, in addition to stable performance, low power consumption, miniaturization, and cost are also key considerations. A trade-off typically needs to be struck between performance, power consumption, and cost.
For example, cellular communication modules have higher power consumption but offer wide coverage and require no additional gateway, making them suitable for scenarios such as smart meters.
The development trend of the Internet of Things (IoT) is undoubtedly towards improving the intelligence and responsiveness of IoT devices, creating smart sensors with deeper integration of sensors and main control chips, and edge computing capabilities that can process data locally.
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