As the name suggests, M2M (machine to machine) is the direct communication of two devices with each other, using any communication medium such as wired or wireless.

The history of M2M goes back to 1845, where the Russian army used the data transmission systems. Then in the 1900’s the invention of two-way radio networks also used the M2M technology. Later on, in the 1990’s the introduction of cellular communication provide a new way for M2M technology, and now it becomes quite mature to provide an efficient way for M2M communication. Advanced and smart communication has further expanded M2M applications in various sectors.

M2M technology includes the main components like communication medium, sensor, and software that is programmed for automatic computing and helps the network to make decisions. The most common example of M2M technology is the telemetry, which has been used from quite some time to transmit operational data. At first, it used telephone lines then radio waves for the transmission of performance measurements from remote machines. The internet and wireless communication, then considered to be the most cost-effective technique used for the transfer of information between machines.

Some of the sectors and industries that are facilitated by the use of M2M technology include automotive, health, manufacturing, business, robotics, utilities, smart homes and billing. In smart homes, M2M technology is used in a thermostat which can be automatically switched on the heating when the room temperature drops. It can also be used in smart doors which can be opened remotely for guests when a person is not at home at the time. The most common example in the health sector is the determining of daily diet by keeping track of a person’s various things such as footsteps, heart rate, and calories. In the business sector, it can be used for smart asset trackings, such as tracking the fleet of delivery trucks by keeping their location contents and state of repair.

There is also confusion between IoT and M2M, but both are quite different from each other. M2M is simple device-to-device communication, but IoT is used for grand-scale projects and connects various devices and operation with each other. M2M is less scalable as compare to IoT network. It uses devices with same standards while IoT utilises devices with different standards. The difference can also be explained through a simple example such as, consider a heart rate monitoring sensor which is connected to an external application and lets the doctors knows in case of patient needs attention, it can be easily provided through M2M technology. Now if that similar sensor is also integrated with the pillbox, then it would instruct the patient to take pills, and would also send notifications to family members if the pillbox is not used.