In our last post we covered how 5G can open up monetization opportunities for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) and also touched upon how 5G will be a catalyst to the IoT/M2M segments, where sensor technology would take the center stage as an overlay over faster networks. The Internet of Things is the pulse of businesses, governments and individuals. And we will explore how IOT will be transforming aided by and due to 5G. We hear, the number of connected devices is expected to hit 50 billion by 2020. The promise of 5G is that it will make it possible to realize critical IoT applications, which require real-time control and automation of dynamic processes in various fields such as vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), high speed motion and process control. Critical parameters to enable the performance required are network latency below milliseconds and ultra-high reliability. It is now confirmed that the 5G network architecture is being designed to cater to both IoT scenarios. We will see rise in Driverless Cars which will not only offer comfort and convenience but will also result into fewer accidents, Smart Homes that can take care of their own maintenance or keep track of the food in your fridge and order more as needed, it will also aid doctors to carry out Remote Surgery from any part of the world etc. Even today, IoT is already prevalent in many aspects with vertical industries adopting this technology as we collectively move towards making our society smarter, safer and more efficient. A key solution development is a Smart Home Management Solution – a comprehensive solution for service providers to offer Smart Home as a service to their subscribers, managing all remote gateways and sensors. Well, it should be device and network agnostic to support widest possible deployment. Another Platform for IoT translates communication from a wide variety of devices into a common IP-based language to enable the creation of a managed service. Its IoT network solution scales to provide single-source management for different devices or features across networks, including advanced wireless gateways, Wi-Fi routers, mobile control apps and/or connected remote controls, connected wall controllers and power outlets and sensor-enabled devices. A few key factors for IoT application supported by Cellular 5G are:

1. Scalability – The traffic from most IoT applications will be relatively small and easily absorbed by Cellular Networks. CSPs will be able to offer connectivity for IoT applications from the start-up phase and grow this business with low TCO and with only limited additional investment and effort.
2. Diversity – Cellular connectivity offers the diversity to serve a wide range of applications with varying requirements within one single network. Cellular networks can address everything from Massive to Critical IoT use cases.
3. Connectivity Requirements – To meet the new connectivity requirements of the emerging Massive IoT segment, 3GPP has taken evolutionary steps on both the network side and the device side. The key improvement areas addressed in 3GPP up to Release 13 are: device cost, battery life, coverage and support for massive numbers of IoT connections.
4. Licensed Spectrum – Operation in licensed spectrum also provides predictable and controlled interference, which enables efficient use of the spectrum to support massive volumes of devices.
5. Mature Ecosystem – The cellular mobile industry represents a huge and mature ecosystem, incorporating chipset, device and network equipment vendors, operators, application providers and many others as well as the 3GPP standardization forum, which guarantees broad industry support for future development.

In recent 3GPP Releases, new standards aim at resolving any business bottlenecks to enable the vision of 5G and the massive IoT market — the explosion into billions of devices and sensors that represent a digital representations of our real world – improved by low cost devices, long battery life, better in door coverage and innovative business applications.