Edge computing - the ability to do advanced processing and analytics either on the device itself or close by on a local server or gateway - is one solution to that problem, rather than streaming all of the gathered data to the cloud for analysis, thus absorbing the additional network latency this entails, Edge computing takes over some of the analytics and sends only the processed information that matters through the network instead of transmitting raw streams of sensor data.
Avoiding unnecessary device‑to‑cloud data round trips ensures a faster system response and lessens the workload of the cloud, reducing the cost of building IoT infrastructure. Security and privacy can also be improved with edge computing by keeping sensitive data within the device.
Bringing intelligence to the edge of the network is especially valuable on devices that connect via wireless cellular connection such as smart meters or asset trackers. To do so, new technologies such as LTE‑M and NB‑IoT networks have been specifically designed for IoT or Machine‑to‑Machine (M2M) applications with lower data rates.
These licensed Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks are brushing aside cost and other limitations that have hindered deployment of extensive wireless sensor networks. In other words, the more you can compute locally, the less data you have to send over the network. Overtime, this would offset the fact that you do need to add a processor to your device to do all this computing in the first place.
Applications such as crop monitoring, livestock monitoring, and other asset tracking apps will be among the first to benefit from these technologies. Let’s look at these networks one at a time:
Narrowband Internet of Things (NB‑IoT) is a cellular technology specialising in communication between 'things' that require small amounts of data over long periods of time in hard to reach places such as long distances from a cellular base station, or in shielded areas such as deep within buildings or underground structures.
Developed by 3GPP, which unites seven telecommunications standard development organisations, NB‑IoT enables IoT connectivity with extended coverage, lower power consumption and the security of cellular for a wide range of devices and services.
