Why is the sensor so important to the Internet of Things?

The Son of Softbank had a very interesting theory of justice. He believes that one of the reasons for the explosion of the Cambrian life is that creatures have acquired the "sensor" of the eye. With the eyes, the creatures begin to chase and prey on other creatures. What's more important is that the eye can collect a large amount of data as a sensor. As the data volume increases, the learning cycle of the brain will accelerate, further promoting the subsequent biological evolution.

The same thing is happening in today's Internet of Things, and it is predicted that by 2035 there will be more than 1 trillion IoT devices that can store sensor data in the cloud. If there is a Cambrian outbreak, then the Internet of Things will come.

Why is the sensor so important to the Internet of Things?

People use the eyes, ears, mouth, nose and other sensory organs to obtain information from the outside world, but in the study of natural phenomena and production activities, the function of people's own sense organs is not enough. The IoT sensor came into being under this situation. It can be said that the sensor is an extension of human features and is also called “electrical features.”

With the arrival of the new technology revolution, the world is moving from the mobile Internet to the new era of all things connected. At the time, not only people and people, people and things, things and things can be interconnected, resulting in massive data will be To completely change people's lives and even reshape the entire business community. Among these, sensor-centric sensor technology is the entrance for data acquisition and the nerve ending of the Internet of Things. It is the only means and means for all systems to obtain data information, and it is also the basis and core for realizing big data analysis.

From the perspective of the four-tier architecture of the Internet of Things, the perception layer is located at the bottom of the communication layer, platform layer, and application layer, which is the foundation of the entire Internet of Things pyramid. If there is no accurate and reliable data obtained from physical entities, the Internet of Things is no different. Castle in the air.

Currently, IoT sensors have penetrated into various fields such as industrial production, agricultural planting, and business services. From smart cities to smart manufacturing, from smart healthcare to smart homes, sensors have long been ubiquitous.

In traditional agriculture, people have limited access to farmland information, mainly through manual measurements. Not only are they not timely and accurate, they also consume a lot of manpower. For example, people have early noticed the effects of carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and humidity on the growth of greenhouse crops such as edible fungi, but basically follow the old method, let the staff go to each greenhouse every day to detect the carbon dioxide concentration with a detector, and then turn on the fan, Open side windows, skylights. However, by using wireless sensor networks, accurate crop environment and crop information can be obtained quickly and efficiently. If the system can be further linked with skylights and fans, it will greatly save manpower and improve efficiency. In addition, sensor technology is playing an increasingly important role in monitoring crop irrigation, soil air changes, environmental conditions in livestock and poultry houses, and large-area surface detection.

In the industrial field, industrial sensor technology has become a high ground for various industrial enterprises to compete for high-tech development. According to relevant agencies, the industrial sensor market will reach 30.8 billion by 2020. In the automated production process, sensors are indispensable basic components. Manufacturers use various sensors to monitor and control various parameters in the production process so that the equipment can work in the normal state or in the best condition to ensure that the products reach their best. the quality of. Moreover, if sensor technology and IoT platform technology can be further combined, problems may be discovered in advance before the device fails. This is called "predictive maintenance," and thus, manufacturers can change from passive services to active services. , and thus open up new business models centered on services.

Sensors also play a huge role in business areas such as smart homes. Ideally, smart connected homes should be able to think what people think, feel what they are feeling, and make some wise decisions without having to manually manipulate them. For example, a thermal infrared sensor can detect the presence of the human body. When we are watching TV, after leaving the TV for three minutes, the sensor cannot detect the human body, the TV automatically goes to sleep, and no one needs to wait for two minutes. , you can automatically shut down. Similarly, sensors can also play a role in smart air conditioners, which can determine the location of people in the house, and turn the direction of the air conditioning to the corresponding object. Home security is also inseparable from the sensor. After installing an ultrasonic sensor in the home, once someone enters, the entire ultrasonic waveform changes, and the receiver will promptly issue an alarm.

"The world of things, sensing first" has become the universal consensus of today's Internet of Things industry. As the Internet of Things expands further into vertical industries, the sensor industry will be detonated. The scale of the trillion-dollar IoT market means huge prospects for the sensor market. This is an opportunity and a challenge for companies like Murata.

The Development of Sensors in the Era of Internet of Things

Since the birth of the 1960s, the history of sensors has been more than 150 years. In the era of mobile Internet, the popularity of mobile phones has greatly promoted the development of sensors, but it also determines that many types of sensors are designed specifically for mobile phones. The "thing" in the era of the Internet of Things has a great difference from the mobile phone in terms of the requirements for sensing and connection, so it has also put forward more and higher requirements for the sensing technology. In summary, sensors are evolving toward high precision, miniaturization, low power consumption, and intelligence.

1

High precision and high quality

If the data collected by the sensor is wrong, then it is equivalent to an error at the source, and the transmission, analysis, and application of all subsequent data will be meaningless. Therefore, the accuracy and quality of the sensor are an important baseline for protecting the vision of the Internet of Things. Imagine if the accuracy and quality of an intelligent networked automotive sensor is not up to the standard, which means that the system can not make correct decisions within the few milliseconds that occurred during the accident, thus seriously threatening the safety of the driver.

Murata's reliable components and solutions can provide drivers with a more secure driving experience in the automotive network era. More than 70 percent of vehicles in China have Murata ultrasound sensors. These ultrasonic sensors are mainly used in distance measurement. They can accurately detect the distance between the target and the device, and provide real-time feedback signals to prevent accidents.

2

miniaturization

With the development of multifunctional and high-performance mobile devices centered on smartphones, the number of components in the circuit board is required to be larger and smaller. Therefore, sensors are gradually adopting integrated technologies to achieve high performance and miniaturization. Integrated temperature sensors, integrated pressure sensors, etc. have been widely used, and more integrated sensors will be developed in the future.

Murata has introduced an AMR sensor that can help customers to make significant use of space. The sensor is a magnetic sensor made by utilizing a change in magnetic resistance value based on the strength of a magnetic field from a specific direction, and is mainly applied to mobile phones and notebook computers, detecting the opening and closing of refrigerators and doors, and detecting rotating lamps of smart meters. aspect. At present, in order to detect the magnetic field in a three-dimensional space, it is necessary to combine a plurality of (3 to 6) magnetic sensors. Murata succeeded in completing a 360-degree magnetic field detection sensor by integrating with the technology of NEC Corporation. Development, in the same situation, as long as one can play the same role as the combined magnetic sensor.

3

Low power consumption

Microblogging, WeChat, video, and games on mobile phones are large consumers of electricity. We have long been accustomed to the days of daily charging and remote charging, but you can imagine connected devices such as smoke alarms and smart cameras. Also need to replace the battery every day is what kind of lame scenario? Unlike mobile phones, many IoT devices are located in areas that people do not frequently contact, so they have extreme requirements for power consumption, which in turn determines the power consumption of the sensors. Otherwise, the operating costs are too high.

As we all know, pressure sensors generally have the problem that they are easily affected by the ambient temperature and cause the pressure data to drift. In view of this, Murata has introduced a high-precision, low-power, high-temperature-stability pressure sensor; combined with electrostatic capacitance MEMS technology, greatly improved the performance of the new air pressure sensor on temperature drift, making it almost completely unaffected The correct data is obtained under the circumstances; on the other hand, the new sensor is improved to reduce its noise level (0.5 Parms), fully realizes its high-precision data detection, and at the same time it realizes “low power consumption”. By using the electrostatic capacity type, Contribute to saving energy in loading equipment.

4

Intelligent

With the proliferation of connected devices, data has exploded, and the centralized cloud has become "overwhelmed". What's more, for applications such as smart manufacturing or smart transportation, the delay in cloud analysis will make the value of the data "break down "Falling, so edge intelligence began to rise.

The sensor is a very good edge node. Integrating sensors and microprocessors into one by using embedded technology makes it an intelligent data terminal device with environmental sensing, data processing, intelligent control and data communication functions. This is called a smart sensor. . This sensor has self-learning, self-diagnosis and self-compensation capabilities, compound sensing capabilities, and flexible communication capabilities. In this way, when the sensor senses the physical world, the data fed back to the IoT system will be more accurate and comprehensive, achieving the purpose of accurate sensing.

Combination of sensors and wireless communication technology

What should I do after the sensor collects data? Of course, it is necessary to further transmit data to the platform for analysis and application. Among these, the communication network is the conduit for data transmission. In addition to sensors, Murata has many products in the field of wireless communications. For example, the 2.4-GHz communication module of Murata has already played a pivotal role in all walks of life, from Wi-Fi modules in mobile phones to Bluetooth modules in automobiles, to smart The ZigBee module involved in the home, Murata combines sensors and wireless communications to provide a total solution for the scene.

However, the traditional wide-area wireless network connection solution (2G GSM/3G WCDMA/4G LTE) is a "killer with a sledgehammer" for many existing IoT use cases. A manhole cover or a water meter does not need to be used every day. Sending large amounts of data, they need IoT connections appropriate to them, which is why the low-power wide area network (LPWAN) has been thriving in recent years.

The two most important technologies in the field of LPWAN are NB-IoT based on licensed spectrum and LoRa based on unlicensed spectrum. These technologies have the typical features of low power consumption, wide coverage, large connectivity, low bandwidth, and low cost, and are particularly suitable for including Typical scenarios for Internet of Things, including meter reading and parking.

Murata attached great importance to the high-speed growth of the LPWAN market and grabbed the initiative in this field.

For example, in the middle and western regions of China, livestock husbandry is well developed. However, due to the fact that people are sparsely populated, it is difficult to effectively manage animal husbandry assets such as cattle and sheep. The traditional method is relying on manpower for management of cattle and sheep. The disadvantages are obvious: very experienced personnel can be required to carry out animal husbandry management, and the loss of cattle and sheep and other livestock assets is also a very difficult problem at present. The emergence of LoRa technology can be greatly improved. The current situation. When the user uses a Locator equipped with the Murata LoRa module, remote animal husbandry management can be performed without worrying about the loss of livestock assets, which not only improves reliability, but also greatly reduces labor costs, and at the same time with its low power consumption. Features, can be used for a long time, reduce costs and maintenance costs.

Photo: Murata LoRa module

Keeping up with technological trends and positioning market pain points are the direction Murata has been striving for. In the future, Murata will continue to innovate in the field of advanced sensors and wireless communications and fully support the development of China's Internet of Things technology.

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