1. Concept of the Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is also known as the “sensor network” and is the international term for it. It refers to objects being connected through various information sensing devices, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices, infrared sensors, global positioning systems, laser scanners, or other methods, and then integrated with the internet or mobile communication networks to ultimately form a vast intelligent network that enables smart management of objects through computers or mobile phones.
The Internet of Things is an important component of the new generation of information technology. The English name for the Internet of Things is “The Internet of Things”. As the name suggests, the Internet of Things is the “internet that connects everything”. This has two implications: first, the core and foundation of the Internet of Things is still the internet, which is an extension and expansion of the network based on the internet; second, its user end extends and expands to any object, enabling information exchange and communication between objects.
On one hand, the Internet of Things can improve economic efficiency and significantly reduce costs; on the other hand, it can provide technological momentum for the recovery of the global economy. According to statistics, the main form of the Internet of Things at this stage, M2M, generated about $1.5 billion in business revenue for global operators in 2009.
Alexander Resources forecasts, based on global market data analysis, that by 2010, the M2M market scale will reach $223.4 billion. The American market research company Forrester predicts that by 2020, the business of “connecting everything” will reach a ratio of 30 to 1 compared to person-to-person communication, with markets in smart grids and airport intrusion prevention systems alone worth hundreds of billions. Thus, the Internet of Things is referred to as the next trillion-dollar information technology industry.
2. Application Prospects of the Internet of Things
The emergence of the “Internet of Things” concept has broken traditional thinking. The past mindset has always separated physical infrastructure and IT infrastructure: on one side are airports, roads, and buildings, while on the other side are data centers, personal computers, broadband, etc. In the era of the Internet of Things, reinforced concrete and cables will be integrated with chips and broadband into a unified infrastructure. In this sense, infrastructure resembles a new construction site for the earth, where the operation of the world occurs, including economic management, production operations, social management, and even personal life.
The Internet of Things can enhance the economy and significantly reduce costs. It will be widely used in various fields such as intelligent transportation, environmental protection, government work, public safety, smart grids, smart homes, intelligent fire protection, industrial monitoring, elderly care, and personal health. It is expected that the Internet of Things will be another wave of the information industry following computers, the internet, and mobile communication networks. Experts predict that within ten years, the Internet of Things may achieve large-scale popularization, developing into a high-tech market worth trillions.
Beijing is beginning to plan the use of the Internet of Things in public safety, food safety, and other fields. The government will collect, transmit, process, and analyze information regarding objects, events, resources, and people, achieving controllable operation management with full-time, all-around coverage. Additionally, intelligent medical care, electronic payments, smart campuses, smart communities, and smart homes will be developed in the fields of medical and health services, cultural education, and community rural grassroots services, implementing personalized services. Wang Jianzhou, president of China Mobile, has repeatedly mentioned that the Internet of Things will become a key focus for the future development of China Mobile. At the China Communications Industry Development Forum, Wang Jianzhou stated that the opportunities for the Internet of Things are limitless, and China Mobile will sincerely cooperate with all parties in a developmental posture. Both the “National Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020)” and the major special project on “Next-Generation Broadband Mobile Wireless Communication Networks” have listed the Internet of Things as a key research area.
Industry predictions suggest that the number of terminal users for the Internet of Things will be ten times that of mobile communication terminal users, indicating tremendous market potential for terminal enterprises. However, there are also views that it is still difficult to determine the likelihood of rapid popularization of the Internet of Things. After all, RFID is already well-known in the market, and there are significant differences in opinions regarding the speed of popularization of the Internet of Things.
However, it is certain that under the strong promotion of the integration of industrialization and informatization by the state, the Internet of Things will be a relatively realistic breakthrough in the informatization process of industries and more sectors. Moreover, RFID technology can be applied in closed-loop applications across multiple fields and industries. In these pioneering successful cases, information about items has been automatically collected and uploaded online, greatly improving management efficiency, and some dreams of the Internet of Things have already been partially realized.
Therefore, the embryonic form of the Internet of Things is like the early form of the internet, a local area network, which, although its role is limited, indicates an undeniable bright future. The technology of the Internet of Things in China has gradually transitioned from the theoretical research phase in laboratories to practical applications in life, with the presence of the Internet of Things already visible in areas like the State Grid and environmental monitoring. Haier Group has also installed sensors in all of its produced home appliances, and the Chengdu Wireless Dragon Environmental Monitoring System has adopted wireless network sensing technology.
The rapid rise of the Internet of Things in China is attributed to several advantages:
First, China began researching core sensing network technologies for the Internet of Things in 1999, with a research level among the world’s leading positions;
Second, China is at the forefront of the global sensing network field, becoming one of the leading countries in the formulation of international standards for the Internet of Things alongside Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with a high number of patents and is currently one of the few countries capable of achieving a complete industrial chain for the Internet of Things;
Third, government leadership has emphasized seizing opportunities for the development of the Internet of Things, providing strategic support for emerging industries. Last year, the development of Internet of Things technology was included in China’s national-level major science and technology projects. China’s economic strength is also very robust, with a high coverage rate of wireless communication and broadband networks, providing a strong guarantee for the development of the Internet of Things through favorable conditions in policy and economic infrastructure.
3. Development Stages and Future Scale of the Internet of Things
The Great Wall Strategic Consulting (GEI) predicts a “three-stage development roadmap for China’s Internet of Things industry over ten years, forming three major sub-markets.” Based on an analysis of the Internet of Things industrial chain and an assessment of the Chinese market situation, Great Wall Strategic Consulting preliminarily predicts that the Internet of Things industry in China will experience three main development stages over the next ten years (2010 to 2020): application innovation, technology innovation, and service innovation, forming three major sub-markets: public management and services, enterprise applications, and individual and family applications.
* Application Innovation, Industry Formation Period – In the next 1 to 3 years, the public management and service market will drive the formation of the industrial chain. In the next 1 to 3 years, the Internet of Things industry will be in its formation period. The Internet of Things will be promoted by government guidance, primarily led by key application demonstrations, to drive the formation and development of the industrial chain.
The early stage of industry development will focus on public management and service markets, such as government management, urban management, and public services. Combining urgent application scenarios such as emergency security, intelligent control, energy saving, green environmental protection, and public service will lead to the formation of a series of solutions. As application solutions innovate, mature, and spread, they will drive the development of the industrial chain in sensing perception, transmission communication, and computational processing.
* Technology Innovation, Standard Formation Period – In the next 3 to 5 years, industry application standards and key technical standards will be formed. After the public management and service market application demonstrations have formed certain effects, with the development of the next generation of the internet and the preliminary maturity of mobile internet, enterprise applications and industry applications will become the focus of the Internet of Things industry’s development. Various application solutions will gradually stabilize and mature, the division of labor and collaboration in the industrial chain will become clearer, and industry aggregation and preliminary formation of industry standards will occur. As the scale of the industry gradually expands, technological innovation in key links such as sensing perception will become increasingly active, and a standardized system for various links of the Internet of Things will gradually take shape.
* Service Innovation, Industry Growth Period – In the next 5 to 10 years, innovation in service-oriented business models will be active, and applications in the personal and family markets will gradually develop, leading the Internet of Things industry into a period of rapid growth. In the next 5 to 10 years, innovations in materials, components, software systems, application platforms, network operations, and application services oriented towards Internet of Things applications will be active, the industrial chain will gradually mature, and industry standards will be rapidly promoted and widely recognized.
Various emerging companies providing Internet of Things services will become highlights of industry development, and applications in the personal and family markets for the Internet of Things will develop rapidly, with new business models forming during this period. As applications, technologies, and standards for the Internet of Things gradually mature, networks become progressively complete, and innovations in business models are unprecedentedly active, the Internet of Things industry will enter a period of rapid development.
The overall scale of China’s Internet of Things industry is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2015 and exceed 5 trillion yuan by 2020. Based on market development data for three key sub-sectors of the Internet of Things – sensors, RFID, and M2M, it is predicted that the overall output value of China’s Internet of Things industry will exceed 1 trillion yuan in five years, and by 2020, the overall output value of the Internet of Things industry will exceed 5 trillion yuan.
4. Future Development Trends of the Internet of Things
1. The electronics and construction industries are entry points, and the industrial chain collaborates to do more.
Thanks to previous accumulations, whether it is automated washing machines, air conditioners, televisions that operate independently, or various intelligent buildings, the electronics and construction industries will be key starting points for the future development of the Internet of Things. For telecom operators, this is an information application brought about by industrial integration; for the technology community, it represents the third information revolution; for enterprises, it is a “cake” worth hundreds of billions; for merchants, it is ubiquitous e-commerce; the varying understandings of the Internet of Things across different sectors indicate its broad application range. To excavate the value of the Internet of Things, the collaboration of the industrial chain to do more is the future development trend.
2. Applications will move from decentralization to unification.
Although the development of the Internet of Things is still in a state of individual battles, the maturity of technology provides the material foundation for the rapid development of the Internet of Things. Currently, electronic components technology, as the foundation for the development of sensing networks, has matured and become inexpensive, achieving widespread adoption. Additionally, the division of labor in the Internet of Things industry is very clear, with companies specializing in electronic tags and RFID, as well as those specializing in various sensing components. With the promotion of the development of the Internet of Things, many enterprises in the industrial chain will increasingly produce products that are brought together, and applications will transition from decentralization to unification. Telecom operators, as important participants in the industrial chain, will play a key role in the promotion and integration of applications.
3. The ultimate goal of the Internet of Things.
The ultimate goal of the Internet of Things is to form an ideal state of global interconnectivity. In the process of achieving this goal, various local network applications of the Internet of Things can develop independently first, ultimately forming a factual standard, connecting small networks to medium networks, and then connecting medium networks to large networks, gradually solving the various technical and standard issues encountered along the way. At that time, the industrial chain of the Internet of Things will nearly encompass all fields related to current information technology and information industries.
Authoritative consulting analysis institutions predict that the future development of the Internet of Things will undergo four stages, including:
Stage 1: Before 2010, RFID was widely applied in logistics, retail, and pharmaceuticals;
Stage 2: 2010-2015, objects interconnect;
Stage 3: 2015-2020, objects enter a semi-intelligent state;
Stage 4: After 2020, objects enter a fully intelligent state;
5. Technical Evolution Path of the Internet of Things
As shown in Figure 1, we divide human information communication networks into telecommunications networks that achieve person-to-person communication and near-field communication networks or sensing networks that achieve object-to-object communication. The development of these two aspects progresses in parallel; however, it is evident that the development of telecommunications networks is earlier and more mature than that of sensing networks. After over a hundred years of research, invention, and promotion by countless individuals, telecommunications networks have established a complete, scientific, controllable, and manageable information communication network system, providing safe and efficient services for human information communication.
The development of sensing networks also has two major trends:
First is intelligence, where items need to be smarter and capable of autonomously exchanging information to realize the true meaning of the Internet of Things, which will require the ability to process massive amounts of data. As cloud computing technology continues to develop and mature, this challenge will be addressed;
Second is IP-based, where the future of the Internet of Things will assign an identifier to all items, achieving “IP to the edge”, allowing us to understand information about items anytime and anywhere. In this regard, IPV6, which can assign an IP address to every grain of sand, will take on this responsibility and promote it globally.
Thus, two modes of evolution for the Internet of Things emerge: the telecommunications network-led model and the sensing network-led model. The telecommunications network-led model is driven by traditional telecom operators to promote the development of the Internet of Things. Currently, telecom operators represented by China Mobile are voicing strong calls; the sensing network-led model is dominated by the sensing network industry, gradually achieving integration with telecommunications networks.
(Compiled by: Smart City Circle, Qiu Wenbin, WeChat Subscription Number: QWB_2014)
At present, due to the bottleneck in sensor research and development restricting the growth of the Internet of Things, it is necessary to strengthen the development of sensing networks. However, from a strategic perspective, in response to future issues regarding information security and privacy protection, it is advisable to choose the telecommunications network-led model because the telecommunications industry has a strong technological foundation, industrial base, and human resource base, enabling the analysis of massive amounts of information and ensuring the controllability and manageability of network information, ultimately guaranteeing that information security and individuals’ privacy rights are not infringed while achieving ubiquitous network communication.
6. Conclusion
The Internet of Things can be widely applied in urban public safety, industrial safety production, environmental monitoring, intelligent transportation, smart homes, public health, health monitoring, and many other fields, allowing people to enjoy a safer and easier life. It is increasingly becoming a hot topic of common concern among various sectors of society globally.
The development of the Internet of Things has made breakthrough progress from concept to technical research and pilot testing stages. With strong support from the state and enterprises, as well as continuous enhancement and investment in the four major environments of policy, finance, research and development institutions, and personnel, the Internet of Things will continue to evolve in line with the demands of productivity transformation. Today, the policies, industrial environment, and supporting network infrastructure that promote the development of China’s Internet of Things are gradually improving, providing a solid foundation for its development as it enters a fast track. The prospects for the development of China’s Internet of Things are promising. However, challenges remain, including costs, technical standards, breakthroughs in key core technologies, and the establishment of mature business models. The autumn of the Internet of Things still requires time, and its development has a long way to go!
Original link:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/260091090