Is this enough data for IoT?

How much data do you truly need for IoT? Historically, cellular carriers would always be very cautious using large data plans to ensure customers do not pay overages while using their applications. Ingenu is changing the game. Big data is becoming smart data. Applications using 10’s of MBs over cellular are being cut down to size through techniques like compression, data logging, and event-based reporting. Utilizing the ultra-efficient RPMA networks allows GPS applications to function on plans in the mere KB’s per month.  As an additional example, an electrical power line may be monitored to watch voltage crossing a wire, but does it really need to establish a full cellular data session to inform them daily that all is well? This can affect battery life and allow unnecessary amounts of data to traverse the network. While some devices lay dormant and can be “shoulder tapped” to establish a session and improve battery life, it is truly selling the application short for what it can actually do.

Round it up!

Rounding is a term that is used with cellular data sessions and can make a very simple, active IoT application use 10x the data it actually needs to use. Ted Myers, CTO of Ingenu, states “1MB on an RPMA network may provide much more value than 1MB on the cellular network due to the cellular industry performing 1KB rounding on billing. As an example, if your average message transaction is 32 bytes, you will be billed for 1KB of data each time. RPMA billing does not work that way.”

Although there is definitely a need for large data amounts for very involved applications, 90% of all IoT applications use less than 3MB. This is right in the sweet spot of RPMA technology. RPMA can also allow a device to report back while using minimal amounts of battery to show the user that all is well. This allows an extension to the life of the application for 10, 15, even 20 years past their previous deployments.

Everyone in IoT is ultra-focused on robust applications using the least amount of power and utilizing all of the billed data for their customers. So, when building the next generation device for your deployment, please ensure you are looking at all avenues to maximize your IoT application and get the data you pay for.