How many smart home devices do you have? If you look around, you probably won't find too many; perhaps you have a smart doorbell, a voice assistant, or a connected medical device. While most of us could probably count the smart home devices in our homes on one hand, they are increasingly becoming integrated into our daily lives. In fact, the smart home market (valued at $55.65 billion in 2016) is projected to surge to $174.24 billion by 2025.
When you only use a few IoT devices, you don't need to use a common IoT protocol or data communication standard to manage the ecosystem. After all, there's no reason for your doorbell to "talk" to your coffee machine, and having two different apps to manage two different devices isn't a big deal.
However, as IoT technology advances and our homes become more interconnected, we will need interaction between all devices, their controllers, and local wireless connectivity systems (such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). Otherwise, a typical IoT ecosystem won't function as smoothly as it should. Isn't the purpose of smart homes to make our lives easier?
Why do we need to establish a universal Internet of Things (IoT) protocol?
Because there is no universally accepted data communication protocol, smart devices manufactured by different brands often speak different languages, making it difficult for devices in the IoT ecosystem to communicate with each other, thus hindering semantic interoperability. This poor interoperability reduces the convenience and efficiency that these devices should provide to users.
To ensure a robust IoT ecosystem, some consumers and businesses may purchase a range of devices from the same brand. For example, homeowners might upgrade their homes with refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers from the same brand and then control all of them with their smartphones. However, these devices still need to connect to the user's home Wi-Fi in a plug-and-play manner for easy setup. From there, the devices need to maintain connectivity effortlessly to ensure they are ready to work whenever the user needs them.
Users may want to integrate another brand's products into their IoT ecosystem at some point, which raises issues about data communication between devices. Many smaller devices are designed for user self-installation, and if installation and integration are not simple enough, users will experience more headaches than expected. Furthermore, if devices do not adhere to the same cybersecurity protocols, smart networks may be vulnerable, allowing hackers to steal information or alter systems.
IoT protocols will benefit both device manufacturers and users.
In Jabil's 2020 Smart Home Technology Trends Survey, 99% of decision-makers at smart home product companies believed that establishing data communication standards was valuable. The specific potential benefits for technology companies are broad. IoT protocols will:
▲ Opportunity to develop a hub that manages all connected devices
▲Accelerate the adoption of smart home and commercial devices by users, as they will not have to face challenges in device integration.
▲This allows companies to focus on their core strengths without worrying about connectivity issues.
▲By linking with other types of connected devices, brand owners are able to capture rich datasets.
▲Increase opportunities for upselling and cross-selling
Of course, data communication standards will also benefit end users. Ideally, once a user plugs in a new device and turns it on, the device will connect to the local network and seamlessly join the IoT ecosystem. This simple, user-friendly network protocol strategy will allow users to easily install connected devices themselves.
Furthermore, the smart home market is growing rapidly. In just two years, 57% of survey participants saw the overall market opportunity more than double. In fact, the growth rate of the opportunity exceeded the expectations of one-third of the respondents.
This means the best time to solidify these standards has arrived. At some point, most (or even all) of the devices in a home or building will be smart. Establishing a common language for these products will ensure the highest quality IoT connectivity, enabling new devices to be easily integrated into smart homes or networks and work harmoniously together.
Developing IoT protocols: ongoing work
To achieve a fully interconnected IoT ecosystem, industry experts need to find or develop a common standard across all devices (whether in the home or in a car) to establish a language that allows devices from different brands to communicate with each other throughout the IoT ecosystem. Furthermore, these standards should have common security protocols to ensure there are no cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Progress has been made in this area. Tech giants Amazon, Google, and Apple have joined forces to create a smart home standard that will operate through the Zigbee Alliance. Zigbee provides a stable IoT platform and a variety of technologies, such as their full stack, an advanced IoT communication protocol specification based on IEEE 802.15.4. It is used to create personal area networks via small, low-power digital radios, suitable for a wide range of applications from home automation to personal electronic health records (EHRs).
This project, called IP Connected Home, aims to simplify development for device manufacturers and improve consumer compatibility. It focuses on making smart home devices secure, reliable, and seamless to use. Built on the Internet Protocol (IP), it aims to enable communication between smart home devices, mobile applications, and cloud services, and defines a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device authentication.
This is a good start, but smart home manufacturers still need to make some key decisions before these standards are finalized.
Different types of IoT protocols
One of these decisions was to determine the Internet of Things (IoT) protocol.
Bluetooth: A short-range communication technology integrated into most mobile devices, providing a major advantage for personal products. Due to its scalability, low power consumption, and flexibility to adapt to market innovation, this technology is fundamental to the Internet of Things (IoT). Key protocols for IoT applications are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Smart.
Wi-Fi: A wireless connectivity technology for devices. It provides fast data transfer and can handle large amounts of data. It is the most popular connection type in a local area network (LAN) environment.
ZigBee: A low-power, low-data-rate wireless network primarily used in industrial applications. By creating a common language for the Internet of Things (IoT), the ZigBee Alliance enables smart objects to work securely on any network and interact seamlessly with each other.
Z-Wave: A wireless communication protocol primarily used for home automation. It is a mesh network that uses low-energy radio waves to communicate between home appliances, enabling wireless control of residential equipment and other devices such as lighting controls, security systems, and thermostats.
