Design of large-scale IoT networks
A well-designed communication network that provides reliable quality of service (QoS) guarantees is a critical platform on which a variety of novel cyber-physical system (CPS) applications can be built. When designed well, the CPS entities can seamlessly talk to each other, and the network acts merely as a transparent enabler. When designed poorly, bottlenecks, congestions, delays, etc. that develop can choke not only CPS applications and but also the development of new CPS applications.
We are at a point in time where large scale IoT deployments, those that can improve delivery of societal services, are just beginning – smart meters at homes, safety monitoring of equipments, mobile health, improved distribution and leakage detection in water networks, among many others. Many innovative services are also being developed around such applications. It will not be long before IoT data starts flooding the network. It is therefore crucial that the right design decision choices are made at this stage, when the IoT networks are being planned, because once deployed, there is always reluctance to modify them.