How To Test IOT Application?

Table of Contents

1. Do you know the elements of IoT?

Technologies have changed the perspective of today’s world and it would not be possible without IoT (Internet of Things). Furthermore, IoT devices have made an effective contribution in the growing technology.

Basically, IoT is a communicating network comprised of vehicles, electronic gadgets, servers, etc. The concept of IoT revolves around the collection and exchange of information. Its concept revolves around the collection and exchange of information.

Life is not limited to Food, Cloth, and Shelter only because IoT has captured the world as well. Now it becomes an integral part of life where people cannot live without IoT.  

Yeah, it seems wrong, but this the truth of the time. Even we cannot imagine a world without IoT. So let’s understand the components of IoT, its significance, along with testing methods.

Do you know the elements of IoT?

IoT is the trending technology of the current and it revolves around major elements, such as

• Sensors
• Devices
• Application
• Data Center
• Communicating Network

There was a time when we use switches to control Television or other electronic gadgets, but now people use remotes to manage their electronic appliances. Even we check our health status on IoT applications without visiting any doctor. It shows that IoT has made this possible for the world.

Furthermore, IoT plays an essential role even in day to day communication, and hence before coming in public domain, its testing becomes mandatory. By keeping this in mind here we will elaborate the concept of IoT Application testing because, without proper testing, the product may lead to disaster.

Moreover, IoT devices should have maximum accuracy and speed in order to take care of the public demand. In this series all  networking companies give focus to offer services better than their competitors. Also, the public becomes crazy when they hear about faster technology.

Sometimes, in the pace of competition, organizations forget to give proper attention to the quality of an application. By keeping this in mind, we are sharing the right approaches to Test the IoT applications.

Testing of IoT Applications:

We do Test of IoT applications to maintain its performance by ensuring the behavior of the network, analytics, security and operating systems, etc. Here are the types of testing that guarantee the right release of IoT applications.

Various types of IoT Testing are:

• Usability Testing:  Whenever any new release takes place, the QA team ensures the performance of the application as an end-user. Also, The comfort of users is always a priority, and by keeping this in mind, the quality team performs usability testing. As multiple devices take part in IoT applications and hence end to end testing of each participating device is must.
• Compatibility Testing:  Mobile applications are building with the integration of the IoT technology. Hence, testers try their best to make it compatible with most of the systems. The ultimate intention of the team is to offer maximum feasible combinations to make it user-friendly. Hence, compatibility testing becomes essential.
• Data Integrity Testing:  As we all know, IoT application revolves around the collection and exchange of data, so it generates the need to perform data integrity testing. Also, it is the base of a system, and the QA team validates it with the maximum possible accuracy.
• Security Testing: IoT applications and devices deal with user’s personal data, and misuse of it may create trouble. So, to maintain the privacy of users, the QA team takes care of Security Testing because no one wants to compromise, the privacy of user’s data.
• Performance Testing: QA team handles the verification of IoT applications in various testing environments by keeping the electronic devices, servers, and communicating networks into consideration. Moreover, team looks overall performance of the application.

Do you know about Pilot Testing?

With all testing methods we also do pilot testing in order to validate the performance of a product by creating a live environment.

• Pilot Testing: In some cases, the product performs well in the testing environment but backfires when it comes to the public domain. Hence, to avoid mistakes or issues, the team does Pilot testing. Under this type of testing, they test the application in the public domain with a restricted number of users. Afterwards, developers take care of the feedbacks and as a result application becomes more accurate, accessible, interactive, and robust.

Validation of components:

As we know about the concept of an IoT system that revolves around integrating hardware and software applications.

Various components that we validate are as:

• Connectivity of Network
• Integrated Sensors
• Hardware Devices
• Software Applications
• Server or Cloud Infrastructure
• Security Systems

Validation of Functionalities:

The IoT system should respond and function based on the requirement only. Also, Each participating device should communicate in a proper way.

Functional validations are:

• Exception and Error Handling
• Communication between devices
• Response of system
• Result of calculations

Testing of Conditions:

The team conducts testing under maximum possible conditions. Apart from that testers keep responses of the IoT system based on the below formats:

• Automated Conditions
• Manual Conditions

Performance Validation:

To ensure the accurate working of the IoT system we calculate its performance based on the following components:

• Performance of devices
• Performance of the system while an interruption occurs
• Synchronization
• Frequency of data transmission

Tools used for testing of IoT applications:

• Wireshark: The tester uses this tool to test the embedded software at the IoT system. Furthermore, It is an open-source that keeps the record of visitors along with their source and destination details.
• Tcpdump: The testing tool does not have GUI otherwise it acts the same as Wireshark. It only displays TCP/IP through command lines.
• JTAG Dongle: The worth of JTAG Dongle is to test Hardware components, and its use is quite similar to a debugger. Moreover, It displays the variable by debugging the targeted platform.
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