Chapter 4

Internet of Things (IoT)

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• This chapter covers:

• Overview of the Internet of Things (IoT)

• Architecture of IoT
• IoT tools and platforms
• Applications of IOT

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 Overview of IOT
• The most important features of IoT include
• AI − IoT essentially makes virtually anything “smart”, meaning it enhances
every aspect of life with the power of data collection, artificial intelligence
algorithms, and networks.
• Connectivity − New enabling technologies for networking and specifically IoT
networking, mean networks are no longer exclusively tied to major providers.
• Sensors − IoT loses its distinction without sensors. Sensors are devices that can
measure a physical quantity(like temperature, humidity, etc.) and convert it into
signal, which can be read and interpreted by the microcontroller unit.
• Active Engagement − Much of today's interaction with connected technology
happens through passive engagement. IoT introduces a new paradigm for active
content, product, or service engagement.
• Small Devices − Devices, as predicted, have become smaller, cheaper, and more
powerful over time. IoT exploits purpose-built small devices to deliver its
precision, scalability, and versatility
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What is IOT?
• IoT is the networking of smart objects, meaning a huge number of
devices intelligently communicating in the presence of internet protocol
that cannot be directly operated by human beings but exist as
components in buildings, vehicles or the environment. (Internet
Architecture Board’s (IAB))
• IoT is the networking of smart objects in which smart objects have
some constraints such as limited bandwidth, power, and processing
accessibility for achieving interoperability among smart objects.
(Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) organization’s )
• IoT is a framework of all things that have a representation in the
presence of the internet in such a way that new applications and services
enable the interaction in the physical and virtual world in the form of
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication in the cloud. (IEEE)
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 Cont..
• IoT is the interaction of everyday object’s computing devices through the
Internet that enables the sending and receiving of useful data. (Oxford
dictionary’s )
• The term Internet of Things (IoT) according to the 2020 conceptual
framework is expressed through a simple formula such as:
IoT= Services + Data+ Networks + Sensors

Generally, IoT is a network of devices that can sense, accumulate and transfer
data over the internet without any human intervention.
IoT is “Smart Object Networking”.

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Cont..
• The internet of things (IoT) has found its application in several areas
such as
• Connected industry,
• smart-city,
• smart-home,
• smart-energy,
• Connected car,
• smart agriculture,
• Connected building and campus,
• health care,
• Logistics and etc.

Figure 4.1 IoT in different domains

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History of IoT

• Internet of Things term was first coined by British pioneer Kevin Ashton in 1999.

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IoT − Advantages
1) Improved Customer Engagement
 Passive  active engagement
2) Technology Optimization
 Improved device usage
3) Reduced Waste
 More effective mgt of resources
4) Enhanced Data Collection
 Allows accurate picture of everything

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IoT – Disadvantages
Here is a list of some of the disadvantages of IoT
1) As the number of connected devices increases and more information is
shared between devices, the potential that a hacker could steal confidential
information also increases.
2) If there’s a bug in the system, it’s likely that every connected device will
become corrupted.
3) Since there’s no international standard of compatibility for IoT, it’s difficult
for devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other.
4) Enterprises may eventually have to deal with massive numbers maybe even
millions of IoT devices and collecting and managing the data from all
those devices will be challenging.

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How does it work?
• An IoT ecosystem consists of web-enabled smart devices that use
embedded processors, sensors and communication hardware to collect,
send and act on data they acquire from their environments.
• IoT devices share the sensor data they collect by connecting to an IoT
gateway or another edge device where data is either sent to the cloud to be
analyzed or analyzed locally.
• Sometimes, these devices communicate with other related devices and act
on the information they get from one another.
• The devices do most of the work without human intervention, although
people can interact with the devices.

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 Cont..
• Most likely the communication between IOT devices and internet is
performed in two ways:
• There is an internet-enabled intermediate node acting as a gateway.
• The IOT device has direct communication to the internet.

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 Three types of Interactions in IoT
1. Device to Device communication
• Device-to-device communication model is generally used in home
automation.
• Low data rate requirement.
• Example : Lights, bulbs, locks and thermostat send small amount of
information to each other.

Wireless
Network Switch
Bulb
ZigBee/Z-
wave/Bluetooth

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 Cont..
2. Device to Cloud communication
• Device-to-cloud communication model is used to extend the capability of device by
sending data to cloud for analysis.
• Example 1: Nest Lab Learning Thermostat: Device sends data to cloud to analyze
the home energy consumption.
• Example2 : Samsung Smart TV: Sends user viewing information to Samsung and
enable interactive voice recognition system.
Cloud

Smart
Device Smart
DEVICE

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Cont..
3. Device to Gateway communication
• A gateway device is used between device and cloud in the device-to-gateway
communication model.
• Example: Fitness tracker. These devices don’t have native facility to connect
to the cloud directly, hence they use a mobile app.

Cloud

IPv4/IPv6

Local Gateway
protocols L S Co protocols
/ T AP
T TP /D
TL
H S
Smart Smart
Device DEVICE
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Architecture of IoT
• An IoT device can be explained as a
network of things that consists of
hardware, software, network
connectivity, and sensors.
• Hence, the architecture of IoT devices
comprises four major components:
sensing, network, data processing,
and application layers.

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Cont..

Fig 4.2. Architecture

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of IoT
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Sensing Layer
• The main purpose of the sensing layer is to identify any phenomena in
the devices’ peripheral and obtain data from the real world.
• Using multiple sensors for applications is one of the primary features of
IoT devices.
• These are the small, memory-constrained, often battery-operated
electronics devices with onboard sensors and actuators. These could
either function as standalone sensing devices or be embedded as part of a
bigger machinery for sensing and control.
• Three main capabilities of a typical IOT device are:
• being able to sense and record data.
• being able to perform light computing and finally.
• being able to connect to a network and communicate the data.
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 Cont..
Sensors in IoT devices can be classified into three broad categories :
A. Motion Sensor
 Motion sensors measure the change in motion as well as the orientation of the
devices.
 There are two types of motions one can observe in a device:
• Linear motion : refers to the linear displacement of an IoT device.
• Angular motion: refers to the rotational displacement of the device.

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 Cont..
• Motion sensors can:
• Trigger a doorbell when someone
approaches the front door
• Alert you when kids enter restricted
areas in the home, like the basement,
workout room, or medicine cabinet
• Save energy by using motion sensor
lighting in unoccupied spaces
• Notify you if animals enter areas where
they’re not supposed to be

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 Cont..
B. Environmental Sensors
• Sensors such as Light sensors, Pressure sensors, etc. are embedded in IoT
devices to sense the change in environmental parameters in the device’s
peripheral.
• The primary purpose of using environmental sensors in IoT devices is to help
the devices to take autonomous decisions according to the changes of a
device’s peripheral.
• Environmental sensors are used to sense parameters in the physical environment
such as temperature, humidity, pressure, water pollution, and air pollution.
• For instance, environment sensors are used in many applications to improve
user experience (e.g., home automation systems, smart locks, smart lights, etc.).

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Cont..
Role of Environmental Sensors?
Example of Environmental monitoring
• Monitoring water for quality, pollutants, thermal contaminants, chemical
leakages, the presence of lead, and flood water levels.
• Monitoring soil for moisture and vibration levels in order to detect and prevent
landslides.
• Monitoring forests and protected land for forest fires.
• Monitoring for natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami warnings
• Monitoring data centers for air température and humidity
• Monitoring Air pollution, Soil moisture, Water quality.

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Cont..
C. Position sensors:
• Position sensors of IoT devices deal with the physical position and location of the
device.
• The most common position sensors used in IoT devices are
• Magnetic sensors and Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors.
• Magnetic sensors are usually used as digital compass and help to fix the
orientation of the device display.
• GPS is used for navigation purposes in IoT devices.
• A position sensor is any device used for measuring the distance traveled by a body
starting from its reference position.
• This type of sensor can also be used to detect the presence or absence of an object.

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Network Layer
• The network layer acts as a communication channel to transfer data,
collected in the sensing layer, to other connected devices.
• In IoT devices, the network layer is implemented by using diverse
communication technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, ZWave,
LoRa, cellular network, etc.) to allow data flow between other devices
within the same network.

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Data Processing Layer
• The data processing layer consists of the main data processing unit of
IoT devices.
• The data processing layer takes data collected in the sensing layer
and analyses the data to make decisions based on the result.
• In some IoT devices (e.g., smartwatch, smart home hub, etc.), the
data processing layer also saves the result of the previous analysis to
improve the user experience.
• This layer may share the result of data processing with other
connected devices via the network layer.

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Application Layer
• The application layer implements and presents the results of the data
processing layer to accomplish disparate applications of IoT devices.
• The application layer is a user-centric layer that executes various tasks
for the users.
• There exist diverse IoT applications, which include smart
transportation, smart home, personal care, healthcare, etc.

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IoT Tools and Platforms
• There are many vendors in the industrial IoT platform
marketplace, offering remarkably similar capabilities and methods of
deployment.
• These IoT Platform Solutions are based on the Internet of Things
and cloud technology.
• They can be used in areas of smart home, city, enterprise, home
automation, healthcare or automotive, just to name a few.

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IoT Platforms

a) KAA
• Manage an unlimited number of connected devices
• Set up cross-device interoperability
• Perform real-time device monitoring
• Perform remote device provisioning and configuration
• Collect and analyze sensor data
• Analyze user behavior and deliver targeted notifications
• Create cloud services for smart products

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Cont..
• SiteWhere
• Run any number of IoT applications on a single SiteWhere instance
• Spring delivers the core configuration framework
• Add devices through self-registration
• Integrates with third-party integration frameworks such as Mule any point
• Default database storage is MongoDB
• Eclipse Californium for CoAP messaging
• InfluxDB for event data storage
• Grafana to visualize SiteWhere data

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ThingSpeak
• Collect data in private channels
• Share data with public channels
• MATLAB analytics and visualizations
• Alerts
• Event scheduling
• App integrations
• Worldwide community

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DeviceHive
• Directly integrate with Alexa
• Visualization dashboard of your choice
• It supports Big data solutions such as Elastic Search, Apache Spark,
Cassandra and Kafka for real-time and batch processing.
• Connect any device
• It comes with Apache Spark and Spark Streaming support.
• Supports libraries written in various programming languages, including
Android and iOS libraries
• It allows running batch analytics and machine learning on top of your device
data

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Cont..
• Zetta
• Supports a wide range of hacker boards
• Zetta allows you to assemble smartphone apps, device apps, and cloud apps
• ThingsBoard
• Real-time data visualization and remote device control.
• Customizable rules, plugins, widgets and transport implementations. Allows
monitoring client-side and provision server-side device attributes.
• Support multi-tenant installations out-of-the-box.
• Supports transport encryption for both MQTT and HTTP(s) protocols.

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Applications of IoT
• The versatile nature of IoT makes it an attractive option for so many
businesses, organizations, and government branches, that it doesn’t make
sense to ignore it.
Agriculture
• For indoor planting, IoT makes monitoring and management of microclimate
conditions a reality, which in turn increases production.
• For outside planting, devices using IoT technology can sense soil moisture and
nutrients, in conjunction with weather data, better control smart irrigation and
fertilizer systems.

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Applications of IoT in Agriculture
• Monitoring quality of soil in real time
• Regulating water supply and controlling usage of water
• Monitoring and measuring humidity, temperature etc.
• Warehouse monitoring for fire hazards or pests - a lot of crop is
damaged in storage.
• It helps identify sick animals so they can be pulled from the herd,
preventing the spread of disease.

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Cont..

Fig 4.4. IoT in Agriculture

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Cont..

Fig 4.5 Technical farmer use Wi-Fi computer control agricultural drone
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Cont..

Fig 4.5 Climate control in greenhouses

• Temperature, humidity, light intensity, and soil moisture can be monitored through various
sensors.
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Consumer Use
• For private citizens, IoT devices in the form of wearables and smart homes make life
easier. Wearables cover accessories such as smartphones, Apple watches, health monitors,
to name a few. These devices improve entertainment, network connectivity, health, and
fitness.
• Security is made more accessible as well, with the consumer having the ability to control
appliances and lights remotely, as well as activating a smart lock to allow the appropriate
people to enter the house even if they don’t have a key.
Healthcare
• Wearable IoT devices let hospitals monitor their patients’ health at home, thereby
reducing hospital stays while still providing up to the minute real-time information that
could save lives.
• In hospitals, smart beds keep the staff informed as to the availability, thereby cutting wait
time for free space.
• Sensors can also determine if a patient has fallen or is suffering a heart attack.
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 Cont..
Insurance
• Insurance companies can offer their policyholders discounts for IoT wearables such
as Fitbit. By employing fitness tracking, the insurer can offer customized policies
and encourage healthier habits, which in the long run benefits everyone, insurer, and
customer alike.
Manufacturing
• RFID and GPS technology can help a manufacturer track a product from its
start on the factory floor to its placement in the destination store, the whole
supply chain from start to finish. These sensors can gather information on travel
time, product condition, and environmental conditions that the product was
subjected to.
Retail
• Online and in-store shopping sales figures can control warehouse automation and
robotics, information gleaned from IoT sensors. Much of this relies on RFIDs,
which are already in heavy use worldwide.
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IoT Based Smart Home
• Smart Home initiative allows subscribers to remotely manage and
monitor different home devices from anywhere via smartphones or over
the web with no physical distance limitations.
• The concept of a Smart Home has become a reality where all devices are
integrated and interconnected via the wireless network.
• These “smart” devices have the potential to share information with each
other given the permanent availability to access the broadband internet
connection.

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 Cont..
• Remote Control Appliances: Switching on and off remotely appliances to
avoid accidents and save energy.
• Weather: Displays outdoor weather conditions such as humidity,
temperature, pressure, wind speed and rain levels with the ability to
transmit data over long distances.
• Smart Home Appliances:
• Refrigerators with LCD screen telling what’s inside, food that’s about to expire,
ingredients you need to buy and with all the information available on a
smartphone app.
• Washing machines allowing you to monitor the laundry remotely.
• The kitchen ranges with the interface to a Smartphone app allowing remotely
adjustable temperature control and monitoring the oven’s self-cleaning feature.

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Cont..
• Safety Monitoring: cameras, and home alarm systems making people
feel safe in their daily life at home.
• Intrusion Detection Systems: Detection of window and door openings
and violations to prevent intruders.
• Energy and Water Use: Energy and water supply consumption
monitoring to obtain advice on how to save cost and resources, &
many more.

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 IoT Based Smart City
• Structural Health: Monitoring of vibrations and material conditions in
buildings, bridges and historical monuments.

Future trends:
Building collapsed in
Using sensors Thane, August 5,
and drones for 2015
monitoring
Recent train accident in
Bridge
M.P. on August 4, 2015

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Cont..
• Lighting: intelligent and weather adaptive lighting in street lights.

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Cont..
• Smart Parking: Real-time monitoring of parking spaces available in the city
making residents able to identify and reserve the closest available spaces.

• Make use of ground sensor and infrastructure sensors to monitor parking

space in real-time and help traffic management within the city.
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Cont..
• Safety: Digital video monitoring, fire control management, public
announcement systems.
• Transportation: Smart Roads and Intelligent High-ways with
warning messages and diversions according to climate conditions and
unexpected events like accidents or traffic jams.
• Waste Management: Detection of rubbish levels in containers to
optimize the trash collection routes.
• Garbage cans and recycle bins with RFID tags allow the sanitation staff to
see when garbage has been put out.

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IoT Based Smart Farming
• Green Houses: Control micro-climate conditions to maximize the production of fruits
and vegetables and its quality.
• Compost: Control of humidity and temperature levels in alfalfa, hay, straw, etc. to
prevent fungus and other microbial contaminants.
• Offspring Care: Control of growing conditions of the offspring in animal farms to
ensure its survival and health.
• Field Monitoring: Reducing spoilage and crop waste with better monitoring, accurate
ongoing data obtaining, and management of the agriculture fields, including better
control of fertilizing, electricity and watering.

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 Cont..
• Animal Farming/Tracking: Location and identification of animals grazing in open
pastures or location in big stables, Study of ventilation and air quality in farms and
detection of harmful gases from excrements.
• Cattle monitoring and management: there are IoT agriculture sensors that can be
attached to the animals on a farm to monitor their health and log performance.
• It helps identify sick animals so they can be pulled from the herd, preventing
the spread of disease.

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Cont..
• Examples of Smart Farming / Smart City

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