When Wireless Sensors Meet Big Data

They're in vending machines, parking meters, home security systems, and even healthcare devices for the elderly. They are wireless sensors, a key component of the burgeoning machine-to-machine (M2M) industry where devices use wired and wireless connections to communicate with each other. Though far from new, M2M technology is expanding its reach at a dramatic rate. M2M connections will grow to 2.1 billion by 2021, up from roughly 100 million last year, according to research firm Analysis Mason. The dramatic growth of global smartphone usage is a major factor in M2M's popularity, of course, as are industrial applications in the transportation, emergency services, security, and retail sectors. A good chunk of M2M hookups are done via fixed lines, including DSL, ISDN, cable modem, and Ethernet connections. But the real growth is in the wireless arena, and it's being spearheaded by cellular carriers. "Faced with diminishing rates of growth in handset sales and declining residential ARPU (average revenue per user), these mobile operators have latched onto a new area of device growth: the connecting of all things in the world, rather than all people," wrote Analysis Mason analyst Steve Hilton in a November 2011 report.