The principal promise of the Internet of Things is that we’ll gain efficiencies at home, work, and in our communities. The wireless technology used to connect devices will either make or break the promised efficiencies of the Internet of Things.

Efficiency Chain of the IoT Device

These efficiencies are manifested through time and resources saved because of new information derived from basic to advanced analytics. The first link in the efficiency chain is the combination of the devices collecting information and the wireless connection they use to communicate that information. The wireless connection provides the contraints for the kinds and amounts data that may be collected and how often those data are sent. In other words, the wireless technology defines the upper limits on the devices’ data models. The devices are then designed to perform within those constraints.

Efficiency is when actions are reduced to the essential to achieve desirable outcomes. Simplicity and efficiency are synonymous. A wireless service provider either improves or worsens the efficiency chain by impacting device development, management, or sales.
wireless tech iot
Let’s take a look at one mechanism by which wireless technology drives or derails efficiency down the entire value chain: number of frequency bands used to transmit signal.

First, the number of bands that a wireless technology needs to transmit signal brings (in)efficiencies in the development stage. The fewer the bands a device maker has to support, the less hardware needed to support those bands. Less hardware means less design development is needed.

The number of bands needed for cellular IoT options poses a problem. LTE uses 40 bands worldwide (also its IoT derivatives like LTE-M, NB-IoT, etc.). In addition to that, not all bands are supported by every carrier. So now device makers need to choose which carrier to certify on, depending on the region. But it gets worse: device makers also have to certify for each device and each supported carrier. Those certifications can cost upwards of $100k. You end up with a bunch of carrier- and market-specific SKUs. That isn’t simple or efficient, and does not deliver on the IoT promise of increased efficiencies. Ingenu’s RPMA uses one band that is available worldwide. Ingenu makes device development simple and efficient and enables device makers to cover the whole world with one device.

The number of wireless bands also impacts the cost/efficiency of managing those solutions.

Deploying wireless devices requires a supply chain including operations, support, training, marketing, and sales. Imagine the complexity of pushing 40 band support through the value chain. It is so inefficient that entire companies exist whose sole value proposition is being able to navigate the various cellular choices. The less that devices are fragmented regionally, the easier it is to market and then sell those devices. Less regional/carrier fragmentation leads to lower costs because time and money isn’t wasted designing, developing, marketing, selling to, and managing each of the fragments. RPMA has no fragmentation.

Ingenu keeps things simple and efficient for the entire device value chain and delivers on the promises of the IoT. Download our white paper How RPMA Works to learn how.