Connected Building Blocks for The Internet of Things

A major challenge for designing and developing connected product solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) is the number and variety of complex technologies that must be integrated, along with the specific set of skills required to integrate all of the components. Just looking at the software skills alone requires a range of IT, web technologies, and embedded development that are rarely found internally at a company, let alone a single developer. Considering this, companies often seek ways to outsource the development of specific components of the system (e.g., sensors, devices, gateways, networks severs, user interfaces, business system integration) to external design firms and contractors, and search for off-the-shelf components that work with little customization.

The need for inherently connected building blocks that make it easy for companies to integrate the diverse technologies required for an IoT solution is increasing. Inherently connected building blocks include cloud-connected integrated circuits, cloud-aware models, standardized device communication protocols and implementations, IPV6 for resource-constrained devices, mesh networking protocols and implementations, cloud-aware gateways and network aggregators, low-bandwidth and long-range transport protocols, and interoperability standards for federating clouds together.

For more information on inherently connected building blocks, check out The Five Phases of Internet of Things white paper.