如今，家庭和工作生活，商业，行业和运输都与连通性有关。在过去的十年中，物联网（物联网）影响了我们的生活并改变了行业，我们希望更多的无线创新能够在2020年及以后的情况下感受到他们的存在。
I’m excited about three wireless technologies that are poised to enhance how we find and track things; share and stream data in our homes, offices and public spaces; and enable long-range connectivity for smart cities, factories, and agriculture. Let’s take a closer look at wireless indoor tracking technologies, the next-generation Wi-Fi 6 standard, and LPWAN protocols reaching the mainstream this year.
Location, Location, Location
Tech companies have been trying to solve the problem of “where is my stuff” for a long time, well before the rise of the IoT. While global-positioning-system (GPS) technology can be used to locate and track some devices such as smartphones, GPS is typically expensive and power-hungry, and it must be used outdoors to receive satellite signals. Indoor location tracking isn’t a practical option with GPS. Until recently, device makers have been solving the problem of indoor location services with a mix of technologies such as RFID and Bluetooth beacons, enabling precision location services.
We’ve seen two significant innovations in indoor tracking and location services gain traction this year: angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD) direction finding introduced in the Bluetooth 5.1 specification and ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology. Both wireless technologies are being integrated into smartphones. Mobile phones have included Bluetooth LE radios as a standard feature since the early 2010s, and leading smartphone manufacturers are adding UWB radios to their latest models, such as Apple’s inclusion of UWB in the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.
Historically, two trends occur when a new technology enters the smartphone ecosystem: cost and power consumption plummet. We will see this happen with the integration of both AoX and UWB technologies in the latest smartphones. Consumers will be able to use their smartphones to locate things with precision in a way they haven’t before. For example, users can pinpoint the exact location of their phones, key fobs, and tracking tags.
同时，等效跟踪技术可以嵌入基础架构本身中。例如，AOX和UWB可用于创建资产管理和跟踪系统，以在仓库中找到包装。是时候将类似GPS的跟踪功能带到室内应用程序了。随着蓝牙AOX和UWB跟踪技术今年变得无处不在，您不必怀疑您的东西在哪里更长。
Wi-Fi 6：下一代无线标准
Wi-Fi 6，也称为IEEE 802.11AX，是Wi-Fi Standard 20年连续创新之旅的主要里程碑。该标准基于802.11ac的优势，同时增加了更高的效率，灵活性和可扩展性，从而使新的和现有的网络增加了下一代应用程序的速度和容量。
The IEEE proposed the Wi-Fi 6 standard to deliver the performance and versatility of high-speed Gigabit Ethernet wireless combined with the reliability and predictability of a licensed radio. For reference, the Wi-Fi Alliance has rebranded the wireless standard. In the past, Wi-Fi versions were branded according to the IEEE standard nomenclature, but this approach was confusing to consumers. Going forward, here’s the Wi-Fi “decoder ring”:
- Wi-Fi 4 = IEEE 802.11N
- Wi-Fi 5 = IEEE 802.11ac
- Wi-Fi 6 = IEEE 802.11ax
Wi-Fi 6是开发的第一个短程无线标准，该标准可以使高密度嵌入规格中。先前的Wi-Fi版本首先关注速度和性能。将Wi-Fi 5（802.11ax）视为子弹列车。数据可以快速移动，但是同时轨道上不会有很多高速火车。
Wi-Fi 6 was built from the ground up with device density in mind. The standard supports a host of new features addressing density, battery life, and wireless range, in addition to other features designed to increase raw data throughput capabilities, as shown in thetable.
With the arrival of Wi-Fi 6, we will see an increase in the number of devices able to connect to a Wi-Fi network, along with reduced latency, longer battery life, and an enhanced overall user experience. Wi-Fi 6 chips are already hitting the market, and several access-point manufacturers are releasing products compliant to the specification. Smartphone manufacturers are expected to add Wi-Fi 6 to next-generation handsets, while connected-device manufacturers will include the new wireless technology in a range of IoT products this year.
lpwan长期
Cellular technology is starting to migrate from smartphones and into the IoT as a viable option for low-power wide-area-network (LPWAN) connectivity. Several semiconductor suppliers including Nordic Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Sequans Communications, and Sony (Altair) are releasing chipset products supporting the NB-IoT and LTE-M (also known as CAT-M1) cellular standards, and interesting startups like Riot Micro also are entering the cellular IoT market.
LTE-M is a good option for LPWAN applications requiring a combination of long battery life, LTE reliability and low latency. LTE-M is also compatible with existing LTE networks and in the future will coexist with 5G technologies.
在Sub-GHz频段中运行的等效非细胞LPWAN技术，例如Lorawan（由Semtech的Lora RF平台运行的Lora Alliance管理的协议）开始成为主流。亚马逊的900 MHz人行道协议是最近揭幕的LPWAN选项，该选项是连接传感器，灯泡，跟踪器（用于事物和宠物）以及其他远程IoT设备的900 MHz人行行协议。
物联网设备制造商现在有许多选项deploying LPWAN connectivity at lower costs, enabling a rapidly improving developer experience for long-range, low-data-rate, low-power applications. By operating in the sub-GHz band or a licensed cellular spectrum and keeping the data bandwidth relatively low (tens of bits per message), LPWANs can achieve a range measured in the tens of kilometers. This wider coverage range has broad implications in leveraging the IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications for smart cities, building and home automation, and industrial IoT.
根据世界上的数据，LPWAN服务预计到2025年将达到750亿美元，在全球广泛的市场细分市场中提供30多种不同的应用程序。LPWAN Technology现在正在进入运输，从长途卡车运输到无码头踏板车；城市基础设施，例如停车收费表，天然气和水表；以及智能农业应用，包括精密农业和牲畜监测。
With so many new and emerging wireless technology options coming onto the market this year, connected device makers will continue to drive innovation in the IoT, and end users everywhere will be the ultimate beneficiaries.
丹尼尔·库利（Daniel Cooley）is Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at硅实验室.
