 U a

55+ emerging IoT technologies you

should have on your radar (2022 update)
 April 6, 2022  Satyajit Sinha

In short
IoT Analytics identified 58 technologies that people working on IoT projects should have on
their radar: 21 in IoT software, 21 in IoT hardware, and 16 in IoT connectivity.
Of the 58 technologies on the radar, only a few are classified as nearing maturity, fairly
mature, or mainstream—many of them are still further out and will need time to reach mass
market maturity.

Why it matters
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The radar helps anyonestatement
working intoIoT
read how we handle
environments andyour privacy.understand which
projects
technologies they should be watching, evaluating, and perhaps deploying.

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 Selected highlights
The analyst team at IoT Analytics handpicked 58 of the most promising technologies relevant
to IoT projects globally and ranked them according to their perceived maturity. The
resulting Emerging IoT Technologies Radar will help anyone working in IoT-type
environments and projects understand which technologies they should be watching,
evaluating, and perhaps deploying.

The full report is available to IoT Analytics corporate subscription clients here: Emerging IoT
Technologies Report 2022. The report contains additional details, such as market statistics,
major vendors, and recent trends, for each of the highlighted IoT technologies, which are
anywhere between “coming up” and “mainstream.” The report is an update to the 2019
analysis on emerging IoT technologies.

IoT Software. Eight IoT technologies are nearing maturity, including edge AI, IoT-based
streaming analytics, and supervised and unsupervised machine learning.

IoT Hardware. Six IoT technologies are now classified as fairly mature or mainstream: CPUs,
MCUs, GPUs, security chips, FPGA, and edge gateways.

IoT Connectivity. Four IoT technologies are close to maturity: eSIM, mesh networks, 5G, and
Wi-Fi 6.

The IoT technologies maturing the fastest

Of the 40 technologies that were highlighted in the 2019 radar, three technologies stand out
as the fastest movers that advanced the most in three years: Wi-Fi 6, GPUs, and intelligent
sensors.

Wi-Fi 6. The deployment of Wi-Fi 6 chipsets at an early stage and the significant specification
upgrade from earlier Wi-Fi versions led to a fast adoption by device players, especially in
devices such as routers. Thanks to this adoption, Wi-Fi 6 has been extremely quick to move
from “coming up” to “fairly mature.” Wi-Fi 6 significantly increases the speed and the
network’s capacity to provide optimal throughput to access points. The upgrade from older
Wi-Fi versions to Wi-Fi 6 opens the door for new applications, with almost four times higher
throughput capacity than Wi-Fi 5. Routers, gateways, and customer-premises equipment
(CPEs) were key devices for the quick adoption of Wi-Fi 6 in the last three years.
GPUs. The optimization of GPUs to train AI deep learning models to process multiple
computations simultaneously for IoT applications and the adoption of GPUs into data
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centers due to their parallel processing capabilities have led to faster maturity.
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Intelligent sensors. The last three years have seen an upsurge in technology developments
around sensors that aim to solve problems related to latency, data throughput, and security
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for various edge applications. In contrast to older generation sensors, these new sensors are
 embedded with data processing capabilities that enable data to be processed closer to the
sensor and respond to the user interface or actuators. Some of the applications driving the
adoption of intelligent sensors were wearable medical devices, such as blood glucose
monitors, and AI-based quality control in manufacturing.

Here is a complete list of all software, hardware, and IoT connectivity technologies
(ranked by maturity):

A. IoT Software Technologies

Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate
Cloud computing is the delivery of different services
Cloud through the internet. These resources include tools
Mainstream
Computing and applications related to data storage, servers,
databases, networking, and software.
IoT platforms are software tools for building and
managing IoT solutions. They also simplify coding
IoT Platforms Fairly mature
and deploying applications for IoT solutions and
enable efficient edge-to-cloud communications.
Edge AI is a combination of edge computing and AI.
Edge Nearing
AI algorithms are processed locally, either directly
AI/Analytics maturity
on the device or on a server near the device.
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A container is a standard unit of software that
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packages up code and all its dependencies, so the Nearing
Containers
application runs quickly and reliably from one maturity
computing environment to another.ACCEPT
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 Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate
Streaming analytics is the processing and analysis
IoT-based
of fast-moving live data from various sources, Nearing
Streaming
including IoT devices, to raise automated, real-time maturity
Analytics
actions or alerts.
Supervised ML is a subcategory of ML and AI. It is
defined by its use of labeled datasets to train Nearing
Supervised ML
algorithms to classify data or predict outcomes maturity
accurately.
Cloud-native A cloud-native application is a program designed
Nearing
Application for a cloud computing architecture. These
Maturity
Design applications are run and hosted in the cloud.
A cloud-native data warehouse is a database
Cloud-native
delivered in a public cloud as a managed service Nearing
Data
that is optimized for analytics, scale, and ease of Maturity
Warehouses
use.
A real-time database is a database system that uses
Real-time Nearing
real-time processing to handle workloads whose
Database Maturity
state is constantly changing.
Low-code/No- A low-code/no-code development platform
code provides a development environment to create Nearing
Development application software through a graphical user Maturity
Platforms interface.
Unsupervised ML is a type of ML in which the
Unsupervised
algorithm is not provided with any pre-assigned Coming up
ML
labels or scores for the training data.
Function-as-a-Service, or FaaS, is a cloud computing
service that allows developers to build, run, and
Serverless/FaaS Coming up
manage application packages as functions without
having to maintain their infrastructure.
Deep learning is part of a broader family of ML
Deep Learning methods based on data representations, as Coming up
opposed to task-specific algorithms.
An IoT marketplace is a type of application
IoT marketplace where customers can go to an online
Coming up
Marketplaces storefront to find, purchase, and manage
applications for their IoT devices.
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A digitalstatement
twin is a digital
to readrepresentation
how we handleof a physical
your privacy.
Digital Twins Coming up
object, process, or service.

IoT Security An IoT security platform includes software

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Coming up
Platforms solutions for many layers of the IoT tech stack.
 Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate
Edge application platforms enable analytics
IoT Edge Data & application management at the edge. Edge data
Application platforms are software tools to manage Coming up
Platforms applications running on multiple edge compute
resources.
ML Ops (also called DevOps for ML) is an
ML Ops engineering discipline that aims to combine ML Coming up
systems development and deployment.
Automated machine learning is the process of
Automated ML automating the tasks of applying machine learning Years out
to real-world problems.
A data ecosystem is the secure connection between
different stakeholders of a process (e.g., vendors,
Data
suppliers, etc.) that share data in a way that has Years out
ecosystems
clearly defined rules for data access and privacy for
everyone involved.
2-way BMI Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces
Far on the New
(Brain Machine (BMIs) establish a two-way direct communication
horizon entry
Interface) link between the brain and the external world

B. IoT Hardware Technologies

Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate
CPUs are electronic circuitry that
CPU execute instructions that make up a computer Mainstream
program.

Microcontrollers are integrated circuits that contain

MCU Mainstream
a processor, memory, and other peripherals.

GPUs Graphic processing unit Mainstream

Security-enhancing, low-powered modules, include

Security Chips Fairly mature
various security-sensitive functions

Physical devices that serve as the connection point

IoTEdge
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between the cloud and controllers, sensors, and Fairly mature
Gateways statement to read how we handle your privacy.
intelligent devices.

FPGA Field programmable gate array Fairly mature

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 Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate

Intelligent Sensors that take some predefined action when they Nearing
Sensors sense the appropriate input. maturity

Nearing
ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit
maturity

Chiplets are a new design philosophy that allows

Nearing
Chiplets multiple chips with different process node sizes to
maturity
be used in a single package or on a single substrate.
TinyML is a field of study in ML and embedded
Nearing
TinyML systems that explores models you can run on small,
maturity
low-powered devices, like microcontrollers.
Edge data centers are located close to the edge of a
Edge + Micro
network (where the network meets the endpoint Nearing
Data Centers
layer). An MDC is for computer workloads not maturity
(MDCs)
requiring traditional facilities.
Cloud- Cloud-connected sensors use physical sensors to
connected accumulate data and transmit them into a cloud Coming up
Sensors computing infrastructure.

AR technology is a technology that combines virtual

AR Technology Coming up
information with the real world.

Edge AI chipsets refer to computational chipsets

Edge AI Chip focusing on AI workloads that are typically deployed Coming up
in edge environments.

Neurosynaptic Brain-inspired computer chip, in which transistors

Years out
Chips simulate neurons and synapses.

QRNG refers to quantum driven secure chip design

QRNG Chips which can be integrated into current silicon design Years out
and manufacturing processes.
Wireless, Sensors that can generate the energy that they need
Battery-free to function by themselves, i.e., they do not need to Years out
Sensors be powered by an external source.

ML-optimized
Controllers that are optimized for ML algorithms. Years out
Gateways

Computation using quantum-mechanical

Quantum Far on the
phenomena, for example superposition
IoTComputing
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entanglement.
statement to read how we handle your privacy.
Biodegradable sensors are designed and developed
Biodegradable Far on the New
to detect various body signals, which can help track
Sensors Cookie settings ACCEPT horizon entry
post-treatment prognosis.
 C. IoT Connectivity Technologies
Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate

Cellular IoT Provides connectivity to IoT applications via

Mainstream
(2G/3G/4G) traditional cellular networks

Low-power, wide-area connectivity for IoT

LPWAN Mainstream
applications (e.g., Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT, and LTE-M)

A SIM-card embedded into mobile devices enables

remote SIM provisioning, which allows storing Nearing
eSIM
multiple operator profiles simultaneously and maturity
switching between them remotely.
A mesh network is a group of devices that act as a
Mesh single Wi-Fi network, so there are multiple sources of Nearing
Networks Wi-Fi around your house instead of just a single maturity
router.

The fifth generation of cellular networks, Nearing

5G
commercially launched in 2019 maturity

The newest version of the Wi-Fi protocol, also known Nearing

Wi-Fi 6
as IEE 802.11ax maturity

Abstracts network elements and resources into a

Network
logical virtual network that runs independently on top Coming up
Virtualization
of a physical network

MQTT is a lightweight, publish-subscribe network

MQTT Coming up
protocol that transports messages between devices.

OPC Unified OPC UA is a machine-to-machine communication

Architecture protocol for industrial automation from the OPC Coming up
(UA) Foundation.

Provides connectivity to IoT applications via satellite

Satellite IoT Coming up
networks

Time-Sensitive Networking is a set of standards

defined by the IEEE for the time-sensitive
TSN Years out
transmission of data over deterministic Ethernet
networks.
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that uses light analysis. Please see our Privacy
Li-Fi statement to read how we handle your privacy. Years out
transmit data

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 Adoption
Technology Description Classification
Rate
Open RAN (Open Radio Access Networks or O-RAN) is
the disaggregation of RAN functionalities through
Open RAN Years out
network virtualization and software-defined network
technologies.
Developing industrial Ethernet standard that seeks to
Advanced
leverage the work of the IEEE 802.3cg (10BASE-T1L)
Physical Years out
task force to achieve a single twisted-pair industrial
Layer (APL)
Ethernet standard for hazardous areas
Secure
SASE is a new security model specifically to address
Access
the security challenges of the new reality Years out
Service Edge
organizations are facing.
(SASE)

Far on the
6G The sixth generation of cellular networks
horizon

= Very fast movers

= Fast movers

= Slow movers

What the radar does and does not measure

Technology maturity. The radar shows a subjective measure of maturity as put together by
the analyst team at IoT Analytics. The maturity scores are developed based on expert
interviews, vendor briefings, secondary research, and conference attendances. The radar
targets IoT practitioners that deploy IoT.

The IoT. IoT Analytics defines the IoT as a network of internet-enabled physical objects.
Objects that become internet-enabled (IoT devices) typically interact via embedded systems,
some form of network communications, and a combination of edge and cloud computing. The
data from IoT-connected devices is often (but not exclusively) used to create novel end-user
applications. Connected personal computers, tablets, and smartphones are not considered
IoTIoT,
Analytics usesthese
although cookies
mayto be
improve website
part of functions,
the solution performance
setup. and analysis.
Devices connected viaPlease
simplesee our Privacy
statement
connectivity methods, such as RFID to
or read how we
QR codes, handle
are your privacy.IoT devices.
not considered

Relevance of individual technologies. Not every technology is relevant for a given IoT
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context. Some technologies may only be settings ACCEPT
used in specific IoT settings (e.g., low-power WAN
 [LPWAN] for remote, low-power applications), while others are used in settings where IoT only
plays a minor role (e.g., cloud computing, which is also used in many non-IoT scenarios). IoT
Analytics is aware that many other technologies exist that could be highlighted on such a
radar.

More Information and further reading

Are you interested in learning more about IoT

technologies?
The Emerging Technologies Report 2022 is a 76-page report highlighting the current state of
emerging IoT technologies, including some of the key players and the latest developments for
each technology.

The report consists of four parts:

1. Emerging Technologies Radar (Framework and criteria to classify selected technologies

and overall view on classifications—6 pages)
2. Software Technologies (Deep dive into selected software technologies and one-pagers on
the most interesting technologies—21 pages)
3. Hardware Technologies (Deep dive into selected hardware technologies and one-pagers
on the most interesting technologies—29 pages)
4.Analytics
IoT Connectivity Technologies
uses cookies (Deep
to improve divefunctions,
website into selected connectivity
performance technologies
and analysis. Pleaseand
see one-
our Privacy
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pagers on the most interesting to read how wepages)
technologies—15 handle your privacy.

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Sample
 The sample of the report gives you a holistic overview of the available analysis (outline, key
slides). The sample also provides additional context on the topic and describes the
methodology of the analysis. You can download the sample here:

DOWNLOAD NOW

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2027
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Satyajit Sinha
Satyajit is a senior analyst focusing onsettings
Cookie IoT components,
ACCEPT modules, and other hardware,
along with IoT connectivity and security. He has a background in market research
 analysis and equity research.

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