Internet of things (IoT)

 

What is Internet of Things (IoT)?

The amount of attention IoT is getting is growing exponentially. In fact, the term "Internet of Things" wasn't created until 1999. Since then, the field of IoT has grown tremendously. During 2020 experts estimated the installation of 31 billion IoT devices will be installed worldwide. By 2025 more than 75 billions of IoT devices will be installed and connected to the web worldwide.

According to IHS Market, the market sectors driving this growth are:

Smart cities - A city that uses technology to improve efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life for people living and working in the city.

Industrial IoT - Uses machine learning and big data to generate value from sensor data.

Connected health - Using consumer technologies to connect patients and healthcare providers outside of the hospital.

Smart homes - Using smart devices to control the environment in a home.

The industries are continuing to develop; eventually, devices will be able to self-configure for resilience or self-adjust for variation. This may mean that devices could be controlled remotely using virtual reality to enhance participation in remote events. Beyond the hype, IoT has emerged as an important technology with applications in many fields. IoT  has  roots  in  several  earlier technologies: pervasive  information  systems,  sensor  networks,  and  embedded  computing.

The term  IoT  system  more  accurately describes the use of this technology than does Internet of Things. Most IoT devices are connected together to form purpose-specific systems; they are less frequently used as general-access devices on a worldwide network. IoT  moves  beyond pervasive computing  and  information  systems,  which  concentrated  on  data. 

Smart refrigerators are  one  example  of  pervasive  computing  devices. Several products included built-in PCs and allowed users to enter information about the contents of their refrigerator for menu planning. Conceptual devices would automatically scan the refrigerator contents to take care of data entry. The use cases envisioned for these refrigerators are not so far removed from menu planning applications for stand-alone personal computers.

Sensor network research spanned a range of configurations. Many of these were designed for data collection at very low data rates. The collected data would then be sent to servers for processing. Traditional sensor network research did not emphasize in-network processing. Embedded computing concentrated on either stand-alone devices or tightly coupled networks such as those  used  in  vehicles.  Consumer  electronics  and  cyber-physical  systems  were  two  major  application  domains  for  embedded  computing;  both emphasized engineered systems with well-defined goals. Given the wide range of advocates for IoT technology, no single, clear definition of the term has emerged. We can identify several possibilities:

•Internet-enabled physical devices, although many devices don’t use the Internet Protocol

•Soft real-time sensor networks

•Dynamic and evolving networks of embedded computing devices

Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of connected physical objects that are accessible through the internet. It is the enabling of sensors to communicate with each other and storing of the shared data. The ‘thing’ in IoT could be a person with a heart monitor or an automobile with built-in-sensors.

We use this term “IoT System” to capture two characteristics. First ,The system is designed for one or a set of applications, rather than  being  an  agglomeration  of  Internet-enabled  devices. Second, The  IoT  system  takes  into  account  the  dynamics  of  physical  systems. An  IoT  system  may  consist  primarily of sensors; in some cases it may include a significant number of actuators. In both cases, the goal is to process signals and time-series data. Interest in the Internet of Things has been spurred by the availability of micro-electromechanical (MEMS) sensors. Integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes, chemical sensors, and other forms of sensor are now widely available. The low cost and power consumption of these sensors enables new applications well beyond those of traditional laboratory or industrial measurement equipment. These sensor applications push IoT systems toward signal processing.

IoT is also enabled by the very low cost of VLSI digital and analog electronics. As we will see, IoT nodes do not rely on state-of-the-art VLSI manufacturing processes.  In  fact,  they  are  inexpensive  because  they  are  able  to  make  use  of  older  manufacturing lines; the lower device counts available in these older technologies are more than sufficient for many IoT systems.

IoT systems must consume very little power. Power consumption is a key factor in  total  cost  of  ownership  for  IoT  systems.  Achieving  the  necessary  power  levels  requires  careful  attention  to  hardware  design,  software  design,  and  application  algorithms.

Security and safety are key design and operational requirements for IoT systems. As we have argued elsewhere, safety and security are no longer separable problems. The merger of computational and physical systems requires us to merge the previously  separate  tasks  of  safe  physical  system  design  and  secure  computer  system  design.

IoT revolution

As the price of sensors and communications continue to drop, it becomes cost-effective to add more devices to the IoT – even if in some cases there's little obvious benefit to consumers. Deployments are at an early stage; most companies that are engaging with the IoT are at the trial stage right now, largely because the necessary technology – sensor technology, 5G and machine-learning powered analytics – are still themselves at a reasonably early stage of development. There are many competing platforms and standards and many different vendors, from device makers to software companies to network operators, want a slice of the pie. It's still not clear which of those will win out. But without standards, and with security an ongoing issue, we are likely to see some more big IoT security mishaps in the next few years.

As the number of connected devices continues to rise, our living and working environments will become filled with smart products – assuming we are willing to accept the security and privacy trade-offs. Some will welcome the new era of smart things. Others will pine for the days when a chair was simply a chair.

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