In the following article, we are going to discuss the concept of the Social Internet of Things. How development and role of SIoT can be beneficial. How it differs from the usual Internet of Things. What obstacles do developers have to face?
Do We Need The Internet of Things In The First Place?
Humans once invented the wheel to improve the quality of their lives. Dozens of centuries later, we can say that human inventions improve the quality of life. And human also accelerate the satisfaction from any action.
The term Internet of Things was first used by Kevin Ashton at the turn of the Millennium. And in just 20 years humanity has gone from an idea to widespread use. When viewed in terms of a global timeframe, it happened within milliseconds.
The interesting thing is that the total number of devices already exceeds the population of the planet by 10 times. Every year, the annual funding turnover of the Internet of Things market increases by an average of 15%. The most active users of the IoT are Google, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, and Amazon.
At this stage, the e-commerce sector benefits the most from the IoT. The software helps make delivery, payment, order processing, and interaction inside and outside the company work better. It is too late to ask whether we need the IoT since humanity is already actively benefiting from each invention.
Is Social Interconnectivity of Gadgets Possible in 2021
The IoT has already been applied to navigation technology, smart home technology and healthcare sector. With the help of various sensors, receivers, and connectors, it is possible to collect information. Accumulate it on the Internet, and then produce some necessary action which is the basic task of the IoT today.
However, developers are striving to go further. Just imagine the very possibility of gadgets communicating with each other without human involvement. Engineering would then be able to provide the solutions required to meet human needs before humans take action themselves!
To make such dreams come true, all devices connected to the Internet must be able to communicate with each other. And regardless of their manufacturer, operating system, provider, etc. It means that they must have a so-called social connection with each other, just like people do.
The SIoT Challenges And How To Overcome Them
To make the SIoT perform its functions, all the challenges must be initially understood. Among major issues are:
- How to make the Social Internet of Things massively available and accessible
- How to make the social connection between smart tech, whatever type of tech it is
- How to provide power lasting to the IoT communication
- How to ensure complete security of interaction
To make a product affordable, it is necessary to reduce the cost of its creation. When a gadget is designed with the ability to learn (machine learning, artificial intelligence). It will be able to adapt to social interaction.
There is a lack of common standards and rules in the operation of different equipment. The problem of mutual integration of different systems prevents stable and rapid IoT software development.
Devices that are connected can perform tasks more accurately than stand-alone ones. Therefore, manufacturing companies must integrate interactions with other companies’ products:
- they must also secure the gateway for interaction;
- the sensors and transmitters do not go online on their own;
- they transmit small amounts of data to so-called gates, do surface research and make simple decisions
Innovative Wireless Communication System of SIoT Technologies
Gates and simple sensors have this innovative wireless communication system specifically designed for data transmission of this type. It is effective at low speeds and is also fault-tolerant, adaptive, and self-organizing. Today, the NB-IoT type stands out among networks operating under the general IEEE 802.15.4 IoT standard. Due to low power consumption, devices with this type of communication can run for ten years on a single battery. One NB-IoT base station can serve up to 10,000 devices. “Smart” buildings and industries, optimization of utility infrastructure, environmental protection, improvement of road safety, and many other purposes.
The structure of social relationships between devices is similar to friendships between people. We are friends with some individuals, and with others, we prefer not to cross paths. Gadgets, in their turn, select “friendly” devices with which it is possible to connect because their compatibility and security parameters coincide. To provide safe interaction, developers must improve access control systems. Also, they must test different data transfer models. It is importance for identification the most secure one.
SIoT Technologies Today and What Prospects This Venture Has to Offer
It is difficult to judge the current developments, at least those that are successfully applied in practice do not exist today. However, we can talk about its prospects. There are no specific standards for creating a SIoT system. There is an established architecture for how the Internet of Things works: the device, the global connection, the hosting platform, and the software to make it work. Based on this, it remains to implement secure communication systems for interaction.
There is a necessity for creating and deploying SIoT technology. Devices and systems can adjust to changing circumstances by analyzing incoming sensor information and then interacting in a modified manner.
Conclusions
SIoT is a promising phenomenon of social interaction between technology, data storage, and software.
Today, IoT is serving such sectors as manufacturing, logistics, infrastructure, agriculture. Also serving trade, banking, mining, military-defense complexes, medicine, the IT industry, even reputation management, etc. The list is very long.
The ability of gadgets and software to adapt to changing conditions, to pick up fluctuations from incoming information. To exchange it with other gadgets will greatly advance all of humanity.
