NFC is a short range two-way wireless communication technology that enables simple and secure communication between electronic devices embedded with NFC microchip. NFC technology operates in 13.56 megahertz and supports 106, 212, or 424 Kbps throughput. There are three available modes of NFC communication:
Read/write (e.g. for reading tags in NFC posters)
Card emulation (e.g. for making payments)
Peer-to-peer (e.g. for file transfers)
There is no need for pairing code between devices, because once in range they instantly start communication and prompt the user. NFC technology is power efficient - much more than other wireless technologies. The communication range of NFC is approximately...
I get accused of focusing too much on 5G as the only future IoT connectivity option. I do write a lot about how 5G will revolutionize our society, become the most critical of critical infrastructures and about security threats with 5G. I see 5G, with its low latency, high bandwidth, network slicing and ubiquitous coverage becoming the foundational capability for mission critical industrial, agricultural, financial, medical, education, energy and transportation, even military and emergency services IoT communication needs.
That’s not to say that 5G is the only IoT connectivity option. There are plenty of others.
IoT applications have some common requirements...
In the recent report by IHS Markit - "The 5G Economy - How 5G will contribute to the global economy" - researchers claimed that manufacturing will garner almost $4.7 trillion in sales enablement by 2035. Or 36% of the $13.2 trillion total opportunity of 5G by 2035. Manufacturing will be by far the largest industry beyond mobile to be impacted by 5G.
In the manufacturing sector the adoption will benefit in the short-to-medium term from enhanced indoor wireless broadband coverage. Other early use cases include asset tracking such as visibility over incoming and outgoing components and goods in the supply...
Depending on who you speak to, 5G is either humankind’s greatest imminent blessing or its greatest imminent curse. Still in its infancy, and not yet commercially standardized, this technology has already been the most polarizing advancement we have ever seen in communication.
Consumers worldwide are captivated by promises of super-fast download speeds, split-second responsiveness and next-level mobile phone communication, but are divided on the possible sacrifices of privacy and security.
Detractors continue to issue condemnations of 5G cellular’s possible health risks. Supporters continue to shake their heads in disbelief. Governments jostle for geopolitical supremacy; 5G is seen as both a proxy...
It's been a year of contradictions for the telecommunications industry.
Like most sectors, it has been heavily impacted by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a slowdown in global 5G roll-outs being a notable result. Geopolitical conflicts have continued to muddy the market, with governments playing a more active role than ever in setting telecoms-centred policy.
At the same time, however, the air is thick with promise and opportunity. Over the last nine months, entire organizations have transitioned to remote working and high-bandwidth video communication. Corporations have accelerated digital transformation initiatives. Online shopping has soared. The appetite for autonomous manufacturing...
The telecoms and digital technologies sectors are notoriously jargonised. Eavesdrop on any conversation at an industry conference (remember those?) and you’d be treated to a parade of acronyms, initialisms and technical terms that would sound like ancient Greek to an outsider.
However, with new technologies being developed and deployed at an accelerated rate, staying on top of terminology can be challenging for even seasoned professionals. This is nowhere as apparent as in the evolving debate around Open RAN and its applications. Open RAN and its variations became the next "big thing" in wireless and I thought I'd try and help...
The interest in 5G and mIoT is exploding. It's exciting to see so many IT and cybersecurity professionals in my network trying to learn more about 5G and related technologies.
In addition to my usual articles about the societal impacts of these innovations, I'll start a series of articles introducing key 5G and mIoT technology concepts. Before we move on to technical aspects of 5G security.
Let's get started with reviewing the 5G core service-based architecture and learning the first few dozen acronyms, out of approximately a gazillion. The cellular industry loves acronyms. Even more than the cybersecurity industry.
5G architecture is...
The 5G Core network is a Service Based Architecture. It evolves the traditional appliance based 4G Core Network to support services. It offers more agility and flexibility.
The major building blocks of this architecture include
Service-Based Interface: The Service Based Interfaces rely on HTTP/2
The 5G Network Functions: As explained by Ericsson “is built using IT network principles and cloud native technology. In this new architecture each Network Function (NF) offers one or more services to other NFs via Application Programming Interfaces (API). Each Network Function (NF) is formed by a combination of small pieces of software code called as...
In a major milestone for 5G, 3GPP finalized the Release 16 in July - its second set of specifications for 5G New Radio (NR) technology. As a second article in my series of 5G 101 articles, this is a good opportunity to review the 3GPP process and major 5G-related technical specification releases. As well as to clarify some misconceptions about the 5G development process.
This article provides an overview of what is 3GPP and its importance. It also explains the Releases related to 5G including Release 15, 16 and 17. The focus will be on 3GPP Release 16 and 17.
Release...
Zigbee technology introduction
Zigbee is wireless PAN (Personal Area Network) technology developed to support automation, machine-to-machine communication, remote control and monitoring of IoT devices. It evolved from IEEE 802.15.4 wireless standard and supported by the ZigBee Alliance.
IEEE 802.15.4 standard determines specifications for the physical and data link layer and Zigbee Alliance provides standards from network layer to application layer. While Zigbee determines the contents of the transmitted message, the 802.15.4 standard provides details about the robust radio communication and medium access control.
The Zigbee Alliance, as a non-profit association, develops open global Zigbee standard for use in the Internet of Things...
As our cities, our transportation, our energy and manufacturing – our everything – increasingly embrace Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Controls Systems (ICS), securing its underlying cyber-physical systems (CPS) grows ever more crucial. Yet, even among engineers and cybersecurity specialists, one potential attack trajectory is often overlooked: Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI).
ICS and IoT – digital systems that run today’s modern society – rely on changes in electrical charges flowing through physical equipment. Creating the 1s and 0s of which all digital information is composed requires electronic switching processes in circuits. The current used in this process is not...
Hyped as the technology that will transform the world, 5G is moving past the buzzword stage with first implementations coming to life in 2019. Nations are racing to 5G with such fervor that it now became one of the hottest hot-button geopolitical issues.
With latency as low as 1 ms and speeds of up to 4 Gbps, as well as a wider range of frequency bands and enhanced capacity, 5G will be able to accommodate innovative use cases and much greater numbers of connected devices, driving overall growth for Internet of Things (IoT).
In addition to the speed and capacity improvements,...
IoT Wireless Protocols data rate and range comparison in a spreadsheet format. Includes downloadable Excel spreadsheet.