I See Dead Zones

This article first appeared on网络世界, by IDG contributor Brent Dietz.

自无线网络黎明以来，死区已经困扰了用户。

当她为厨房窗户运行时，我知道我的妻子正在制作或接听电话。有时我甚至发现她外面，指向她的智能手机在天空中，因为她拼命搜索蜂窝信号。

We’ve all been there. And the struggle to find a strong connection now goes beyond蜂窝toWi-Fiand the事情互联网（物联网）。But why?

One answer is standards – or lack thereof. Until recently, there were no guidelines for integrating wireless networks directly into homes. Thick walls, frame and cement block many wireless signals. Most architects and builders don’t design around radio frequency (RF), and few people position their Wi-Fi router where they’re spending most of their connected time.

This might help explain why your cooking video is buffering, buffering, buffering as you’re trying to make dinner. Is that a smart smoke detector, I hear?

Standards are becoming more important than ever with the rise of the IoT and society’s continuedobsession with mobile devices。一些有趣的事实：

• 智能手机用法在过去三年里翻了一番。
• 多达44200万connected consumer deviceswill be sold by 2020.
• 这U.K. hopes to installsmart metersin 30 million homes by 2020.
• 这智能家庭市场将达到1220亿美元到2022年。

这意味着如果不是像Wi-Fi联盟这样的组织，那就意味着更多的死区。这组有助于管理Wi-Fi生态系统最近推出了一套新的Wi-Fi CERTIFIED home designs。设计是消除死区的蓝图。正如建筑师的战略性地规划电气插座的位置，设备连接和管道一样，家庭建筑商现在可以为众所周知的网络安装计划提供极大的用户体验。

关键是在整个家中正确放置接入点，以确保到处都是强大的Wi-Fi覆盖，并与IoT设备轻松集成。

Router choice is another important factor. New 8-antenna routers help eliminate dead zones by using “beamforming technology” to drive signals directly to the point of use. While a typical Wi-Fi signal expands as it leaves a router, beamforming focuses the signal more directly to devices to help improve signal strength and range.

So, no more dead zones, right? Well, not quite.

We want to be connected regardless of our location, and the IoT is quickly moving beyond our homes. This brings a host of new challenges for devices in our cars, on the factory floor and even in the skies – in the case of Amazon’s drone delivery project.

采取自动驾驶。为了汽车安全地驱动自己，它们必须从车辆到车辆（V2V）和基础设施（V2I）无缝地通信。但建筑物和其他结构阻止无线信号。信号强度和范围是一个不变的挑战。听起来有点熟？

这same goes for the Industrial IoT (IIoT). Machines must work in sync across a factory or network of factories to achieve optimal performance while keeping workers safe.

这re’s another organization working to solve these challenges. The Zigbee Alliance, which governs theIOT生态系统，最近宣布无线个域网PRO 2017, a networking technology for connecting devices across buildings, cities and homes. PRO 2017 allows engineers to “cast” IoT networks over large areas, eliminating dead zones caused by steel and concrete.

想象一下智能社区，城市和交通的潜力？

Zigbee is one of many IoT standards (also called “protocols”) competing for market share. Others include Thread and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

我们应该庆祝这些技术，但认识到仍有工作要做。无线基础设施的进步 - 无线网络的骨干 - 是更广泛采用物联网的关键。我们必须就一个统一的物联网标准达成一致;改造我们的家园，建筑物和城市;并通过他们的早期阶段支持Pro 2017等支持技术。

In the meantime, I suspect my wife will still make her daily trips to the kitchen window.