By the end of 2024, it is estimated that more than 207 billion objects will be connected. The challenge of this phenomenon? Successfully connecting devices using different communication protocols and processing large volumes of heterogeneous data. To address these challenges, an intelligent new solution has emerged: the IoT gateway. How does it work? What are its advantages? Let’s take a closer look.
IoT gateway: a bridge between devices and the cloud
The role of an IoT gateway is to connect IoT devices to the cloud. It acts as a centralized hub where data from IoT sensors pass through before being sent to the cloud. An IoT gateway can be a specific device or software. It generally enables bidirectional data flow between the cloud and the devices.
Here’s how it works:
- Download data (sometimes in considerable amounts) from IoT sensors;
- Perform preprocessing and filtering of the data to reduce its volume;
- Transmit the data to cloud-based applications using communication protocols.
What are the advantages of an IoT gateway?
Choosing an IoT gateway offers several advantages in terms of:
IoT device security
An IoT gateway is essential for securing your connected devices. Serving as a protected access point, it integrates security features to protect your devices against cyber threats. This helps avoid the risks associated with directly connecting IoT devices to the public Internet.
Protocol translation
To communicate, devices use protocols (MQTT, COAP, etc.). The gateway, connected to the network with an M2M/IoT SIM, can translate these protocols and communicate via 4G, 5G, LTE-M, or NB-IoT, enabling all devices to communicate.
An example: if a company deploys devices from different suppliers, the IoT gateway acts as a central hub and performs translations to allow the devices to communicate drectly with each other.
Data aggregation
An IoT gateway collects data from multiple devices and consolidates it into a single stream. This helps reduce data volume and unclog bandwidth. Data management and analysis are also simplified.
Intelligent edge
Data processing, analysis, machine learning: an IoT gateway can perform edge computing tasks to provide valuable insights and enable faster and more efficient decision-making.
Une offre IoT M2M adaptée à ce type d’usages
The IoT Resilience Gateway offer from Objenious by Bouygues Telecom is perfectly suited for this type of IoT gateway. It ensures stability (M2M APN) and multi-operator access for the transmission of data collected by sensors, while also maintaining cost control through automatic tiered pricing adjustments.
> Learn more about the IoT-Giga Resilience Gateway offer: Our IoT SIM offers – Objenious
Which IoT Gateway to Choose According to Your Needs?
An IoT gateway can be easily implemented for any type of connected object. However, it is essential to choose a solution capable of meeting your specific needs. Ask yourself the following questions: What will your IoT gateway be used for? What features should it include? Which communication protocols do you plan to use?
To adapt to your current and future needs, your gateway must be compatible with your other IoT systems and your communication protocol, and most importantly: it must be flexible and scalable. You should be able to easily update it with new features.
> Also Read: LPWA Networks, Low Power Wide Area