Sometime this month, the 5 billionth device will plug into the Internet. And in 10 years, that number will grow by more than a factor of four, according to IMS Research, which tracks the installed base of equipment that can access the Internet. On the surface, this second tidal wave of growth will be driven by cell phones and new classes of consumer electronics, according to an IMS statement. But an even bigger driver will be largely invisible: machine-to-machine communications in various kinds of smart grids for energy management, surveillance and public safety, traffic and parking control, and sensor networks. Earlier this year, Cisco forecast equally steep growth rates in personal devices and overall Internet traffic. Today, more than 1 billion computers regularly connect to the Internet. That class of devices, including PCs and laptops and their associated networking gear, continues to grow.

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