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Smart-home and smart-city markets are on a huge growth path, placing new pressures on designers for advanced features and functionality. It also means that designers of smart devices are faced with bigger technology and time-to-market challenges.
The smart-home market size is expected to grow from $80.5 billion in 2022 to $581.9 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 22% over the forecast period of 2023–2032, according to Precedence Research. The big growth drivers include safety, security and expanding use of cloud-based technologies.
North America, growing at a CAGR of 9.4%, leads the global smart-home market, according to the market research firm, with smart appliances being a major driver of growth. This is in combination with an increased demand for energy-efficient home appliances.
The global smart-cities market is expected to reach $1,024.4 billion by 2027, up from $511.6 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 14.9% from 2022 to 2027, according to a MarketsandMarkets report. Key growth drivers include a need for public safety and communication infrastructure and the increased adoption rate of advanced technologies like the internet of things, 5G, artificial intelligence and the cloud. Similar to smart-home users, privacy and security are key areas of concern in smart-city projects.
In this month’s issue, we look at some of the most recent advances for smart-home and smart-city applications, including why the recently released Matter standard is so important for smart-home devices.
At the center of these applications are IoT sensors. They are used for monitoring and controlling activities in smart homes or cities, offering improved efficiency, safety and security.
Sensors are the most important components of the IoT, collecting data from the physical world and sending it to the cloud for analysis, contributing writer Stefano Lovati reported. They enable IoT devices to measure temperature, humidity, pressure and other environmental conditions as well as help in monitoring activities like motion detection, facial recognition and sound detection.
“Sensors are also used in smart homes and smart cities to remotely control and monitor their activities, improving efficiency and safety,” Lovati said.
However, one of the biggest challenges that both smart-home designers and users face is a lack of interoperability between devices. One of the most important protocols to be introduced over the past year is the Matter connectivity standard that enables IoT devices from different OEMs and providers to work together seamlessly.
“Before Matter, consumers had difficulty choosing the right smart-home device because there was no guarantee that all devices would work with the hub they already owned,” said Rob Alexander, principal product manager at Silicon Labs. “Because of this, they could either purchase smart-home devices within the same ecosystem or acquire multiple smart-home hubs to use devices in different ecosystems.”
Alexander said the Matter protocol solves this issue and enables interoperability across an ecosystem of vendors, such as Apple, Amazon and Google, to work together not only seamlessly but also securely and reliably. And with security and privacy a top concern, developers can differentiate their Matter-enabled products with enhanced security like Secure Vault and PSA Certified Level 3 security, he added.
The same is true in smart-city deployments, but on a larger scale. Smart cities face several IoT security weaknesses that put their infrastructure and sensitive data at risk, said Denny LeCompte, CEO of Portnox. “IoT devices are more susceptible to cyberattacks than other device types, making smart cities prime targets for intrusion, disruption and cybercrime.”
The biggest reason, LeCompte said, is inadequate device security, with many IoT devices used in smart cities inherently weak on security from the manufacturer, which makes them vulnerable to hacking and tampering. The good news is that “smart cities are getting more and more nimble and proactive about how and where they’re investing in IoT-related security technologies and training,” he said.
For developers of IoT devices, there is plenty of design help in the industry that addresses not only security but advanced features and functionality and speed to market.
For example, processors for IoT applications continue to keep pace with evolving requirements that call for higher performance, advanced features, increased security and better software tools. Embedded.com’s recent embedded survey found that the key reasons why engineers choose a different processor from the one used in previous projects include better features and software development tools.
To jumpstart designs, many chipmakers are providing development kits that provide all the hardware and software to get started. They also address challenges around wireless and cloud connectivity to reduce design complexity. To meet the rising demand, IoT development kits come in a variety of flavors, from hardware to software, with a range of connectivity options.
Don’t miss the roundup of new power products launched at APEC 2023. Power device manufacturers rolled out their latest products, which focus on increased efficiency, higher integration and lower system complexity. GaN power device makers announced several technology advances, making gains in efficiency, performance and integration.
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