Test trends to IoT

The Outlook is compiled from academic and industry research and has highlighted five key trends for the coming year, with a view to giving engineers an insight into the challenges and the strategies and technologies to deal with them. Trends identified this year are: Organisational proficiency – better hiring and training; Managed test systems – monitoring test systems and improving efficiency; Cloud computing for Test – using the cloud to provide a balanced test capacity and capability; Scalable test software architectures – advantages of software-based test platforms; and Redefining the notion of sensors. Jeremy Twaites, automated test product manager at National Instruments UK & Ireland, commented that this last trend was becoming increasingly interesting with the advent of the Internet of Things. He commented: "Test systems themselves are having to become more complex themselves to meet this demand. The growth of sensors is driving change in test." In particular it highlights the need to establish test platforms that can offer greater longevity than the sensors they are testing, as many of the sensors are deployed in mobile devices that have a lifespan measured in months rather than years.