1. IoT demands in the core network are currently low
Existing IoT devices have fairly low bandwidth demands.
"Right now, data that can be classed as ‘IoT’ isn’t a large proportion of the traffic volume on our core network," Whitley comments.
2. This will change as IoT devices increase in volume and become more sophisticated
Once images and video get involved, the demands in the core network will be much higher.
"Some predictions have the IoT growing to over 40 billion devices by 2020 and some of these devices will generate imagery and video," says Whitley.
3. Much of the onus will fall on network operators
Network operators such as BT will be expected to carry much of the increased traffic.
"Experts in our photonics labs are constantly exploring cutting-edge techniques such as using optical ‘superchannels’ to squeeze much higher data rates over our existing core network fibres," Whitley says of his work.
4. The IoT will demand a specific sort of wireless network
The tasks that IoT devices and sensors mean that their requirements will be different to current devices.
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"A wireless system that combines good range with a battery life of years and a low latency could be the killer solution for IoT wireless," Whitley adds.
Read the full interview here.
