Paving the way for the Internet of Things

It’s set to be the perfect combination: the rapid growth of high-speed cellular networks and the introduction of IP version 6, which has enough IP addresses for every grain of sand on Earth. Add to this mix the proliferation of the ARM-embedded computing architecture, now the de facto global standard for low-power, high-performance mobile computing thanks to its successful integration into virtually all mobile phones on the market.

The result is a perfect ecosystem for the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT): a world where every car, phone, sensor, meter, machine, sales terminal, sign, toy, camera and healthcare device is wirelessly connected to the internet via high-speed connection. Add a GPS/GNSS positioning receiver and you have a compact, always-connected, location-aware internet ‘thing’ that possesses the computing power of an ARM processor with complete freedom of mobility.

The potential for new attractive applications is huge. Here are just four examples:

Remote metering and security

The IoT will enable cost-effective and covert installation of web-connected devices that will wirelessly transmit utilities’ usage data, report the location of pets and people, and provide 24/7 monitoring of vehicles, storage facilities, shops and public facilities. Ubiquitous surveillance of schools, airports, shopping malls, office buildings and healthcare facilities will become common. Monitoring services can even be outsourced to security or healthcare firms located thousands of kilometres away, similar to the way low-cost telephony enabled the outsourcing of call centres.

Vending machines

Vending machines are expected to generate over $190 billion in revenue by 2015, according to industry analysts. The machines are already connected via wireless networks to report tampering or when a refill is necessary, or simply to report where the machine is located (in case a vending machine’s location is often forgotten). Cellular connectivity will bring multimedia advertisement and social media possibilities to vending machine displays. Coca-Cola experimented with this concept in 2011 by installing networked vending machines around the world allowing customers in different countries to interact with each other, and even ‘buy a Coke’ for a new friend thousands of kilometres away.

Tele-health terminals

As healthcare costs soar and the doctor-to-patient ratio increases, wireless networks will lower healthcare costs by enabling remote care via a high-quality video link. Instead of sick, elderly or far-away patients having to travel to the doctor’s office, a mobile, location-aware tele-health terminal at home will provide instant access to a healthcare professional giving people freedom of movement and choice of where and how to live, significantly improving quality of life.

Car infotainment systems

Vehicle-mounted LTE routers will enable high-speed downlink of up to 100 Mbps (LTE category 3) to the car. This is enough to support five parallel high-definition TV channels and more than enough to support the more typical mix of video, voice, internet access and social media applications used by passengers. Location-awareness facilitates delivery of position-relevant information such as multimedia-enhanced navigation or video-rich electronic ‘tour-guide’ services.

To help engineers jumpstart their design IoT applications, u-blox and ARM have developed the C027 ARM mbed-enabled IoT starter kit providing out-of-the-box wireless internet connectivity based on a compact u-blox 2G, 3G or CDMA cellular modem plus global positioning module. The kit is powered by an ARM Cortex-M3 32-bit processor with cost-free access to the resources of the ARM mbed development platform