NFV use cases emerge as IoT evolves

Network functions virtualization (NFV) can help service providers deliver secure network resources to meet the unique and evolving needs of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, as well as the related challenges of big data. We are now seeing NFV use cases emerge in IoT, as communication service providers (CSPs) use IT technologies -- such as virtualization, standard servers and open software -- to prepare their mobile networks for the era of the smart device.

IoT use cases have tremendous breadth, ranging from municipal traffic networks and electric and gas utilities, to consumer wearables, home networks and medical devices. Some significant IoT applications that are in scope for CSPs:

• Connected cars
• Energy management
• Smart cities
• Home automation
• Smart metering
• Environmental sensors
• Inventory control

Such IoT applications have very diverse network requirements. For example, connected cars may need to continuously send large amounts of data during operation, while a connected vending machine only needs to send a small amount of data several times a day. Some applications also have critical network security requirements -- witness the recent hacking of connected cars.

One characteristic that all IoT applications have in common: Each collects data and sends it to a control point -- often over Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4G, Wi-Fi or some combination of the above. In general, the smarter the device, the more data it collects and sends. Many applications need constant access to sophisticated traffic monitoring, scalable analytics and business intelligence platforms; not all of this analysis can or should occur in a centralized location. Distributed intelligence throughout the network will ultimately enable the near real-time analytics that IoT demands. NFV can help CSPs build network intelligence to throttle traffic -- eliminate bottlenecks -- secure traffic in transit to the IoT gateway and, as necessary, provide analytics at the network edge to reduce latency.