How many smart home devices do you have? If you look around, you probably won't find much; maybe you have a smart doorbell, a voice-activated assistant, or a connected medical device. While most of us can probably count the number of smart home devices in our homes on one hand, they are increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives. In fact, the smart home market (worth $55.65 billion in 2016) is expected to soar to $174.24 billion by 2025.

When you are only using a few IoT devices, you do not need to use common IoT protocols or data communication standards to manage the ecosystem. After all, your doorbell has no reason to "talk" to your coffee maker, and having two different apps to manage two different devices isn't a huge hassle.

However, as IoT technology develops and our homes become more connected, we will need interaction between all devices, their controllers, and local wireless connectivity systems (e.g. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), otherwise, typical The IoT ecosystem will not be as smooth as it should be. Isn't the purpose of smart home just to make our life easier?

Why do we need to build a common IoT protocol?

Since there is no universally accepted protocol for data communication, smart devices manufactured by different brands often speak different languages, which makes it difficult for devices in an IoT ecosystem to communicate with each other, hindering semantic interoperability. This poor interoperability reduces the convenience and efficiency these devices are supposed to provide users.

To ensure a robust IoT ecosystem, some consumers and businesses may purchase a range of devices from the same brand, for example, a homeowner may upgrade their home with a refrigerator, washer and dryer of the same brand, and then replace it with a smart The mobile phone controls all these devices. However, these devices still need to connect to the user's home Wi-Fi in a plug-and-play manner for easy setup. From here, devices need to stay connected effortlessly to ensure they are always ready to work when the user needs them.

Users may at some point want to integrate another brand's product into their IoT ecosystem, which raises the issue of data communication between devices. Many smaller devices are designed to be self-installed by the user, and if the installation and integration is not simple enough, the user will experience more headaches than expected. Additionally, if devices don't follow the same cybersecurity protocols, there can be holes in the smart network, allowing hackers to steal information or make changes to the system.

IoT protocols will benefit both device makers and users

在Jabil的2020年智能家居技術趨勢調查中， 99%的智能家居產品公司決策者認為，制定數據通信標準是有價值的。對科技公司而言，特定的潛在利益是廣泛的。物聯網協議將：

▲推動建立管理所有連網設備的集線器的機會
▲加快用戶采用智能家居和商業設備的速度，因為用戶不必面對設備集成方面的挑戰
▲讓公司專注于自己的核心優勢，而不必擔心連接問題
▲通過與其他類型的已連網設備關聯，使品牌所有者能夠捕獲豐富的數據集
▲增加追加銷售和交叉銷售的機會

當然，數據通信標準也將使最終用戶受益。理想情況下，用戶插入新設備并打開后，該設備將與本地網絡連接，無縫加入物聯網生態系統。這種簡單、用戶友好的網絡協議策略將允許用戶輕松地自行安裝連網設備。
 
此外，智能家居市場正在迅速增長。在短短的兩年內，有57％的調查參與者看到了整體市場機會，翻了一番還多。事實上，機會的增長速度超過了三分之一受訪者的預期。

這意味著鞏固這些標準的最佳時機現在已經到來。在某個時候，房屋或建筑物中的大多數（甚至全部）設備都是智能的。為這些產品建立通用語言將確保最高質量的物聯網連接，使新設備能夠輕松地集成到智能家居或網絡中，并且可以和諧地協同工作。

開發物聯網協議：正在進行的工作

為了實現完全互聯的物聯網生態系統，行業專家需要在所有設備（無論是在家中還是在汽車中）之間找到或開發一種共通性，以建立一種語言，使不同品牌的設備可以在整個物聯網生態系統中相互通信。此外，這些標準應具有共同的安全協議，以確保沒有網絡安全漏洞。

Progress has been made in this regard. Tech giants Amazon, Google and Apple have teamed up to create a smart home standard that will run through the Zigbee Alliance. Zigbee provides a stable IoT platform and various technologies, such as their full stack, an advanced IoT communication protocol specification based on IEEE 802.15.4. It is used to create personal area networks from small, low-power digital radios, suitable for a wide range of applications from home automation to personal electronic health records (EHR).

Called the IP Connected Home, the project aims to simplify development for device makers and improve compatibility for consumers. The project is dedicated to making smart home devices safe, secure and seamless to use. By building on the Internet Protocol (IP), it aims to enable communication between smart home devices, mobile applications, and cloud services, and defines a specific set of IP-based network technologies for device authentication.

It's a good start, but smart home manufacturers still need to make some key decisions before these standards can be finalized.

Different Types of IoT Protocols

One of these decisions includes identifying IoT protocols.

Bluetooth: A short-range communication technology integrated into most mobile devices, thus offering major advantages to personal products. This technology is fundamental to the Internet of Things due to its scalability, low power consumption and flexibility to adapt to market innovations. Important protocols for IoT applications are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Smart.

Wi-Fi: Wireless connection technology for devices. It provides fast data transfer and can handle large amounts of data. This is the most popular connection type in a LAN environment.

ZigBee: A low-power, low-data-rate wireless network primarily used in industrial applications. By creating a common language for the Internet of Things, the ZigBee Alliance enables smart objects to work securely on any network and interact with each other seamlessly.

Z-Wave: A wireless communication protocol primarily used in home automation. It is a mesh network that uses low-energy radio waves to communicate between home appliances, enabling wireless control of home appliances and other devices such as lighting controls, security systems, and thermostats.