Modular IoT Development Platforms Help Deliver Next Generation IoT Devices

The rise of the IoT paradigm is empowered by an unprecedented proliferation of internet connected devices. According to recent market research, the number of connected IoT devices in 2022 grew 18% from last year and amounts to approx. 14.4 billion globally. IoT applications comprise one or more IoT devices, which range from microcontrollers and embedded sensors to sophisticated cyber-physical systems like drones and industrial robots. 

The Heterogeneous Landscape of IoT Components and Applications

Over the years, IoT systems have provided richer and more intelligent functionalities. However, they have also become more complex and heterogeneous. For instance, modern IoT devices comprise multiple hardware modules, which are in several cases integrated with embedded middleware components as well. Moreover, IoT devices are usually integrated in quite sophisticated cloud and edge computing configurations in-line with popular IoT stacks. Such IoT stacks are for example illustrated in standards-based IoT architectures such as the Industrial Internet Consortium Reference Architecture (IIRA) and ISO/IEC 30141:2018 Reference Architecture for IoT systems. 

Hence, IoT application developers and integrators must nowadays deal with the heterogeneity of IoT devices and the complexity of IoT stacks. Moreover, they need to make several decisions that involve development and deployment trade-offs at different levels. These trade-offs entail:

• Device-level and module-level decisions: Nowadays, IoT hardware engineers and IoT integrators are offered with a very wide range of sensors, boards, and microcontroller units (MCUs), which can be combined in many ways. Selecting the right set of devices is a key prerequisite for a successful IoT deployment. In this direction, there is a need to factor many device-level and module-level parameters including the devices’ size, energy efficiency, security, networking interfaces, cost and suitability for deployment in harsh industrial environments. 

• Communications and networking decisions: IoT devices leverage different networking technologies ranging from general purpose legacy wireless networks (e.g., WiFi) to IoT oriented short range (e.g., 6LoWPAN, ZigBee) and long range (e.g., LoRaWAN, SigFox) networking technologies. Each of these technologies is suitable for different sets of bandwidth, range, security, and energy performance requirements.

• IoT Middleware and protocols decisions: The interconnection of IoT devices with various applications leverages a variety of IoT protocols such as MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport), CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol), AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol), DDS (Data Distribution Service) and OneM2M. Implementations and interfaces for these protocols are typically integrated with IoT devices.

• Edge/cloud deployment decisions: The placement of IoT modules and functions across cloud and edge computing infrastructure is very critical for the success of an IoT deployment. Real-time modules and functions must be placed within edge devices (e.g., IoT edge gateways), while data-savvy functionalities requiring many data points should be typically deployed in the cloud. Moreover, edge deployments can contribute to stronger data protection and CO2 reductions for applications that have such requirements.

Modular IoT Development Platforms to the Rescue

In this heterogeneous landscape of IoT components and modules, the integration of IoT applications is particularly challenging. Solution integrations need to determine the most efficient architecture for their application by making the right deployment decisions. Most importantly, they must put significant effort on the integration of heterogeneous modules, protocols, and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), which are not always compatible. In several cases, IoT applications need to be refactored and redeployed towards fine-tuning their performance, which increases the overall complexity and cost of the IoT deployment. For instance, many IoT devices are very small in size and have different communication requirements as well as energy constraints. Thus, solution integrators may have to experiment with different networking configurations that vary in performance and energy efficiency. This can be a tedious task, which asks for quick and cost-efficient integration techniques.

IoT platforms aim at alleviating the above-listed integration challenges based on the concept of modular IoT development. Modular IoT development is about breaking down complex applications into individual IoT modules and well-defined interfaces between them. In this way, modular IoT platforms provide extensible and versatile infrastructures that ease the integration of different modules. Moreover, modular IoT platforms ensure the compatibility of different modules, which helps solution developers to avoid the synthesis of modules that do not fit each other. 

Most modular IoT development platforms come with Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and visual development tools, which facilitate integration tasks. Specifically, GUI (Graphic User Interface) tools enable developers to specify IoT workflows and data flows that span different sensors, boards, microcontrollers, and other embedded middleware modules. This enables a “lego” like development for non-trivial IoT systems and applications. 

Early IoT platforms for modular development were focused on the integration of IoT software and middleware modules such as IoT data collection, analytics, and visualization. In recent years, the benefits of modular development have been extended to hardware and embedded microsystems modules such as Systems of Chip (SOC). This enables the development of next generation IoT devices that serve sophisticated business requirements. Specifically, modular IoT development platforms facilitate solutions developers in their efforts to integrate different boards and microcontroller units (MCU) with sensing systems, such as temperature, air quality, bio-sensors, and flow sensors. In this way, developers can select and integrate the sets of boards and sensors that suit best the industrial requirements of their application. 

Modular IoT integration can therefore produce innovative devices that are highly customizable to the vertical environment at hand. For instance: 

• Smart Buildings: In the case of smart buildings and facilities management applications, developers can customize energy efficient sensors on the same MCUs to support room occupancy monitoring, humidity sensing and air quality auditing at the same time. 

• Manufacturing: Within manufacturing environments temperature and vibration sensors can be integrated within industrial grade boards to support real-time detection of failures and defects inside the machinery.

Most importantly, modular IoT development can also cut down development and integration effort, leading to cost-reduction and to a short time-to-market.  

Overall, modularity is one of the most compelling features of an IoT platform. In the scope of a highly competitive IoT market landscape, modularity functionalities can set a vendor apart from its competitors.

Renesas Solution for Modular IoT Development

Renesas’ has recently launched its Quick Connect IoT platform, which is a cutting-edge solution for modular IoT development. The platform support modular IoT system design leveraging a wide array of sensors and MCU development boards. It facilitates and accelerates the prototyping of diverse IoT systems, which reduces time-to-market. In particular, the platform alleviates compatibility issues across the different hardware and software modules that comprise modern IoT solutions. In essence, the platform helps enterprises deploy best practice “winning combinations” of IoT modules. Renesas “winning combinations” provide a significant productivity boost for industrial enterprises, while at the same time shortening IoT product development and innovation cycles.

Furthermore, Quick Connect IoT eases the integration of Renesas sensors and MCUs with mobile and cloud applications. In this direction, Renesas provides seamless integration between the Renesas software, the new Pmod™ 6A board-to-board connector, WiFi Systems on Chips (SOCs) and Dialog’s ultra-low power Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) (DA14531) module. The interworking of Renesas software with Dialog’s SOCs is playing a key role in this direction. 

Renesas complements Quick Connect IoT with other IoT modules such as: 

• A 100W multi-function PD adapter that can be combined with Renesas’ USB PD controller, and other wireless charging devices.

• A small, energy efficient, smart asset tracking label, which can be flexible combined with Renesas’ high-performance humidity and temperature sensors. 

These modules increase the versatility and functionality of the IoT solutions that are offered in the scope of the Renesas ecosystem. They empower IoT engineers and developers to choose among a wide range of options that can meet stringent industrial requirements.

For more information about Renesas Quick Connect IoT solutions visit this page.