物联网的挑战_创建物联网设备之前要考虑的4个挑战

物联网的挑战

The Internet of Things is the buzzword of the tech industry. But it’s also an undeniable reality. The IoT has already triggered the fourth industrial revolution and will inevitably become part of our lives whether we like it or not. IoT has already found its way into a huge number of industries, and more and more companies are focused on grabbing a piece of the IoT pie.

物联网是科技行业的流行语。 但这也是不可否认的现实。 物联网已经引发了第四次工业革命 ，无论我们是否喜欢它都将不可避免地成为我们生活的一部分 。 物联网已经进入众多行业，越来越多的公司开始专注于抢占一部分物联网。

The problem is, many companies delve into the IoT development without assessing or knowing about the key challenges that lie in their path. Many of these companies don’t even have a background in IT and software development, and are for the most part focused on delivering an internet-connected device that will keep them in line with the competition. Even those who do have experience in software and hardware design tend to view IoT in the same light as traditional computing and make terrible mistakes in their development.

问题是，许多公司在未评估或不知道其前进道路上面临的主要挑战的情况下 ，开始深入研究物联网。 这些公司中许多甚至都没有IT和软件开发的背景，并且大部分时间专注于提供可与竞争对手保持一致的互联网连接设备。 即使是那些具有软件和硬件设计经验的人，也倾向于以与传统计算相同的方式看待物联网，并在开发中犯下严重的错误。

As has been proven time and again, such an approach is a recipe for disaster and will only turn out to become a self-defeating goal that will lay waste to the manufacturer’s efforts and undermine IoT as a whole.

正如一次又一次地被证明的那样，这种方法是灾难的秘诀，只会变成自欺欺人的目标，这将浪费制造商的努力并破坏整个IoT。

Here are four challenges every manufacturer and developer should consider when deciding to enter the IoT business.

每个制造商和开发人员在决定进入物联网业务时都应考虑以下四个挑战。

连接性 (Connectivity)

The first thing to consider is how your device will connect to the internet and your cloud platform. This will depend largely on the environment in which the device will be used, and the kind of communication infrastructure that will be available to it.

首先要考虑的是您的设备将如何连接到互联网和云平台。 这将在很大程度上取决于将使用该设备的环境以及该设备可用的通信基础结构的类型。

For instance, if you’re creating a smart home device (such as a connected toaster) you’ll probably have access to a Wi-Fi home router or a ZigBee/Z-Wave IoT router, so your device will have to be able to support one or more of those transport mediums. However, in some settings — such as agricultural IoT or smart cars — there’s no access to Wi-Fi networks, and cellular networks might be your only possible connection.

例如，如果您要创建智能家居设备(例如连接的烤面包机)，则可能可以访问Wi-Fi家用路由器或ZigBee / Z-Wave IoT路由器，因此您的设备必须能够支持其中一种或多种运输介质。 但是，在某些环境中(例如农业物联网或智能汽车)，无法访问Wi-Fi网络，而蜂窝网络可能是您唯一的连接。

You have to weigh your options and make design decisions based on the possibilities and tradeoffs that each provide. For instance, since transferring data to the cloud over cellular networks can be costly, you might decide to opt for more functionality on the edge or the use of the blockchain model in order to create IoT ecosystems that are less dependent on the cloud.

您必须权衡自己的选择，并根据每种选择提供的可能性和权衡做出设计决策。 例如，由于通过蜂窝网络将数据传输到云的成本可能很高，因此您可能决定选择在边缘上选择更多功能或使用区块链模型 ，以创建较少依赖云的物联网生态系统。

You also need to consider that IoT is a technology that’s still in its early stages and is undergoing a lot of changes and transformation. There are too many moving parts and competing trends. Many of the technologies that are being used today might become obsolete in the future.

您还需要考虑到物联网是一项仍处于早期阶段并且正在经历许多变化和转型的技术。 有太多的活动部件和竞争趋势。 今天使用的许多技术在将来可能会过时。

Meanwhile, as opposed to computers and smartphones, which are replaced every few years, IoT devices are meant to have long lifespans. For instance, a smart-fridge must at least work for 5–10 years. Therefore, you must have a plan to make sure your devices will keep their connectivity as the future of IoT takes shape and new technologies replace old ones. I’ve discussed this issue in detail here.

同时，与每隔几年更换一次的计算机和智能手机相反，IoT设备的使用寿命更长。 例如，智能冰箱必须至少工作5-10年。 因此，您必须制定一个计划，以确保随着物联网的未来成形以及新技术取代旧技术，设备将保持其连接性。 我已经在这里详细讨论了这个问题。

安全与隐私 (Security and Privacy)

IoT Security has always been an issue of contention. A first challenge that needs to be considered is that IoT security and privacy are fundamentally different from what we’ve come to know about cybersecurity. Here are the key security design points you need to take care of:

物联网安全一直是争论的问题。 需要考虑的第一个挑战是， 物联网的安全性和隐私与我们对网络安全的了解从根本上不同 。 这是您需要注意的关键安全设计要点：

• Physical security: IoT devices are often left in the open, unattended and with no physical protection. You have to make sure they’re immune to tampering by malicious parties and can’t be hacked and manipulated with a flat-head screwdriver. You also have to protect any form of data that’s stored on the device. While it might be too expensive to embed a secure enclave in every IoT device, yet encrypting on-device data is important.

  物理安全性 ：物联网设备通常处于开放状态，无人值守且没有物理保护。 您必须确保它们不会受到恶意方的篡改，并且不能用平头螺丝刀对其进行入侵和操纵。 您还必须保护存储在设备上的任何形式的数据。 虽然在每个IoT设备中嵌入安全区域可能太昂贵，但是加密设备上的数据很重要。

• Data exchange security: Securing data as it’s being transferred from IoT sensors and devices to gateways and from there to the cloud is also important. This will require the use of encrypted transfer protocols, but IoT security is more than just encryption, and should also take into account authentication and authorization.

  数据交换安全性 ：保护从IoT传感器和设备传输到网关以及从那里传输到云的数据的安全也很重要。 这将需要使用加密的传输协议，但是IoT安全不仅限于加密 ，还应考虑身份验证和授权。

• Cloud storage security: The data that’s being stored in the cloud is just as vulnerable as the rest of the IoT ecosystem. Your platform should be able to protect the data that it stores in the cloud, which should include proper encryption and access control.

  云存储安全性 ：存储在云中的数据与IoT生态系统的其余部分一样容易受到攻击。 您的平台应该能够保护它存储在云中的数据，其中应该包括适当的加密和访问控制。

• Updates: No matter how much you harden your product’s code and hardware for security flaws, vulnerabilities will eventually surface. Under such circumstances, you first need to have a plan to fix bugs and roll out patches quickly (not leaving bugs unfixed for five years). Secondly, you need to be able to provide your customers with the bug fixes in an intuitive and secure manner. Over the air (OTA) updates are a popular mechanism to update connected devices, though you have to make sure they don’t become a security hole themselves.

  更新 ：无论您为强化安全漏洞而对产品的代码和硬件进行多大程度的增强，漏洞最终都会浮出水面。 在这种情况下，您首先需要制定一个计划来修复错误并Swift推出补丁(而不是五年内未修复的错误)。 其次，您需要能够以直观，安全的方式为客户提供错误修复。 空中(OTA)更新是一种流行的机制，用于更新连接的设备，尽管您必须确保它们本身不会成为安全漏洞 。

In terms of privacy, you should take into consideration that much of the data collected by IoT devices is subject to laws and regulations. For instance, fitness trackers collect a wealth of health information about users, which (in the United States) is protected under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act). This means that if you store that kind of information on your cloud servers, you have to make sure it conforms to the legal requirements.

在隐私方面，您应考虑到物联网设备收集的许多数据均受法律法规的约束。 例如，健身追踪器收集有关用户的大量健康信息，这些信息在美国受到HIPAA(健康保险可移植性和责任法案)的保护。 这意味着，如果您将此类信息存储在云服务器上，则必须确保其符合法律要求。

As a rule of thumb, you’re better off anonymizing customer data and avoiding the storage of personally identifiable information (PII) in the cloud. It will ensure that you don’t incur legal penalties in case of mishaps.

根据经验，最好不要匿名客户数据，并避免在云中存储个人身份信息(PII)。 这样可以确保您不会因发生意外而受到法律制裁。

灵活性和兼容性 (Flexibility and Compatibility)

As the IoT landscape is constantly shifting, you’ll want to make sure your product will be able to support future tech. This is something that needs to be ingrained in the design of your product with the right balance of software and hardware.

随着物联网格局的不断变化，您需要确保您的产品能够支持未来的技术。 在软件和硬件的适当平衡中，这是在产品设计中必须根深蒂固的东西。

Creating specialized hardware for your device will give you optimal performance, but will probably limit you in terms of rolling out updates and new features. On the other hand, choosing the right amount of storage and compute resources, and an IoT-tailored operating system such as Linux, Brillo or Windows IoT, might incur a performance penalty but will give you the flexibility to expand your device’s capabilities with new features and patches.

为设备创建专用硬件将为您提供最佳性能，但可能会限制您推出更新和新功能。 另一方面，选择适当数量的存储和计算资源以及IoT定制的操作系统(如Linux，Brillo或Windows IoT)可能会导致性能下降，但将为您提供灵活的功能来扩展设备的功能和补丁。

Some manufacturers go as far as allowing developers to add to the functionality of their IoT devices by providing them with the right set of APIs and SDKs. A perfect example in this regard is the Amazon Echo, the IoT gadget that can be extended and programmed in a thousand different directions.

一些制造商甚至允许开发人员通过向他们提供正确的API和SDK集来增加其IoT设备的功能。 在这方面，一个完美的例子是Amazon Echo ，它可以在1000个不同的方向上进行扩展和编程。

Compatibility is also an issue that needs to be taken care of when designing IoT products. It’s important that your IoT device be able to blend in with the rest of the user’s IoT ecosystem seamlessly, without adding complexity or frustration to the experience. This accounts for both software and hardware. Preferably, consumers should not be forced to install a new app for every new smart device they add to their homes. The Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings are two examples of platforms that allow developers to offer users new IoT functionality in a familiar environment.

兼容性也是设计物联网产品时需要注意的问题。 重要的是，您的物联网设备必须能够与用户的其他物联网生态系统无缝融合，而又不会增加体验的复杂性或挫败感。 这说明了软件和硬件。 最好不要强迫消费者为他们添加到家中的每个新智能设备安装新应用。 Apple HomeKit和Samsung SmartThings是平台的两个示例，可让开发人员在熟悉的环境中为用户提供新的IoT功能。

数据收集与处理 (Data Collection and Processing)

Security and privacy concerns aside, you have to have a plan for how you’re going to deal with all the data you collect. First of all, you have to make an assessment of how much data will be produced and collected in order to be able to scale your cloud storage to the needs of your platform.

除了安全和隐私问题外，您还必须制定计划来处理收集到的所有数据。 首先，您必须评估将产生和收集多少数据，以便能够根据平台需求扩展云存储。

But even more important than that is how you process the data you collect. IoT data is worth its weight in gold, but not if it rests in your servers and gathers dust. You have to forecast the skills and tools required to be able to put your data to good use. This includes hiring data scientists and employing the right analytics and machine learning tools to glean actionable insights from your data.

但是比这更重要的是如何处理收集的数据。 物联网数据的价值不菲 ，但如果它驻留在您的服务器中并积聚灰尘，则不值得 。 您必须预测才能充分利用数据所需的技能和工具。 这包括雇用数据科学家，并使用正确的分析和机器学习工具来从数据中收集可行的见解。

IoT data can accomplish a wide range of useful functions, including the following:

物联网数据可以完成各种有用的功能，其中包括：

• Complementing your existing data: Most companies already have a wealth of data about their customers before they move to the IoT business. Combining this data with what IoT devices are gathering can unlock new business insights and revenue opportunities.

  补充现有数据 ：大多数公司在转向物联网业务之前已经拥有有关其客户的大量数据。 将此数据与IoT设备收集的数据相结合可以释放新的业务洞察力和收入机会。

• Profiling and segmenting users: Data collected from IoT devices can tell a lot about customer preferences and characteristics. Analyzing and categorizing IoT data can help companies better understand the needs and preferences of their customers and address them in a smarter fashion.

  对用户进行概要分析和细分 ：从物联网设备收集的数据可以告诉很多有关客户的偏好和特征。 对物联网数据进行分析和分类可以帮助公司更好地了解其客户的需求和偏好，并以更智能的方式解决它们。

• Finding opportunities for enhancing products: The correct analysis of IoT data can help understand what’s not working with the product and what features need to be fixed for efficiency and ease of use, and what features are missing and should be added to future products and software updates.

  寻找增强产品的机会 ：正确地分析IoT数据可以帮助您了解哪些功能不适用于该产品，哪些功能需要修复才能提高效率和易用性，哪些功能缺少，应该添加到将来的产品和软件更新中。

底线 (Bottom Line)

There are many challenges involved in developing an IoT product. Some of the more prominent have been listed above. Not taking these challenges into account can be the equivalent of entering a dark tunnel without a torch, where you have to feel your way forward and hope against hope that you don’t step into a trap. The list of IoT development challenges can be much more intricate and comprehensive. If you think other items can be added to the list, please share with us in the comments section.

开发物联网产品涉及许多挑战。 上面列出了一些更突出的名称。 如果不考虑这些挑战，就相当于进入一条没有火炬的黑暗隧道，在那儿，您必须感觉自己的前进方向，并希望自己不要陷入陷阱。 物联网发展挑战的清单可能更加复杂和全面。 如果您认为可以将其他项目添加到列表中，请在评论部分与我们分享。

翻译自: https://www.sitepoint.com/4-challenges-to-consider-before-creating-an-iot-device/

物联网的挑战