Internet of Things Quality Assurance Implementation Guide

Many components comprise the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem – various alarms, smart coffee makers and door locks, sensors in medicine, and much more. All varieties of the Internet of Things have their specific properties and complexity. But it would be best if you were sure that these devices function smoothly, and this is a rather tricky task for the creators and providers of IoT.

What is required to conduct IoT testing?

The principle of testing the Internet of Things is similar to testing any software (websites, web applications). Initially, it would help if you simulated a scenario with a high probability of a problem in the IoT ecosystem. Many different devices in the IoT ecosystem are an integral part of the entire architecture of the Internet. Therefore, it will be much more difficult to recreate such a scenario compared to if you had to test a mobile application.

In this case, it is possible to consider end-to-end testing, reliability and security testing, and the degree of performance, which is one of the most critical tests for the Internet of Things. Quality specialists evaluate the leading indicators and time for testing to determine the cost of testing. End-to-end testing is the most difficult since it requires the development of additional programs to ensure the load during testing.

The main components of the IoT ecosystem include the following:

• End devices (various sensors, etc.);
• Special gateways and routers that are conductors (path);
• Special centers for information processing (storage, servers);
• Auxiliary software (mobile applications).

All its functional components, the ecosystem, and the relationship between them should be tested to ensure that the Internet of Things functions as expected.

IoT Verification Confirmation

With the help of testing, it is necessary to check the entire complex for quality assurance. Let’s look at the most popular test solutions for IoT devices and discuss them in more detail.

Manual Functionality Testing

With manual testing, you can check the settings of functional conditions: set functionality, emulators, and simulators, as well as test balancing. Such testing can be applied both during product development and at the end of the IoT project. Such testing prevents mistakes made in the development of functional solutions.

Automated performance testing

Automated testing is used when scaling an IoT system. Scaling is an increase in the number of devices that generate more information. Such tests are aimed at detecting weaknesses in the system. There are the following types of automated testing:

• Volume. It allows you to detect problems in the system with an increase in the amount of data and their integrity and safety.
• Load. It checks the performance under a given load (resource changes, the number of computational calculations, and the throughput of gateways).
• Stress. The performance check while exceeding the set load. It allows you to identify error rates, inefficient code, and so on, and then determine what is needed to restore regular operation after failures occur.
• Spike. It checks the performance with a rapid increase in load.
• Endurance. It determines the stability of the system. A specific load is set for an extended period. That is, for how long the system can withstand a particular load.
• Scalability. It checks the system’s operability in increasing the user audience and devices connected to the system. If the test fails, the system structure needs to be adjusted.
• Capacity. Determines the number of users and connected devices that can handle an IoT application.

IoT testing from TestFort makes it possible to quickly identify the slightest errors in the operation of the software, which means that they can be eliminated in time. It allows you to maintain the quality of the software at a high level.

Internet of Things Testing Framework

The framework is a structure that includes functionality for testing IoT, various development scenarios, patterns, and requirements that ensure high-quality IoT. Such a platform has particular recommendations for testing the functionality and performance of the system. Thus, a comprehensive approach is taken to ensure quality. The framework includes the following:

• Medium and high-load projects;
• Rapidly growing projects;
• Projects with very high requirements for the sustainability of the system;
• Projects to determine the sensitivity of responses.

Using such platforms, you can test different options for developing scenarios for the IoT system. After all, the technical framework contains many other tools for checking functionality and performance, which significantly helps many organizations to create a stable operation of the IoT system in various scenarios when using the system by users and connected devices.

It contains a toolkit that includes load tuning and tuning to increase scalability. There is also a visual representation of the test results in real-time. It is necessary to analyze the system data and consider the requirements for performance and functionality to determine the infrastructure for testing IoT. It is essential to apply tools that establish the relationship between conditions to obtain the desired result.

In the end

The ecosystem of the Internet of Things, which consists of many components, needs to be tested for performance, even though this is technically difficult to perform. The resources spent on testing are often paid back due to the absence of system performance problems and negative user reviews. It is essential to approach quality, carefully ensuring functionality and high performance.