Connectivity of the Internet of Things

Pages
Contributors: RBERLIA
Favorited Favorite 26

Communication Protocols for Internet of Things

Connectivity

Connectivity, it is one of the main things to keep in mind while developing any Internet-of-Thiongs (IoT) project.

The first few questions that pop up in my head when I embark on any new IoT project are:

  • How do I want it to be connected?
  • Do I have any power or range constraints?
  • What would be my data rate?
  • What network infrastructures are currently available?

I am sure a lot of you would have the same questions when starting any IoT project. Sometimes you have an idea about what communication protocol you want to use, but it doesn't hurt to do your research and make sure that would be the most suitable for your application.

Fortunately, there are a bunch of network infrastructures and communication protocols available. Unfortunately, there are so many that they might render you confused.

In this tutorial, we will discuss all (well, most) of the popular communication protocols and how to pick the most suitable one for your project. We will also go into detail about the pros and cons of each:

  1. WiFi
  2. Thread
  3. ZigBee
  4. Bluetooth
  5. RFID and NFC

This is not the full list of connection types, but these will help you get started with most any IoT project.