5G internet of things [Editor's Note

Abstract

Many of the applications and use cases that drive the requirements and capabilities of 5G are about end-to-end communication between devices. In order to distinguish them from the more human-centric wireless applications such as mobile telephony and mobile broadband, these applications are often labeled machine-type communication (MTC) or more broadly as the Internet of Things (IoT). Improved provisioning, device management, and service enablement will bring a wider range of potential IoT applications. Some predictions forecast that there will be 15 billion connected MTC devices by 2021, a nearly 40 fold increase over the number of currently deployed MTC devices. Although spanning a wide range of different applications, IoT can be divided into two main categories, massive MTC and critical MTC, depending on their characteristics and requirements. Each brings its own challenges and requirements for standardization. To create a truly networked society requires market driven standardization and the deployment of standardized technology for 5G IoT devices, networks, and software.