The Tactile Internet will be the next evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT), encompassing human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interaction. It will enable real-time interactive systems with a raft of industrial, societal and business use cases.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines the Tactile Internet as an internet network that combines ultra low latency with extremely high availability, reliability and security. It believes the Tactile Internet represents a “revolutionary level of development for society, economics and culture”.
The Tactile Internet is the next evolution that will enable the control of the IoT in real time. It will add a new dimension to human-to-machine interaction by enabling tactile and haptic sensations, and at the same time revolutionise the interaction of machines.
The Tactile Internet will enable humans and machines to interact with their environment, in real time, while on the move and within a certain spatial communication range. It will unleash the full potential of the fourth industrial revolution, dubbed Industry 4.0, and revolutionise the way we learn and work through the Internet of Skills, aka Human 4.0.
Proponents of the Tactile Internet argue that it should build on areas where machines are strong and humans are weak, so that the machines complement rather than substitute humans. As the power of the machines increases, the value of the human input should also grow.
The Tactile Internet will combine multiple technologies, both at the network and application level. At the edges, the Tactile Internet will be enabled by the IoT and robots. Content and data will be transmitted over a 5G network, while intelligence will be enabled close to the user experience through mobile edge computing. At the application level, automation, robotics, telepresence, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) will all play a part.
5G is the term used to describe the next-generation of mobile networks beyond the 4G LTE mobile networks of today. As of mid-2016 there was no standard so the definition is still very fluid. It is assumed that 5G networks will not become commercially available until the 2020 timeframe.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will be the standards body that releases the final standard, which is also being referred to as International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020. The 3GPP is the mobile industry standards body that will submit a proposed specification to the ITU to be part of the IMT-2020 standard. Mobile operators and vendors all participate in the 3GPP specification process.
The vision of 5G is becoming clearer as we move closer to 2020. Most experts say 5G will feature network speedsthat are blazingly fast at 20 G/bps or higher and have a latency that is mere milliseconds. Not only will people be connected to each other but so will machines, automobiles, city infrastructure, public safety and more.
5G networks are also expected to have always-on capabilities and be energy efficient, all of which will likely require new protocols and access technologies.
*** SDN is a Stepping Stone
Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) are going to play a key role for operators as they prepare to migrate from 4G to 5G and scale their networks quickly.
SDN will be necessary for operators to carve virtual “sub-networks” or slices that can be then used for bigger bandwidth applications. That includes video, which might need throughput speeds of 10 Gb/s as well as lower bandwidth applications to connect devices that are less demanding on the network, such as smartwatches.