IoT’s Tiny Steps towards 5G: Telco’s Perspective

The numerous and diverse applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) have the potential to change all areas of daily life of individuals, businesses, and society as a whole. The vision of a pervasive IoT spans a wide range of application domains and addresses the enabling technologies needed to meet the performance requirements of various IoT applications. In order to accomplish this vision, this paper aims to provide an analysis of literature in order to propose a new classification of IoT applications, specify and prioritize performance requirements of such IoT application classes, and give an insight into state-of-the-art technologies used to meet these requirements, all from telco’s perspective. A deep and comprehensive understanding of the scope and classification of IoT applications is an essential precondition for determining their performance requirements with the overall goal of defining the enabling technologies towards fifth generation (5G) networks, while avoiding over-specification and high costs. Given the fact that this paper presents an overview of current research for the given topic, it also targets the research community and other stakeholders interested in this contemporary and attractive field for the purpose of recognizing research gaps and recommending new research directions.