What network infrastructure is required for massive IoT and smart cities?
Not too long ago, IoT meant something completely different than it does today. Machine-to-machine used to be the preferred vernacular to describe connected devices, which relied on modest cellular connectivity needs to maintain equipment and ensure proper functionality. Fast-forward to 2019, and now IoT is starting to play an ever-greater role across U.S. industries. With use cases growing in every vertical, we are entering an era of “massive IoT,” which is ideologically similar to IoT that preceded it, but requires much more wireless capacity.
Consider the popularity of smart cities and the amount of connectivity required just to monitor vehicular traffic. In order to obtain an accurate understanding of traffic patterns and points of congestion, large volumes of data will have to be communicated back to a source frequently throughout the day. IoT use cases including the aforementioned example will require support from both 5G and LTE networks to satisfy requirements of a massive IoT world.
Achieving the needed capacity is easier said than done, and requires improvements in both in-building and outdoor networks. Many in the telecom industry believe that large-scale deployments of compact small cell radio access points in the regions lacking coverage will support the necessary growth of IoT and drive 5G implementation across the United States. While it’s true that small cells should have a substantial impact on 5G networks, as well as LTE, there will be other wireless hardware involved in building smart city infrastructure.
Smart infrastructure paves the way to smart city future A decade ago, deploying extensive wireless connectivity systems into transit infrastructure wasn’t as common. Now, it’s expected that any new venue built in major cities, such a Los Angeles, Seattle or New York, will have strong cellular connectivity support. For example, a new double-decker tunnel running through downtown Seattle Tunnel called SR-99 is being coined “the smartest tunnel ever built” and includes a high-powered distributed antenna system (DAS) and remote radio units to provide incredible connectivity for all passengers and drivers across the two-mile stretch. It’s the development of these kinds of projects which will greatly assist the proliferation of IoT across an entire smart city. While 5G networks are likely to provide the capacity that future IoT deployments will need, 4G/LTE networks should also provide robust blanket connectivity for those use cases.
Many telecom industry analysts and key players see small cell deployments as a key factor to 5G growth.
