The future of our
tech-driven world is going to be exciting. Technologies like Artificial
Intelligence, Blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), or Robotics shall bring
conveniences and improve our quality of life greatly. Among these, the Internet
of Things or IoT shall be instrumental in ushering the ‘age of machines’ in the
true sense. If we go by Gartner’s prediction, then by 2020, the world is likely
to see use of around 20.4 billion connected devices. In fact, the Internet of
Things is expected to be a part of every industry segment and bring about a
radical change in the way we live in the near future. Since the world would be
virtually dependent on these devices, their performance, reliability,
availability, and user experience should be top-notch. However, ensuring these
at all times can be challenging and warrants the conduct of rigorous IoT testing.
What is IoT?
The Internet of
Things is a network of devices, digital elements, vehicles, home appliances,
and other gadgets that are connected to the internet to exchange data and
information. The enablers for IoT include systems such as motion sensors,
thermostats, smart switches, leak detectors, dimmers, doorbells, and smart
outlets. Presently, only 0.06% of IoT-enabled devices are functioning globally
and there is a great potential to expand the value chain. Today, around 60
technologies and Radio Frequency formats are in use to make IoT a reality.
Among these, WiFi and cellular are the prominent ones. With the emergence of
new wireless technology standards, enhancements to LTE (Long Term Evolution)
and LTE-Advanced protocols, and the advent of 5G, the need for internet of things testing has assumed
salience.
The future is
going to be defined by smart technologies. These are needed to address the present-day
challenges related to the lack of quality, availability, and speed. Thus, to
manage the functioning of smart systems a la IoT and ensure they work to their
highest levels of efficiency, IoT
testing is the way forward. The following examples can emphasize the
dire need for maintaining quality in IoT devices.
If there is a fire
in a smart home (enabled through IoT devices), the smart systems (smoke
sensors) should detect the smoke and send an alert to the authorities, apart
from the owner(s). This can only be possible if various devices connected to
the IoT grid function at their optimal level and communicate with each other
effectively. In the absence of such coordinated functioning of devices, the
smoke will remain undetected leading to a fire hazard.
Again, if an
automatic vehicle fails to detect an obstruction (a pedestrian, vehicle, or any
other object) due to the malfunctioning of its sensor(s), the vehicle will fail
to stop in time leading to an accident.
The two examples
have highlighted how various connected devices within the IoT ecosystem need to
function in a coordinated manner.
Challenges for
testing of IoT devices
The ways things
are, it is predicted that the Internet of Things ecosystem is going to outweigh
and outperform the combined numbers of smartphones, desktops, laptops, and
wearables in the world. It will ultimately be businesses, more than governments
or individuals, that are going to drive the adoption of IoT. This will increase
the scope for IoT testing
wherein developers and testers have to consider factors like the available
bandwidth, the performance of device circuitry, or the battery level, among
others.
Further, in IoT,
there would be plenty of unusual device types. These include home appliances,
which may or may not have robust interfaces with digital systems like sensors,
thermostats, and others. Thus, with the presence of such a diverse set of
devices, selecting the best IoT testing
approach can be tricky. The other types of challenges in testing IoT applications are
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Lack of standardization of devices and associated systems
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Insufficient battery life of devices
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Network issues
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Threats to data security
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Need for omnichannel testing
Testing
requirements for IoT enabled components
To drive quality
into the IoT ecosystem, the components forming the ecosystem should be
validated in terms of performance, reliability, usability, security, and
customer experiences. Let us understand the key testing requirements for IoT
components.
At the device
level: The IoT testing framework at the device
level should target areas like device properties, schedules, power modes, serial
protocol, and connectivity.
At the cloud
level: The testers would
look to automate and integrate the components into the ecosystem and check
their effectiveness. The areas to look at would include security, performance,
scalability, reliability, data governance, and data privacy.
End-to-End
testing: This
comprehensive IoT testing approach
would entail executing automated tests combining applications, devices, and the
cloud. Importantly, the testers should test the IoT system in real-time
involving multiple conditions.
Simulation of the
smart system through service virtualization
Since the success
of an IoT ecosystem depends on the seamless interoperability of embedded
devices across platforms, networks, geographies, and device states, testing
becomes a challenge. However, with test automation and simulation of the
above-mentioned environments, testers can identify the issues such systems can
face in the real world.
Security testing
of IoT systems
Arguably the
biggest challenge to confront IoT devices is security. Since humongous sets of
data are exchanged between appliances and embedded sensors, any vulnerability
can be exploited. In fact, hackers can manipulate the devices to work according
to their instructions. For example, a bank’s alarm and cameras may be
deactivated by such people to commit a heist. Hence, any IoT device testing should focus on
strengthening the security aspect by identifying and removing all bottlenecks
and vulnerabilities. The focus should be on encrypting the data transfer
mechanism.
Conclusion
The smart world of
the future would be based to a large extent on the success of IoT devices.
Also, any future challenges involving data security need to be tackled on a war
footing through rigorous IoT testing. It is only when every sinew of the IoT ecosystem runs in harmony, the
future of smart connectivity can be ensured.
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