ABSTRACT
30Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), introduced more than 30 years ago, are referred as networks composed of distributed microdevices embedded with various sensing abilities (called sensors), which are used to monitor the environment and send the information back to the end users. During these 30 years, many related technologies have been proposed, and significant improvements have been seen along with additional new features. The Internet of Things (IoT) can be considered as an evolved version of the WSN. The concept of the IoT has been widely adopted in many fields, such as daily living, manufacturing, health care and transportation. This makes the societal and economic impact of IoT unneglectable.
The fifth generation of wireless technology (5G) considers three main usage scenarios: enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine-type communications, and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications. These are possible by using new technologies like massive multiple input–multiple output (MIMO), millimeter wave communications, network densification and software-defined networking. The high-order MIMO feature in 5G allows devices to initial multiple radio connections with the cellular base station, enabling simultaneous data transmission through multiple interfaces. 5G can provide an energy-efficient, fast and full coverage network infrastructure for IoT systems. The impact of IoT can be maximized with the embrace of 5G technology. However, to take full advantage of the powerful networks, many challenges remain to be addressed in order to meet the requirements for IoT.
First in this chapter, a brief instruction on the evolution history of the IoT evolved from WSN and the classic layer structure is presented in Section 2.1. The features in 5G that will enhance IoT systems are detailed in Section 2.2. System-related challenges, including system design and security, are discussed in Section 2.3, and other emerging related issues follow in Section 2.4.
