The Infinite Potential of IoT

The prevalence of IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly become the Internet of ALL Things. It is projected that by 2026, there will be over 1.2 million shipments of smart devices worldwide, household items such as video entertainment systems, home monitors, smart speakers and more. Today, “smart homes” is a ubiquitous term that reveals how IoT now intersects with a multitude of home-based facets of human life.

Figure 1: It takes a lot of interconnected “things” to make a smart city. (Image source: Molex)

IoT involves intelligent and fully integrated systems within homes, cars, factories, MedTech, mobile devices and other industries. This evolution in the connectedness of technology presents endless possibilities in current and future markets. Molex is well positioned to tackle the challenges created by IoT. Its expertise in advanced electronics and manufacturing redefines what is conceivable for a wide variety of industries, allowing them the versatility to shape product portfolios and fit clients’ ever-expanding needs.

Connected factories

Easy connectivity and access to information and services have created a new surge of consumer expectations. Consumers want more high-quality features, and they want them as soon as possible and at a lower cost. These new demands create a host of new challenges for manufacturing. Molex has innovated a broad portfolio of products to help manufacturers create “connected factories”, providing two pivotal offerings: Molex Industrial Automation Solutions 4.0 (IAS4.0) and Flexible Automation Modules (FAMs). An end-to-end solution spanning sensors to complex devices to edge and cloud service, Molex’s IAS4.0 utilizes the internet and capitalizes on the emergence of smart technologies that are making their way into industrial automation. FAMs form the core of IAS4.0 with software-defined functions and features that can be assigned, changed or updated by the solution’s configuration and programming services. These highly configurable connectivity, control and IoT applications enable machine builders to produce, configure and utilize flexible, modular and connected machines to build any manufacturing system. Both IAS4.0 and FAMs provide manufacturers with more flexibility, higher levels of optimization and efficiency, and an even higher level of automation in their efforts to develop connected factories.

Connected mobility

The cars of the not-so-distant future require advanced vehicle architectures that go beyond components. Engineering tomorrow’s vehicles incorporates innovative solutions for connected vehicles and automated driving. Molex offers groundbreaking end-to-end solutions for creating seamless “connected mobility”. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) is a pathway to a safer and more efficient world. V2X refers to the communication of the vehicle with its environment. This includes other cars, cyclists and pedestrians, traffic infrastructure (such as traffic lights), and other networks (such as those within a smart home). These powerful communications will save lives and improve vehicular transportation by dramatically reducing human driving errors.

Connected vehicle architecture, 5G communication and vehicle cybersecurity are additional necessary features of connected mobility. By integrating high-speed data in emerging automobile designs, Molex can help autonomous vehicles offer end-to-end network integration that is high-speed, secure and ultra-reliable. Molex’s integration of 5G into vehicles empowers real-time transmission of safety and sensor data, seamless streaming of in-vehicle audio and visual content, and rapid over-the-air application and software updates. Then, Molex’s over-the-air firmware provides preventive cybersecurity that is crucial to protect against potential hackers of connected vehicles.

Smart home

Over the past several decades, technology has transformed homes into “hubs of functionality”—centers of entertainment, environmental management, work, fitness, security and more. While the adoption of connected homes continues to expand, Molex is looking ahead to the next phase, developing the technology that will guide the transition to homes that are more proactive and automated than currently imagined. Molex is already adding value along a number of far-reaching applications. Its portfolio is among the world’s most extensive, with over 100,000 reliable products used across virtually all key industries. From capacitive switches and LED displays to antennas and USB connectors, Molex supports a wide range of modern home applications, including security and surveillance, energy and utilities, home streaming and entertainment, smart appliances and home automation.

MedTech

The future is rich with potential for medical technology—and achieving a better, connected patient experience is at the center of it. Improving lives by bringing more advanced care closer to home is possible with the electronics expertise at Molex. From developing solutions for the world’s most fortified data centers to creating complex cable assemblies for surgical robotics, Molex helps you reach beyond current MedTech strategies.

One such example is Molex’s medical cable assemblies. Today’s complex medical devices need durable and reliable cable solutions that can withstand exposure to hard environments, repeated vibration and mobility, rough handling, and even repetitive sterilization techniques. Molex designs and manufactures custom medical cable assemblies for the most demanding surgical, patient monitoring, on-body sensor, electrophysiology and emergency medical applications.

Molex also is constantly innovating next-generation medical devices, such as MRIs, robotic surgery systems and patient wearables. As the once-separate capabilities of diagnostic, therapeutic and monitoring devices begin to merge, manufacturers will need to engage increasingly complex and differentiated supply chains while remaining compliant with diverse governmental and industry standards. Through existing relationships with distributors, specialty manufacturers and design specialists, Molex navigates this supply chain to offer a wide range of compliant chips, contact systems and other assembly options from reliable sources.

Connected consumer and 5G technology

Mobile communication has become an essential part of human infrastructure and daily lives. With carriers facing growing data traffic demands, a transformation is required to power next-generation networks enabling 5G and delivering increased bandwidth for higher data rates at low latency. Building on decades of innovation and expertise in the telecom and datacom industries, Molex develops disruptive technologies and leads the connectivity standards that drive the industry forward. With a complete connectivity solution portfolio—including optical, copper and radio frequency connectivity, field-programmable gate array solutions, and signal integrity engineering—Molex enables capabilities that pave the way for 5G and beyond.

Moving forward

Molex dedicates itself to creating connections for life. As IoT establishes itself more and more as the norm, solutions will be needed to galvanize connected systems and transform them into powerful, proactive systems. Molex provides decades of expertise, global supply chain and innovative capabilities to both anticipate and thrive in a world dominated by IoT—whether that is connected factories, connected mobility, smart homes, MedTech or a connected consumer experience.

Figure 2: The IoT gives us more control of everything from the comfort of our couch. (Image source: Molex)

The power of IoT lies beyond the data that already exists. It resides in the potential data that can be harvested globally. IoT will allow systems and devices to capture and transfer information through a wide array of connected sensors that will essentially turn the world into data. From smart dust to smart cities, the possibilities are endless. Find out how Molex can help connect you to the world with industry-leading products, whether your need be microminiature or mammoth-sized.