One part of an IoT or edge analytics application is the connection to the internet. The other part is the connection of our edge device to the sensors. In this chapter, we will explore ways to connect our edge device to the internet. We will look at some of the long-distance technologies as well as the familiar Wi-Fi protocol. In our exploration of Wi-Fi, we will gain an understanding of the RF spectrum and where different communication protocols fit into this spectrum. As well, we will take a look at Bluetooth and how we may use it in our applications.
In this chapter, we will cover the following:
- Wi-Fi communication for edge analytics
- Bluetooth for edge analytics communication
- Cellular technologies for edge analytics communication
- Long-distance communication using LoRa and Sigfox for edge analytics