Furthering my series on “IoT Device Security Considerations and Security Layers” next in the stack is Network Communication.

Network Communication is an important part of any IoT design for any application such as

  • Building AutomationThings
  • Consumer Electronics
  • Industrial Control
  • PC & Peripherals
  • Personal Health Care
  • Residential/Light Commercial Control

there are a number of networking transports that can be used for the IoT:

  • 6LowPan
  • ZigBee
  • Z-Wave
  • Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth

These transports provide a way of connecting the devices together and with the back end systems.

There are also a number of other transports available such as cellular 2G, 3G, 4G and future 5G.

6LowPAN (Low power Wireless Personal Area Network) is a low-powered wireless mesh network ideally suited to the IoT. 6LowPAN provides each device with its own IPV6 IP Address, connecting to the internet typically via a gateway or router – providing IPV6 to IPV4 address translation.

ZigBee is an Open Source wireless language provided over low power networks.

 

Z-Wave is primarily a home automation transport that has been optimised for low power, low latency networks with low data rates due it its simplicity.

Wi-Fi is a mainstream transport in use today and many will already be using this form of networking with mobile devices.

Bluetooth is a technology that most people will be used to as they will connect their mobile device to another device at some time using it. Bluetooth provide a short range networking technology. Bluetooth is currently being developed to provide longer ranges and faster speed mesh networking.

IoT Network

 

The transport chosen will depend upon the technology stack used and function of the IoT device.

I have covered encryption in a previous post, but it is an important consideration with any IoT networking.

Further Reading: