IoT, 5 G and Edge Computing


Fantasies in to Realities

As kids, many of us might have fantasized future in 20, 30 years after with smart houses and self-driving vehicles becoming ubiquitous. As adults, we now know that these fantasies are not fantasies any more, just the technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G have replaced the magic behind those we saw as kids. Not only that, even the manufacturing industries are moving towards automation under emerging concepts such as Industry 4.0. The need of capturing real time changes and uncertainties of manufacturing systems is facilitated by IoT. IoT is a dynamic network infrastructure to measure, identity, position, track and monitor physical objects in order to facilitate interactions between human and human, human and thing, and thing and thing. IoT data acquisition means, including embedded sensors, RFIDs, and near field communications, collect and share process related data instantly about the state of a manufacturing system from the different decision- making sections in a manufacturing context. (machines, stock, robots, etc.). These types of manufacturing systems combining computing systems and the physical factory floor in a synchronized manner encompassed by IoT are identified as cyber-physical systems (CPS).

Technology that Replaced Magic

All of the above is dependent upon a network with high bandwidth and low latency, which exactly what is provided by 5G. 5G will benefit users and service providers with High bandwidth and low latency, achieved by providing a "virtual pipe" of bandwidth. Futuriom, in a recent report writes that Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) applications such as connected vehicles, autonomous cars, and drone operations will be supported by 5G. 5G will play a vital role in smart city digital transformation. Smart drones, smart grid, smart cars, smart security, smart homes, smart traffic management and smart healthcare are some of the smart city components which will be powered by 5G.

5G and Edge Computing

The development of Edge computing was enforced with the high growth of IoT device integrations. These IoT devices generate a huge amount of data constantly and simultaneously. Starting from a surveillance camera connected to internet, sensors of machines in a manufacturing floor, transmit real time data across network adding up to millions of devices in total. These result in bandwidth costs and in latency.

According to Gartner definition edge computing is “a part of a distributed computing topology in which information processing is located close to the edge – where things and people produce or consume that information.” Edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the devices where it’s being gathered. It enables fewer processes to run on cloud and move other processes to users’ device, IoT device or edge server. The burden on centralized cloud-based locations in processing aspect will be mitigated by facilitating local processing. Through this, the need of relying on a central location far away is eliminated. As a result, the real time data need not undergo the latency.

In their recent report Futuriom emphasizes on how edge computing compliments 5G: “An essential component for support of URLLC apps, edge-compute infrastructure facilitates optimization of 5G network resources by focusing computational capacity where it is needed the most. Without edge compute, 5G would continue to rely on back-haul to centralized cloud resources for storage and processing, diminishing much of the otherwise positive impact of latency reduction enabled by 5G.” - 5G, IoT and Edge Compute Trends, a report by Futuriom.

The edge of the network is geographically close to the device, let that be users’ computer, processor of the IoT device, users’ router, ISP or local edge server. In contrast to a typical cloud service which is centralized in a vendor managed cloud, which introduces latency due to the distance and the data centers where cloud services are hosted, edge computing makes centralized applications running close to users, either on the device itself or on the network edge.

The cost savings results from edge computing can be reaped by incorporating edge computing with applications, products and services like: security system monitoring, IoT integrated smart devices, self-driving cars, medical monitoring devices, video conferencing and many more.

Costs of Edge Computing

Even though, edge computing comes with a lot of benefits, there is a cost associated with all the good stuff that comes with it. New infrastructure will be needed to support the radio access network with smart antennas, and the core network will need new equipment, including mobile edge-compute infrastructure. However, with the entire globe moving towards smart concepts with real time data handling edge computing will make the future more convenient.

References

Bandyopadhyay, Debasis, and Jaydip Sen. "Internet of things: Applications and challenges in technology and standardization." Wireless Personal Communications 58.1 (2011): 49-69.

https://www.networkworld.com/article/3224893/what-is-edge-computing-and-how-it-s-changing-the-network.html

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/5/7/17327584/edge-computing-cloud-google-microsoft-apple-amazon

https://virtualizationreview.com/whitepapers/2019/08/vmware-5g-iot-and-edge-compute-trends.aspx

https://justaskthales.com/en/infographics/5g-complete-guide/

https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/serverless/glossary/what-is-edge-computing/

Comments

  1. Prabod_DunuwilaNovember 17, 2020 at 7:06 PM

    Informative, good work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dulanga KithminiNovember 17, 2020 at 7:39 PM

    Are there infrastructures already established to reduce cost in edge computing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pramodi HerathNovember 18, 2020 at 8:45 PM

      According to recent reports like Futuriom Dulanga, most of the service providers who have been interviewed are non-committal in terms of 5G mobile infrastructure rollout. Although several of the large North American carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, have made statements about their 5G rollouts and are proceeding with pilot projects in major cities, the first applications are for fixed-wireless access. A wide range of applications based on mobile 5G is likely still several years out acording to Futuriom.

      Delete
  3. Ruvy RathnayakeNovember 17, 2020 at 9:22 PM

    Good read Pramodi. Btw some countries are still stay behind from adopting 5G due to some health issues and many other reasons as per my reading. What are your thoughts on that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pramodi HerathNovember 18, 2020 at 9:02 PM

      Yes Ruvishka, as per my read too, there have been conversations regarding the health issues (specially cancers), that may arouse by the electromagnetic radiation used by all mobile phone technologies including 5G. While this has not been supported by evidence, In 2014 the World Health Organization (WHO) said that "no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use". Specifically, 5G uses higher frequency waves than earlier mobile networks, allowing more devices to have access to the internet at the same time and at faster speeds. These waves travel shorter distances through urban spaces, so 5G networks require more transmitter masts than previous technologies, positioned closer to ground level. Since there are more transmitters, each one can run at lower power levels than previous 4G technology, which means that the level of radiation exposure from 5G antennas will be lower.
      Under this light I think that relatively the harm would be lower and hopefully, world will find workaround these drawbacks cuz in my opinion the world is in need of reaping the undeniable benefits provided by 5G.
      BBC Post on the same discourse - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48616174

      Delete
  4. KaviiNovember 18, 2020 at 10:04 PM

    Nicely written. Learned a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chamal DemelNovember 28, 2020 at 9:18 PM

    Nice flow. Keep writing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Santhoopa JayawardhanaDecember 6, 2020 at 11:52 AM

    Very informative article. It is fascinating to see how 5G technology can be used to improve the efficiency of IoT applications in the modern world.

    ReplyDelete

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