What is Internet of Things or IoT and its key elements?

        Here are many definitions of Internet of Things which exist and there have been no consensus to agree on one single definition.Internet of things is a collection of things connected to each other or to users directly or indirectly for meaningful communication and control.Movies like Toy Story and Cars show how objects communicate with each other and humans using voice, Internet of Things or IoT is a similar communication concept between Objects and humans and only difference being the mechanism used by programmed objects  is internet.

        Internet of Things will enable more control of human over devices and one example of this is you can control any device in your home using your Internet from anywhere in the world. While coming home from office you can use your phone to start the Air Conditioner,  instruct splinter in the garden to start, Open the windows and so on. This is just an example and use of IoT or IoT enabled devices will have 1000’s of diverse applications.

        What provides more control to the Internet of Things is the sensor attached to the devices. Sensor could sense change in temperature, light, pressure etc and can take the decisions automatically.

        Although this concept is not new and people have been expecting this to pick up in last many years but it did not gain the expected momentum. With the cost and size of memory devices, processor, Chips and Sensors getting down considerably with every year and increase in the processing power, going forward IoT will be more viable option. E.g. Currently an IoT enabled bulb might cause 20 $ extra which is not acceptable to majority of people.

Key elements of IoT Solution

Here are the key elements of the IoT Solution

Device Technology:

IoT Devices technology is around the creation of the IoT enabled end products. An IoT device can be categorized into three sub-modules:-

• Sensors: An important component of every IoT devices. It detects the external events and Surrounding based on the usage scenario.
• Core Processing: This is the brain of the IoT device and control all the interfaces and overall working of an IoT device.
• Network Interface: This sub-system is responsible for communication with the network entity or the peer device.

An Iot Example:

A device with a temperature sensor. The Sensor has the ability to detect the current temperature. As the sensor is a hardware it has to inform the value it has read to the user. We connect the sensor to one of the GPIO pins of the microcontroller. Using this pin Sensor will transmit the temperature related data. A program written by user will monitor the pin and on detecting the data will process it.

Interface towards web:

This interface towards web is to transmit the read data to the network.There are multiple possibilities in which a device can send the data to the network. It can send the data using these of the many technologies available

• Wifi:
• Bluetooth LE:
• LAN Connectivity
• Zigbee
• Z-wave
• Propreitary RF

Cloud Technology:

For an Iot solution which has to cater thousands or millions of devices, it becomes important to use a cloud based technology which is reliable and can scale as and when required. Suppose we connect thousands of temperature sensors. Then this cloud technology will make connection with devices and get the required sensor data. Now this Sensor data can be read through the simple web interface by the user.

Analytics:

Data generated by the devices will be multiple times the data generated by humans. Such a data requires complex technologies like big data etc for interpretation of data and finding the patterns.

Web Technology:

This is one of the front end of the IoT Technology. It has the functionality of user management, display of the Sensor data ,Configuration and interface for controlling and monitoring the Iot devices.

Mobile App Technology:

Mobile technologies like Android, Iphone and Windows technologies play an important role in the IoT technology to provide the ability of controlling the devices when the user is on the move. In some solutions like Home Automation and Fitness solutions, they interface directly with the IoT devices. e.g. In a home automation solution, Mobile can talk to the end device like wifi enabled switch directly.

Internet of Things or the IoT is the hottest technology today and would continue to remain at top in the coming 5-10 years with so many companies making big investments in this technology.